Question:

Catholics use Matthew 16:13-19 to support their belief that Peter was the first pope and has power to accept or reject people from heaven.  Is that what this passage means?

Answer:

We looked at the context of these verses to determine who was speaking to whom.  The Lord Jesus was asking the disciples who He is, and declared that the Church would be built on Him (which means “the Rock”), not Peter (which means “the stone”).  Matthew 16:19 doesn’t say Peter has the keys of the church.  He has been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven, or that of professing Christianity.  Peter opened the door of Christianity on the day of Pentecost.  The kingdom of heaven is made up of all who profess to be Christians.  Some are true believers, and some are not.  Matthew 13 gives illustrations of the kingdom of heaven.

We were encouraged to be careful of how we speak of spiritual things with people from other denominations.  It’s important to not attack their beliefs or choice of church.  We should tell them what the truth is, not what they’re doing wrong.