Thursday 22 September 2016

The Kingdom of God and Eternal Life

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) deal with the Kingdom of God. John's Gospel deals with eternal life instead.

Are eternal life and the Kingdom of God two separate subjects? or was eternal life just John's way of discussing the same thing - the Kingdom of God.

If the Kingdom of God and eternal life are the same subject, then the Kingdom of God is to be eternal, not just for a thousand years.

And if they're the same subject, then both eternal life and the Kingdom of God have already been brought into the present through Jesus Christ, although we still await its consummation when He comes the second time.

If the message of eternal life is the same as the Gospel of the Kingdom, then Paul's Gospel - and the Church, Christ's body - is not just some interim arrangement inserted into history while we wait for God to get back to His Kingdom-scheme. The Gospel is the Kingdom-scheme.

In that case the salvation of national Israel during a future Jewish Millennium, through means other than faith in Christ, and complete with a restored Levitical priesthood, would not be necessary in order to fulfil Old Testament Kingdom-promises. The Gospel fulfils the Kingdom-promises.

That does sound like the Apostles' doctrine! 

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