What Are the Requirements For the Kingdom of God?

by Leonard V Johnson

I’m continuing to take some time and type up some articles concerning repentance and the glorious kingdom of God. A couple of articles that I would like you to read are “Repent ── and Surrender to God!” and “GOD – the GREAT LIFE GIVER!” 

Now, we’ve been going through some of the New Testament, and seeing why it is that a great many people believe exactly opposite of what God’s living word truly says. And going through some of the Books of the New Testament on what our Lord Jesus did teach, as well as what He taught His disciples. And what they preached. In the first article (mentioned above), we were in the 11th chapter of the Book of Matthew, in which our Lord Jesus sent out the disciples.

As we move along here, I want you to notice some things. Notice a number of things that our Lord Jesus taught, and that He had instructed them to teach, that were completely different from what you hear being taught today in these worldly churches. And, why this change? Well… let’s notice what He taught. Matthew chapter 9, verse 35 ──

“Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.”

So, He was preaching the kingdom of God. And, the kingdom of God is the government of God. And I want you to pay close attention to the very fact that God is not a being ── but God, in the truest sense of the word, means family. In Hebrew,  it is Elohim. A ruling family of all the universe ── consisting of our Father God and our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In fact, the very first verse of God’s living word reads, “In the beginning [Elohim] created the heavens and the earth.” The word Elohim is a plural word that means “more than one.”

Our “LORD God” – YHWH Elohim is a compound term that is composed of two nouns. As in English, Hebrew nouns are divided into two categories: common nouns and proper nouns. Common nouns refer to a general group or class, but proper nouns refer to a particular person, place, or thing. According to Hebrew rules of grammar, YHWH – as a proper noun – can only be followed by a noun or noun phrase that either qualifies YHWH or is in apposition to YHWH (i.e., a noun or noun phrase that refers exclusively to YHWH). Therefore, when the proper noun YHWH is used with Elohim, as in LORD God, both nouns must be interpreted as referring to the Godhead. 1 So, it is a kingdom of beings. And we read of this in the New Testament, John chapter 1, and verse 1 ──

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – paraphrased.

So, how could the Word be with God, and also be God? Because there are two separate beings. When our Lord Jesus was on earth, He prayed to the Father in the upper heavenly realms. It was a family relationship. He called Him the Father. And, He said that He had not come of Himself. He spoke nothing of Himself. He could do NOTHING of Himself. He said that the Father had sent Him, and had given Him a commandment of what to say and what He should preach. He spoke as the Father had commanded. He said, “ … ‘ I have kept My Father’s commandments …’” – John 15:10. 

Can a person be their own father? Well… apparently, a great many people think so. A great many people think there is only one being. Can a man be his own father? Unless the person has multiple personalities ── it’s rather ridiculous to even think. Our Lord Jesus Christ was made human. He became: “ … flesh and dwelt among us, and [men] beheld His glory … the only begotten OF THE FATHER, …” – John 1:14. 

He didn’t begat Himself. You are begotten of your father. And every single one of us has been begotten of our human fathers. Our Lord Jesus said, “’ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, …’” – John 3:6.

But, when we are born of God ── God willing ── we shall be wholly spirit. Our Lord Jesus was begotten of Father God, and He was made flesh ── but He was also begotten of Father God in spirit (See: What Was Christ Jesus!?). And then He was made wholly spirit by a resurrection, and is God. The firstborn of many brethren.

So, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word was with God. Our Lord Jesus was made flesh ── and He was made flesh for the purpose of death. Now, Spirit ── according to the eternal One ── is eternal (cf. Romans 6:23). Yet, our Lord Jesus was made flesh, so He could die, and did (Revelation 1:18), and when He died ── He was dead. And when He was dead, there was no life left in Him. And, I want you to pay close attention: If there was not another being in the upper heavenly realms, who was His glorious Father, to resurrect Him, to impart life to Him, and bring Him back to life ── our Lord Jesus Christ would not be alive today. And we would have no Savior.

My Brethren, Friends, and Co-Workers in Christ ── one cannot be saved and receive the glorious gift of eternal life from the blood of Jesus Christ. Because that blood was mortal blood. We are told in the Book of Leviticus, and I think it’s chapter 17, that the life of our flesh is in the blood. Of humans and all animals. Now… not all animals have blood, but the ones that do have blood – their life is in their blood.

We Are Reconciled to God the Father Through The Death of our Lord Jesus Christ 

If our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Elder Brother, had not risen from the dead, we could never really have been saved. We are only reconciled to God the Father through the death of His Son. We are forgiven our past sins. And, yes, we are justified. Yet, justification has only to do with our past sins, not with our future life, but only with our past sins. But we are made righteous and gifted eternal life by the life of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and not by His death.

So, with your Bible in front of you ── turn with me, if you will, to the Book of Romans, chapter 5, the 9th & 10th verses ──

Well… first notice verse 11. “And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received THE RECONCILIATION.” 

“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10) For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God THROUGH THE DEATH OF HIS SON, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved BY THIS LIFE.”

So, we have been justified ── not by His resurrection, but by His blood. Of which He poured out and paid our death penalty in our stead.

We have broken the immutable Law of God. Sin is the transgression of the Law. We, therefore, have transgressed against the government of God. Because God the Father is the SUPREME RULER OF THE UNIVERSE. And, we have brought upon ourselves the penalty of the Law, which is DEATH (Ezekiel 18:4, 20). And this Law claims our life, we’re under the Law. But our merciful and loving Savior, Jesus Christ, put Himself under the Law, in our stead. And the Law took His life. Because He didn’t take the life of the Law and end the Law ── no, it ended Him, and He died. He paid in our stead, so that we could be justified of our past sins, because He paid the ultimate penalty that we have incurred.

So we, brethren, were enemies of God ── as we all are before conversion. And, as you are reading, listening, or watching ── at this very moment, you are an enemy of God unless you have properly repented, been properly baptized and have had hands laid upon you, having received the glorious gift of the Holy Spirit, have been forgiven of your past sins, have been justified of your past sins through the blood of Christ Jesus. And through the death of Christ Jesus, have been reconciled to Father God ── because if not, and I don’t mean to offend you, but with the authority of our Lord Jesus, you are an enemy of God.  

Again, “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” – Romans 5:10. 

If you need to, read that again. Because I truly want you to notice it. We were ── if you’ve already had your past sins forgiven ── reconciled to Father God. We are now reconciled ── therefore, it is speaking of true Christians. 

Also… “we shall be” ── speaking of our glorious future. God willing.

Yet, nearly everywhere you go around the world, you hear people exclaim, “I was saved on …” and then they mention a specific date. They say, “I have been saved!” The Apostle Paul, not once, ever said that. What did he say? He said you have been reconciled to God. We have been justified. That’s it. We, brethren, are still in the flesh ── and the gift of God is eternal life.

Again, “ … much more, having been reconciled [which has already taken place], we shall be saved [which hasn’t taken place yet, it’s in the future] by His life [not by His death].” – Romans 5:10. 

SAVED BY HIS LIFE! 

Let us ── let us wake up to the living truth of God. Let us no longer be deceived.

GOD ── Is A Family 

So, our Lord Jesus is the FIRSTBORN of many brethren ── and we can be begotten of God. And again our Lord Jesus preached the KINGDOM OF GOD. He said, If you have been born of the flesh, you are flesh. If you are mortal, you are mortal. But He also said, “’ You must be born again.’” And that, unless you are born again, you cannot even see the kingdom of God. So, the kingdom of God is A SPIRITUAL KINGDOM. 

And He said, “ … ‘and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.’” – John 3:6. 

Then He uses a metaphor for everyone born of the Spirit ── it’s like the wind. “ … ‘ you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.’” We cannot see wind. Therefore, everyone in the kingdom of God is invisible to mortal eyes. You cannot see, hear, touch, taste, or smell them.

Yes. Knowledge of spiritual things, spiritual principles, and spiritual beings cannot come to us ── into our physical mortal mind ── by our five senses, or six, or twelve, of which we were born with. Anything spiritual can only come to us by the gift of God ── through His Holy Spirit, and by the glorious revelation from the LORD God. Our physical mortal minds were not created to receive anything spiritual – knowledge or otherwise. 

Yet, sadly, most in the world confuse emotions and sentiments with spirit. And they come to believe that that is spiritual. But that is not spiritual. Because spirituality is YIELDING TO ALMIGHTY GOD, RECEIVING SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE BECAUSE YOU’RE RECONCILED TO ALMIGHTY GOD. And, we have contact with Him through prayer, through Bible study, through surrender to Him, through repentance, and through our Lord Jesus Christ ── our personal Savior. And the LORD God then, through and by Their glorious Spirit, will open our minds to comprehend, to understand spiritual things. The carnal mind cannot comprehend spiritual things. 

“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. …” – 1 Corinthians 2:10. 

So our Lord Jesus preached THE KINGDOM OF GOD. And, the kingdom of God is the government of God. But it’s also the family of God. And He taught how we can enter into that family. And, we have to be “born again.” We have to properly repent of our past sins. We have to be reconciled to God. We have to be justified of our past sins. We have to receive the gift of eternal life through the Spirit of God, we have to be begotten, and we also have to OVERCOME. We have to overcome and master our own self, and that’s going to be a struggle ── it’s not going to be easy. 

The Disciples Sent to ISRAEL To the ‘lost sheep’ of the House of Israel 

Turning once again to Matthew chapter 10, our Lord Jesus said to His twelve, “’ But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” – vs. 6. And, they were literally “lost” – the lost ten tribes. They were not Jews. They had never been called Jews.

And they were truly lost. They were lost in their identity because they did not know that they were actually ISRAELITES. Also, they were lost spiritually, and they needed salvation. And, our Lord Jesus Christ was sending His disciples to show them the Way. In the 11th chapter of the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul explains how these natural Israelites had been broken off from their tree. That the natural olive tree is ISRAEL, begotten of God and filled with the Spirit of God. Now… Israelites naturally born ── were born of the olive tree ── but the very moment they committed their first sin, they were broken off. And all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God, so every Israelite had broken off from that olive tree. 

On the other hand, Gentiles are pictured as the branches of a wild olive tree. So, Gentile nations are of a wild olive tree. Each Gentile is a little branch of the wild olive tree, and has been cut off from that tree ── and has been grafted onto the natural olive tree, if they belong to Christ Jesus. If they have been converted and are a true Christian. If they have received the glorious gift of the Spirit of God, been begotten of God, and have become a begotten child of God. In my THINK ABOUT THIS… 'until the fullness of the Gentiles'? I speak of this. And there was a comment in which the person was confused and thought that the “wild olive tree” grafted in is Israel,  and that Israel was of Gentile ancestry. I pray that I have explained it more easily. 

Now, the natural branches of the olive tree that have been broken off because of unbelief, because of sin, can be grafted back on again ── just the same way that Gentiles can be. So, it gets down to this ── everyone has sinned, everyone needs ATONEMENT, everyone needs REDEMPTION through our Lord Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile. But, if a Gentile belongs to Christ Jesus, then you are Abraham’s children, spiritually begotten ISRAELITES. 

Of course, our Lord Jesus also said, “’ Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, … But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” – Matthew 10:5, 6.

So, that is who He sent them to. Here’s another thing ── He said to His disciples as He was sending them out on this journey. They were students learning to be apostles. They would be given the authority to be ambassadors, to be representatives of His government ── the kingdom of God. Because He also said, “’ My kingdom is not of this world. …’” – John 18:36.

In other words, His government is not a worldly government. Because the governments – the kingdoms – of this world are but human kingdoms, all ruled by men according to the will of man. According to vanity, lust, greed, and selfishness. But our Lord Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. When our Lord Jesus establishes His kingdom on earth, it shall rule over every nation, every government, every kingdom. All governments on earth will be destroyed, “’ The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord [God the Father] and of His Christ, and He shall reign FOREVER AND EVER!’” – Revelation 11:15.

Sheep Among Wolves 

Our Lord Jesus said, “’ Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. …’” – Matthew 10:16.

Which means, we’re going out throughout the world teaching people, and many people are just like wolves. They’re going to tear us apart. Think about what happens to a sheep that enters a pack of wolves. Suppose you sent twelve sheep out, and they journey into a pack of about 20 wolves ── how long do you suppose those twelve sheep are going to survive? Again, I want you to look closely at this under your magnifying glass. When our Lord Jesus sent His young and rather inexperienced disciples out on this journey, they truly were like sheep being thrown among a pack of wolves. Today, it’s not so much like that. And let me tell you why. And ── I’ve personally witnessed this, and spoken of this very thing many times now ── I do not see much persecution being thrown at the churches of this world. Because they preach what the people want to hear. I believe it’s in 2nd Timothy chapter 4, verses 3 & 4 there is the phrase “itching ears” ── “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4) and they will turn their ears away from THE TRUTH, and be turned aside to fables.”                      

And, under divine inspiration, the Prophet Isaiah speaks of this as well ──

“Now go [because here is a prophecy], write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for time to come, Forever and ever [meaning, certainly, a prophecy for our time, his far future]: 9) That this is a rebellious people, Lying children [so again, a prophecy for his future, not in the Prophet Isaiah’s day], Children who will not hear the Law of the LORD; 10) Who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’ And to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits.’” – Isaiah 30:8-10. 

Just how many of our peoples throughout the world are in that boat? A boat in which they refuse to hear or see what the Spirit has to say? Because the LAW OF GOD is love. It’s one of the greatest and most loving bestowals of blessings that God the Father and our Lord Jesus could ever bestow upon mankind. God’s Law, which is love towards the LORD God, and love towards our fellowman. God’s Law, which is the Way to peace, and true and lasting happiness. It’s also the Way to eternal life. 

The LORD God is telling us that IN OUR DAY there are rebellious people, rebellious children ── who are against God. They don’t want anything to do with God ── unless it’s under their rules. 

“’ Get out of the way, Turn aside from the path, Cause the Holy One of Israel To cease from before us.’” – vs. 11. They say. 

And, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, …” – Titus 1:16. That truly is what they are doing. They preach soft and smooth things ── and as I’ve said before, they reason amongst themselves their sins (cf. Matthew 16:7-11). And the people love their preaching because everything is acceptable. O’, they may say that it is a sin on the surface, but behind closed doors, “God still loves you – God still accepts you! God loves you as you are!” Here’s an example: Pope Francis had stated that God loves homosexuals as they are. In an interview, the pope said, “We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are!” 2 They preach smooth things – things that itching ears love to hear. So that when they send their preachers out today, they’re not sheep being thrown among wolves, but rather, they go out as masters. And the people love them and can’t get enough of them. They’re glad to receive them ── yes. □  

1) Coulter R. F., The Holy Bible In Its Original Order A New English Translation, Jehovah Elohim in Genesis 3:22, York Publishing Co., © 2009, pg. 1360.

2) Glatz, C., Pope clarifies remarks about homosexuality and sin, USCCB, 30 Jan 2023.