What a promise! 
Was Peter the rock that Jesus was referring to? Was Jesus saying he would use Peter to build His church? I don’t think so. I am aware that most Catholics believe that but it cannot be so. Let me share more and you should see it.
“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. 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” ,(Mt. 16:18-19).
The basis for my saying I don’t think so is as follows:
- Christ was giving Peter some instructions in this passage. Later on he gave the very same instructions to the other apostles. Take a close look at John 20:22-23 and compare it with the verse above.
- Christ and Christ only is the foundation of his church. Evidence of this is strongly posted in Acts 4:11-12; 1 Cor. 3:11; and 1 Peter 2:4-8.
- In the New Testament we see Christ and only Christ as the “Head” of is Church. For reference you can turn to Ephesians 1:20-23; 5:23; Colossians 1:18 and 2:18-19.
- If we use our concordance to go to the Greek meaning of the words we find that Jesus said, “Thou art Peter [Petros, a little stone], and upon this rock [petra, a massive cliff or rock] I will build my church.” So the church was not built on the “little stone” which is Peter. The church is built on the “Giant Rock”. It was built on Jesus Christ.
- We can see in 1 Peter 5: 1-4 that Peter in-fact denies it.
- We find in Acts 15:13, 19 that James was the one that officiated at the Jerusalem church and not Peter.
So what, then was Jesus doing when he said that in Mt. 16:18? The answer lies in Ephesians 2:19-20, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone”.
What about that statement regarding the gates of hell? What did he mean when He said the gates of hell shall not prevail against it? J Vernon McGee said it best, “The gates of hell refer to the ‘gates of death’.” The word used in this text is hades and sheol of the Old Testament, referring to the unseen world and it means death. The gates of death shall not prevail against Christ’s church. The event being referred to is the glorious rapture. As it is written, “Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God: That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and testified. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit. But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all the brethren which are in all Macedonia: but we beseech you, brethren, that ye increase more and more; And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words”, (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). You can also look at 1 Corinthians 15: 51-57.
The LORD gave the keys to heaven to Peter! A key unlocks a door and opens something once closed. Jesus is predicting that Peter will be given the privilege of opening the door of salvation to various peoples. Peter later did this: He opened the door of opportunity for any to join the kingdom from Israel at Pentecost, (Acts 2:38-42). And He did the same for the Samaritans in Acts 8:14-17. He ministered to the Gentiles at the home of Cornelius at Caesarea in acts chapter 10.
In the last of the original passage we are addressing Christ mentions the binding and loosing. We see in Mt. 18;18 and John 20:22-23, the authority to bind and loose was given to all the apostles and to all other believers. The actions of a spirit-filled believer, whether positive or negative in nature, will carry with them the awesome authority of heaven itself. As chuck Smith says “We have power as the children of God to bind the forces of darkness, and to loose the work of God. God has given us that authority over these spirit forces, these spiritual entities, that as children of God, we do have authority over them. We can bind these forces and we can loose the work of God.
UPON THIS ROCK I WILL BUID MY CHURCH!
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and
righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame.
But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ., the solid ROCK, I stand;
All other ground is sinking sand.
— Edaward Mote
ROCK of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy raven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save me from it·a guilt and power.
Not the labors of my hands,
Can fulfill the laws demands;
Could my zeal no respite know,
Could my tears forever flow,
AII for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
–A. M. Toplady
God bless you,
“The Tubthumper”