Kingdom: Acts & NT Letters

Date: October 2006

Series: I want to be “left behind” (XXIV)

Title: The Kingdom in Acts and the NT Letters

(continued from last month)

Don’t miss the fact that the very focus of Jesus’ instructions to the Apostles about the coming “Church Age,” was “concerning the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3)! When Philip went to Samaria, he preached the “good news about the kingdom of God,” which resulted in people believing in Jesus and being baptized (Acts 8:12). The Dispensational “earthly kingdom postponed” notion was certainly not “good news” for first century converts, so what was Philip preaching? He preached what was proclaimed on Pentecost (Acts 2) - Jesus, the Divinely-intentioned crucified Messiah/Christ, rose again from the tomb and has been exalted by God to the highest place, so submit to God’s King (and enter His spiritual kingdom) and have all of your sins washed away and receive the gift of the Spirit. In response, those believing that message were baptized. There is only one Gospel (1Corinthians 15:1-4; Galatians 1:6-9), it is for both Jews and Gentiles (Romans 1:16-17), and it includes the idea that Jesus is now an exalted heavenly king that all should honor! Call it “The Gospel” (Matthew 11:5) or the Gospel “of God” (Mark 1:14-15), “of the Kingdom” (Matthew 4:23), “of His Son” (Romans 1:9), “of Christ” (Romans 15:19), “of your salvation” (Ephesians 1:13), “of Peace” (Ephesians 6:15), “of our Lord Jesus” (2Thessalonians 1:8), or “my Gospel” (Romans 16:25) and “our Gospel” (2Corinthians 4:3) - but there is only one “good news” message for this age.

As we proceed on through the book of Acts, we find Paul preaching that our entrance into the kingdom comes with many “tribulations” (Acts 14:22), so commitment and perseverance is required. Since Paul’s ministry to the Romans was focused on “the Gospel” (Romans 1:14-17) and he was determined to know nothing amongst the Corinthians but “Christ crucified” (1Corinthians 1:21-24; 2:2; 15:1-4 - which is “the Gospel”), then what was Paul doing in Ephesus, when he spent three months focusing his attention on “the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8) - proclaiming some other system of thought/doctrine? I can reach only one conclusion - to the Apostle Paul, “the Gospel, Christ crucified, and the kingdom of God” were three ways of referring to the one message! I believe it is nothing less than false teaching to assert that “the Gospel/Christ crucified” is one topic for people during the church Age, while “the kingdom of God” is something different, like some other system of salvation or another earthly Jewish monarchy era after the Church Age! When one preaches “the Gospel/Christ Crucified,” they should also preach the kingly authority of Christ as a reality right now, for becoming a Christian also transfers a person (by “new birth”) into the Kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13-14). Paul’s mission as a Gospel preacher was to aid people in transferring their citizenship from Satan’s domain/kingdom into God’s domain/kingdom, where there is forgiveness of sins (Acts 26:16-18). Preaching the Gospel is preaching the Kingdom of God (Acts 20:25)! While in Rome, Paul taught about the Kingdom of God and Jesus (Acts 28:28,31).

The Kingdom in the NT Letters – Having listened to Jesus and slowly worked through their own erroneous notions, the Apostles and their close associates came to some conclusions about the Kingdom of God and it is expressed in the New Testament letters. Paul seemed to understand John 3:3-5 and 18:36-37 very well, when he commented that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1Corinthians 15:50) – what does that say about the nature of the kingdom? The same sense carries though in his comment to the Romans squabbling over foods and observance of ritual days - the Kingdom of God is NOT focused on physical, earthly things (Romans 14:17)! When called to service, Paul was told that his basic mission was to aid people in transferring their citizenship between two domains/kingdoms (Acts 26:18), which shows up in Paul’s language to the Colossians (1:13-14) and the Philippians (3:20-21). Thus, with citizenship elsewhere, Christians are now “strangers and aliens” on planet earth ((Hebrews 11:13; 1Peter 2:11).

In 1Corinthians, Paul taught that the Kingdom of God: is rooted in God’s spiritual power rather than human words (4:20), will not be inherited by those that continue in habitual sin (6:9-10), will be surrendered by Jesus to the Father at Christ’s return (15:24), and can not be inherited or entered by those in the flesh (15:50).

Paul told the Galatians that those continuing to walk in the “deeds of the flesh” will not inherit the kingdom of God (5:19-21) and this was reiterated in the letter to the Ephesians (5:5). The Colossian believers were told that their conversion to Christ meant that they had been transferred out of Satan’s domain and into Christ’s kingdom (1:13-14), and Paul tacked on a complimentary note about some of his “fellow workers for the kingdom of Christ” (4:11). It is hard to be transferred into and work for a kingdom that has been postponed, thus, I must conclude that the Kingdom of God is a live and going concern right now! Paul told the Thessalonians that they were to “walk in a manner worthy” of the God who was calling them into His kingdom (1Thessalonians 2:12) and that faithfulness through persecution caused them to be “considered worthy of the kingdom of God” for which they were suffering (2Thessalonians 1:5). Paul charged Timothy to keep preaching because of Jesus’ kingly authority (2Timothy 4:1) and that Paul’s destiny was to arrive at God’s heavenly kingdom (2Timothy 4:18).

The writer of Hebrews wrote that Jesus can properly be said to have a right to the heavenly throne and scepter (1:8) and that we should honor and serve God because the kingdom we inherit is unshakable and eternal (12:28). Why? Because Jesus has already been crowned with glory and honor because of/following His suffering (Hebrews 2:9). James discouraged “wealth-distinctions” in the church because the financially poor are often the spiritually rich and heirs of the Divinely-promised kingdom (2:5). In 2Peter 1:2-11, we find a list of “character qualities” that practiced and developed will abundantly supply our entrance into Christ’s kingdom. (to be continued)