The Gates of Hell Shall Not Prevail?
In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This reference to “gates of hell” is often taken to mean that any attempt of Satan to mount an attack against the church will not succeed.
Now, that’s certainly true, and history testifies. Two thousand years since the first Christians were baptized at Pentecost, the church is still growing. Saints are added daily through the preaching of the gospel all over the world in the face of opposition. Every effort to stop the mission has failed, not lies, evil, insults, hardships, or persecutions. The devil has not prevailed.
But that’s not the same thing as saying the gates of hell will not prevail. Gates are not offensive weapons. They’re used for defense. So in this particular instance, Jesus was not referring to hell mounting an attack against the church. He was saying the church will be attacking hell!
1 Peter 1:13 says to prepare your minds for action, or ready yourself for battle. Ephesians 6:11 says to put on the armor of God. In 1 Timothy 1:18, we are to wage the good warfare, and in 2 Timothy 2:3 as good soldiers of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 10:4, the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds, like the gates of hell.
Jesus Christ conquered death for us by dying for our sins and rising again bodily from the dead. Whoever believes that God raised Him from the dead will be saved from death also (Romans 1:16, 10:9). That’s the gospel truth, and nothing, not even hell, can defend against it.
…when we understand the text.
(This video is by WWUTT. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central.)