HE CHURCH’S ONE FOUNDATION IS NOT PETER, OR PAUL,
BUT THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus: Help us to hear Your promise that Your Church will never perish, believe it, and remain in Your Church by Your grace. Amen.
St. Matthew 16:18-19. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades [hell] shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
Galatians 2:11-16. Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”
Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth; Your Word is truth. Amen.
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ, who is the Chief Cornerstone of the Church: Grace and peace to you from God the Father and Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Today, June 29, is named for Peter and Paul. But the service isn’t about them. It’s about Jesus’ Church and how He builds it. The message today is that it isn’t built on Peter, or Paul, but only on “the truth of the Gospel.”
1. The Church’s one foundation is not Peter or Paul.
Jesus’ words in today’s gospel make it sound like He builds His church on Peter: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.” Roman Catholics say this verse teaches that Jesus built His church on Peter and the popes, so if you don’t have the pope then you aren’t in the true church.
But this is why we hear this passage along with Paul’s public rebuke of Peter, from Galatians 2. It shows that the church isn’t built on people – Peter, Paul, or anyone – but on “the truth of the Gospel,” as Paul says. Jesus’ words aren’t about Peter himself, but the truth that Peter confessed. Without that, there is no church. This is a warning to us.
This story of Paul rebuking Peter speaks right to us. Just as Paul was warning Peter, this story is a warning to us in our 21st century church.
What’s important is when it took place. Earlier, Peter thought he still had to keep all the Jewish ceremonial laws – such things as circumcision and dietary laws – in order to be clean in God’s sight according to the Law. But Jesus fulfilled the Law completely and perfectly. Peter learned in a vision sent by God, as recorded in Acts 10, that God makes people clean, not by eating or avoiding certain animals, obeying or disobeying such laws, but by faith. The point is, doing or not doing these things is no longer what salvation depends on. Where do you learn how you as either Jew or Gentile are “clean” or “unclean?” Not from keeping the Law. You learn it at the cross: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7).
Peter then said publicly that God saves everyone, Jews and Gentiles, by faith alone. He said, “I perceive that God shows no partiality … Whoever believes in [Jesus] will receive remission of sins.” So Peter believed that everyone is saved only by faith, not by faith plus works.
The problem came when, awhile later, Peter went to Antioch and went against this faith. He wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles, only with Jews who were following the dietary laws. Here in Galatians 2 Paul says what this meant. He told Peter this would “compel Gentiles to live like Jews.” It would make them think of what they had to do in order to be Christians. He said this was “not straightforward about the truth of the gospel.”
As Paul says, Peter had gone against “the truth of the Gospel” – the true foundation. The church isn’t built on Peter. The “rock” Jesus spoke of wasn’t Peter but his confession of faith – the faith in Jesus, faith in the Gospel.
The words of St. Paul are a warning – not to change the confession of the church. It isn’t done in formal church meetings, but in people, one by one. Christians are constantly tempted to change the foundation. Each person is tempted, one by one, to change his own foundation. Just like Peter was afraid of criticism, we can be afraid of being unpopular. Just as “even Barnabas” went along with Peter so Paul was the only one to stand up for “the truth of the Gospel,” we can fear being alone.
What’s the result? Look at Peter! The result is thinking the church is about us and what we do, trying to control results and outcomes – even to avoid persecution or just unpopularity – which can lead to going against God. Sometimes you think you aren’t doing that, because you’ve adapted to fit your surroundings. That’s what Peter did. The point is to not go against the only true faith, the one founded on the Bible’s true teaching.
In Peter, we see even strong Christians can go against the faith. This is the Law: to warn and humble you by showing how unsteady we can be.
2. The Church’s one foundation is “the truth of the Gospel.”
It humbles you to see that you aren’t better than Peter in his weakness. It also encourages you to see that he wasn’t any better than we are. Our main encouragement though isn’t what Peter or Paul did. It’s what Christ did in spite of their weakness, what He will do despite ours. This is the Gospel.
The Gospel is in Jesus’ words to Peter: “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” What a great promise to hear! “The Church shall never perish,”despite our failings.
This promise doesn’t depend on us. The story of Peter and Paul shows that. It shows Peter at his worst so we see that the church would not prosper because of Peter. But it also wouldn’t perishbecause of him. Didn’t Paul feel alone? Wasn’t it Paul against everyone? It’s tempting to think the Church is in decay, failing, going down, when we think it looks poor. The Church can certainly be in trouble. It was in trouble that day. It needed Paul to speak.
But Jesus’ promise that His Church will never perish is such a great promise, because it doesn’t depend on us. It depends on Him. Christ didn’t build His Church or base His promise on how faithful we are. He founded His Church on the unchanging “truth of the Gospel.”
The Gospel is that God forgives your sins for Jesus’ sake. These are the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” that He gave to His Church, when Jesus told Peter that “whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” – whatever you forgive on earth is forgiven in heaven. This is the Gospel that Jesus founded His church on: the forgiving of sins. This Gospel is also that Christ doesn’t leave you if you leave Him, or stop loving you when you waver in your constancy and love for Him. His death proves it.
Jesus’ death says the Gospel of forgiveness is true. The pastors He sends – who hold the same office as Peter and Paul – bring you this forgiveness. No matter what you’ve done, His death forgives your sins and brings you His love. It’s by this “truth of the Gospel” – that He forgives sinners – that Jesus builds His Church, builds us, claims us, and keeps us.
Right after Paul tells of his public rebuke of Peter he speaks the truth of the Gospel: “A man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ … even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.”
Jesus’ church might not always look great. Everyone in His Church is a sinner, after all. But think of the people in heaven. They thought they were standing alone, they suffered, they were tempted to go against their faith. They knew their failures. Yet there they are, a multitude no one can number! And why? They were forgiveness sinners, as you are – justified by faith in Christ, not by works. By grace this is the faith they were kept in, the faith they died in, the faith that brought them to heaven.
We’re with them, a church against which the gates of hell can’t prevail. This is Jesus’ promise. We are not to look at our weaknesses or failures, nor at how good or faithful we are. Look only to Jesus!
This also tells us what we should be doing for each other. We Peters need some Pauls. We should be Pauls to our fellow Peters. Our value to each other in the Church is in speaking “the truth of the Gospel,” speaking the Gospel to each other, and exhorting each other to stay with it.
We do this by saying the creed together: we confess the same faith of the apostles and martyrs. When we come to the Lord’s Supper, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians, we’re “proclaiming the Lord’s death till He comes,” confessing Christ together. We’re together with the company of heaven, as we receive and are joined to Christ’s body and blood, and to each other.
Even a rebuke is good. Paul used words like “blame” and “hypocrisy” to Peter. It looked like Paul against Peter. But he said these words out of love – love for Jesus, for Peter, and for all the Christians. What we need is a Christian who loves us to speak candidly, push us to stay in “the truth of the Gospel,” even be blunt in doing it – as long as it agrees with the Word.
Also remember, Peter listened to Paul. They both died as martyrs, pre-ferring to be killed rather than give up this faith. Let us listen to each other too, so our souls may be saved and we stay on the solid foundation.
This is how the church is strong: listening when God’s Word is spoken. When this happens, is it something we do? No, it’s still Christ doing it, building us up in Him, as He speaks to us through our fellow Christians. This is how Christ builds His Church and keeps us built up in Him: only through “the truth of the Gospel.” Amen!