The Foundation of the Christian Faith
In various places, the Bible compares the life of a believer to the construction of a building. For instance, the epistle of Jude says: “Building yourselves up on your most holy faith” (v. 20).
The apostle Paul also uses the same picture in various places: You are God’s building.. as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation (1 Cor. 3:9)
You also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:22).
I commend you . . . to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up (Acts 20:32).
In all these passages the believer’s life is compared to the construction of a building.
Yeshua the Rock
What, then, is God’s appointed foundation for the Christians life? The answer is given by the apostle Paul: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Yeshua ” (1 Cor. 3:11).
This is confirmed also by Peter as he speaks of Yeshua: “Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious’ (1 Pet. 2:6).
Here Peter is referring to the passage in Isaiah which reads: “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation’ ” (Is. 28:16).
Thus Old Testament and New Testament alike agree on this vital fact: The true foundation of the Christians life is Yeshua Himself – nothing else, and no one else. It is not a creed, a church, a denomination, an ordinance or a ceremony. It is Yeshua…. Yeshua Himself – and “no other foundation can anyone lay.”
Consider the words of Yeshua.
When Yeshua came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples,
“Who do men say that I am, the Son of Man?” 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?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Yeshua, the Son of the living God.” Yeshua 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” (Matt. 16:13-18).
It has sometimes been suggested that these words of Yeshua mean that Peter is the rock upon which the Christians church is to be built, and thus that Peter is in some sense the foundation of Christianity rather than Yeshua Himself. This question is of such vital and far reaching importance that it is imperative to examine the words of Yeshua very carefully to ascertain their proper meaning.
In the original Greek of the New Testament, there is, in Yeshua’s answer to Peter, a deliberate play upon words. In Greek, the name “Peter” is Petros; the word for “rock” is petra. Playing upon this similarity in sound, Yeshua says, “You are Peter [Petros], and on this rock [petra] I will build My church” (Matt. 16:18). The revelation of Yeshua being “the Son of the living God” is the rock upon which the church was to be built upon. Not Peter the person as many believe within the Catholic faith.
Common sense and scripture alike confirm this fact. If the church of Yeshua were founded upon the apostle Peter, it would surely be the most insecure and unstable edifice in the world. Later in the same chapter of Matthew’s Gospel, we read that Yeshua began to forewarn His disciples of His impending rejection and crucifixion. The account then continues:
Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matt. 16:22-23).
Here Yeshua directly charges Peter with being influenced by the opinions of men, and even by the promptings of Satan himself. How could such a man be the foundation of the entire Christians church?
Later on, in the Gospels we read that, rather than confess Yeshua before a serving maid, Peter publicly denied his Lord three times.
Even after the resurrection and the day of Pentecost, Paul tells us that Peter was influenced by fear of his countrymen to compromise at one point concerning the truth of the gospel (see Gal. 2:11-14).
Surely, then, Peter was no rock. He was love able, impetuous, a born leader – but a man just like the rest, with all the inherent weaknesses of humanity. The only rock upon which Christians faith can be based is Yeshua Himself.
Confirmation of this vital fact is found also in the Old Testament. The psalmist David, prophetically inspired by the Holy Spirit, says this:
The Lord is my rock . . . in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold (Ps. 18:2).
In Psalm 62 David makes a similar confession of faith.
Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved. My soul, wait silently for God alone . . . . . . He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God (Ps. 62:1-2, 5-7).
Nothing could be plainer than that. The word rock occurs three times, and the word salvation occurs four times. That is to say, the words rock and salvation are by the Scripture intimately and inseparably joined. Each is found only in one person, and that Person is the Lord Himself. This is emphasized by the repetition of the word only.
If anyone should require yet further confirmation of this, we may turn to the words of Peter himself. Speaking to the people of Israel concerning Yeshua, in which Peter says:
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).
The Lord Yeshua, therefore; is the true rock, the rock of ages, in whom there is salvation. The person who builds upon this foundation can say, like David:
He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved (Ps. 62:6).
The Confrontation
How, then does a person build upon this rock, which is Yeshua?
Let us turn back again to that dramatic moment when Yeshua and Peter stood face-to-face and Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). We have seen that Yeshua is the rock. But it is not Yeshua in isolation or abstraction. Peter had a definite personal experience.
Let’s examine the four stages in this experience.
1. A direct, personal confrontation of Peter with Yeshua. Yeshua and Peter stood face-to-face. There was no mediator between them. No other human being played any part at all in the experience.
2. A direct, personal revelation was granted to Peter. Yeshua said to Peter, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 16:17). This was not the outcome of natural reasoning or intellectual understanding. It was the outcome of a direct spiritual revelation to Peter by God the Father Himself.
3. A personal acknowledgment by Peter of the truth which had thus been revealed to him.
4. An open and public confession by Peter of the truth which he acknowledged.
In these four stages, we see what it means to build upon the rock. There is nothing abstract, intellectual, or theoretical about the whole thing. Each stage involves a definite, individual experience.
The first stage is a direct, personal confrontation of Yeshua. The second stage is a direct, spiritual revelation of Yeshua. The third stage is a personal acknowledgment of Yeshua. The fourth stage is an open and personal confession of Yeshua. Through these four experiences, Yeshua becomes for each believer the rock upon which his faith is built.
The Revelation
The question arises: Can a person today come to know Yeshua in the same direct, personal way that Peter came to know Him?
The answer is yes, for the following two reasons:
First, it was not Yeshua in His purely human nature who was revealed to Peter: Peter already knew Yeshua of Nazareth, the carpenter’s son. The One who was now revealed to Peter was the divine, eternal, unchanging Son of God. This is the same Yeshua who now lives exalted in heaven at the Father’s right hand. In the passage of nearly two thousand years, there has been no change in Him at all. It is still Yeshua, the same yesterday, today, and forever. He was revealed to Peter, He can still be revealed today to those who sincerely seek Him.
Secondly, the revelation did not come by “flesh and blood” – by any physical or sensory means. It was a spiritual revelation, the work of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit who gave this revelation to Peter is still at work in all the world, revealing the same Yeshua. Himself promised His disciples:
When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you (John 16:13-14).
Since spiritual revelation is in the eternal, spiritual realm, it is not limited by material or physical factors, such as the passage of time or the change of language, customs, clothing or circumstances.
This personal experience of Yeshua, the Son of God – by the Holy Spirit revealed, acknowledged and confessed – remains the one unchanging rock, the one immovable foundation, upon which all true Christians faith must be based. Creeds and opinions, churches and denominations – all these may change, but this one true rock of God’s salvation by personal faith in Yeshua remains eternal and unchanging. Upon it a person may build his faith for time and for eternity with a confidence that nothing can ever overthrow.
Acknowledgment
Nothing is more striking in the writings and testimony of the early Christian’s than their serenity and confidence concerning their faith in Yeshua. Yeshua says:
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Yeshua whom You have sent (John 17:3).
This is not merely to know God in a general way through nature or conscience as Creator or Judge. This is to know Him revealed personally in Yeshua, the Christ. Neither is it to know about Yeshua, the Christ merely as a historical character or a great teacher. It is to know Yeshua Himself, directly and personally, and God in Him. The apostle John writes:
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life (1 John 5:13).
The early Christian’s not only believed, but they also knew. They had an experiential faith which produced a definite knowledge of that which they believed. A little further on in the same chapter John writes again:
We know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Yeshua, the Christ (v. 20).
Note the humble, yet serene, confidence of these words. Their basis is knowledge of a person, and that Person is Yeshua, the Christ himself. Paul gave the same kind of personal testimony when he said:
I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day (2 Tim. 1:12).
Notice that Paul did not say, “I know what I have believed.” He said, “I know whom I have believed.” His faith was not founded upon a creed or a church, but upon a Person whom he knew by direct acquaintance – Yeshua, the Christ. As a result of this personal acquaintance with Yeshua, he had a serene confidence concerning the well-being of his soul, which nothing in time or eternity could overthrow.
Confession
For several years I conducted regular street meetings in Los Angeles, California. At the close of the meetings, I would sometimes approach people who had listened to the message and ask them this simple question: “Are you a Christian?” Many times I would receive answers such as, “I think so,” or “I hope so,” or “I try to be,” or “I don’t know.” All who give answers like these betray one fact: Their faith is not built upon the one sure foundation of a direct, personal knowledge of Yeshua, the Christ.
Suppose I were to put that same question to you: Are you a Christian? What kind of answer would you be able to give?
One final word of advice from Job: Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace; Thereby good will come to you (Job 22:21).