The Gates Of Hell Shall Not Prevail Against The Church

"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 Bar-jona: 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, AKJV)

Jesus Christ confirmed to Peter that he acknowledged the deity of Christ due to God having revealed it to him. Peter knew that Jesus was not a mere prophet, but God in the form of the Son. The conversation did not stop there. Jesus told him that upon this revelation, the foundation for the church would be built. No one could belong to the church unless he trusted or understood this revelation as Peter and believed on the Son of God. Even a child can do that. It merely takes humility and faith.

The church grew from that foundation. (Similarly, our homes have been built upon the crust (rock) of the planet which has evolved for 6,000 years, which will pass away but God's word never will. An eternal place of blessing is being established for the faithful in this world.) For instance, one noticeable change was monogamy replaced polygamy and the early church deacons practiced new things and doctrines that were taught by the Lord Jesus Christ. Remarriage was no longer tolerated. Moral reproof of infidelity had been fulfilled (see Malachi 3:1-5). Spiritual progression and grace were realized. Eternal rest could be found and only through receiving Jesus Christ.

Christians may fall, but God will lift them back up when they seek him with a heart of repentance. (The Talmudics fail their seeking because they exclude the Son of God in their thought. Regardless of some beautiful Aramaic thought and nuances of enlightenment through ancient languages, their anti-Christian rabbis have ignorantly and deliberately misled them. Without true recognition of the Son of God and his establishment as Peter, they cannot escape their pit.) They may not have been taught well parentally. They may have missed a beginner, biblical education at a summer school at a local denominational church. They may have lived under a crooked and irreligious government. They may have been additionally defamed by a friend, relative or erring minister. They may have been negligent to seek the Scriptures and let God find them. (Seek and you will find.) They may have done unthinkable deeds.

Peter denied Christ three times. Then, he wept bitterly with remorse. King David committed adultery and willful manslaughter. Nevertheless, he repented and made a wonderful plea (Psalm 51) to God for forgiveness. (A person with a reputation like King David could not have qualified as a minister in a local church of our time. Some of his deeds were not beyond reproof and the modern, church standard requires leadership and a life that is not stained. Some erring denominations fail the leadership requirement through theological heresy, deviating from true Son of God mediatorship, as the Roman Catholics. They fail pure marriage foundational, moral and ethics as also the Orthodox and Protestant competitors of the faith.) Many Christians, whether they acknowledge it or not, have not always lived well as they thought. There are sins of commission and sins of omission. Even the Apostle Paul had to reprimand Peter once (Galatians 2:11-13). We are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), not works or circumcision.

Regardless, a faithful Christian will have a will to repent of wrong and serve his master, the Lord. Confession through personal prayer and fellowship with God is an established practice. God will not impute him with his wrong but will give him forgiveness. Nevertheless, the Lord may chastise him as a Father to a son.

Blood was shed in the garden for sin, our progenitors Adam and Eve wore skins that God had made them for clothing. Later, the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary paid for all sin. We have a more complete covering than our ancestors in the beginning. Look unto it and your sins and guilt have been covered. Say the Lord's prayer and it will cleanse you.

The Lord Jesus Christ paid for all sin, past, present and future. He paid for sin with his own blood. No one is holy enough and without sin to pay for sin and redeem a chosen and eternal people except God, and this he did. The Christian must acknowledge this and serve God in purity, making direct conversation with the Lord God himself, fellowship, daily confession and receiving God's forgiveness and spiritual cleanliness which he made possible through the sacrifice of the Son. “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22) We must attempt to be blameless and look upon the covering of sin that Jesus Christ made for us.

Nevertheless, even though our sins are covered and God gives us spiritual cleansing, we still are not without fault in this world, and no one can be until we are given a new body. No minister can be above the written word, the Scripture. We should be willing to agree to go on to full growth (Heb. 6:1-3). It must be understood that no one, except Jesus, is without fault. James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, said in a book we consider divine and authoritative, "we stumble" (James 3:2)--he did not exclude himself.

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