Bibliograpy on the difference between the Kingdom of the God and Salvation / Eternal Life

Question

From my studies, Scripture seems to make a very clear difference between the requirements of receiving the gift of salvation (by faith alone) and the requirements to enter the kingdom of God.

A. Biblically the only condition or requirement for salvation is FAITH.

150x total in the New Testament we see that faith is the only requirement to be saved, justified, and have eternal life. (Examples: Acts 16:30-31; John 3:16, 36, 6:47, 5:24, Romans 10:9-10...)

B. Yet when you look at the requirements for entering the Kingdom of God / Kingdom of Heaven (one and the same) we have a list a various requirements such as:

1. Born again (John 3:3-5)
2. Do the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23)
3. Be a disciple, follower of Jesus (Luke 9:57-62)
4. Live righteous, free from sin (Mark 9:43-47; Matt 18:6-9, 5:20, 21:31-32; 1 Cor 6:9-11; Eph 5:5; Gal 5:19-21)
5. Be like a child (Matt 18:3-4, 19:14; Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17)
6. Enter the narrow way (Luke 13:23-30; Matthew 7:13-14, 21)
7. Go through hardships & persecution (Mark 10:24; Acts 14:22; Matt 5:10, 20:20-21; 2 Thess 1:5; John 15:20)
8. Produce fruit (Matthew 21:43)
9. Be poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3)
10. Love God and people (James 2:5; Matthew 25:34-39)
11. Not with our physical bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50)

When I researched this idea to find others who see and make this distinction, I did not find very many. Instead most think that salvation and entering the kingdom of God the same thing.

The person who makes the distinction the clearest that I found is Watchman Nee in his work about "The Difference between the Kingdom of the Heavens and Eternal Life."

I also see a correlation in Scripture between the list of requirements for being a disciple and to the list for entering the Kingdom of God. Salvation is by faith and is an entry point and then the invitation Jesus makes is to discipleship, which is about Lordship, and about entering the kingdom of God.

There has been an ongoing debate about the distinction between salvation and Lordship known as “Lordship Salvation” vs “Free Grace Theology.”

In short Lordship Salvation says that Jesus must be Lord to be Savior. Free Grace Theology says that Jesus can be your Savior without being your Lord, and that Lordship is a journey that starts after salvation.

John MacArthur in his book The Gospel According to Jesus lays out the case for lordship salvation.

Dr. Charles C. Bing in his book Lordship Salvation: A Biblical Evaluation and Response and Grace, Salvation, and Discipleship: How to Understand Some Difficult Bible Passages lays out a case for distinguishing salvation and Lordship/discipleship.

This debate was started earlier in 1959 in Eternity Magazine between “Must Christ Be Lord To Be Savior?" - a debate between John R. Stott and Everett F. Harrison

But I don't see a lot of people making the distinction between salvation and the kingdom of God.

Can anyone help me with this or speak into this? I'd love to find any and all books, articles, or resources that talk about this distinction and I would love your comments and answers on this topic. I am writing a book on this topic and am looking for a list of resources that mention the idea. Thank you!

Answer 1

A person who is saved receives salvation as an undeserved gift of grace from God. Nobody can do anything to merit salvation. More could be said about the three-fold aspect of salvation, but that is not the question.

The Kingdom of God is made up of saved sinners, who have been forgiven by God and allowed into his Kingdom, even while they live on Earth. You cannot separate the two, and eternal life in that Kingdom continues into eternity. That is your 'A'. But more does need to be said about this heavenly Kingdom to understand what the difference is between the spiritual state of individuals, and what being in the Kingdom of God means in terms of how the saved sinner is to live as a subject of God's Kingdom. That is your 'B'.

This is where the myriad parables of Jesus about what the Kingdom of God means opens up its facets. He showed what obtaining this 'pearl of great price' means, and how it transforms those who are granted entrance. That is you 'A' & 'B', together. He also warned of the dire consequences of not 'finding' entrance into it, via the 'strait gate' (Matthew 7:13). But, clearly, people who have not found it cannot possibly be expected to know about it. Oh, yes, they can read all the words about the Kingdom of God that Jesus spoke, but he said many people could not understand his parables because their spiritual ears and eyes were defunct. Jesus categorically stated to Nicodemus:

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3 A.V.

Finding the entrance into the Kingdom of God (via the strait gate) requires diligent seeking - searching - looking. But if people think it's going to be dropped into their lap, or that it should be easy to find, or if they are looking in the wrong direction, they will not be able to enter.

Also, notice how it is the word of God that is key with regard to being born again. I state this to urge getting stuck into the word of God to discover the answer to your question. That is the only right direction to look in. My answer is worthless unless it spurs you on into doing that.

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." 1 Peter 1:23-25 A.V.

It is due to spiritual deadness that only God can enable people to be born again, and so come to new life, spiritually. Those who do, find themselves in the Kingdom of God. Jesus said (John 1:12-13 & 3:1-21) that being born again cannot be achieved through human, physical means. But to those who receive Christ by faith - those who believe in his name - the power of the new birth is their experience. And that's them in the Kingdom of God. Your 'A', again.

Those whom God saves, he grants eternal life at the moment of believing in the name of Jesus (John 3:15-16 & 36, & 5:24). They put their faith in him alone for salvation. Then then pass over from death to life eternal. They then begin to discover what this invisible, yet indwelling Kingdom of God is about as they grow in faith and grace. They start to conform more to the likeness of their Lord and Saviour as the indwelling Spirit of Christ guides and teaches them. Christ is "full of grace and truth" (John 1:17). Your 'B', again.

Why go to anyone else for guidance? Soak up the written gospel accounts, and the explanations of them in the epistles in the New Testament. The best Bibliography in the world consists of the 66 little 'books' of the Bible. I recommend it with all my heart.

Answer 2

First, as to a book, I recommend "God's Righteous Kingdom - the Law's connection with the Gospel" by Walter Chantry, 1980, Banner of Truth. This is a Trinitarian, Reformed, evangelical viewpoint, as is this answer.

Q1. Where does the term the "Kingdom of God" originate? A. Daniel 2:44, where its full title can be seen as "The Kingdom of the God of Heaven".

Q2. When did it start? In the days of the beginning of the New Testament (eg Matthew 3:17, Mark 1:15).

Q3. Were the OT believers in a future Messiah in the Kingdom of God? One would have thought the answer is "Yes", but because of the verses in answer to Q2 the answer must be "No". All the OT believers were awaiting what would become the heritage of NT believers: the Kingdom did not begin to exist until King Jesus was revealed. So OT believers are sort of "in" the Kingdom, but the Kingdom proper had not yet begun.

Q4. Did OT believers have the Holy Spirit, the same as NT believers? Yes, Psalm 51:11, but there were not so many believers in OT days: salvation was rare, whereas salvation increased during the earthly ministry of our Lord, and then was poured out at Pentecost and onwards.

Q5. Where is the Kingdom of God defined? A. Only once, in Romans 14:17. "For the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." It is inward, not outward; spiritual not ceremonial, for the individual. A person who believes on Jesus receives the Holy Spirit and is from that moment spiritually a member of the Kingdom.

Q6. Is there a contradiction between "only believing" and "believing and making Christ as Lord"? No. True faith involves true repentance, and both are needed for salvation and both are needed to enter the Kingdom of God: "Testifying to both Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ ... but none of these things move me.. [as long as I] testify of the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God, shall see my face no more." Acts 20:21-25.

The only realistic conclusion is that when Paul was preaching "repentance towards God and faith in our Lord" he was preaching about the Kingdom of God, and how it is entered. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love, Galatians 5:6; faith without works is dead, James 2:17, 20.

Q7. Why then do many Sciptures only talk of the need for faith (without mentioning the need for repentance)? Faith and repentance are two sides of the same coin. Where there is true faith there will of necessity be true repentance; where there is true repentance there will of necessity be true faith. "As a bird needs two wings to fly up into the heavens so the soul needs the two wings of faith and repentance to fly up into heaven" - the pithy-puritan, Thomas Watson. True faith is shown by repentance, and true repentance is caused by faith, and must be mixed with faith else it is not acceptable. Our works play no part in deserving or earning mercy, but are a consequence of mercy already received by faith alone, by grace alone, because of Christ's finished work alone, as revealed in Scripture. Our repentance is as a child returning to a loving father, not as slave cringing, fearfully, crawling back in fear. It is confident faith in the mercy of God that draws the sinner home in grateful (amazed) repentance

Q8. Our Lord said he must preach the kingdom in other towns and villages also, for that is why he was sent. Luke 4:43. So where is this preaching of the Kingdom of God in the Gospels? A. It is everywhere!!! The Sermon on the Mount is preaching about the Kingdom.. it is spiritual preaching, it is describing those who are in the Kingdom in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-15). All his preaching is 'Kingdom of God' preaching. It is about spiritual, inward, submission to God and His Word and will.

Q9. Why is the term 'Kingdom of God' so popular in the synoptic Gospels, Matt, Mark, Luke, but not so popular in John's Gospel? I might be wrong but (it makes sense to me anyways(!)) I think it is the general view that the Kingdom of God prophecied by Daniel in Daniel chapter 2 was highly anticipated and longed for by the Jews during the earthly ministry of our Lord right up to the time of the first Jewish Rebellion against Rome. It fizzled out for a while after the disastrous rebellion AD 66-70. And the synoptics were written before AD 66, John was written after AD 70.

Q10. Is there any Scriptural support for linking the Kingdom of God with the Millenium? Not as far as I know: the link is assumed... but I might be wrong. As far as I know the two are not mentioned together anywhere in the NT.

Q11. What is the chronological progress of the Kingdom?

1. It is first mentioned as to the timing of its coming in Daniel chapter 2.
2. It begins with the coming of the ministry of our Lord Jesus.
3. It is entered by one individual at a time as they repent and believe.
4. It is greatly extended at Pentecost.
5. It continues to grow throughout the Gospel Age.
6. It will reach full consummation with the return of our Lord Jesus to resurrect all nations, to judge the living and the dead, and to take into Glory his Church to enjoy the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven/God forever.

Q12. What does Daniel teach us about the coming Kingdom in chapter 2?

1. It will start very small but grow into a very large Kingdom.
2. It will last forever.
3. It will not be man-made, but of divine origin.
4. It will be very different from human kingdoms in other ways as well.

Q13. How will it be different from man-made kingdoms? Man-made kingdoms are violent, murderous, thieving. They make progress by force of arms, by sieging and starving cities into submission. Once captured some of their young men are castrated and then taken away from their parents to the conquering king's palace, or relocated whereever the king wants. Man-made kingdoms exist for the benefit of their king, who generally selfishly does not concern himself with the feelings of his subjects. They do not care how much suffering and destruction they cause. All this is well described in Daniel chapter 1: this chapter not only introduces the book, it describes what the kings of the earth are like, so when we get to chapter 2 we know what the kingdom of God will not be like. And, of course, the Kingdom of God will not be like this because its king, The King, will be the opposite of all this.

Q14. How is this Kingdom entered? No one enters the Kingdom by any force, or violence. Individuals only enter by personal choice, where God has graciously impulsed them to faith and repentance.

Q15. Where is the Kingdom of God today? It is the Church Universal, and consists of all who have truly repented and trusted in Christ for salvation. As such it is not visible to the eye, because, though we can know if we are in it, as for others we accept their testimony as long as it holds true to a Christian life of ongoing repentance and faith. God knows those who are His, we cannot often/usually know concerning others with certainty.

Q16. Where is the Kingdom of God manifested on earth? The most visible expression of the Kingdom of God is the church/the local church, despite its many possible failings, both of doctrine on non-vital issues, moral failings, and failings of practice. The more obedient and in harmony with God's word the more it manifests the Kingdom of God. Where churches have persecuted those who not have not agreed, such as Zwingli putting to death anabaptists, or Calvin encouraging the killing of a non-Trinitarian, and the Catholic church persecution of "heretics" and heretics, these have been serious failings from NT teaching, undermining/destroying that church's calling to a reflection of the Kingdom of God: the Kingdom of God is entered by personal choice in response to the preaching of the Gospel, not by force of arms.

Q17. Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people: "Therefore I say to you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" Matthew 21:43. Does this mean that the Kingdom of God existed in the OT era, and was the nation of Israel/Judaea? A. No, it was not the true Kingdom of God. It was only a picture of the true Kingdom of God. It had some of the outward form of the (coming) kingdom but not the reality. Only individuals who have the Holy Spirit, given as the gift via repentance and faith are in the Kingdom (Romans 14:17). The OT nation of Israel/Judaea was a representation of the Kingdom, but not in reality.

Q18. Is the Kingdom of God a coming kingdom when God will finally rule over the nations, such as taught by the Watchtower/Jehovah's Witnesses? It will be in Glory after Christ has come in triumph to judge the nations. Then, the Kingdom shall be a demonstration of God's infinite power over all things, in a way which will have been hidden up to that time. But now, the Kingdom is best described as a Kingdom of Grace, which God permits/brings sinners into, upon mere repentance and faith in the work and person of the Son of God, God and Man, two natures in one Person. Of course, Daniel is very clear that God rules at all times, His purposes and plans are being carried out fully both by those who want to live for Him and those who do not. Their evil deeds are part of His plan too (Genesis 50:20; Acts 2:23). God reigns at all times, fully, he is in total control at all times (Daniel 2:21, 4:3, 4:17, 4:25, 4:32-35, 5:21, 6:26-27, 7:14, 7:27 ... what could be clearer than all these verses??).

Answer 3

The question didn't specify any particular denomination, so there can be very many different answers to this question. This is one of them.

"The Kingdom of God" is where those with "salvation" will receive eternal life. They aren't really two comparable terms, so there isn't really a difference (what's the difference between water and quenching one's thirst?).

There is a simple way of understanding the relationship of the "A" and "B" lists:

• "A" is what is required.
• "B" are natural consequences of having "A".

That is, someone with true faith (and having received God's holy spirit through baptism), will strive to develop a perfect God-like character. And list "B" describes such a person (who at Christ's return will be reborn as an immortal spirit being who will teach and rule in the Kingdom during the Millennium).

Others claim to have faith, but (like Revelation's lukewarm Laodiceans) follow the social behaviour of Christianity, sincerely but without the fervour of someone truly incorporating God's spirit into their lives.

Perhaps the best book on this topic is the Epistle of James, which three times points out that "faith without works is dead".

I don't see a lot of people making the distinction between salvation and the kingdom of God.

That could be because they don't really understand what the Kingdom of God really is.

The Bible doesn't describe the Kingdom as salvation, but as a place where people can receive salvation, an actual kingdom with laws and government. The eleven points in the question's list "B" all describe being saved during this present age; a relatively small number of God's elect, a little flock. These people will receive salvation at Christ's return, and will spend over a thousand years teaching the rest of mankind, the survivors of the Tribulation, about God's way of life and preparing them for their own salvation.

A "kingdom" requires:

• territory
• government
• laws
• subjects

For the Kingdom of God, this means:

• The Earth
• Christ and his co-rulers
• God's commandments
• Human beings

Rather than the idea that the current Church is the Kingdom, or that the Kingdom is a warm fuzzy feeling we have, the Bible describes in plain and simple terms what the Kingdom of God really is:

• Following the end-times, when mankind is about to destroy all life on Earth (Matthew 24:21,22: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."). Christ will return and bring peace and prosperity to the world (Revelation 11:15 "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.").
• The relatively few people that were called and saved (the "elect") during this era will be resurrected as immortal beings, to teach and rule here on the Earth (Revelation 20:6 — "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.").
• Society will be based on God's commandments (Revelation 22:14 — "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.").
• All people living at that time will learn to live God's way of life, and be offered salvation.

After a thousand years, everyone that ever died without being offered salvation will be resurrected to their mortal physical bodies, and will join the Kingdom (Revelation 20:5 "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.". Nearly everyone that ever lived will then be taught God's way and they too will be offered salvation.

Here is a sample of resources from several different organizations:

Print:

• Is This the Only Day of Salvation? | Living Church of God.
• The World Ahead: What Will It Be Like? | Living Church of God.
• *The Gospel of the Kingdom | United Church of God.
• How God’s Kingdom Will Come | Restored Church of God.
• Just what do you mean... KINGDOM OF GOD? | Worldwide Church of God.

Video:

• Just What Is the Kingdom of God? | Living Church of God.