The House of God
The word “church” means “called-out ones.” The first time the church is mentioned in Scripture is in Matthew 16:18. Here it is the “house of God” with Christ as the builder (Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-5). The “Rock” upon which it is built is Christ (1 Cor. 10:4).
When man builds, he has the warning as to bad material and its consequent judgment (1 Cor. 3:9-17). Peter does not get the keys of the church, nor of heaven, but of the kingdom of heaven. Thus Peter uses these keys to open the door of grace in the gospel to the Jews in Acts 2 and to the Gentiles in Acts 10. Peter refers to this in respect of the Gentiles in Acts 15:7.
To be a “living stone,” one must be born again, as Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:23. In Peter’s second epistle, he shows the coming judgment upon those who are in the house, but not having life, they fall into corruption and are judged with the world.
The Christian is exhorted to have Christ as his pattern, as one in the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15). May we be exercised to show the true character of God as His children!
H. E. Hayhoe