Bible Question: What is the difference between the church and kingdom? |
Bible Answer: How one answers this question has a lot to do with their view of realized vs. future eschatology. Put simply, if we want to define the two terms separately, the church is the community of those called out of the world to be God's saints, followers of his dear Son. The kingdom is the reign or rule of God, which will only be fully realized at the end of history. However, there is an overlapping of the two concepts because the church is even now under the reign of God. Futhermore, in the eschaton the glorified church will join God in his rule. So the two concepts are distinct, and yet they overlap. |