What Is The Kingdom?--Part 4

“I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church [assembly]; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven” (Matt. 16:18-19 NASB Update).

The reason religionists dislike controversy is because Christianity is controversial. Therefore, the gospel of Christ is more than the gospel of possibility; it is the gospel of certainty. The sinner does not vote Jesus Christ into the office of Savior by his so-called acceptance of the gospel. Arminian theology teaches that Christ saves only those who open their hearts and let Christ enter. The Greek verb sodzo, when used in connection with those elected (chosen) by God the Father, has the following threefold meaning: (1) Salvation is being saved from the penalty of sin by being crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20; I Pet. 1:18, 19). (2) Preservation in Christ is for the work to which the chosen ones have been appointed (Eph. 2:10; Phil. 2:12-18). (3) The final deliverance of salvation has been assured for the elect (I Pet. 1:3-5; II Tim. 4:1-8; 16-18). There is no doubt that Paul had this threefold deliverance in mind when he said to the Corinthians, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope, And He will yet deliver us” (II Cor. 1:8-10 NASB).

The death of Jesus Christ at Calvary has not provided a redemption which actually accomplishes less than it purposed. Therefore, the God of the Bible could not purpose salvation for every person, because He did not choose every person to be saved. What value is there in the blood of Christ if Christ condemns some for whom He died? Would a person pay down a valuable sum of money for that which he had no assurance he could ever eventually possess?

Where there is no conviction of sin, the man of God should refrain from giving the good news. If you are talking to someone and there is no conviction of sin, do not continue to talk to him about the wonderful things of Calvary. Solomon said, “A sated [to satisfy fully; to surfeit or glut] man loathes honey, But to a famished man any bitter thing is sweet” (Prov. 27:7 NASB). A sated man’s reply may be something like this: “I have never killed anyone or robbed a bank.” The Law must be preached to sinners. Paul said, “What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, YOU SHALL NOT COVET. But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. And I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive, and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful” (Rom. 7:7-13 NASB). The bitter message test is to see who are the hungry, and the honey is for the hungry. The bitter part of Peter’s message on the day of Pentecost was given first (Acts 2:22, 23), and the sweet portion of his message was given last (Acts 2:24-36).

Every one of the Ten Commandments was broken before they were ever given in the Word of God. In one act of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden, his disobedience broke every one of the Ten Commandments. (1) He chose a false god. (2) He desired the forbidden by making a forbidden god out of his belly by eating the forbidden fruit. (3) He took the Lord’s name in vain when he failed to believe God’s warning. (4) Adam broke the sinless rest in which he had been placed. (5) He dishonored his Creator Father. (6) Murder was committed when Adam brought death to himself and to his posterity. (7) Spiritual adultery was committed when Adam preferred the creature above the Creator. (8) Adam was guilty of stealing when he took that to which he had no right. (9) In accepting the Devil’s false witness, Adam broke the ninth commandment (don’t steal). (10) This commandment was broken when Adam coveted that which God had not given him.

Christ did not preach terror to the woman who washed His feet with her tears (Luke 7:37-39), to the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-31), or to Zaccheus (Luke 19:1-10). Paul did not preach terror to Lydia whose heart the Lord opened to pay close attention to Paul’s message (Acts 16:14, 15) or to the jailer (Acts 16:31-40).

Nothing makes a person more unpopular than for the man of God to insist on a definition of terms. Religionists are horrified by the use of theological terms. For example, when an Arminian was asked to explain that “simple faith” is the gift of God, Samuel Fisk said, “It is true in one sense that faith is the gift of God, but it is God’s gift to all who want it, to all who are willing to use it…It is not given all, because all will not avail themselves of it, will not yield to the moving of the Spirit (Holy), and will not let the regenerating power of God work within them.”—Divine Sovereignty and Human Freedom, Loizeaux Brothers, page 31

The assembly is not the kingdom, but we have the relation of the assembly to the kingdom (Matt. 16:18, 19, 27, 28; 17:1-13). The most common interpretation read or heard is that the church (assembly) of Matthew 16:18 is the kingdom of God on earth in verse 19. The following twelve things must be considered by every sincere student of the Scriptures:

1. Kingdom is not a synonym for assembly (church).
2. The assembly (church) is present and the kingdom is future.
3. Believers are subjects of the assembly (church), but they are heirs of the kingdom.
4. Believers are “in” the assembly, but they are called “unto” the kingdom.
5. The kingdom will not come until the assembly is complete and perfected.
6. Flesh and blood are in the assembly now, but they cannot inherit the kingdom.
7. Elders are appointed for the assembly’s edification, but they are not appointed to build up the kingdom.
8. The hope of the saints is the reign of Christ in the kingdom, but not in the assembly (church).
9. If the assembly (church) was the kingdom, saints would be reigning now.
10. The assembly (church) includes only redeemed mankind, but the kingdom includes heavenly, unredeemed beings and earthly, redeemed beings.
11. Christ is the Head of the assembly, but He will be King of the Kingdom.
12. The assembly is being built upon the foundation of Christ between the two advents of Christ, but the kingdom will be set up by Christ at His second advent. Therefore, one is a process, and the other is an act.

The keys are associated with the kingdom and not with the assembly. That is why the keys are mentioned in Matthew 16, but they are not mentioned in Matthew 18. It is important to observe that the keys restrict the authority. Even in the purest period of the local aspect of the assembly’s history, it had a mixture of people who did not have the Spirit of God. There was a Judas among the apostles, a Simon Magus among the first converts, and a Demas and Diotrephes among the first servants. The only way the local aspect of the assembly could be sure of heaven’s approval was when there was agreement in the spirit of prayer. “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst” (Matt. 18:19, 20 NASB).

Another great difference between the assembly and kingdom is the fact that no prayer and the condition of agreement will be needed in the kingdom. However, they both are needed in our imperfect state. It takes both the standard of heaven and the spirit of prayer to keep us from acting arbitrarily in our imperfect condition. Here is another wonderful aspect of hope that will not disappoint us. It will be impossible for the completed and perfected assembly to act arbitrarily in the kingdom.

The keys of Matthew 16:19 are associated with the kingdom and not with the assembly. There have been many debates over the Greek word kleis, which is used six times in the New Testament—Matthew 16:19; Luke 11:52; Revelation 1:18; 3:7; 9:1; and 20:1. The most common interpretation in Protestantism is that the keys were given to Peter to open the door of the gospel to the Jews in Acts 2 and the Gentiles in Acts 10. It is also stated, “Peter exercised this authority by being the first to preach Christ to Jews and Gentiles and admit them to the kingdom of heaven.” However, the equal authority on earth and in heaven should call for a question from the discerning mind. This means there is perfect identity between human and Divine authority and judgment. Such authority and judgment is impossible in imperfect Christians.

The idea of a present kingdom and authority by imperfect Christians on earth ignores the plain teaching of Scripture. No keys are committed to the assembly for use in the age of grace. The assembly is built by Christ, not with keys by men. If believers are in the church/kingdom by the authority of the keys, how can they say, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22 NASB). What about the language of the following Scriptures? Paul said, “Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutedly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory” (I Thess. 2:8-12 NASB). James said, “Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5 NASB).

The idea that Christians already possess the kingdom has led to all kinds of heresies and extravagant claims of authority and fanaticism. Romanism, Mormonism, and many in Protestantism make unscriptural claims concerning both the keys and kingdom. The language is the same in both Matthew 16:19 and 18:18 concerning the binding and loosing, but the time and persons executing the authority are different. In the former, it is the kingdom by the perfected assembly; in the latter, it is in time by imperfect saints. The standard is the same in both passages, but the executors are different. The binding and loosing is the exercise of judgment in the realm of conduct.

It is not unusual for Scripture on behalf of believers to assert ownership regarding certain spiritual blessings before they are possessed in Christian experience. Ownership is legally certain although the experience of possession may be future—de jure (by right; according to law) before de facto (in fact; in reality—actually existing). Therefore, Paul could say, “For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13, 14 NASB). Confusion of the different aspects of Christ’s rule leads to serious consequences:

1. It makes the present age the period of the kingdom.
2. It has the assembly in her present imperfect state “thinking” she is performing things which cannot be done until the assembly is perfected.
3. It terminates the covenanted purpose of Israel.
4. It makes the assembly age the final period of historical redemption.
5. It seats mortal and sinful men on the throne with the risen and glorified Christ.
6. It confuses being ruled over now in time and ruling with Christ in the kingdom.
7. Its system of philosophy cannot distinguish between imperfection and perfection—mortality and immortality.