Matthew 16:13-20, #2

Matthew 16:13-20 #2
This is the first of only two times in which the Lord mentions the church while He was on the earth. The word “church,” though commonly used in both the New and Old Testaments (Greek translation), is not a religious term as it is used today. In the Greek, the word simply refers to an assembly or group of people. It is not always used to refer to Christians. Sometimes it is used to refer to the Israelites in the Old Testament (Acts 7:38). At other times it is used to identify an assembly of rioters (Acts 19:39, 41). Therefore, we need to understand that the Lord was not intending to say He was going to build an institution into which He would put His people, but instead, He was promising to build a group of people who He would call His own. These people would be those who are saved, that is, those who did what was necessary to have their sins forgiven. In Ephesians 4:4-6, Paul states that there is only “one body.” That one body follows “one faith, one Lord, and one God.” These people obey “one baptism” and have “one hope.” So you can see this is not a group of people who have diverse views on salvation or who attend a variety of churches all following different doctrinal standards as dictated by their tradition. Though this group includes all who have ever been saved since Christ, they have one allegiance, one obedience, and one goal of heaven.Verse 19 gives us the key to understanding the nature of this assembly of saved people. Jesus told Peter (and ultimately all the apostles), that they would be given the keys to the kingdom. In other words, Peter would open or close the door to the kingdom. Peter and the apostles would bind some things and loose some things, and whatever they bound or loosed would have already been bound or loosed in heaven. Therefore, this group of saved people that Jesus was building would only enter the kingdom by following the teaching of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 3:3-5), because they were the ones given the keys. Anyone who tries to enter the kingdom another way, will not be allowed in.

Peter opened that door in Acts 2 when he was asked what to do to be saved. His answer was, “”Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Berry Kercheville