DIG for Sunday the 15th of November…..Peter is not the rock that the Lord built His church upon…..Matthew 16 v 18

There are quite a few verses misunderstood in the Word of God (and that’s an understatement) and Matthew 16 v 18 is one of them.

Peter is indeed the Greek word for rock, and many people interpret this verse saying that Peter is the rock that the Lord would build His church upon; this is quite a prominent doctrine in one particular denomination.

However that is not what Jesus meant by this verse.

In the verses before we read that Pater has recognised that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God (Matthew 16 v 16).

This is a huge truth, a truth that should be dominant in the church, as dominant as a huge cliff rising out of the landscape would be.

Peter is of course an important person but alongside Jesus and Who He was he is really quite insignificant; maybe we could say he would be quite a small pebble in relation to the huge slab of rock that would be the truth of Jesus.

Indeed verse 18 gives us a wonderful picture that actually sets out this comparison.

The Greek Word for rock in Peter’s name means a pebble, a small rock on a pathway while the word for rock that the church would be built upon means a mass of connected rock, a huge slab of rock, a solid rock rising up through the earth.

Peter is not the rock that the church would be built upon, even though his ministry was valuable and very important.

The rock that the church would be built upon was the truth of Who Jesus was.

Jesus and the truth of Who He was and what He did is the corned stone, the foundational stone of the church (1 Corinthians 3 v 10 and 11).

The truth of Jesus and Who He was is also what we build our faith upon, in the same way as the church was built upon it. Our faith is in Jesus and not in any man.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for Jesus, thank you that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God”.

Matthew 16 v 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

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DIG for Saturday the 14th of November…..this is truly a faithful saying…..Titus 3 v 7

There are many truths in the Word that we should remind ourselves about constantly, and if we are teachers or preachers there are truths that we need to affirm constantly (Titus 3 v 8).

Righteousness through faith, as a gift of God’s mercy and grace is one such truth.

This is one of the fundamental truths of the Gospel (of the grace message) that believers need to hear again and again.

Righteousness, or the state of acceptance and being right with God, is a gift from God that we receive through faith in the finished work of Jesus and not through works (Titus 3 v 4 to 7).

Justification is a word from the same root word for righteousness and means properly approved and conformed to a proper standard.

In the eyes of God we are at His standard and have been approved.

Paul concludes after his discussion in Romans 3 that we are justified by faith without any works of law (Romans 3 v 28).

This is a truth that we need to remind ourselves every day about.

We need to remind ourselves in order to stay in the liberty that is Christ and not slide back into the bondage of works and self-efforts (Galatians 5 v 1).

If you are a born again believer then in the eyes of Father God you have been justified and you have been made righteous (2 Corinthians 5 v 17 to 21).

This is a truth no matter what men tell you.

Now I know you may be doing some unrighteous acts, but that does not alter your state of righteousness in the eyes of God.

He looks on your born again spirit and not on your flesh.

In your spirit you are righteous and truly holy (Ephesians 4 v 24).

Affirm this truth constantly and tell your self this truth, speak it out.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that I have bee justified and I have been made righteous as a gift of mercy and grace through my faith in Jesus”.

Titus 3 v 7…..That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life