Matthew 16:18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
I hate to base my explanation on grammar, because it is not what I believe as the bastion of truth, but simple knowledge in grammar may help us see the way to logical truth.
If Peter was the rock:
1. Then it should have been “thou art Peter, and upon you I will build my church”
2. Or “thou art Peter, and upon this rock, which is you, I will build my church”
3. Or “I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, a rock, and upon you I will build my church”
Aware of the way the Lord Jesus Christ constructed sentences throughout all His sessions of teaching, we will not, in our wildest dreams, think that the Lord Jesus has a propensity of ungrammatical and nonsensical statements.
Take for example the Sermon on the Mount.
MATTHEW 5:1-12
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
The foregoing sermon can be considered scholarly constructed with utmost literary style and beauty.
No learned scholar can accuse the Lord Jesus Christ of speaking nonsensically nor ungrammatically at any instance in the Holy Scriptures!
Biblically speaking, Peter cannot be the rock upon which the church was built, simply because he was part of the church, built upon the foundation stone who is Christ.
EPHESIANS 2:20-22
21 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit.
The Apostles (one of whom was Peter) were built upon the foundation, Jesus Christ himself. There is no other foundation than Christ!
I CORINTHIANS 3:11
For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
An erring human, even an apostle, cannot be a sufficient foundation of the universal institution of divinity, the church. The church must have an unshakeable foundation.
Somebody who cannot be affected by sin!
COLOSSIANS 1:23 (MKJV)
If indeed you continue in the faith grounded and settled, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard and which was proclaimed in all the creation under Heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister…
Something that can be shaken cannot be permanent.
HEBREWS 12:26-27
26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Peter, as man, is prone to error and mistakes. The doctrine of the Catholic Church that the Pope is the successor of Peter, is infallible, ex-cathedra, is a great error- even greater error than the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
When Benedict XVI proclaimed that limbo does not exist, it implied that all his predecessors were lying when they taught that children who were not baptized before death will go to limbo!
Believe on John Paul II and you will deny Benedict XVI, or believe on Benedict XVI and you will deny all the previous authorities of the Catholic Church. But I will believe on Peter, the true apostle, even if he committed mistakes, errors and sins in his decisions and actions, because he taught only what God wanted him to teach – no more no less!
THE ACTS 5:27-29
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Peter and the other apostles never taught any doctrine coming from their own thinking and inventions!
II PETER 1:16
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
JOHN 7:17-18
17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.
To this, I believe, Peter will say, “TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!”
AMEN!
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