But who do you say that I am? —Jesus said. And Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:15-18).

Commentary and explanation. These words of Jesus reveal to us Jesus' intention of founding His church, since He said: I will build My church. Let us try to understand these words of Jesus; but before, let us say what the word "church" means, and how it was used at the time of the early Christians.

The word church was the word used by the early Christians to mean that they were the people of God, a continuation of the people of God of the Old Testament. The Christian meetings were called church, and the gathering of the Jews were called synagogue.

The word church in itself means assembly, congregation, reunion; and it is applied in the New Testament to small groups of Christians gathered in a house or family, as well as all the disciples in a large city, or the reunion of all the believers in Christ everywhere, that is, the universal church.

The word church is not used in the Bible to mean a building, neither an institutional organization of the church, as it is used today by some Christian denominations. The Church is the Body of Christ, not a group of individuals holding authority.

When Jesus said to His disciples "I will build My church," He wanted them to understand that the people of God of the Old Testament would continue, but that it would take a new shape, a new character.

This continuity was very important for the Jews; never would a Jew have renounced what he/she already have in Judaism, being a member of the people of God. Jesus allowed them to understand that the assembly or reunion of His disciples, His church, would be the new people of God, and that this would be different from the people of God of the Old Testament.

The main characteristic of the new people of God is that it will be born from, and built upon faith in Jesus Christ, the Christ, the Messiah promised in the Old Testament. That was the confession that Peter made, and Jesus referred precisely to that profession of faith when He said: and on this rock, —upon this faith,— I will build My church.

That Jesus Christ is the rock and the foundation of the church, is proclaimed through the whole New Testament; even Peter declares that, saying: Coming to Him (Christ) as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious... "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame... The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." (1 Peter 2:4-8, not complete).

Paul is not less emphatic than Peter affirming that Jesus Christ is the foundation and main stone of the church., when he says: Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). The Church is then built upon that rock of faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, as Peter said; and through that faith, the believer becomes member of the church. That means that belonging to the church is by faith in Jesus Christ; there are no other conditions.

Another difference between the church of Christ and the old people of God is that the traditional Jewish barriers must disappear, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).

The Church is, therefore, the new people of God, an extension and continuation of the people of God of the Old Testament, but a new people without discrimination of races, gender, social status, because in the church all are one in Christ Jesus.

Go to the Steps directory.

For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body —whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free— and have all been made to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:12-13).

Commentary and explanation. That the Church is the Body of Christ is an illustration or image, used by Paul, to let us understand mainly four things: 1. the unity among all members; 2. the living union with Christ and among all the members; 3. the mutual spiritual dependence among all; and 4. the different functions of the members, and their growth.

1. Unity. Paul says in Galatians that Jews and Greeks, slaves and free, male or female, you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).; here in Corinthians he goes a little farther affirming, not just that everybody is welcome into Christ, but that all members are one body in Christ, in a similar way as the human body is one. Unity, that is the first characteristic of this illustration of the body.

2. Vital union. The living union with Christ and within all members is illustrated, mainly, by the fact that Christ is presented as the head of that body: He (Christ) is the head of the body, the church (Colossians 1:18). As there is a vital union between the head and all the members of the body, so is it also in the church.

3. Mutual, spiritual dependence. This is another one of the characteristic of this illustration of the body, which is explained extensively by Paul in Corinthians 12. Among other things, he says: The eye cannot say to the hand, " I have no need of you"; nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." There should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another (1 Corinthians 12:21, 25).

4. Growth in unity. This is another one of the notes that the illustration of the body reveals. Paul explains it, saying: May grow up in all things into Him who is the head, Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love (Ephesians 4:15-16).

There is, therefore, a vital union among all the members of the Church; and, in the same way as there is an inter-dependence among all the members of the body, there is also a mutual inter-dependence among all the members of the Church.

Go to the Steps directory.

As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:27-28).

As we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another (Romans 12:4-5).

Commentary and explanation. Three issues are affirmed in this Step: 1. the incorporation into the Church is done by the baptism in the Holy Spirit; and 2. the dignity of all members of the Church is equal; and 3. each member has different functions.

1. Baptism incorporates into the Church. Paul says to Corinthians: By one Spirit we were all baptized into one body... and have all been made to drink into one Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13). And writing to Galatians, he says: As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). Every Christian becomes member of the body of Christ, the Church, through faith of baptism. Faith in the gospel incorporates the believer into the body of Christ. Faith of baptism makes the believer a member of His body.

2. The members of the Church are equal, with different functions. The equality of all the members of the Church is one of the most radical affirmations of the New Testament. This statement was in diametric opposition to Judaism, which established a difference, diametric too, between Jews and non Jews, between Jews and Gentiles.

Against this position, Paul comes affirming: There is neither Jew nor Greek (or Gentile), there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). Any kind of discrimination is abolished in the Church, whether it be race, or gender or any other. Nevertheless, how difficult it has been —and is today— to eradicate discrimination from the Church. Women for instance have been —and are— discriminated for centuries!

But the teaching of the New Testament is clear: all the members of the Church enjoy the same dignity; there are no classes in the Church; there are no members superior to another; any distinction of dignity in the Church is against the teaching of the New Testament and does not have biblical foundation.

The emphasis used by Peter is notorious when he talks about the equality of all the members of the Church. At the first Council, in Jerusalem, talking about the Gentiles recently converted to the gospel, he said: Made no distinction between us and them (Acts 15:9). He couldn't say it more emphatically and clear: we all are equal!

All the letters of the Apostles and the practice of the New Testament confirms the same truth. There is not the smallest vestige in the New Testament, the writing of Peter included, that would have suggested that he, or any of the Apostles, would have a dignity or distinction above the rest of the Church. That would have been an aberration.

3. Different functions. It is a completely different thing to talk about functions, gifts or ministries in the Church; in these, there are differences, as there are in every body. Paul says that, in the quotation of Romans for this Step: As we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we in Christ (Romans 12:4-5). As it happens in the body, where the eye has its own function, and the hands its own, and the foot, but all together give harmony to the body, thus also in the Church, the body of Christ.

But the diversity of functions or ministries does not make one superior to the other. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 12, where he says that no member can tell the other member: I have no need of you... much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary (15-21,22).

Neither do the gifts of the Spirit make those who receive them superior, because the gifts are for the service of all: The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for profit of all (1 Corinthians 12:7). In Steps 94 and 95 we will speak about the gifts and ministries.

Go to the Steps directory.

You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:5).

To Him, who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (Revelation 1:5-6).

Commentary and explanation. These two and other texts of the New Testament speak about the priesthood of the people of God, the Church. There is not an individual priesthood but a collective one, of the whole people.

The concept of priest according to the model of the Old Testament was not adopted by the early Church; priests are not mentioned in the New Testament.

The reason is very clear: the principal duty of the priests of the Old Testament was to serve the altar, where a variety of sacrifices were offered daily. This kind of sacrifices do not have room in the New Testament, where there is only one priest, Jesus Christ, and only one sacrifice, the sacrifice of Himself on the cross.

That Jesus Christ is the only one and High Priest of the New Testament, is attested through the whole letter to Hebrews, because He, by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified (Hebrews 10:14). Jesus didn't need, as the other high priests did, to offer many sacrifices, since He did once for all when He offered up Himself (Hebrews 7:217).

With the sacrifice of Christ there is no room left for other sacrifices, because His own was perfect and sufficient; there is no room either for other priests, because they do not have anything to offer, since Jesus, with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12).

Christ is then the only one and High Priest of the New Testament, but in Him and by Him, His whole Body, the Church, is a priestly body; and all members of this Body share the priesthood of the Head.

It is in this sense that Peter says that are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood (1 Peter 2:5); and John says that Christ has made us kings and priests to His God and Father (Revelation 1:5).

The main power given to the believers, members of this priestly body, is that they have direct access to God, without the need of intermediaries. The believer has the right to approach God directly, talk to Him, ask Him, without the need to resort to other intermediaries.

Paul says, in Ephesians: For through Him we have access by one Spirit to the Father (Ephesians 2:18); and in Romans: Through whom (Christ) we have access by faith into this grace (Romans 5:2). Only Jesus is the necessary Mediator between God and men, and through Him the believer can approach God confidently: Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16).

The believer has also the duty and obligation of offering spiritual sacrifices, as Paul says: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God (Romans 12:1). See Step 82, where this living, holy and acceptable sacrifice to God is explained.

This is an individual obligation of each believer, who must convey a life of holiness and service. Believers should live in constant obedience and dedication to God, following the example of Jesus, the High Priest. It is in that way that Christians live the priesthood of Christ in themselves, sharing it as members of the Church.

There is not, then, a priesthood of rites and ceremonies; there is not a priesthood of a class, that set aside a group, as the Levitical priesthood did; neither is it an individual priesthood. It is a spiritual priesthood, common to all baptized; it is a priesthood that has its accomplishment and realization in Christ and by Christ, the High Priest.

The best moment of this ecclesial priesthood is when the whole local congregation is united in worship to God through Jesus Christ, and asks for all the needs of the people. It is then that a congregation acts as a priestly people.

Go to the Steps directory.