In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today we are going to look at that rock-solid confession, foundation and promise that binds Peter and Paul, and us, to Jesus’ Holy Church.

Introduction: Built on the Rock, Blessed in the Confession

You can tell when a foundation isn’t right. Whether it’s a frost-heaved shed or a sagging barn, you learn quick: build on something solid or watch it fall apart. The same is true for the Church. Churches that grow are built on a foundation that is as solid as the very Word of God. Jesus says that foundation isn’t clever plans or popularity contests. It’s confession.

Peter and Paul came very from different worlds. One hauled nets from the sea; the other hauled scrolls from synagogues. One came from a small rural town; the other from the university world at the Temple in great Jerusalem. One a fisherman of fishermen; the other a Pharisee of Pharisees.¹ Today however, we remember not their differences, but their unity. What drew them, and held them, together wasn’t temperament or training, it was truth. That truth is the confession of Christ crucified and risen.

The Confession that Builds

Jesus asked His disciples:

Who do you say that I am?²

That question wasn’t just for Peter. It echoes across every eon of ancestry and age. At this question of such vast magnitude, Peter didn’t blink. He responded boldly:

You are the Christ,
the Son of the living God.³

That kind of clarity does not come from inside us. Jesus said so:

Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.⁴

Faith is not formed by human imagination or invention; it is grace-given by God. The Small Catechism puts it plainly:

I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him…⁵

We believe because God speaks.

Jesus rewards Peter’s confession with four rock-solid promises. Together, they form the shape of the Church’s strength:, identity, foundation, protection, and authority.

• Blessing – You are blessed, not for being bold, but for believing.

• Foundation – Christ builds His Church on this rock of faith, not on trends or techniques. (Paul repeats this when he writes, “No one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.⁶”

• Protection – Even hell’s gates can’t stand against it.

• Forgiveness – The keys of the kingdom are handed over to bind and to loose.

It is the Spirit at work through Word and Sacrament, not the inventions of man, that builds and sustains the Church.⁷

The Conflict that Refines

you might think, you might even wish you had that kind of unwavering, unwilting faith. Well even saints stumble. Peter, who had so boldly confessed Christ, later publicly avoided being seen with some non-Jewish believers when pressure came from the Temple Authority. Paul saw it and could not let it slide.⁸

The issue wasn’t etiquette, it was the expressing the Gospel. Paul reminds us:

A person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Jesus Christ.⁹

This wasn’t a squabble; it was a defense of salvation by grace alone. As he later wrote:

We had boldness in our God to declare to you the Gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.¹⁰

Calling someone out should always be done with the intent of bringing them back to the truth of the Gospel.¹¹ When the goal is faithfulness to Christ, it is good for Iron to sharpen iron.¹² The Spirit sharpens us through the truth of the Word as we cling to the Sacraments, the sacred acts Jesus gave us.

Luther writes in the Catechism:

Baptism indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die…¹³

Peter had his moment of drowning pride, and so have we all. God’s grace always calls us back.

The Church that Endures

Church councils usually mean agendas, debates, and sometimes lots of donuts. The Jerusalem Council wasn’t administrative, it was apostolic. The decisions made there still shape the Church today, reminding us that unity in the Gospel is not optional, it’s foundational. The question they debated: Must Gentiles (people like us) become Jewish first and then Christian to be saved? In other words do we have to follow the sacred acts (sacraments) of the Old Testament. The answer: absolutely not.¹⁴ Just look at how that gathering has influenced and guided the Christian Church throughout the ages.

• Justin Martyr (100–165): In his “Dialogue with Trypho,” he argues Baptism replaces circumcision and is given to all people, not just male infants.

• Origen (185–254): Connects Baptism with circumcision as a spiritual sign, especially when defending infant Baptism.

• John Chrysostom (349–407): Commenting on Colossians 2, teaches Baptism is the new spiritual circumcision.

• St. Augustine (354–430): In his writings draws a direct parallel between Old Testament circumcision and New Testament Baptism when he records: “Circumcision was a sign of regeneration, and the absence of it was a mark of condemnation. The same is true of Baptism now. Letter 98:2 (to Boniface)

Peter stood up and spoke clearly:

We believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.¹⁵

That settled it. The Church would stand on grace, not on cultural expectations or ancestral traditions. Paul echoed the same hope:

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.¹⁶

Death is not defeat when resurrection stands at the ready.

The Fellowship We Share

Peter and Paul didn’t fit together based on what you might read on paper. Yet Jesus made them brothers in mind, mission, and faith. The same is true for us. Farmers and factory workers. Young and old. Struggling and steadfast. We gather around Christ’s Table not because we’re alike, but because we are forgiven. Here, we share “One Lord, one faith, one Baptism.¹⁷ Here, we come side by side to receive the same holy, sacred, precious Body and Blood.

It does not matter where you come from, or where you are. These are the things that ensure we are all going to the same place. That place is heaven. They assure that, because here is something far more then bread and wine. Through these things we receive Jesus real Body and real Blood for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus said:

Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on Me, he also will live because of Me.¹⁸

We belong to the same Church, under the same grace, with the same mission. And when we fall, and we will, the same Jesus who built His Church will lifts us up again.

Conclusion: Confess and Continue

Peter held the keys. Paul wielded the pen. And you? You hold the promise of Light of the world.¹⁹ Our confession of faith is not just a line in the liturgy. It is your foundation, your identity, your calling. It is the path we walk with the together with the faithful of old. To stand with the angels and arch-angels and all the company of heaven.²⁰ To confess Christ is to be built on the rock. So walk out today like Peter and Paul. Each of us with different callings, but the same faith in the same Savior, Jesus Christ.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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