The Gospel of the Kingdom, Are We getting it Done?

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Dr. Joe Boot of the Ezra Institute on Two Kingdom Theology - YouTube

Joe Boot: The Road From Eden: Understanding Culture (with Spanish subtitles) - YouTube

On page 134 he writes we have traded the God of The Bible for the god of the state who is man enlarged where the will of the people personified by an elite bureaucracy, now redefine law in the name of the people, the new god.
This has been in no small part due to a faulty theology amongst christians and a consequent abdication of responsibility by the church in the socio political sphere.
Due to the philosophical dualism that has so greatly influence the church modern christians have tended to separate God's law and covenant from real history and implicitly assumed that the state is not actually accountable to Gods standards.

False human philosophy tried to replace God and His word;
Age of Reason

Age of Reason – Reason, Rationality and Enlightenment
The Age of Reason brought about a great change in the tale of man’s sojourn on earth.

Reason, rationality and enlightenment became the new ‘gods.’


For the previous seventeen hundred years the perfection of man was only to be obtained through grace after death. The Protestant revolt to the Catholic Church and subsequent ‘holy wars’ had done nothing to change the accepted underlying beliefs of society: revelation was the source of ultimate truth and could only be received as a communication from God. This was the basis of Christianity.

Now, in this new age, man felt obligated to follow his own intellect, not ‘revealed’ truth.


Earth and emphasis on nature became the new dogma; miracles, prophecy, and religious rites were mere superstitions.

Reason, philosophically, is defined as the ability to form and operate upon concepts in abstraction, narrowing information to its bare content, without emotion. Rationality carries the dual implication of ordered inference and comprehension along with understanding and explanation.

Enlightenment is more or less the application of reason and rationality to previously held beliefs resulting in broader, clearer thinking.

Age of Reason – The Christian View
The Age of Reason was fraught with attacks on basic Christian beliefs, rejection of God and denial of miracles.


In an attempt to divorce himself from the mysticism of the Middle Ages, man during the Age of Reason, applauded intellect and disdained spirit. God was believed to be unknowable, if He existed at all, and certainly there was no need for divine communication or revelation.


Nature was revelation enough, showing all that needed to be known of God. Man was now free to postulate his own theories of existence and ideas about earth and its relation to the sun.

 

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A.A.Hodge pg256...evangelical theology said;
The process by which the Kingdom grows through its successful successive stages toward its alternate completion can of course be very inadequately understood by us. Still, we shall attempt to explain, as best we are able, how the Kingdom of God grows practically and concretely through time .
As we have seen, the Kingdom of Christ is comprehensive. He rules over all things in every way. This is already true. Yet, the Kingdom also grows. We must hear recall that distinction that we made between the universal rule of Christ, and a blessing not come to those who submit to him. Christ already rules of all men and nations, but not all men and nations acknowledge and. There are still rebels. The Kingdom grows when rebels submit to the king's rule. Let us look at several examples of how this operates concretely..
Christ already rules over the hearts and minds. This is implied by the fact that Christ rules all things. If He rules everything , He must also rule of hearts and minds. What does it mean for Christ to be king of all hearts? It is in an object of sense, it means that Christ blesses obedient and faithful thoughts and cast down vain imaginations. By his word, the incarnate word test the thoughts and motives of all hearts as in Hebrews 4 verses 12 and 13 this is true of everyone, whether or not he or she recognizes it. Even those whose mind is set on the flesh are under Christ's authority; unless they repent they will receive the punishment due their sins as in Romans 8:6

The "from Hodge was used in the book the reduction of Christianity, By Gary Demar and Peter Leithart.pgs225-227;

Christ rule advances when rebels submit their minds and hearts to Hm. Actually, sinners cannot do this of themselves. Only when the Spirit can give a man a spiritual mind as in Romans chapter 8:1- 5 .
When the Spirit unites us to Christ, we received new life, the life of the resurrected Christ.
We are given a new heart as ezk 36: 26 this enables us to acknowledge willingly and openly that Christ is Lord 1st Corinthians 12: 3 we do this, we are removed from the curses of Christ rule and enter into the blessings that is peace joy and contentment.

 

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From the individual submitting to Christ, we must also submit our families to His rule; we must acknowledge that Christ rules our homes and we must obey Him in our family relationships.
All families are already under Christ's rule.
Families that rebel against Him will be judged unto the third and fourth generations.
When a family comes under Christ's gracious rule, they receiving His blessing, and commit themselves to live by His standards for family life.
Wives must submit themselves to their husbands, children must be obedient to their parents[Eph5:22-6:4]

Christ is still our King when we enter the workplace. He owns all things and has given us whatever we have. We are His stewards. We must use His resources as He directs. Thus, for example,
we must avoid debt.[rom.13:8]
As employees and employers, we must acknowledge His rule and submit to His commands.
Employers are to treat their employees fairly Eph6:9, and employees are to render good service as to Christ.Eph6:5-8 2thess3:6-12.
Christ blesses any business or organization that functions this way.

Christ is King over all civil officials and civil governments, the King of kings and Lord of lords. { I tim6:15, Rev11:15 19:6]
Civil officials must acknowledge the lordship of Christ, and obey his rules for civil governments.Psalm2:10-12 rom13:1
The blessings of the Kingdom-peace, stability, and justice- will come to all nations that acknowledge the King and enforce His laws.

 

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pg138;
The more humanistic and antinomian that Christians become in their attitude towards time and History, the more frustrated and hopeless they will feel about life and its prospects. theologies that promise an ability to manipulate have become captive to occultist, pseudo-Christian theologies that promise an ability to manipulate God and one's circumstances by the "force of faith", positive thinking or confession, visualization, and various actualizing techniques.
Others have developed elaborate theologies of retreat and escape from the world, in which every newsworthy event is another omen of approaching apocalypse and our timely escape from history before its fall into ruin.
pg139
God gives meaning and unity to every event in history.
Nothing is meaningless or without purpose.
We are in a perpetual co-operation with God in history for the glorious purposes of His Kingdom

He is constantly pointing back to some of the positive attitudes held by saints who have gone before us and trying to glean the most positive aspects of the worldview they held with a view to encourage and advance a stronger view of God's purpose.
Now as I read this, it seems like a tall order because in that many churches I have visited and attended are not quite up to the task.
By that I mean on an individual level many are lagging behind.
\God is able to work despite that, however, it seems to me that sloppy, lazy, professed believers are not ready for primetime.
We need to have more of a battleship mentality, than a cruise ship identity.

 

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https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=john+macarthur+we+lose+down+here

At the 9 minute mark, JM. tells us that....we lose down here!
We lose the battle but in the long run we in the war.

I learned that view at first but discovered that was not always the dominant view. I was content with learning that the bible has us covered from start to finish,
He dismisses the view I hold now but does not really discuss or look at it.
I like JM. I like that he understands repentance and faith. I like that he takes a public stand with the hostile media.He seeks to exalt Jesus.
He has set a good example.
I have worked my way into a different view of end times.
Does that make John MacArthur my enemy?
Why should it?
I am not here to Judge another' servant.
I will support him on most other things, but in one area I see another way to understand the passages. I can also be critical of what I think he has wrong.

I believe God has ordained the Church to be victorious, worldwide.



4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

6 The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted.

7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

8 Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth.

9 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire.

10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

 

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The grace of God has made us deny the prevailing philosophies, glories, maxims and fashions of this present world. But then, brethren, you. cannot be complete with a merely negative religion; you must have something positive; and so the next word is living--that “we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” Observe, brethren, that the Holy Ghost expects us to live in this present world, and therefore we are not to exclude ourselves from it. This age is the battlefield in which the soldier of Christ is to fight. Society is the place in which Christianity is to exhibit the graces of Christ. It is of no use for you to scheme to escape from it. You are bound to breast this torrent, and buffet all its waves. If the grace of God is in you, that grace is meant to be displayed, not in a select and secluded retreat, but in this present world. This life is described in a threefold way. You are, first, to live “soberly”--that is, for yourself. “Soberly” in all your eating and your drinking, and in the indulgence of all bodily appetites-- that goes without saying. You are to live soberly in all your thinking, all your speaking, all your acting. There is to be sobriety in all your worldly pursuits. You are to have yourself well in hand; you are to be self-restrained. The man who is disciplined by the grace of God becomes thoughtful, considerate, self-contained; and he is no longer tossed about by passion, or swayed by prejudice. As to his fellowman the believer lives “righteously.” I cannot understand that Christian who can do a dirty thing in business. If you mean to go the way of the devil, say so, and take the consequences, but if you profess to be servants of God, deny all partnership with unrighteousness. Dishonesty and falsehood are the opposites of godliness. A Christian man may be poor, but he must live righteously; he may lack sharpness, but he must not lack integrity. A Christian profession without uprightness is a lie. Grace must discipline us to righteous living.
Toward God we are told that we are to be godly. Every man who has the grace of God in him indeed and of a truth, will think much of God, and will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
-God will enter into all his calculations,
-God’s presence will be his joy,
-God’s strength will be his confidence,
-God’s providence will be his inheritance,
-God’s glory will be the chief end of his being,
-God’s law the guide of his conversation.

Serve the Lord in some way or other. Serve Him always. Serve Him intensely. Serve Him more and more.
- Go tomorrow and serve the Lord at the counter, or in the workshop, or in the field.
- Go and serve the Lord by helping the poor and the needy, the widow and the fatherless.
- Go and Serve Him by teaching the children, especially by endeavoring to train your own children.
- Go and show the drunkard that there is hope for him in Christ, or let the fallen woman know that Jesus can restore her. Do what Jesus has given you the power to do.

The Second Coming Of Christ, CHS

 

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In a related book called Gospel Culture Living in God's Kingdom on page 2 he speaks about the rejection of the vertical accountability for horizontal relativity, modern man is conferring on himself the contractual right to redefine gender irrespective of creational chromosomes; the right to murder that is abortion; the right to polygamy, sodomy, bestiality or any sexual predilection, the right to Suicide; the right to euthanize children and the elderly or sick; the right to homosexual "marriage ", the right to prostitution and pornography the right to suppress worship of the Living God and the free speech of Christians; the right to blasphemy and endless violations of the Sabbath all dressed in the Garb of freedom and human dignity, which amounts to nothing but radical autonomy.

pg6...Man was not made to live a fragmented and dissonant life but was made an integral being, to worship and glorify God. and have dominion,under God,in all things..
The gospel fully restores man to his calling to worship and serve, beginning with the regeneration of the heart of man and thereby effecting a radical change in the core of man's being.

Since the gospel effects such a great transformation, we must conclude that the dreary condition of our culture today is in large measure due to the apostasy of the church and Christian family from their respective callings.

Since the so-called Enlightenment, Christians have steadily surrendered the various organs of culture-education, medicine, government,-almost entirely the increasingly humanistic state.

We have progressively retreated into a pietistic bubble, concerned largely with eternal verities and keeping souls from hell, we have faithlessly limited Christ's jurisdiction to the institutional church. The result has been the marginalization of the Christian church and a change of religion in the public sphere.

 

[Iconoclast]

Geerhardus Vos offers some thoughts on the reality of the Kingdom when he wrote this;

The first thing to be noticed in the synoptical passages above quoted is the absence of every attempt at a definition of what the kingdom of God means. Jesus occupies historic ground from the outset. It is the kingdom, the well-known kingdom with which he presupposes familiarity, not merely on his own part but also on the part of his hearers. Our Lord did not come to found a new religion, but simply to usher in the fulfilment of something promised long beforehand. In the Old Testament God is frequently represented as the King of the Universe not only, but also as the King of Israel in a special, redemptive sense. He became so at the time of the deliverance from Egypt and the organization of Israel on the basis of the covenant, Ex. 19:4–6, cpr. Deut. 33:4, 5. In this sense God's kingdom first meant a present, real relation between Himself and his people, not something whose realization was expected from the future. Through the supernatural giving of the law and its administration and his direction of the course of history Jehovah exercises the functions of King in Israel. Later on, however, the conception of the kingdom, without losing its older meaning, obtains a distinctly eschatological sense. This development coincided with the development of Messianic prophecy, and both took place in dependence on the institution and further development of the human kingdom, especially that of the Davidic line.

The most important question connected with this central idea of our Lord's preaching concerns the exact nature of the order of affairs designated by it. Did He mean by the kingdom a new state of things suddenly to be realized in external forms, more or less in harmony with the current Jewish expectations, or did He mean by it, primarily at least, a spiritual creation gradually realizing itself in invisible ways?
For convenience sake these two conceptions may be distinguished as the eschatological and the spiritual-organic conception, provided it be kept in mind that these two are not logically nor historically exclusive. It is necessary, however, to make the distinction, because in modern writings both have in turn been pushed to an extreme in which they become exclusive each of the other.

The tendency at present among those who believe that Jesus was conditioned by his age and environment is to make his conception of the kingdom largely eschatological. On the other hand, where the originality and uniqueness of Jesus' teaching as over against the Old Testament and Judaism and Apostolic doctrine, are strongly emphasized, the opposite tendency appears, viz.: to eliminate as much as possible the eschatological elements and to ascribe to Him the idea of a kingdom entirely spiritual and internal.
A careful review of the evidence shows that the organic and eschatological conceptions are both present in our Lord's teaching. In reference to the eschatological side it is almost superfluous to establish this in detail. Our Lord repeatedly speaks of the kingdom as a state of things lying altogether above the sphere of earthly and natural life, being so different from the natural conditions that it could not be evolved from the latter by any gradual process; compare Matth. 8:11; 13:43; Mk. 14:25; Lk. 13:20, 29; 22:16, 29, 30.


It is of more importance to collect the references to the kingdom as a present, spiritual reality. In Matth. 12:20, Lk. 11:19, our Lord appeals to his casting out of demons by the Spirit of God as proof of the advent of the kingdom. According to Lk. 17:20, He declared that the kingdom does not come with observation, but is among or within men. And Lk. 16:16, makes the kingdom begin from the days of John the Baptist and immediately succeed the law and the prophets as the comprehensive name for the Old Testament dispensation. Both the present reality and the organic-spiritual character of the kingdom are most clearly taught in the great kingdom parables, Matth. 13, Mk. 4, Lk. 8. In several of these parables the point of comparison is taken from vegetable life, for the express purpose of illustrating the organic mode of its coming.

According to all three Evangelists Jesus was aware of having revealed in these parables a relatively new thought concerning the kingdom, which He designates "the mystery of the kingdom," Mk. 4:11. This mystery, this new truth, we may find in the revelation that the kingdom is realized gradually, imperceptibly, spiritually, for in comparison with the Jewish exclusively eschatological expectations this was so novel and startling a thought that it might be fitly called a mystery. Some modern advocates of the eschatological view have tried to escape from this conclusion by assuming, that in the original form of the parables, as they were delivered by Jesus, not the kingdom of God but the preaching of the word, as preparatory for the establishment of the kingdom, was referred to, and that the introductory formulas, as they now stand, were added by the evangelists, but there is no critical evidence to support this view. These formulas are not all alike and in part so idiomatic that one can hardly fail to detect in them Jesus' own manner of speech; compare Mk. 4:30.

Both these aspects of the kingdom, thus represented in our Lord's teaching must be carefully guarded from current misconceptions. The doctrine of an eschatological kingdom must not be confounded with the ordinary Jewish expectations of the coming age. The latter were national, political, sensual. It was inevitable that these expectations should more or less color the understanding of what Jesus taught concerning the kingdom not merely among the people but even among his disciples. But we have no right to identify our Lord's own ideas with such misunderstandings.

The Kingdom of God

BY GEERHARDUS VOS

 

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Notice the stability of Christ's kingdom, notwithstanding of all these attempts of hell, in the words of my text, Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. Where we may notice,

1. The royal office and character of our glorious Redeemer; he is a King: this name he hath "on his vesture, and on his thigh," Rev. 19:16.

2. The authority by which he reigns; He is my King, says God the Father, and I have set him up from everlasting: "The Father judgeth no man; but hath committed all judgment unto the Son." The world disown his authority, but I own it; I have set him, I have "given him to be head over all things to the church."

3. His particular kingdom over which he rules; it is over my holy hill of Zion, an eminent type of the gospel church. The temple was built upon mount Zion, and therefore called a holy hill. Christ's throne is in his church, it is his headquarters, and the place of his particular residence, "The Lord hath chosen Zion, he hath desired it for his habitation. His laws go out of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. There are the thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David."

4. Notice the firmness of the divine purpose with respect unto this matter; Yet have I set him King.

Q. d. Whatever be the plots of hell and earth to the contrary, he reigns by his Father's ordination. OBSERVE, That Christ is king in Zion, the alone Sovereign of his church, by his Father's appointment and ordination. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.

 

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The Sovereignty of Zion's King
Ebenezer Erskine

First, I say, we may consider Christ's government, as it relates unto his general mediatory kingdom. And so it takes in all things in heaven, earth, and hell; for "things in heaven, things on earth, and things under the earth, must bow at the name of Jesus, and every tongue must confess, that he is the Lord, and that he hath all power and authority in heaven and in earth." Now, considering Christ's kingdom in this extensive view, his government and administration takes in these few things following.


1. His sustaining and "upholding of all things by the word of his power, as the apostle speaks, Heb. 3:3. Our Redeemer, our Almighty King of Zion, is none other than the great God that made the heavens and the earth: John 1:3, "Without him was not any thing made that was made. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made: and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." And as he made all things by a word, so by the word of his power he upholdeth them in their being; "by him all things consist," Col. 1:17. This world is like a great theatre, upon which a glorious scene was to be acted, for the glory and honour of the free grace of God, in the salvation of a certain number of the lost race of Adam; and whenever the scene is ended, in the salvation of the last elect soul, the theatre is to be taken down, and then "the heavens will pass away with a great noise," &c.; but, until the scene be ended, the theatre, and all things in it, is upheld by the royal power and authority of the King of Zion.
2. Christ, the King of Zion, by virtue of his general mediatory power and authority, permits devils and wicked men to be, and act as they do; for "the deceived and the deceiver are his," Job 12:16. There we are told, that he suffered all nations to walk in their own way; he suffers the devil and persecutors sometimes, for holy and wise ends, cruelly to harass and persecute the righteous; to this purpose is that which he says to the church of Smyrna, Rev. 2:10, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: but be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
Thus, Rev. 12 he suffered the old dragon "to make war with the woman, and her seed, which kept the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jesus." This permissive power and providence, which Christ, as King of Zion, exercises with relation to the enemies of his church and people, is a glorious ground of encouragement to them in all their trials and troubles, that it is the Lord that allows the enemy to do this or that; especially if it be considered,

3. That by this absolute power of the King of Zion, he restrains and bridles up devils and men, and says to them, as he doth to the proud waves of the sea, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further." Ps. 76:10, "The wrath of man shall praise thee: and the remainder of his wrath wilt thou restrain." Thus he restrained both Laban's and Esau's resentment against Jacob, and Sennacherib in his destructive designs against the whole kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. Christ, as King of Zion, he has his chain about the devil's neck, and the necks of all his wicked instruments in the world, and whenever they have gone the length of the link of the chain, which he has ordained, he gives the chain a pull, and then they are obliged to stop; the remainder of their wrath he doth restrain and bind up. We see this in the case of Job; when the devil was let loose to harass him, he went aye as far as his chain allowed him, but then he could go no further, till his chain was lengthened; and the same is the case with respect unto his church and people; Rev. 20:1–3, he lays hold on the dragon, that old serpent, the devil, and binds him a thousand years with a great chain. The devil, and his instruments at this day are burdened with the word of Christ's patience and testimony, and gladly would they destroy the witnesses, and all that cleave to his testimony; but they are like so many dogs, or lions chained by the King of Zion, they can go no further than he allows them; and he will allow them to go no further than he sees for his glory, and his people's good.

 

[Iconoclast]

He continues;
4. Another act of Christ's royal and absolute power, as King of Zion, is his protecting and defending his church in the midst of the most threatening and imminent dangers; hence they are called by the apostle Jude, the "preserved in Christ Jesus." You know when Christ appeared unto Moses in the bush, he saw the bush burning in the midst of the fire, yet the bush was not consumed; the thing represented thereby unto Moses was, the present situation of the church of Israel in Egypt, they were under sharp and exquisite sufferings under their cruel taskmasters; and the safety of the bush in the midst of the flames, represented the safety of Israel in the midst of all these troubles, under the care and tuition of Christ, that he would not suffer them to be swallowed up by their cruel enemies; no, he would see to their safety, "in the floods of great waters they shall not be overwhelmed," and in the hotest flames they shall not be consumed, &c.

5. By the royal authority of Zion's King, he over-rules and governs all creatures, and all their actions, yea, the most dark and cloudy dispensations, for his own and his Father's glory, and for the good and advantage of his church and people, according to that promise, Rom. 8:28, "All things shall work together for good, to them that love God." We see at this day very strange things casting up in the wheel of providence; we hear of wars and rumours of wars abroad; we see the mighty pulled out of their seats by death; we see signs in the heavens above, much like these that were seen before the destruction of Jerusalem; we see the winds blowing in the barn of the visible church, much chaff casting up, many blown away from their former profession; we see God making a separation between those that fear him, and others that are void of his fear; we see the enemy raging in the Lord's sanctuary, breaking down the carved work of the temple, and the crown of Christ profaned, and set upon the head of a mortal creature. Well, sense and reason, when it sits judge of these and the like dispensations, it is put to a nonplus; but if the eye of faith be opened, it will see the King of Zion, by his power, ruling and overruling all these ups and downs to the advantage of his kingdom, and the on-carrying of the designs of his glory in the salvation of his mystical body.

6. By his royal power, as King of Zion, he avenges himself and his church upon all his and their enemies, as we see in the close of this psalm, "He shall break them as with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel." The beast and the false prophet, and the great whore, Gog and Magog, death and hell, shall be "cast into the lake of fire and brimstone," Rev. 20; Ps. 110. he will "make his enemies his footstool, he will strike through kings in the day of his wrath, fill the places with dead bodies, and wound the heads over many nations."

7. He will, at last, finally liberate his church and people from all these evils, sorrows, and troubles, under which she groans, Rev. 21:3, 4. These are some of the acts of Christ's government, in his general mediatory kingdom, over all things.

 

[Desire Of All Nations]

It cannot be said that Orthodox Christianity has gotten off track when it comes to preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God because it has taught counterfeit gospels that focused entirely on the person of Christ. The gospel of the kingdom of God is about the soon-coming government of God that will be enforced by the God Family. Orthodox Christianity however, say these laws have no authority in a Christian's life while also believing in a closed off Trinity where the Holy Spirit is a Person and Christ is His Father's equal.

To say that Orthodox Christianity has wandered off track in regards to preaching the gospel implies that there was a time where this religion was once preaching it. And as shocking or unbelievable as it may be to most people, there has never been a time where Orthodox Christianity taught the same gospel Christ and the other apostles did. Anyone who honestly compares biblical doctrines and traditions against those of Orthodox Christianity with an open mind and a teachable attitude can see that the 2 faiths are almost completely different from each other in almost every respect. This is especially true in regards to which days are supposed to be set apart for holy use and the afterlife.

The Puritans also didn't enforce the law of God because they were Sunday keepers, which automatically disqualifies them as being guardians of biblical morality. Much like their Romanist colleagues in Europe, the Puritans were hostile and intolerant towards people who actually kept God's laws. Anyone who believed in the authority of the Sabbath command enough to observe it like Stephen Mumford did had to relocate to Rhode Island. The Puritans were a lot closer to being the Pharisees of the 17th century than they were guardians of biblical morality.

Dominion theology is one of the many things that shows Orthodox Christianity's tremendous lack of true belief in Christ or the Bible. The Bible says the gospel of the Kingdom(which again, is about the soon-coming government of God that will be administered worldwide by the Family of God) would be proclaimed as a witness(Matt. 24:14). It didn't say Christians are supposed to take over the culture, and it definitely doesn't say the popular false gospels centered around Christ were to be taught. Any effort on a Christian's part to take over the culture is literally a waste of effort because Satan is exponentially stronger than them(and yes, the Bible does teach this in Psa. 8 and Heb. 2). God said "come out of Babylon", not "take over Babylon".

 

[Iconoclast]

Psalm 8....Hebrews2....is clearly a renewal of the creation mandate with redeemed man bringing Kingdom growth and dominion worldwide.
That is why Satan has been bound.
Satan is not stronger than God.
Greater is He that is in us,than he who is in the world.
We are not under a Mosaic sabbath, but the one Day in seven rest of The Lord's Day.
Babylon was apostate Jerusalem in the first century.
Christian's are lights in a dark world.
We do not take over culture by force.We do obey God's law/word....and over time it changes culture and laws.

 

[Curtis]

Some believe the Church has gotten off track and is failing to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. The charge is that we have truncated our Gospel presentation and fail to disciple those who profess faith.

Abraham Kuyper wanted to awaken the church from what he viewed as its pietistic slumber. He declared:

No single piece of our mental world is to be sealed off from the rest and there is not a square inch in the whole domain of human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry: 'Mine

The Puritans did not retreat from culture but attempted to apply to the law of God to every area of life. We have largely abandoned these ideas.
Joe Boot points out various reasons for the church’s cultural retreat such as eschatological dualism, two-kingdom theology, antinomianism and false views of justice.
We will develop and investigate this issue here.

Half the churches teach that the gospel of the kingdom was only offered to the Jews, and the gospel of grace to the gentiles - to the point they claim not one thing Jesus did or taught pertains to the church.

 

[Curtis]

where the Holy Spirit is a Person and Christ is His Father's equal.

That’s taught because Jesus and His Father are one, and because He who has seen Jesus has seen the father, and because Jesus created all things that were made, Colossians 1:16, and Jesus was with God and was God in the beginning of creation, and Jesus made the world then was born into the world He made, John 1:1,10,14 - and that’s because the Holy Spirit is God and is a person.

 

[Iconoclast]

Half the churches teach that the gospel of the kingdom was only offered to the Jews, and the gospel of grace to the gentiles - to the point they claim not one thing Jesus did or taught pertains to the church.

Yes,but it can easily be seen to be error.

 

[Iconoclast]

Half the churches teach that the gospel of the kingdom was only offered to the Jews, and the gospel of grace to the gentiles - to the point they claim not one thing Jesus did or taught pertains to the church.

Dispensational error hinders the truth of the gospel of the Kingdom.

 

[Iconoclast]

"Desire Of All Nations,

[It cannot be said that Orthodox Christianity has gotten off track when it comes to preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God because it has taught counterfeit gospels that focused entirely on the person of Christ.]

Not sure what you mean by this?

[The gospel of the kingdom of God is about the soon-coming government of God that will be enforced by the God Family.]

The Kingdom has begun and is growing

[Orthodox Christianity however, say these laws have no authority in a Christian's life while also believing in a closed off Trinity where the Holy Spirit is a Person and Christ is His Father's equal.]

Not sure what you posting about, can you clarify?

[To say that Orthodox Christianity has wandered off track in regards to preaching the gospel implies that there was a time where this religion was once preaching it. And as shocking or unbelievable as it may be to most people, there has never been a time where Orthodox Christianity taught the same gospel Christ and the other apostles did.]

It has been been preached but the professing Church has drifted

[ Anyone who honestly compares biblical doctrines and traditions against those of Orthodox Christianity with an open mind and a teachable attitude can see that the 2 faiths are almost completely different from each other in almost every respect. This is especially true in regards to which days are supposed to be set apart for holy use and the afterlife.]

What church are you speaking about ?

[The Puritans also didn't enforce the law of God because they were Sunday keepers, which automatically disqualifies them as being guardians of biblical morality.]

The Lords day is the first day of the week.

[Much like their Romanist colleagues in Europe, the Puritans were hostile and intolerant towards people who actually kept God's laws.]

This is unfounded.



[Anyone who believed in the authority of the Sabbath command]

Which sabbath command are you speaking of?


[Dominion theology is one of the many things that shows Orthodox Christianity's tremendous lack of true belief in Christ or the Bible. The Bible says the gospel of the Kingdom(which again, is about the soon-coming government of God that will be administered worldwide by the Family of God) would be proclaimed as a witness(Matt. 24:14). It didn't say Christians are supposed to take over the culture, and it definitely doesn't say the popular false gospels centered around Christ were to be taught. Any effort on a Christian's part to take over the culture is literally a waste of effort because Satan is exponentially stronger than them(and yes, the Bible does teach this in Psa. 8 and Heb. 2). God said "come out of Babylon", not "take over Babylon"]

You are mistaken, you have it wrong.Greater is He that is in us, then he who is in the world.