The establishment of churches
So, I have been studying church history lately, and it is quite obvious that the Catholic Church was the first church that Jesus established. So, since that is the case, in Matthew 16:18 it says that the gates of hell will not overcome the church. Well, we Lutherans would say that the devil deceived the Catholic Church, but if he did, then wouldn’t that make Jesus a liar? I know he isn’t a liar, by the way, but this is just kind of making me think of joining the Catholic faith. I mean Jesus did establish the Catholic Church on Peter, and Protestants were established by men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Zwingli, etc. Can you please help with this?
The best help I can offer is correcting some of the information in the text of your question.
Jesus did not establish the Roman Catholic Church. Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:18 make it very clear that he was building his church on the confession of faith that he is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” and not on a person like the apostle Peter.
Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:18 do make it very clear that Satan and his forces will not be able to overthrow Christ and his Church. Revelation 20:7-10 describes Satan’s final and eternal defeat.
Was the origin of the Lutheran Church connected to Martin Luther? Certainly. But it was not Luther’s intent to start a new church named after him. When the Roman Catholic Church excommunicated Luther, the reformer had no other church with which to affiliate. The establishment of another church was inevitable.
Keep in mind that, as Lutheran Christians, we do not regard Martin Luther or his writings as foundational to our faith. Scripture alone is the source of our faith and doctrine. The recent 500th anniversary celebration of the Lutheran Reformation highlighted that truth again and again.
Luther’s Protest could be a good read for you. It explains the Reformation very well and keeps Luther in proper perspective. The book is available in print and digital versions.
Most of all, hold on—in faith—to the Bible’s teaching that salvation is God’s free gift to people through Spirit-worked faith (Romans 3:28; Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5-6).