Permit me to construct an analogy showing how this works.
Imagine a couple has ten children. Each child grows up and leaves home to live in a foreign country and there
marries a native of the country.
In time, all ten couples have ten children of their own.
The grandparents now have one hundred grandchildren.
All of the grandchildren are members of the same family though they live in different countries,
observe different traditions, and speak different languages..
They are citizens of those nations. First and foremost they are members of the same family.
The FAMILY is the one true church built by Jesus Christ.
The NATIONS in which the grandchildren live are the denominational divisions within the church worldwide.
The nations are not the true church no matter what their authorities claim. They are only subcultures of the church.
Why is this important ?
It is important because the hundreds of denominations and sects [ and cults ] within worldwide Christendom lay claim
to doctrines which are supposedly identical to the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. If there is any named church
which truly espouses all and only the teachings of Christ as recorded in the Bible, I have yet to come across it.
They all include His teachings, or most of them, but they also add things and claim the authority to say
you can not get to heaven unless you follow their precepts.
Be on guard then. Compare any church's teachings with both the Gospel record and what the Holy Spirit tells you.
I can easily cite numerous examples of what I consider egregious heresies in major denominational teachings but I do not
wish to engage in a war with the established organized church. This is not about tearing them down. This is about
building you UP in the spirit and faith in the Only One who can save you .. the founder of the One True Church.
13 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? "
14 And they said, "Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. "
15 He saith unto them, "But whom say ye that I am? "
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17 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.
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."
[ Matthew 16:13-18 King James Version ]
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In verse 16 Saint Peter is identified as Simon Peter for posterity but at the time of this incident he was
still Simon son of Jona (Barjona). In verse 18 Jesus calls him Peter, meaning rock, then says
He will His church on that rock.
Many have taken it to mean He would build His church on the person of Peter. Subsequent generations
decreed that Peter was the first prelate, or Pope ( which means papa or father, both of which titles Jesus
said shall not be used in His church for any man) and a succession of
such men have held the post and authority. Schism with the eastern church, and later the Protestant
reformation, created competition for the church in Rome.
"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ."
[ Matthew 23:8-10 New International Version ]
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These statements by Jesus to his closest disciples, the ones we call apostles, define their role in
the 'church' that Jesus said He would build. Could He have made it any plainer ?
Note that the labels 'Rabbi', 'father', and 'Teacher' are
all in small quotes indicating they were specified as particular labels or titles NOT to be used in
the one true church, His church. Compare what Jesus said to what churchmen today do.
Here is what Matthew Henry says about the passage:
Peter, for himself and his brethren, said that they were assured of our Lord's being the promised Messiah,
the Son of the living God. This showed that they believed Jesus to be more than man. Our Lord declared Peter
to be blessed, as the teaching of God made him differ from his unbelieving countrymen. Christ added that he
had named him Peter, in allusion to his stability or firmness in professing the truth. The word translated
"rock," is not the same word as Peter, but is of a similar meaning. Nothing can be more wrong than to suppose
that Christ meant the person of Peter was the rock. Without doubt Christ himself is the Rock, the tried foundation
of the church; and woe to him that attempts to lay any other! Peter's confession is this rock as to doctrine.
[ Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary at http://www.christnotes.org/ ]
A modern commentary says:
I will build my Church -- not on the man Simon-Barjona; but on him as the heavenly-taught confessor of a faith.
"My Church," says our Lord, calling the Church His OWN; a magnificent expression regarding Himself, remarks
BENGEL -- nowhere else occurring in the Gospel.
and the gates of hell -- "of Hades," or, the unseen world; meaning, the gates of Death: in other words,
"It shall never perish." Some explain it of "the assaults of the powers of darkness"; but though that expresses
a glorious truth, probably the former is the sense here.
[ Bibliography Information; Brown, David, D.D. "Commentary on Matthew 16".
"Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible". http://bible.crosswalk.com/Commentaries/JamiesonFaussetBrown ]
The churches serve many useful functions in the Kingdom and the World. They educate. They provide ministries to a
variety of needs and constituencies. They promote the spread of the Word. They provide gathering
places for believers and quasi believers. In many cases they seek to bring people to repentance and
salvation. And more. These all are good deeds and helpful, But no church on earth can SAVE anyone.
Salvation is a gift of God's grace to whoever will believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Some churches
teach that other things are necessary for admittance to paradise. It is not so.
If you will study the words of Jesus, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, The Truth will be
revealed to you and the truth will make you free of the chains with which men would hobble you.
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