Are the church and the kingdom the same thing?<\/p>\n\t
Often the Bible explains things through multiple words whenever one word is insufficient to fully describe what is meant.\u00a0 After all, the Bible is trying to describe a world that we cannot touch or see.\u00a0 For example, Jesus is described as the good shepherd, the door, the way, the truth, the light, the king, the son of man, the son of God, and many other words. Who he is and what his job entails are too complex for any one description to be good enough to get across the whole concept.<\/p>\n
The kingdom and the church are in some ways talking about the same thing, but one term alone doesn’t explain it well enough.\u00a0 In English, we tend to use the terms as if they are talking about the same thing, but in reality, there is a difference.<\/p>\n
The meaning in Greek behind the word that is translated as “church” is “the called out” ones.\u00a0 It can be thought of as a word focused on the people who were called out of one state and into another.\u00a0\u00a0 In the spiritual sense we are called out of darkness and into the light (Ephesians 5:8). Church, therefore, implies the relationships that we have with one another and with Jesus because we are united in a sense of commitment to righteousness.<\/p>\n
The kingdom is more about authority.\u00a0 Kingdoms exist to establish laws that allow people to live peacefully together.\u00a0 When we enter a kingdom, we agree to be obedient to the laws of that land.\u00a0 If we misbehave, we can expect to be punished or thrown out of the kingdom.\u00a0 In this sense, the kingdom is about the place, the authority, and the boundaries.\u00a0 However, in the Bible it is a spiritual place and not a physical one (Romans 14:17).\u00a0 Thus, in John 3:3-5 when Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about the kingdom, he mentioned that it could not be seen nor entered without a change in the person.\u00a0 We can see the people who make up a church, but outsiders cannot see the kingdom.\u00a0 That says they are not the same thing, even though those in the church are those who have entered the kingdom.<\/p>\n
Notice some ways in which the two terms are used or not used.\u00a0 In Acts 8:12, it says, “… as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God …<\/em>“.\u00a0 It did not say that he was proclaiming the good news of the church.\u00a0 In fact, it would be hard to make sense of it if it did say that he was proclaiming the good news of the church.\u00a0 The church is the people and the good news is not about the people who are in it.\u00a0 The good news is about the kingdom, which is a marvelous place to go to that has perfect laws and a perfect ruler.\u00a0 We know it is a wonderful place because passages, like I Corinthians 6:9 and Ephesians 5:5, say that evildoers cannot get in.<\/p>\n Also, in a passage like Acts 8:3 where “Saul began to destroy the church” would not make sense if we tried to substitute the word “kingdom.”\u00a0 The church is the people and it is possible to kill people because the church is in the visible realm.\u00a0 But Saul could not destroy the kingdom because it is a place that is not in the visible realm.<\/p>\n Of course, because of our sin, we all are on the outside and are not allowed in.\u00a0 That means that we have to change our ways and get forgiveness in order to enter the kingdom.\u00a0 If we manage to enter the kingdom (the place with laws and a king), then that means that we are then in the church (the company of people who have also entered).\u00a0 That is why it is important to notice what the Scriptures teach is the way to see the kingdom (John 3:3) and enter the kingdom (John 3:4).\u00a0 Some people think that because they go to the right building that they are in the right church.\u00a0 Buildings in the physical realm have nothing to do with it because all the important stuff is in the invisible realm.\u00a0 It is also very possible to join ourselves to a church and never have entered the kingdom in the first place. That is because the church that we see is not an accounting of those who actually found and entered the spiritual kingdom.\u00a0 It includes the righteous, but it also includes the hypocrites.\u00a0 If we focus on entering the kingdom, then we will be in the right church.<\/p>\n Darrell Hamilton<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Are the church and the kingdom the same thing? Answer: Often the Bible explains things through multiple words whenever one word is insufficient to fully describe what is meant.\u00a0 After all, the Bible is trying to describe a world that we cannot touch or see.\u00a0 For example, Jesus is described as the good shepherd,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[448,345,76],"class_list":["post-52536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-church","tag-kingdom","tag-terminology"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40935,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-kingdom-of-heaven-and-the-kingdom-of-god-different\/","url_meta":{"origin":52536,"position":0},"title":"Are the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God different?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the article entitled \"The Church Is the Kingdom\", it is proposed that the kingdom and the Church are the same.\u00a0 I agree that the kingdom \"of God\" is the church, but I assume you would also assert that the Church and the kingdom \"of Heaven\" are the same\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23900,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-not-forsake-the-assembling-of-ourselves-together-mean-reading-the-bible-and-learning-about-god-and-his-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":52536,"position":1},"title":"Does “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” mean reading the Bible and learning about God and His Kingdom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hebrews 10:23-27 said to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Does this mean going to church, or does it mean not forsaking reading the Bible and learning about God and His Kingdom? Answer: \"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":33324,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-church-is-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":52536,"position":2},"title":"The Church Is the Kingdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by James R. Cope via\u00a0The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 11, Sept. 1952. Within the past twenty years, much has been written and spoken about the \"church phase of the kingdom\" in connection with premillennialism. For the most part, the influence of those who would deny the \"eternal purpose\" of God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":40078,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-the-church-and-the-kingdom-be-the-same-when-the-bible-says-flesh-will-not-enter-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":52536,"position":3},"title":"How can the church and the kingdom be the same when the Bible says flesh will not enter the kingdom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How you make the statement that the church and the kingdom are the same, while the Bible teaches that flesh will not enter the kingdom. Answer: \"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption\" (I Corinthians 15:50).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44119,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-the-church-prepare-for-the-second-coming-by-making-the-earth-like-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":52536,"position":4},"title":"Can the church prepare for the second coming by making the earth like heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question that I have been struggling to answer recently: what does the Bible say about God's Kingdom? Earlier this year I went to a big Pentecostal church (I have nothing against them) and they talked a lot about making God's kingdom here on earth bigger to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12598,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/where-does-it-say-that-only-members-of-the-church-of-christ-will-go-to-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":52536,"position":5},"title":"Where does it say that only members of the church of Christ will go to heaven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 27, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does it say anywhere in the Bible that only the church of Christ will go to heaven? That is, only people who go to the church of Christ? What about the other churches, such as the Church of God, or a none denominational church, or the baptist? The reason\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/09\/Eye-of-the-Needle-Gate-114x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52536\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}