ENTERING THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Brother James, OIC
Joh 3:5-7 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
Entering the Kingdom of God is a journey down a long narrow difficult path where God is transferring Spiritual Truth from the intellect to the Heart where His Fruit can then grow. Our intellects, our pasts, our goals, our upbringing, our education, our successes, our failures, our associations and relationships as well as our own ideals and understanding can be used by the world and its god Satan to hold us back from this Divine Entry.
Outside the Kingdom is a powerless existence that religiously could imitate Christianity but in Truth is not. It’s a life that gets into the letter of Gods Word without ever allowing God to use it to make you free. Jesus stated:
Joh 8:31-32 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free
Truth must be professed, confessed and yielded to in every area and circumstance in our lives in order for it to do it its work and for us to enter into The True Rest of His Kingdom.
Heb 4:9-14 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
When Gods Word is held only in the intellect, even with the ability to quote chapter and verse this is not the place where life in Christ exists. Yielding to God to give Understanding and Wisdom will enliven the Word moving it from the intellect to the Spirit of the Mind (referred to as the heart) wherein God wants to dwell producing the Spirit of Christ in all Wisdom and Power.
Php 2:5-8 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
This Transformation of entering into the Kingdom of God completes as we:
Gal 5:24-26 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.
There is a concise overview in scripture that directs this process.
2Pe 1:1-11 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 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: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
