The Church That Jesus Built
- Elijah McSwain
- 12 minutes ago
- 12 min read
7/12/2025
Elijah McSwain, Sr.
Matthew 16:13-19 (NKJV) When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 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. 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.
Today, when we think of the "church," many misconceptions exist about what it really is. There is a lack of understanding of what the church involves and is made up of, as defined by God.
Misconceptions of the church involve things such as:
The church is a glorified social club that is filled with religious fanatics who are under a hypnotic trance, spellbound, brainwashed, and bamboozled by believing in Jesus.
The church is often seen as limited to a building and a specific location.
Many people see the church as a place for entertainment, like a performance where they act out a script or a scene from a play.
The church has been described as an optional, foolish, and pointless concept.
The church has been seen as a place where people gather once a week, once a month, or during specific times of the year, such as Christmas and Easter.
People assume that the church is where I gain favor with God, earn brownie points with Him, and can improve or gain meritorious status with God.
The church is assumed to be the only place where people can connect with God. The false assumption is that people have to wait until Sunday morning to feel His presence.
Many churches attempt to imitate these misguided ideas in an effort to shape the life of the church. This type of thinking often leads people astray. The true definition of the church is noted in biblical terminology as the ekklesia. It is an assembly of people called out from the world. The church is made up of blood-bought and blood-washed believers, who have been purchased by the blood of Christ.
Paul Little quoted that the church is the body of Christ, where Christ is the head, joining believers together. The church is the building of God, a spiritual house of believers, and the church is the bride of Christ, where all believers have His divine love. 1
The Broadman Church Manual states, “the nature of the church is one of divine origin, divine leadership and divine purpose.” 2 The Gospel of Matthew provides further details of what the church is from the conversation that Jesus had with His disciples. Christ gave vivid details of the church that He built, as we will see in His discourse.
The Church Has Irrevocable Ownership
Many people have a misinformed idea of who the church belongs to. Individuals believe that the church is their church based on family ties, longstanding membership, the efforts of their forefathers in laying the cornerstone of the church, or even founding a local church. Family ties and longstanding membership only make a person affiliated with a local church. It does not determine that they have ownership of a local church. Actually, the universal church that encompasses the local church is owned by Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the local sanctuary and church were built to be dedicated to God. In Psalm 63:2 (ESV), David asserted, “So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.” Here in Matthew 16:15-18, the church’s ownership is revealed. Jesus asked His disciples, “But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, 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.”
The narrative of the text suggests that Christ established the church. He alone founded it. The phrase “I will build” emphasizes that Jesus is the Founder, Architect, Engineer, and Master Builder of the church. The possessive pronoun “My” shows that Jesus has ownership of the church as the Proprietor, Owner, and Deed Holder.
Jesus has both the legal and exclusive right of ownership to the church. Acts 20:28 shows that He purchased the church with His own blood. The deed has been signed, notarized, and sealed, confirming His irrevocable and irreversible ownership of the church. The church, so to speak, has been registered in the archives of heaven and remains unchangeable in its binding status.
In Bible times, a seal was the way a person identified something that he owned. For example, businessmen would purchase timber in Lebanon. When they bought the timber, they stamped it with their seal. The logs then floated down the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea to the port where the buyers could collect their logs. Any log with their mark of ownership on it belonged to them. Other owners could not take what belonged to another owner. The Christian is sealed with the Holy Spirit—He has God’s mark of ownership, and God does not give up His own. 3
As the church, we are not for sale or repossession. The Lord already has a claim on us. There is no transfer of ownership. There is no need for a Quitclaim Deed to move ownership. The church belongs to the Lord, as the church is His. 1 Corinthians 3:9 makes the assertion that we are God’s property, we are God’s field, and we are God’s building. As God’s property, we are aligned and connected with Him. Other so-called potential property owners do not have the right to bargain shop for what belongs to the Lord. As God’s property, we must remain separate from the world. Let the church be the church. The church is to be furnished only with what the Owner has designed for His house. Adam Clarke noted we are employed by the great Architect to form a building which is to become a habitation of Himself through the Spirit, and the design of which is entirely His own. 4
The Church Has An Immovable Foundation
Matthew 16:16 of the biblical text reveals who the foundation is in verse 18. Peter declared, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus affirmed in verse 18, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church.” Many people misread this passage and claim that the church was built on the foundation of Peter. Peter’s name in biblical terminology is petros. It means a pebble or a piece of a rock. The word “rock” in verse 18 is petra. It means a structure in the form of a massive rock. Surely, the church was not built on a fragment of a rock. If so, it would be unstable. Have you ever tried to balance your entire body standing on a pebble? The pebble will not be able to support your body weight, nor can you do a balancing act on a pebble. Likewise, the church cannot be firmly affixed to Peter. If this were the case, the church would be founded on shaky ground. The church is built on the massive rock, Jesus Christ. His foundation is massive to hold the church firm. His foundation is massive to stabilize every born-again believer.
The church that Jesus built is not attached to a human foundation. The church is not built upon the pastor, preacher, deacons, trustees, mission, brotherhood, choir, praise and worship team, any ministry, any auxiliary, or financial contributor.
If the church was built on these human institutions, positions, titles, and individuals, then the church would crumble. The church would have a fragile foundation. Our omniscient Lord knows this; therefore, He built the church on an unmovable fortress, which is Christ the Lord. The church showcased that it was built upon Christ from Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Ephesians 2:20 declares that the apostles and prophets of old laid the foundation of Jesus Christ, Himself being the chief cornerstone. William MacDonald affirmed that the apostles and prophets of the New Testament “laid the foundation in what they taught about the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. The church is founded on Christ as He was revealed by the confession and teaching of the apostles and prophets. When Peter confessed Him as the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus announced that His church would be built on that rock, namely, on the solid truth that He is the anointed of God and God’s unique Son.” 5
The testimony concerning Jesus should be every Christian’s duty and the responsibility of every local church to lead people to the truth. Jesus is heaven's superstructure, the Solid Rock, by which the church is built in connection with the divine revelation about Him. The revelation of Jesus Christ as the church’s foundation is undeniable. The church belongs to the Lord.
The songwriter, Edward Mote, penned the words…..
My hope is built on nothing less than
Jesus’s blood & righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly leaning on Jesus’ name
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand. 6
1 Corinthians 3:11 (NKJV) remarks, “For no other foundation can anyone
lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” Psalm 127:1 (NKJV) mentions,
“Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”
Since the foundation has already been laid, there is no need to deconstruct the foundation of Jesus in order to reconstruct it by any other means.
The body of Christ must witness about the great foundation, Jesus Christ. Members of God’s kingdom must confess the great confession, like that of Peter. Jesus responded in verse 17, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Peter possessed divine insight through esoteric knowledge concerning the Person of Christ and the nature of His church. MacArthur explained Christ’s messianic claims had always been subtle allusions to OT prophecies, combined with miraculous works that substantiated those claims. Never before had He explicitly taught Peter and the apostles the fullness of His identity. God the Father had opened Peter’s eyes to the full significance of those claims, and revealed to him who Jesus really was. In other words, God had opened Peter’s heart to this deeper knowledge of Christ by faith. Peter was not merely expressing an academic opinion about the identity of Christ; this was a confession of Peter’s personal faith, made possible by a divinely-regenerated heart.” 7
May God’s people be enlightened about the origin of the church, the Head of the church, and our existence as a church in Christ Jesus.
The Church Must Exercise Heavenly Authority
Matthew 16:19 emphasizes Jesus’ declaration, “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.” Bruce Hurt quoted Allen on keys – “If you have been entrusted with the "keys" to something, it may not be yours to own or to use as you will; but it is yours to exercise authority over in the name of the one who entrusted the keys to you. You have the owner's authority given to you to open it or close it.” 8
The idea of giving keys to Peter symbolizes the authority granted to him on behalf of Christ, the Owner. The depiction shows Christ bestowing authority on Peter to declare what will be bound or loosed on earth, in accordance with what is bound or loosed in heaven.
Many times, this is a misquoted verse stated in the Christian faith. This verse is taken out of context to imply that believers can bind sickness and all manner of diseases. It is misquoted to imply the ability to bind the devil under their feet or that individuals have the power to loose this or that. The concept of binding and loosing is not based on human perception or determination, it is instead determined by what heaven has already decreed. David Guzik wrote, “binding” and “loosing” were administrative terms in daily Jewish life; whenever a Jew came up against the Law of Moses, that Jewish person was either “bound” or “loosed” in regard to that law. To loose was to permit; to bind was to prohibit. To loose was to free from the law, to bind was to put under the law. “Their regular sense, which any Jew would recognize was to allow and to forbid. To bind something was to declare it forbidden; to loose was to declare it allowed. These were the regular phrases for taking decisions in regard to the law.” (Barclay). 8
Albert Barnes further adds, “the phrase "to bind" and "to loose" was often used by the Jews. It meant to prohibit and to permit. To bind a thing was to forbid it; to loose it, to allow it to be done. When Jesus gave this power to the apostles, he meant that whatsoever they forbade in the church should have divine authority; whatever they permitted, or commanded, should also have divine authority - that is, should be bound or loosed in heaven, or meet the approbation of God. They were to be guided infallibly in the organization of the church:
1. by the teaching of Christ, and,
2. by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. 9
The order that is established in heaven is the order for the church.
Binding and loosing involve church discipline as recorded in Matthew 18:15-20. This passage emphasizes that if a person is at fault, tell the fault to him alone. If he hears you have gained a brother, but if he will not listen to you, take two or three trusted witnesses. If he refuses, then bring the matter before the church. Matthew 18:18-20 specifically states, “Assuredly I say to you whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven. Again, I say to you that if you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven, For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them.”
The church that Jesus established must be dedicated to exercising biblical authority over sinning disciples. The church should discipline straying members out of love through loosing and binding. The church has been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven and granted the authority to remove what is forbidden and to permit what is right. The church should help reconcile and restore our fallen brothers and sisters in love. Modern churches tend to avoid church discipline, correction, and the proper use of loosing and binding. Churches are afraid to and don’t want to hurt anybody's feelings. However, we cannot allow the forbidden things to go unnoticed.
The church must lovingly express the dangers of vile living and contrarianism.
Proverbs 14:34 (NJKV) implies that, “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people.” Jesus has given the church the authority to call in question the sinful deeds of man with righteous judgment through the Word of God. John 7:24 proclaims, “judge with righteous judgment.” 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 affirms that God judges outsiders (sinners), but believers judge those who are inside (other believers). Paul called into question in 1 Corinthians 5:1, the deeds of sexual immorality among the Corinthian church. The consensus involved how a man should not have his father’s wife.
Today’s church needs to exercise spiritual authority and church government as it has been given to the church. The church should oversee what is permissible and what is not acceptable in the life and body of the church.
The Church Possesses Unyielding Power
Matthew 16:18 states, “On this rock, I will build My church, and the gates of Hades should not prevail against it.” No force on earth or under the world can stop, overpower, or overcome the church that Jesus built. The church is an indestructible force commanded by Jesus. The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. The fiery darts of the enemy may be shot in the church’s direction, and persecution will come against the church, but the Lord’s church will endure and remain fortified by His power. God’s people must remember that the words of Romans 8:37 state, “yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”
The church that Jesus built must understand that human councils shall not succeed. Manmade instruments of opposition will fail. The forces of darkness will be overshadowed. Satan’s assaults will not prevail.
The Lord is mighty to protect and preserve His church. The omnipotence of the Lord, who governs the church, is able to keep the church. Psalm 24:8 declares, The Lord is strong and mighty. The Lord is mighty in battle.
The church is built divine tough. The church that Jesus built is matchless in power, unparalleled in strength, supernatural in fortitude, and superiorly invincible.
The church has victory in Jesus. No weapon formed against the church shall prosper. Death cannot stop the church. Principalities cannot stop the church. Things present or things to come will stop the church. The church that Jesus built should be a church on the move, a church of purpose, a church that adheres to His mission, a church that lifts up the name of the Lord, a church that engages in true worship, and a church that stands firm on the solid foundation of Christ.
The church that Jesus built has irrevocable ownership, an immovable foundation, exercises heavenly authority, and is connected to God’s unyielding power.
Notes
Little, Paul. Know What You Believe. Page 173.
The Broadman Church Manual. Page 1.
https://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/sealed-with-the-spirit
Clarke, Adam. “Commentary on 1 Corinthians 3:9”. “The Adam Clarke Commentary”. https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/acc/1-corinthians-3.html.1832.
The Believer’s Bible Commentary
The MacArthur Study Bible
