What does it mean to enter the kingdom of heaven?

[konroh]

I've been studying the sermon on the mount and reading Joseph Dillow's book Final Destiny. He has an interesting proposal that entering the kingdom of heaven means to enter into heavenly kingdom blessing now, to live to be great in the kingdom. There are many aspects to the kingdom, as Dillow points out there are 6 aspects: power, permeating influence, experience of kingdom life, messianic kingdom, new heavens and new earth and the sphere of personal salvation.

He quotes Matt. 5:[SUP]19 [/SUP]Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches [SUP][i][/SUP]others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever [SUP][j][/SUP]keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [SUP]20 [/SUP]“For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Here we have a description of those who are least in the kingdom (who annul commandments) and those who are great in the kingdom (who keep commandments). What is the reason for this? Because entering the kingdom is conditioned on a righteousness beyond the strict legalism of the Pharisees. It is Dillow's assertion that to enter the kingdom is therefore likened to being great in the kingdom, so enter the kingdom is to enter into a realm of kingdom living, to enter life, to truly live as God intended.

I understand the traditional understanding of these verses, that when we have faith in Jesus we have His righteousness that makes us positionally holy before God, and I don't have a problem with that interpretation. But the sermon on the mountain by Jesus is all about practical holiness, about obeying not just the letter of the law, but the spirit, about not just omitting sinful deeds, but even sinful thoughts. Jesus sums it up by saying "enter the narrow gate that leads to life". The whole discourse is actually given to His disciples, He was imploring them to enter a higher way of living that leads to life.

 

[konroh]

Jesus' call to His kingdom encompassed both initial belief in Him and a continued life of faith in Him. This is a beautiful picture of being in His kingdom. We can enter His kingdom on a daily basis when we trust in His truthful statements about not worrying, about keeping our thoughts pure, about forgiving those who hurt us.

 

[WeStand]

At least in part anyways; it is to stop prejudicing, to stop looking at the outter person as anything different than what you are, a temporary piece of dirt, that has hope/faith in something better, from the inside.

ALL Soul's belong to GOD. GOD states it! GOD doesn't lie!

No matter what condition one's soul may be in; hope or no hope; IF! you have yours, and find one without, it is one's duty as a practising Christian, to at least try, in all sincerity, to share that hope you received as a gift, with the other, that has lost that gift/ hope/ faith, or mabey even hasn't received it yet.

In comparison to the broad way of destruction, that lead's to hell: here's $5 buddy, come on down to our church, we will help you.

NO! it IS, and alway's has been, The Glorious Word's of Our Father, that helps one to Get Over Death, GOD. (to pick up one's spirit)

And there IS only ONE way to hear them correctly; and that IS! Praying to Our Father, in ALL sincerity, DAILY! after cleansing oneself in the sinners prayer in and through Christ/Messiah for help in understanding them, and sharing with others, the things that you learn along the way. (this can be bumpy, in the beginning lol)

This IS fulfilling the Commandments, the other 10 just kind of fall into place.

If one wants to worship publicly, once a week, that's their choice, I guess ( I only say this, as GOD totally restrains me from this practise at this time) For though it may help pick up ones spirit for a while; a lot seem to lose it again by Monday morning lol.

It is a pretty lively Word indeed, unlike the religious Christianity, that I find has many ups and downs, His Daily Bread, starting at Gen: 1:1 is just a rock steady peace of mind, that not only never leaves, but increasingly comforts, and gets rid of ALL the bumps. lol

 

[Trax]

I've been studying the sermon on the mount and reading Joseph Dillow's book Final Destiny. He has an interesting proposal that entering the kingdom of heaven means to enter into heavenly kingdom blessing now, to

The Kingdom of Heaven is the literal Kingdom Jesus will set up when He returns and reigns
for 1000 years. Mat 3:1-2 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of
Judaea, (2) And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

John told them, the prophecies of the kingdom, was about to happen. Jesus offered it to the
people then, and they rejected it.

The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God isn't the same thing. God isn't heaven and
heaven isn't God. There are similarities but differences as well.

 

[WeStand]

Heaven is wherever Our Father IS!

And when He is in You, EVERYDAY, then one has found it.

 

[duewell]

mark 4 v 12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven
every one does this every day of their lives. from the day they are born until the day they die. we swim in the kingdom of God and never see or hear the water. it is something we are not conscious of. when a fish becomes conscious of the mystery trying to tell other fish can be pretty hard because 1 cor 2 v 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.

we confess here. we repent here. we believe in Jesus here. we are led by the Spirit here. we experience the word here. the narrow path starts here. many are called, few are chosen here. we are crucified with Christ here.

sins blinds us to the truth that we are all a part of every day of our lives. many cry out for help and when the help arrives, they don't understand it. they see heaven and earth being moved for them and become lost by the enormity of it. they don't believe.they cant find the narrow path because even those who can help explain it are shouted down by the sadducees.

what if everyone who is on the path to experience the bible is being stopped or side tracked by non believers and believers. do they need a psychiatrist or a sadducees? neither will help them understand the experience, for they have none. neither even think its possible. here. oh ya,, they don't even perceive or understand the kingdom of God, they see and hear every day. here.


duewell
mark 4 v 11-13

 

[reject-tech]

[h=2]What does it mean to enter the kingdom of heaven? [/h]

Jesus dodged the question with parables so that unless we follow Him, we can't understand the kingdom of heaven.
He didn't want to spoil the movie.

 

[Bookends]

Once you accept Christ as your personal Lord and savior, you are taken from the kingdom of the world (sin, Satan etc.) and placed in the kingdom of God. Thus you become a kingdom citizen and a child of God upon your spiritual re-birth.

 

[Bookends]

Once you accept Christ as your personal Lord and savior, you are taken from the kingdom of the world (sin, Satan etc.) and placed in the kingdom of God. Thus you become a kingdom citizen and a child of God upon your spiritual re-birth.

Another way to say this is that those in Christ are taken out of the 1st Adam and place in the 2nd Adam.

 

[konroh]

I agree that the millenial kingdom is part of what the kingdom means, but it isn't limited only to that. Did you see the 6 aspects I wrote about? When Jesus says, the kingdom is in your midst, he wasn't saying they were about to enter the millenium.

 

[konroh]

Anybody else want to respond to the actual verses of Matt. 5:19-20? Least in kingdom, greatest in kingdom, enter the kingdom?

 

[Trax]

I agree that the millenial kingdom is part of what the kingdom means, but it isn't limited only to that. Did you see the 6 aspects I wrote about? When Jesus says, the kingdom is in your midst, he wasn't saying they were about to enter the millenium.

Kingdom of Heaven = the literal 1000 reign of Jesus on the earth
Kingdom of God = the eternal kingdom

 

[konroh]

I would agree with you Trax, except that the phrase kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God are used interchangeably, Mk 1:15 and Mt. 3:2. Also, the disciples were given the keys to the kingdom of heaven in reference to the power of the church in Mt 16:18. They didn't have the keys to the millenial kingdom, they had the power to loose what has been loosed in heaven, to show spiritual power here on earth now. They did this by preaching the gospel and freeing people from Satan's power and being the foundation of the Church, the body of Christ.

 

[crossnote]

We have both. A declared righteousness and we have His righteousness being worked in us through the Holy Spirit.We are in both... now and then His Kingdom.

 

[Trax]

I would agree with you Trax, except that the phrase kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God are used interchangeably,

That is the mistake people make, which leads to many other false doctrine.
Put it this way:

Heaven's Kingdom
God's Kingdom

Now, it should stand out that they aren't the same. God created the heavens and the earth.
Heaven is a creation of God. God and creation can not be interchanged, when discussing
whose kingdom. Its like saying Kingdom of earth and Kingdom of God is interchangable.
Or Kingdom of man and Kingdom of God is interchangable.

The word Heaven, in "Kingdom of Heaven" means sky, heaven, air, were as the word God, in
Kingdom of God means deity.
Now, if you take Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

You should get an understanding of what is going on. Satan, the prince and power of the air vs the
Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus is going to return, cast the anti-christ and false prophet into the
lake of fire and bound satan for 1000 years, and setup the Kingdom of Heaven. At that time,
Jesus takes everything back, that satan got in the garden. Jesus takes rule of the air, of the heavens.

 

[vic1980]

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

 

[RedTent]

I don't think you can absorb the spiritual meaning of the kingdom of heaven in your heart, mind, and soul by just absorbing the gospels. I take that back, you can become a baby in the kingdom just by accepting Christ. After that you must grow or you wither and become less, you don't stand still.

You need to comprehend your creation and the creation of the world, of God's plan for us as God brought man through the various times from pre flood, the time of Noah, the time in the wilderness, the time of the judges and the kings. By seeing how God operated in response to man during all those times we understand God, and we need to. We need to know what Paul and Peter faced as they went to bring the gospel to the gentiles. We need to understand the change Christ brought, and what that change was. And basic of all, we need to know how to be obedient to our Lord and why works alone doesn't work, and why love alone doesn't work.

 

[Angela53510]

Because Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience, and Jews, (even today!) do not like to use the name of God - at best they will put G-d, Matthew wrote Kingdom of Heaven instead of Kingdom of God.

If you look at parallel passages, you will see the many references to Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew, correspond to Kingdom of God in the other 3 gospels. Some examples of this are:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matt. 3:2
"and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:3
"And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Luke 6:20

"I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven," Matt 8:11
"And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God." Luke 13:29

"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." Matt 11:12
"“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, andeveryone forces his way into it." Luke 16:16

 

[Trax]

Because Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience, and Jews, (even today!) do not like to use the name of God - at best they will put G-d, Matthew wrote Kingdom of Heaven instead of Kingdom of God.

If you look at parallel passages, you will see the many references to Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew, correspond to Kingdom of God in the other 3 gospels. Some examples of this are:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matt. 3:2
"and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:3
"And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Luke 6:20

"I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven," Matt 8:11
"And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at table in the kingdom of God." Luke 13:29

"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." Matt 11:12
"“The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, andeveryone forces his way into it." Luke 16:16

There are similarities of the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God, but there
are differences as well. Here is a major difference:

Mat 25:34-37 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: (35) For I was
an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and
ye took me in: (36) Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison,
and ye came unto me. (37) Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we
thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.


Do you see ANY indication of being born again Matt 25:34-37?? I don't either!
In John 3:16, Jesus says you must be born again. In Matt 25:34-37, to get in,
just give someone a slice of bread and a change of underwear, and you in!
Two seperate Kingdoms. Similarities, but a BIG difference here.

 

[Hoffco]

To my sister RedTent, That was beautifully said.True from beginning to end. The only thing I need to add is: "from Genesis to Revelation ch 22:21". YOUR last words are so true: "and why works alone doesn't work, and why love alone doesn't work." To enter the Kingdom of God/Heaven is to be born into God's family. By the power and mercy of God we are born into His family; as a result of God's action, (birth to our "dead" soul/spirit(, we will be able and desire to follow Christ and become His disciple. Rom. 6:22-23 tells the whole truth. Jesus words to Nicodemus ,,tells both sides of entering into God's family, Kingdom: Born of God and Forgive by the blood of Jesus, God in the flesh. The physical Kingdom on earth will be incing on the cake, and the eternal kingdom on the new Earth will be worth it all. Love you all, Hoffco