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Mark 1:13 How does a person enter the kingdom of God? The way into the kingdom of God is not through ceremonies and observing rituals. It is not through doing to others what you would not have others do to you. It is not through good deeds. It is not through religion. It is not through confession of sins, although confession is part of the first steps in repentance. It is not through the church. It is not, if possible through perfect obedience. Jesus said it is through repentance and believing the gospel. The first point in Jesus’ instructions regarding the way into the kingdom of God is the kingdom of God is at hand. The good news is whenever and wherever the gospel is preached the kingdom of God is at hand and whoever hears the gospel may enter the kingdom of God if they heed the call to repent and believe the gospel. The Apostle Paul told the Ephesians, God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ had blessed them with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Why were the Ephesians blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places? The Ephesians that heard Paul preaching the gospel message repented and believed the gospel. When they repented they entered into the kingdom of God. When a person enters the kingdom of God they become an alien. He is no longer part of the evil, wicked existing world system under the domain of Satan. He is like the sons of Jacob who were strangers, enslaved and oppressed in a land that was not theirs waiting for deliverance from enslavement and oppression. The second point of Jesus’ instructions regarding the way into the kingdom of God is the first requirement is repentance. When Jesus told the disciples and the people who followed Him the way into the kingdom of God He did not say believe and repent, He said repent and believe. Repentance is necessary before belief because the desires of the corrupt nature of the natural man are contrary to the desires of the Holy Spirit. The carnal mind of the natural man is not subject to the law. The spiritual eyes of the natural man are so blinded he can not see the things of God. The natural man does not know what he ought to know; he is a sinner separated from God. He does not know or understand God, the world, or himself. The will of the natural man is not the will of God. He is subject to all kinds of evil. His passions, desires, joys, hopes, sorrows, and fears are placed in the wrong objects; as a result there is no spiritual soundness in the natural man. From the top of his head to the soles of his feet in the natural man there is only spiritual sickness, confusion, unrest, and sin. In the natural man the ruling spirit is the spirit of disobedience. The spirit of disobedience is the source of unbelief. The result of unbelief is independence. The source of pride is independence. The fruits of pride are vain boasting, contention, and the seeking and accepting the praise of men that rob God of the glory that belong to Him. The source of vanity is pride. The fruits of vanity are the desire for praise, selfish ambitions, anger, malice, revenge, envy, jealousy, and evil conjecture. In the natural man the controlling desires are the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. The fruits of the lust of the flesh are gluttony, drunkenness, sensuality, and fornication. The result of the lust of the flesh is the defiling of the body that was designed to be the temple of God. The third point of Jesus’ instruction regarding the way into the kingdom of God is believe the gospel. The gospel is the good news of salvation to the Jews first and also to the Greek. The gospel is the revealing of the righteousness of God. The gospel is good news for guilty, helpless sinners. The good news is although the reward of sin is death, “God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life…he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed” (John 3:16; Isaiah 53:5 – WEB). There are two phrases, the first is the physical. The physical is the separation from the physical world. The second is the eternal separation from the presence of God. The physical death involves the removal of the spirit and soul from the body. The body returns to the dust. The second death involves the removing from the glory of God. Every man and woman that enters into this life enter under the sentence of death, doomed headed toward the place prepared for Satan and his followers. However, through the preaching of the gospel the Holy Spirit awakens the spiritual dead and stirs up a deep sense that these things are true. This is the beginning of repentance. The beginning of repentance is the realizing it is only through the mercy of God we are permitted to live. It is the realizing God would be just if He caused the earth to open and swallow us. It is the realizing there is no way we can appease God and prevent His justified anger over our sins. We can make no amends for the evil things we have thought, said and done. It is realizing if we could begin to do what is godly and righteous the debt we owe for our evil and wickedness would be as great as it ever was. It is realizing there is no way to remove our guilt. There is no help from within. There is no way, within ourselves, can we change our heart from sin to holiness. We are without the strength required to change ourselves. The only solution to our situation is repentance; it is turning from self to the One “who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed” (1 Peter 2:24 – WEB), Jesus Christ. If you believe this, the kingdom of God is yours. However, it is important you do not deceive yourself regarding the nature of this faith. It is not, as many have believed, the mere agreeing to the truth of the Bible, the articles of creeds, or all that is contained in the Old Testament and the New Testament that is the way into the kingdom of God. The demons believe this and they will never enter into the kingdom of God. The way into the kingdom of God is not merely agreeing to the truth of the Bible or all that is contained in the Old Testament and New Testament, it is trusting in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ. It is confidence in the pardoning of God. It is accepting as truth that God was in Jesus Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. It is believing that Jesus loved you so much He gave Himself as a sacrifice that you could not provide. If you believe this the peace of God will dwell in your heart. You will no longer doubt God. You will no longer be afraid of death, hell, or the devil.
Article Source: http://christian-topics.info
The New American Standard Bible The King James Version The World English Bible
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