Religion Forum Research Project: God is the Rock

we just found out today that my wife and I are expecting a child after several years of patiently waiting and praying for God to find us worthy of this awesome blessing in our marriage.

Praise God!!! Congratulations to you and Mrs. Claud and wee little Claud-to-be!

I join with everyone here lifting you and the family up to God for His rich blessings and tender mercies!

I am of course well aware of "Vade retro, Satanam!"---Get Thee behind me Satan! Simon was called Peter the rest of his life. He was called Satan once...and I think all of us once in a while--including Popes--deserve that admonition. :)

First let me congratulate you on your good news. Blessings to you and yours.

I agree (mostly) with your reply. I guess the point I was attempting to make was that Peter being called "Rock" by Jesus is as meaningful (to me :-)) as Jesus calling him Satan. Peter was a rock and at times failed to live up to his calling.

BTW, the last time we know of Jesus speaking to Peter He called him Simon. (Minor correction to your "Peter the rest of his life...".)

Once again, congratulations on your great news!

Perhaps this esoteric point has been raised and forgotten, I haven't been following the religion threads closely. But here goes ...

Sometimes I find it helpful in seeking to settle questions arisen over scriptures or 'whom will be in Heaven' to consider that there is more than one group seen in Heaven: there is the Chruch, the Bride of Christ; the is the cloud of witnesses so great in number that no man can number them; there are the Heavenly hosts of differing ranks in angelic stature. Whe considering the degree of perfection or the level of glorification, it is sometimes helpful to consider which group is at issue, The Bride/Church or the witnesses, for both will be at the Wedding Feasy, but the Bride will be of higher stature than the witnesses, and interestingly, when Jesus taught this lesson, He focused upon the garment of the witnesses as appointed by The 'King of the Wedding'.

Pardon the intrusion to address a way of reconciling the disputation between my friend Quix and others. I'll climb back up on the porch now and let the big dogs run without obstacle of a little dog.

The ‘key’ (pun intended) to understanding what Jesus said to Peter regarding keys is found sown in Luke 11:52, where Jesus rebukes the lawyerly Pharisees and Scribes who had not only withheld the ‘key’ to knowledge for the Jewish common man and woman but had also hindered those seeking to comprehend the spiritual things. The Leaders of Israel did this to maintain their power, their prestige, their importance. Thus the keys to salvation and righteousification (King James Version likes justification) are to be given to those faithing in Jesus as their Deliverer, and Jesus tells this to Peter in a metaphor of binding and loosening, as in understanding opened and mysteries revealed for a true following of The Savior.

The Keys to Hell and Death are retained by Our Savior because He is The Deliverer, The Propitiation, The Propitiatory. He has redeemed those who will allow Him to be their Deliverer, thus many are called but few are chosen because so few will let Him do it.

Keys open and close things and confirm authority (in the sense of Jesus’s day, the ancient times of Kings and Princes in the flesh; we are now up against princes and powers but we have been given the authority, the keys, to defeat these through Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit) ... The Way IS Christ and upon the solid foundation of the Spirit of God revealing the mysteries Christ built His ekklesia, in contrast to the Pharisees and Scribes seeking to built an edifice upon their holding the keys, the authority, rather than opening the mysteries to those seeking an intimate relationship with God.

Using one of Christ’s own metaphors, when a mason starts to build a stone or brick wall or box, he establishes a corner that is solidly founded (Jesus, the Chief of the Corner) and from thence he establishes straight, plumb, and level lines along which to run his courses ... these straight, level, and plumb references are the keys given to establish the ekklesia and are the hallmarks of Divine Authority in transfer to the ekklesia, the believers, the faithers.

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