The Church
The Church
Apostolic Teaching
Its Foundation: Confession of the Truth about Christ
The Gospel of Matthew bears witness to the confession of Simon Peter, a confession which becomes, as our Lord Jesus teaches, the very foundation upon which Jesus the Messiah/Christ promises to build His church:
{15}[Jesus] said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” {16}Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” {17}Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. {18}And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. {19}And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15-19 NKJV)
The confession of Jesus as Messiah/Christ (Anointed One) is given voice by the prophets (before His coming) and by the apostles (after His coming). The Apostle Paul assures us that even gentiles (non-Jewish believers) who confess Jesus as Messiah/Christ are likewise built upon the same confessional foundation.
{19}Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, {20}having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, {21}in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, {22}in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:19ff NKJV).
As surely as the prophets point to the coming Messiah in prophetic utterance, the apostles likewise give voice to the same about the Messiah now come into the world, and so we can say two things about this teaching of Paul. First, it is right to confess that Jesus, as the cornerstone of that foundation, in a unique way gives shape and substance to the foundation of God’s holy dwelling, for only “in Him” does this holy structure adhere as One and have its holy and unified existence among sinful people.
And second, and no less Paul’s point, is that due to the work of the Holy Spirit applying the Word and Proclamation of Jesus (2:17f) to individuals, even the Gentiles who formerly were not God’s people are now made one “in Him” along with the prophets and the apostles and all God’s faithful people.
In other places Paul unpacks the mystery of Baptism by the one Spirit which accentuates this many-in-one reality by reference to the body of Christ. See, e.g., 1 Corinthians 12:13; cf. Ephesians 4:4-6.
And so, the “foundation of the apostles and the prophets” points to the foundation built by God through the confession of those to whom this truth about Jesus is revealed (“Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”), the message of this reconciling peace (2:14-16) having been preached by Christ Himself (2:17f), and delivered to each person by the Spirit (2:18, 22), who seals us (1:13; 4:30) using the gifts of Jesus given in the Gospel (4:1-8; 5:26).
Roman Catholicism at Odds with this Truth
Christ does not say to Simon Peter, “Upon you, Peter, I will build My church.” Rather, in this exchange (in the presence of the group of disciples) He tells Simon Peter:
“I also say to you (singular pronoun) that you are Peter (masculine noun), and on this rock (feminine noun) I will build My church.”
Why would Jesus switch nouns here if what He meant to teach by these words is that, going forward, the foundation of the church rests squarely upon the person of Peter, or (even more of a stretch) rests upon the office of Bishop that Simon Peter will someday hold in the city of Rome? If that is what Jesus meant, then why would He not say something like: “You are Peter, and you are the rock (fem.), and on this rock (fem.) I will build my church”?
Moreover, if we entertain such an hypothesis, that Christ envisions Peter as Pope (His future Vicar on earth) and that these were still His intended meaning to Peter and to all the disciples, then what of the Confession on Peter’s lips here? Does Jesus have nothing to say about that?
Does Jesus remain silent about the Confession itself, its substance, its import, and its role in the future life of the church?
Admittedly, Jesus does react positively to Peter’s Confession by His words: “Blessed are you…,” but the Blessedness of Peter is surely not to be found in his future role as a Pope or Supreme Pontiff in the church, but rather should be found in the enlightened and faith-filled response that Peter gives to Jesus’ query, for he, unlike his peer disciples, is first to make this bold Confession.
It seems doubtful that Jesus would keep quiet about the substance, the rectitude, and the power of what Peter is confessing before the other disciples at this particular juncture. It seems utterly improbable that Jesus would set aside His response to that Confessional Truth (placing it on the backburner) here in order to make another point about a future ecclesiastical authority Jesus purportedly is trying to give Peter here.
Not to mention the spiritual jeopardy such an action could put the church into:
- What if Peter were not to remain committed to the truth about Jesus as Messiah, a scenario made more likely by the interpretation of Matthew 16:18 in agreement those who adhere to the formulations and constitutions of the Council of Trent?
- Is Jesus further promising that all popes will be preserved from error (defection from the true confession of Jesus as Messiah)?
- Is Jesus making it clear here that Peter’s authority (and that of his successors in the office of Bishop of Rome) will rival even that of the Word of God? This is hardly probable and feels very foreign to the context.
The more natural reading, therefore, and one in keeping with all the apostolic writings (see above) in the New Testament, is simply that Jesus seizes upon the opportunity afforded by the brash, bold, and true confession of Simon Peter to make something of (call attention to) his alias “Peter” (masc. noun), which bears resemblance to the term for rock (fem. noun), and then to use that metaphorical rock to describe the same bold confession (first publicly articulated so boldly by Simon Peter) which must characterize the life and future proclamation of the church which Jesus promises to build, and so that confession must be the strong confessional foundation of that church henceforth and forever.
What underscores the truth of this interpretation of Jesus’ words in this teaching on the church is the fact that Jesus immediately after saying these words, tells them to wait to make this confession known:
{20}Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. (Matthew 16:20 NKJV)
And further, if Jesus meant for Peter solely to have the keys, then why would Jesus repeat such similar promise to the other disciples on two separate occasions?
The alternative interpretation used to prop up the Roman Catholic doctrine on the Pope (along with its fateful elevation of Tradition to the same level of authority as the Scriptures) is therefore a very shaky foundation upon which to establish the office of the Pope (the Supreme Pontiff) as the Vicar of Christ on earth.
Orthodox Claims at Odds with this Truth
Other church bodies make similar claims that the one true church must have an unbroken succession of bishops going back to the original disciples. But the same concerns apply to these as well.
If Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 16 concerns the true confession coming out of Peter’s mouth which highlights the true identity of Jesus as the promised Messiah, rather than Peter’s future right and authority to lead the church and thus to pass on authority to other bishops (whether they wield equal or lesser authority than that to be wielded by Peter or his successors as the Bishop of Rome), then the whole foundation of such claims of apostolic succession crumble.
If we want to know where the Holy Spirit is at work today, as in every age, we must know two simple things (see below), and this alone defines our true unity in the Spirit through our shared baptismal life together. Moreover, these two elements are always present in every age, so the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, in accord with His promise in Matthew 16, will go on and on throughout history as He (Christ) continues to build it into what He desires, for He Himself—not some earthly, ecclesial ruler or vicar or group of rulers/vicars—is the head of that church.
Our Bold Confession Today
Definition
The church is the “assembly” (ἐκκλησία) or congregation of saints, in which
- the Gospel is rightly taught and
- the Sacraments are rightly administered.
Inasmuch as we can agree on those two essentials, we are truly united. And so, our unity does not consist in shared human traditions, rites, or ceremonies, nor do we insist that these must all be the same in every time and place.
One Body, Many Members
The Apostle Paul teaches the members of the Corinthian church to understand their place as members in the one body of Christ, each member having been placed there with his or her unique role and purpose in the body through the Holy Spirit, who baptized each individual person into that one body of Christ:
{12}For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. {13}For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. {14}For in fact the body is not one member but many. (1 Corinthians 12:12-14 NKJV)
Thus our unity is God’s work through the Holy Spirit when He baptizes members into Christ’s one body. The boundaries of our fellowship therefore require that we never betray that unity through false teaching about the Gospel or the Sacraments. (See Closed Communion.)
Practice
Questions Asked
So long as my church confesses the truth about the Gospel and rightly administers the Sacraments of Jesus, can I take comfort in the reception of both Christ’s Word and Sacrament when taught and administered by a man who (as it turns out) is an impenitent or hypocrite? See our Answer.