The Rock
The following was added to an older post as an update. I thought it would be relevant as a stand alone post. Enjoy :) - Hannah
There is only ONE church to which every Believer must be a member of, that is the Spiritual Body of Christ. Without the Holy Spirit, there can be no church.
"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."
Christ had made this declaration to Peter that He would build His church upon "this rock". This scripture, out of it's context, quoted oft by various denominations is generally thought to mean that Peter was the rock of which the Church will be built. Within it's context, within the communication between Christ and Peter (and the disciples), it is clear that it's not Peter of which Christ speaks, but the Holy Spirit...
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
The questions that Christ posed to the disciples were indeed purposeful with intention. He posed the questions to the disciples at large, but Peter was the one who declared Him "the Son of the living God". Christ in all of His glory knew that knowledge was only revealed by the Father, the Holy Spirit. And it is this rock His Church is built upon.
Without the Holy Spirit, there can be no Church, for what the Holy Spirit does is unify the body, in knowledge of Him, by faith. Ephesians 4:3-4 It is what the gates of hell cannot prevail against...by the looks of today's divided, systematic church system the gates of hell has prevailed....and if that is true, it must be shifting sand by which it is built and not the Rock, the Spirit of the Living God, declared by Christ. For I worship a Holy and Righteous God who does not lie.
Matthew 16:13-18
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