Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Matthew 6:33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 6:33 "But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right--the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also. |
Subject: Can we enter the Kingdom now? |
Bible Note: No problem about the time frame answering a post, most people are working stiffs. Working backwards here; 1)Ephesians 1:13,14 In Him, you aslo, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. Contrary to popular belief based on Acts 2:38, this scripture states that as soon as you hear the message of the gospel, having believed, you are sealed in the Holy Spirit. Try this one as well; Acts 10:34-48 in this passage Cornelius and his whole household hear the gospel and even before Peter can finish preaching it everyone is saved having believed and the Holy Spirit entered them before they were able to be baptized in water. So according to these two scriptures it is possible to receive the Holy Spirit because you believe the message of the gospel without first being baptized. 2)There is the kingdom of the devil composed of demons and this earth which he rules. And there is the kingdom of God which is composed of every angel that did not fall who serve God and every saint who got saved, both OT and NT whether dead or alive. Both kingdoms are spiritual kingdoms, on this I believe we agree. 3)Pilate was asking Jesus if He was king of the Jews because the only legal king was Ceasar and to claim another king was treason. So Jesus says His kingdom is not of this world (inhabitants #2889, world) and at the end of verse 18:35 it does not say realm actualy it says hence (not from either side, #1782, hence). You seem to be pointing out a difference between earth and world as making a difference about where Jesus kingdom was while He was walking around on earth. Luke 17:21 says that behold the kingdom is in your midst because Jesus is the ruler of the kingdom and where ever He is is where the kingdom resides. His kingdom is spiritual, yes and we enter it when we get saved and the Holy Spirit enters in, but it goes with His where ever He goes. Right now at this very moment the whole world or earth, I am using them interchangeably, belongs to Satan, the world as it is now is ruled by Satan. Jesus even says Satan is the king of this world. This world does not become the part of the kingdom of Jesus until He comes back and sets up His kingdom, which He took with Him to heaven. This is what I meant by when Jesus was walking around the kingdom was in their midst and that Jesus was preaching the kingdom is at hand, it means He is in their midst as the ruler of that kingdom and their salvation has come. John said John came baptizing with water, but that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit. We enter into the kingdom through the baptism of the Holy Spirit of Jesus, not water by John. We get baptized in obedience to Christ as an outward sign of our death and resurrection in Christ. Not everyone sees John 3:5 as that the water is referring to water baptism, some of us see it as the water of the womb becuase Nicodemus had just asked if one has to go second time into his mother's womb. Remember Jesus baptism is not with water but with the Holy Spirit. Jesus even goes on to say in John 3:6 that that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Some of us take that to mean that the water of the womb only births flesh but that the spirit births spirit. 4)The Israelites were well familiar with the term Son of Man (see a commentary or two an exegetical one not a devotional one) and understood it to mean the Messiah. The Pharisees, scribes and Sadducees understood the Son of God to mean that Jesus was saying He was equal to God and was therefore also God, see John 5:18-23 and that is why they killed Him for blasphemy. The Jews had no concept of their Messiah also being God, to them Messiah was called the Son of Man and they were expecting him. They were not expecting the Son of God a human equal to God because He was of the same material and nature as God. The fact is the Jews were fighting the idea that Jesus was their Messiah and rejecting the idea altogether that He was God. See Mathew 16:13,14 for who the crowds were saying the Son of Man was the commentators say that the reason for this is becuase some though Elijah was coming back to establish the kingdom and some thought that John the Baptist had come to establish the kingdom and others were waiting for one of the prophets to come and establish the kingdom. God Bless, Tamara |