Building on the Foundation

Matt.16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

We are probably all familiar with parts of this text above. The part I want to draw attention to is the middle part of verse 18. Jesus mentions that upon this rock, upon this foundation, I will build my church. Notice the future tense of "I will". It was only after Jesus death that the Holy Spirit could be poured out upon the apostles to empower them as witnesses of their Messiah. It is from the events in the first part of Acts that we learn that the church, the Jewish assembly, the little flock (Luke 12:32) of saved Jews, took shape upon the foundation with Peter at the helm.

In 1 Corinthians 3 we read that Paul also laid a foundation. Paul was called as a mater builder to lay a foundation for the Church, the body of Christ,

1 Cor.3:10-11 According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. 11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 

Why was it necessary that Paul lay a foundation if Jesus already identified the foundation He was going to build His church upon? The key to understanding this question is as always, to recognize the progression in God redemption plan, to recognize that there are two separate programs in this plan, to recognize that God was dealing with two people groups, the Jews and the Gentiles. 

The foundation Jesus laid was for the Jewish church that operated under the Kingdom program. The foundation Paul laid was for the church, the body of Christ that operated under the Grace program. Each foundation upheld a different people group, a different gospel, a different doctrine, a different economy and a different destination. For greater detail on these two programs, read the multi-part study called: 'God's Word is a Progressive Plan'.

To conclude, it is important to recognize that although we have two accounts that mention building a foundation, as Paul clarifies, in both cases the foundation is Christ! The foundation is made 'of the same element or substance'. What is different between the two accounts is what is built upon the foundation. On the foundation mentioned by Jesus, it was to hold up and stablish the Jewish assembly, building upon it according to the directions and materials of the prophetic program and law. On the foundation mentioned by Paul, it was to hold up and stablish the Body of Christ, building upon it according to the directions and materials of the grace program and the revelation of the mysteries. The warning Paul issued was to take heed how one builds upon it (what directions and materials to use), and that nobody could lay any other foundation than that which was already laid, being Christ.