the Holy Spirit gives us the wisdom to understand the scriptures, agreed? well take Matt 16:18 you are Peter, & on this rock i will build My church. there are several denominations that claim this scripture for them being the "true" church. some say the rock is "Peter" some say the rock is "Jesus". who is right? who is being taught through the Spirit? what is your thought on this?
2007-09-21 05:55:25 · 27 answers · asked by warrior*in*the*making 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
the rock is Jesus Christ - upon His foundation shall the church be built.
they were not discussing peter ... the issue Jesus & His apostles were discussing is "who is Christ?"
Jesus said Peter was blessed b/c God had revealed to him that He (Jesus) is the Christ.
b/c God had revealed this to peter, Jesus gave peter the keys of the kingdom.
this was the message that peter preached on the day of pentecost ... how to enter the kingdom of God ... as peter says as he has the keys ... the knowledge of how to be saved.
peter preached this message in acts 2, more specifically 2:38 in saying,
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."
it coincides w/ Jesus' teaching of being born of the water AND the Spirit in john 3.
this scripture has been greatly twisted by the catholic church.... the mother harlot of rev. 13.
2007-09-21 06:09:34 · answer #1 · answered by t d 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The one being taught by the Spirit are those in Him that seek the truth. If you have not sought to be in Him, the Spirit will not guide you. The scriptures to get into Him, Jesus, are clear if you open your mind and read. It is NOT to just ask Jesus to come into your heart but to follow the rules for entrance as given in the New Testament. The Old Testament was nailed to the cross as Paul told the church at Colossi.
As for the Rock. The statement that Jesus was the Christ was the rock. Peter means pebble and Jesus said boulder. Therefore it was not Peter.
The keys were given to all the apostles in Matt 18:18 or about there. Therefore Peter would unlock and then the other apostles would be able to have the keys to teach -- but that part is only my idea, Bible does not say that.
2007-09-21 13:08:28 · answer #2 · answered by mesquiteskeetr 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Your mistaken.
The Holy Spirit only frequents on those whom have already digested and internallized Gods word (like Jesus) and have purified themselves through study of the word. A soul is like a seed. A seed needs tilled soil (the word of God) to provide the necessary nutrition so that it will grow into a tree and become a dwelling place for all the birds (the Holy Spirit). So I don't agree with your premise.
Those whom have progressed spiritually and have been accepted by the Holy Spirit as a dwelling place and are the sons and daughters of God. Those whom have not reached a spiritually mature state are known as the sons and daughters of men. All those whom have been accepted by the Holy Spirit are congruent with the Holy Spirit in all thought, action and deed.
The rock the church is built on is Gods word, taught by Jesus and handed down through disciplic sucession. Jesus often refered to Gods word as 'Stones that would minister to you'. It doesn't matter who teaches you the word of God, so long as you question it, and gain an understanding of it thereby internalizing it. Seek the word of God, and you will find a path that will lead to self realization: A continually moving process that will purify you and eventually make you an attractive dwelling place for the Holy Spirit to reside. Only then will the Holy Spirit choose to settle within you.
2007-09-21 13:16:50 · answer #3 · answered by Yoda 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Jesus told Peter that upon this rock, the revelation of who Jesus is by the Holy Spirit to each person, individually, he would build his church.
When a person receives the revelation of who Jesus Christ is from the Holy Spirit, by being convicted of their sin and receiving forgiveness through the blood of the Lamb of God when they repent and believe, then the body of Christ, his church, is increased.
2007-09-21 13:11:53 · answer #4 · answered by hisgloryisgreat 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1 Peter 2:4-8 shows Peter pointing to Jesus as the rock placed in Zion by Jehovah.
Peter was used at Pentecost 33 C.E. to explain the working of the holy spirit to a large crowd of Jews visiting to celebrate the festival .(Acts 2 1-42) About three thousand people were added to the ranks of believers.And because they were from different cities and spoke different languages the word of Christ was spread through out the land.So,in effect Peter used one of the keys given to him by Jesus to open up the spread of the gospel.
My personal experience is before I opened my heart to accept the gift offered by Jehovah through Jesus' life and sacrifice I had no idea what any of it meant.Adam and Eve,the tree of the knowledge of good and bad none of it meant any more to me than a fairy tail.
Through receiving the Holy Spirit I have a better understanding.And through my understanding I can see who the true followers of Jehovah are.
In one of the commandments Jah said we should not murder.
So anyone who murders or promote murder by sending others out to "murder an enemy" is not doing the will of Jah.
It's as simple as that.(Matthew 7:20)
2007-09-21 13:48:33 · answer #5 · answered by Robert J W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Matthew 16:13-18 has been the focus of a great deal of theological discussion, especially concerning Jesus' words to Peter, "You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church" (verse 18). The question concerns who or what Jesus intended as the foundation of His church. That Jesus is referring to Himself as the "rock" has been widely held by evangelicals; see 1 Corinthians 3:11. Another interpretation is that Jesus is referring to the truth of Peter's confession in verse 16, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Still another view suggests that He is referring to Peter who, along with the early apostles and prophets, was used to establish the church; see Ephesians 2:19-22. In this latter passage Christ is pictured as the cornerstone, which in an ancient building supported the main weight of the structure, while the apostles and prophets share in the foundation. To see Peter as one of the foundation stones of the church would not, of course, require that he be viewed as an ecclesiastical authority with successors down through the ages. He would simply be the first confessor of who Christ is.
Perhaps Mr. Graham's words in his book "Peace with God" would be helpful. He writes: "The word church as applied to the Christian society was first used by Jesus Himself when He told Peter, 'Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it' (Matthew 16:18, [KJV]). Thus Jesus Christ Himself founded the church. He is the great cornerstone upon which the church is built. He is the foundation of all Christian experience, and the church is founded upon Him."
What is your life founded on? The most important step you can take is to anchor your life solidly to Jesus Christ. In His very character and nature you will find the hope and peace you are looking for, by committing your life without reserve to Him. You need to acknowledge your sin nature, seek His forgiveness, and invite Him to be the Leader of your life.
2007-09-21 13:30:29 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The rock is Jesus. He was just giving Peter a new name. The Catholics like to use this verse a lot. It is talking about Jesus building His Church.
2007-09-21 13:05:11 · answer #7 · answered by ~Living4HIM~ 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I think the rock is Peter , or is it Jesus' peter ? If Jesus' peter got hit with a rock , he'd be looking of a jug of spirits.
2007-09-21 13:24:52 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Rock is Jesus...not Peter.
2007-09-21 12:59:35 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
Peter's very name (Petrus in Greek, I think) translates to "the Rock." This was the name given to Peter by Christ. The passage reads (New International Version:
17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[c] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[d] will not overcome it.[e] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[f] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[g] loosed in heaven."
Jesus is telling Peter, whose name translates as "the rock" that he was going to be responsible for continuing Christ's work on earth.
Christ is also called "The solid rock" in several hymns and praise songs, a name taken from the Psalms, but in this passage the "Rock" being referred to is Peter.
2007-09-21 13:12:44 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋