Then lets look at the next sentence:
Matthew 16: “19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Matthew 18: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
However, binding and loosing are NOT Peter’s prerogative alone, but a congregational function - “Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. AGAIN [he repeats himself using different words] I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. [And who has the authority?] For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
And in John 20:
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.”
Notice this isn’t given to Peter alone, nor to just the Apostles, for one of the Twelve wasn’t even there. It is given in conjunction with being sent by God to proclaim the Gospel, and with the reception of the Holy Spirit - whom ALL Christians receive, or they are not Christians.
So...how is Peter the Vicar of Christ and Head of the Church?
Mr. Rogers,
Jesus empowers all of the apostles to “bind” and “loose,” but the keys of the kingdom are given only to Peter. As F.F. Bruce says:
“The keys of a royal or noble establishment were entrusted to the chief steward or major domo; he carried them on his shoulder in earlier times, and there they served as a badge of the authority entrusted to him. About 700 B.C. an oracle from God announced that this authority in the royal palace in Jerusalem was to be conferred on a man called Eliakim: ‘I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open’ (Is 22:22). So in the new community that Jesus was about to build, Peter would be, so to speak, chief steward” (Hard Sayings of the Bible, 385).
In John 21, Jesus gives to Peter alone the triple commission to feed his sheep. In Luke 22, Jesus prays for Peter alone when all the disciples are to be sifted by Satan. It is Jesus who elevates Peter among (I don’t say above) the other apostles.
I do actually believe that Peter and the apostles began the early churches. Christ did institute the twelve to begin the church.
However, there is no clear record anywhere that the roman catholic church is any kind of successor to Peter. Paul was the one who went to Rome to spread the gospel.
As far as I can tell from history is that constantine handed over his crown to the first pope when he declared that “christianity” is the new religion in rome. However, they just overlayed their feasts over the top of the christian church and called it the Roman Catholic Church.
The church of Jesus Christ is nothing to do with denominations...that is just man’s outward structure that he has given to the what he thinks the church should be. The real church is those who seek to make their heart pure by practising what Jesus asked them to do. If you have any negative feelings towards any human then you are not doing what Jesus asked you to do. We are called to love one another and to love God. To Love God is to believe on Jesus Christ as our King who has atoned for us and washed us of our sin. That is what Christianity is and it has absolutely nothing to do with whether you call yourself RC, Anglican or baptist...whatever.
Get your hearts right and stop condemning...Its been a long road for me and I have had to go round the mountain a number of times before I could see this. The bible is a book to convict you in your heart to love God and Jesus. It is not there for any of us to start telling people they are right and wrong. We just spread the gospel...Jesus died for us and wants us to take hold of this fundamental faith so that we can live eternally with God in Jesus Christ who is the heart and word of God our Father in Heaven. Nothing I can do will ever get me into heaven. God is our saviour and sent his mercy through his son, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ cleans us of our sin. If you don’t grab hold of this sacrifice with all of your mind and heart then you are probably thinking that your good acts will get you into heaven.
Think of the thief who was on the cross...do you think that he could do any righteous act to get in to heaven once he had asked for forgiveness? No...he couldn’t because he was already condemned to die...what other acts could he have done. He knew that he needed a saviour...he asked for forgiveness from Jesus and Jesus promised him that he would be in paradise with him. That is what it took. If you ask Jesus to wash you and cleanse you he will forgive you and release you from your sin. That is all it takes -
Acknowledge that Jesus Christ is your saviour. The rest is just conjecture and argument and you can file it in the bin from where it came from.
AMEN, Every blessing
Colin