There is a confusion which has arisen in the church from its inception which is a misunderstanding of the words that Jesus speaks: "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church". (Matthew 16:18). We do well to put in parenthesis after "Peter" the word: (pebble) and after the words "this rock" the words: (of your prophesy)

The Scripture would then read as: You are Peter (pebble) and upon this rock (of your prophesy) I will build my church.

In Young's translation he translates the word Peter as 'rock' but the name 'Peter' should rightly be translated as 'pebble', a part of the great rock which is Jesus himself.

The rock that Jesus will build his church upon is himself, the only foundation on which the church can stand, and that foundation is the confession of faith, the prophesy that Peter has just made, as revealed to him by God, of who Jesus is: "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"; for "The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophesy". (Revelation 19:10)

We who hold the testimony of Jesus are to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, to love one another as ourselves, and to obey his commands, "if you love me, you will obey my commands". This is the church that Jesus builds and "the gates of Hades will not prevail against it"