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The Church and the Kingdom
Both the church and the kingdom were in the preaching of the early messengers of the New Testament. John the Immerser, the harbinger of the Messiah, came into the wilderness of Judaea, saying, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matt. 3:2.) When Jesus began his public ministry, he preached that the kingdom was at hand. (Matt. 4:17.) After the twelve apostles were selected, they preached that the kingdom was at hand. (Matt. 10:7.) The seventy proclaimed the same message. (Luke 10:9.) And in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matt. 16:18, 19.)
The church and the kingdom are the same institution. Jesus uses the two words interchangeably in this connection. He promises to build his church and give Peter (and all the apostles Matt. 18:18) the keys (or terms of admission into) of the kingdom. If the church and the kingdom were not the same, Peter and the other apostles would have no right to use the keys of the kingdom on the church. If the kingdom has not yet been established, as some falsely teach, Peter and the other apostles never had the privilege of using the keys. Why, then, should they have been given to them? But the church, or kingdom, was established on the first Pentecost following the resurrection, ascension, and glorification of the Messiah. On that day the keys were used and about three thousand persons were added to the church. (Acts 2:41, 47.)
Other considerations show that the kingdom and the church are the same.
- They are entered on the same conditions. Jesus said, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." (John 3:5.) What is it to be born again? What is included? The new birth includes, as does the natural birth, a begetting. Men are begotten when they believe. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is begotten of God." (1 John 5:1, R.V.) Faith comes by hearing (Rom. 10:17); hence, Peter says Christians are begotten by the word of God (1 Pet. 1:23). But a begetting alone is not the new birth anymore than a begetting alone is the natural birth. The begetting is only part of the new birth. The new birth includes the entire process of becoming a Christian-faith, repentance, and baptism. Hence, Paul declares that we are saved through "the washing of regeneration," or baptism. (Tit. 3:5.) But baptism is not the new birth. But it is included in the new birth. In it one completes the process of becoming a Christian, or the new birth. Men, then, are born into the kingdom. Those who, on Pentecost, believed, repented and were baptized for the remission of sins, were added to the church. (Acts 2:38, 41, 47.) The same process by which one enters the kingdom adds him to the church because they are the same.
- The church and the kingdom have the same head. Christ is the head of the church. (Col. 1:18; Eph. 1:23.) And he is king of the kingdom. (Acts 17:7; Rev. 1:5; 17:14.)
- They have the same laws. "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue." (2 Pet. 1:3.) If either the kingdom or the church had one thing that pertained to life or godliness which the other did not have, then the one lacking it would be imperfect; and Peter's statement would not be true of both. Hence, they must have the same laws.
- The kingdom and the church have the same subjects. Paul said that the Colossian saints had been translated into the kingdom. (Col. 1:13.) All who have been born again are Christians, members of the church, and also are subjects of the kingdom. (John 3:5.)
- The church and the kingdom have the same seed. In the parable of the sower, Jesus spoke of the word of God as the "word of the kingdom" (Matt. 13:19), "the seed" (Luke 8:11). When the word, or seed, of the kingdom is received into honest and good hearts it produces subjects of the kingdom. But when the word of God was preached in Corinth (1 Cor. 15:1-3), many of the Corinthians heard it, believed and were baptized (Acts 18:8). And Paul addressed these persons as the "church of God." The seed of the kingdom produced members of the church as well as subjects of the kingdom. If the church and the kingdom are not the same, then, we have one seed producing two different kinds of plants. This is contrary to both nature and revelation. (Gen. 1:11; Gal. 6:7, 8.) This consideration alone should be enough to convince one that the kingdom of heaven and the church are "one and the same."
The Lord's supper was to be in Christ's kingdom. (Luke 22:30.) The Corinthians had the Lord's supper (1 Cor. 11:17-30) ; therefore, they had, or were in, the kingdom.
Finally, "So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." (Eph. 2:19.) The Ephesians, prior to conversion, were in paganism and were "strangers" to God's chosen people; but now as "fellow-citizens" they are in his kingdom and as "of the household of God" they are in his church which is his house. (1 Tim. 3:15.)