It’s important to study the Bible for yourself and not blindly accept everything a minister says from the pulpit. Wrong religious traditions have developed over the years due to people not rightly dividing the word of truth. For example, Catholics believe Peter was the first pope because of what Jesus said in Matthew 16:18…“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.”
The name Peter comes from the Greek word petros meaning “rock.” Because the next verse refer to Jesus giving “…the keys of the kingdom of heaven”, some people believe “St. Peter” is at the Pearly Gates deciding who gets in and who doesn’t. It’s true that God used this fisherman as a leader in the early days of the church. But Peter himself wrote in 1 Peter 2:4-8…
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,”
8 and “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.
Genesis 49:24 refers to the Messiah as “the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.” Ephesians 2:20 says that the household of God is “…built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone.” The apostles (including Peter) were simply “pieces of the rock.” There is only one "rock" we are to base our faith upon: Jesus Christ.
“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” - 1 Corinthians 3:11
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