The Kingdom of God
Part 1
Definitions and Distinctions
The goal of our study series is to unfold the biblical and Reformed doctrine of the Mediatorial Kingdom of Jesus Christ; but this is such a large and complex subject that it is impossible to do it justice without laying some groundwork by way of definitions and distinctions.
This is the more important because the key to a correct New Testament theology is the doctrine of the kingdom of God. Jesus and the Apostles are constantly referring to it. This phrase provides the conceptual and structural context for the whole of New Testament doctrine. To make an error here is to risk misunderstanding much of what the New Testament teaches.
The word for "Kingdom" in the Greek New Testament is basileia. It appears about 160 times; and of these occurrences, about 100 are found in the phrases "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of heaven".
Thayer Definition of basileia:
1) royal power, kingship, dominion, rule
1a) not to be confused with an actual Kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a Kingdom
1b) of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah
1c) of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah’s Kingdom
2) a Kingdom, the territory subject to the rule of a king
3) used in the N.T. to refer to the reign of the Messiah
Thayer might have added that a Kingdom is not only a government, but an historical epoch or era as well. This is implied, but it deserves emphasis. The reigns of the kings were in ancient times the basis of chronology. Each reign constituted an epoch. Events that happened during that reign were dated from the first year. The governmental and temporal aspects of a kingdom are therefore really inseparable.
"The Kingdom of God" therefore can refer to:
Christ's Kingship -- that is, His Royal right to reign.
Christ's Kingdom -- or the territory over which He reigns
Christ's Reign -- the time period in which He reigns.
The term is also used to refer to the doctrine of the Kingdom of God.
It is important to keep these facts in mind when interpreting any particular text of Scripture. In some places, it may be difficult to decide which of these ideas is meant.
Basileia is derived from the word for "King", which is basileus. There are synonyms for King and Kingdom in Greek, as in English. Every time that Jesus is called kurios, "Lord", His Kingship is acknowledged; for there is no important difference between the two words. We find the word, "lordship" (kuriotes) in some places. Many other words are sometimes used as equivalents to "kingdom". The words "throne" (thronos) and "sceptre" or "rod" (rhabdos) often means just that. "Horn" (keras) is another (Luke 1:69). It would take too much time to list them all. It is sufficient for our purposes that we be aware that the word "king" or "kingdom" need not be present in every reference to the kingdom or kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom of Creation vs. The Mediatorial Kingdom
The very first kingdom that ever existed was the original creation. There was nothing and no one for God to rule over until God made all things out of nothing. Since that time, God has been the absolute sovereign over all things which He has made. This is the "Universal Kingdom of God" or the "Kingdom of Creation". It is His Kingdom of power, of providence, of absolute sovereignty. He rules over all things, animate and inanimate, exercising His authority and power over each thing according to its nature; so that all things happen according to His sovereign will.
The "Kingdom of God" which John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-2) and Jesus (Matthew 4:17) announced as "at hand", obviously could not have been the Kingdom of Creation; but the Kingdom of Messiah. Jesus was about to "sit down with God in His throne" (Revelation 3:21) of the Universal Kingdom and inaugurate a new epoch in which Jesus Christ, the God-man, would exercise all the authority of God, for the specific purpose of securing the salvation of God's elect. This is often called "the Mediatorial Kingdom" or the "Kingdom of the Mediator"; for Christ rules in it as sole Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), as the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15, 12:24).
The entire eighth chapter of our Westminster Confession of Faith is dedicated to the subject of Christ the Mediator. Article 1 summarizes the doctrine of the office of the Mediator:
It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man; the Prophet, Priest, and King; the Head and Saviour of his Church; the Heir of all things; and Judge of the world; unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.
And article 3 expounds the equipping of the mediator. It reads, in part:
The Lord Jesus ...was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure ...to the end, that ...he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and Surety. Which office he took not unto himself, but was thereunto called by his Father; who put all power and judgment into his hand, and gave him commandment to execute the same.
There are in the Old Testament three offices ordained by God that constitute some men as mediators between God and men: the prophet, the priest and the king. The prophet speaks for God to men. The priest intercedes between men and God. The King rules in the place of God, as the minister of God, over men. All three of these offices are united in Christ, the ultimate Mediator.
Until Jesus Christ was actually sent into the world, there could be no fulfillment of the kingdom prophecies; because the kingdom could only be set up on the foundation of His prophetic and priestly work. Jesus had to come in the flesh, because the ultimate mediator between God and man had to be both God and man. In particular, it was as man that He had to suffer for men, and in their place. It was as man that He had to live a perfect life, that He might have a righteousness to be imputed to His people. And it was as man that He had to be exalted to the right hand of God; that our nature might be raised up to heaven, first, in Him. The Kingdom of God could not be established before God became man.
When Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, it was to be formally invested with the authority to govern the human race by His law. But it was more than that. He was at the same time granted the authority to carry out the eternal decrees of God by the providence of God, in order to effect the fulfillment of all the promises of God respecting the glorious Kingdom of God. He was given both the right and the powers necessary to bring in the Kingdom.
The fact of Jesus "sitting down at the right hand of God", first mentioned in Psalm 110:1, is very conspicuous in the New Testament preaching and teaching of the gospel. "The gospel of the Kingdom" that John and Jesus proclaimed was the good news that the Kingdom was about to appear. After the resurrection, "the gospel of the Kingdom" that Peter and Paul proclaimed was the good news that it had appeared. (The events of the Day of Pentecost proved that Jesus had ascended to the throne of God in Heaven and assumed the Kingship.) The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus are the very core of the gospel; because by these acts of the Divine Son of God our salvation was legally and sacerdotally secured and sealed; but it was equally necessary that He ascend into heaven to carry out to its completion the whole plan for this last age of human history, in which, as King, He directs all things to the goal of the salvation of the world. Yes, of the world -- not merely of a few scattered souls here and there.
The second Psalm gives us a prophetic fore-view of the exaltation of Jesus Christ:
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion."
"I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, 'Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.'"
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psa 2:1-12)
Scripture reveals that the nations which now refuse to bow the knee to Christ will be subdued. This is particularly clear in Psalm 110.
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head. (Psa 110:1-7)
It is God's good pleasure that these rebellious peoples of the world be either broken in repentance or in judgment (Matthew 21:44). There will not be a rebel nation left standing when Jesus returns to earth (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). Jesus has been rejected in history, on this earth; and it is fitting that He should be completely vindicated in history, on this earth. Accordingly, we have the promise that "They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him" (Psalm 72:9-11). And the Psalmist, foreseeing the conversion of the Gentiles, celebrates in these words: "God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted." (Psa 47:8-9) There are many other Scriptures which could be adduced that are to the same effect.
Four Crucial Distinctions
There has been a progressive revelation of the Kingdom of God; which requires us to make several important distinctions.
First of all, as we have noted, there is the Kingdom of Creation. This Kingdom dates from the beginning of the world, about 6060 years ago, to eternity future. There are very many references to this universal, eternal sovereignty of God in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms. God reigns by His providence over all -- good men and angels, as well as the evil. He is the Almighty God, the Most High, the Creator; and as such He rules over all, but the idea of God as a king over His people in a special sense is not prominent (if it exists at all) in the book of Genesis.
Second, with the establishment of Israel as a nation, there was born into the world a nation under His sovereignty in a different sense. This was not a Kingdom of providence merely; but of personal relationship with God -- His covenant relationship to a particular people, the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was from this time forward their Lawgiver, King, Judge and Savior. While the externals of this Kingdom continued to exist for about 1600 years, from the setting-up of the Tabernacle in the wilderness to the destruction of the second temple in 70 A.D., the Kingdom of Israel has now ceased to exist; from which it appears that Israel was not the final form of the Kingdom of God, but a type of the eternal Kingdom of Christ.
The Kingdom of Messiah began to be revealed with clarity at the time when the Kingdom of Israel was waning. In its darkest hour -- the 70 years of captivity in Babylon, when it seemed that Israel was finished, and the Kingdom of God ended in the world -- God revealed to His servant Daniel the great news that within a certain definite span of time, the Messiah would come and set up his universal and eternal Kingdom on the earth. Israel was to be miraculously re-established in the land at the end of the 70 years; but she would be a shadow of her former self. Never was Israel able to escape the control of the heathen nations that surrounded her and become a sovereign state. At the time of Christ, as is well-known, Israel was subject to the Romans. Before that, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Syrians had ruled over them in continuous succession. The comparative freedom achieved by the Macabean revolt was neither stable nor lasting, and involved compromising alliances.
The third development in the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messianic Kingdom, or the Kingdom of the Mediator. This kingdom has both a beginning and an end. The Kingdom of the Messiah began, in an important sense, with the incarnation; because, as soon as the Son of God was born into this world (indeed, as soon as He was conceived) He owned the title of King, and the right to rule. He was born the King of the Jews, and of all men besides.
When He entered the world, there was a Jewish remnant of believers who were waiting expectantly for Messiah to appear. They knew that Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks had nearly run out. We find two examples of these folk in the gospels: Simeon and Anna. Simeon is introduced with these words: "And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." (Luke 2:25-26) And of Anna it is said that "...she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38) The kingdom was at hand, and these people, being guided by God's word, knew it.
He exercised the authority and power of His kingship in a limited way while He was on the earth, assuming the prerogative of God to forgive sins, disposing of the demons at His will, healing diseases with a word or a touch.
When He ascended into heaven after his resurrection, He was officially crowned King of Kings, and seated on the throne of all power. Ever since then He has been reigning as Mediator. His kingdom is already universal as to its authority and power; but it is not yet universally acknowledged. Psalm 2 prophesies the initial refusal of both the Jews and the Gentiles to own God's King. Most of the world still rejects Christ, although the number of people who claim the name of Christ continues to grow at a rapid rate; and more of the habitable globe is brought under His sway as time goes on.
Those who are true and loyal subjects of the true King constitute the church of Jesus Christ; which is a nation and kingdom in its own right. The church is not the same thing as the Kingdom; but it is sometimes so called, because Christ reigns there in a spiritual sense. His people gladly submit to Him as their lawgiver and their judge, as well as their Savior. Unlike the world, they consent to be ruled over by Him.
According to the prophecies, this kingdom -- the body of His loyal subjects -- is destined to expand until it "fills the earth" (Daniel 2:34-35 compared with 2:44-45). Another prophecy of Daniel tells us that "the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever" (Dan 7:18). And verse 27 of the same chapter tells us that "...the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. " Here it is obvious that the word "kingdom" is being used the first time in the sense of the territory that will be given the saints to rule, and the second time in the sense of the actual reign of God.
Isaiah's prediction of the incarnation, so often read at Christmastime, expresses the same expectation:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)
Many Reformed theologians, believe that the "millennium" of Revelation 20 refers to a time when the church will have triumphed over all opposition, and the kingdoms of this world will have become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. They expect the glorious kingdom prophecies of universal peace and righteousness, and the prevalence of the Christian religion to be fulfilled in the fullest historical sense at this time. The nations will no longer be deceived by Satan, who will have been bound, and the saints shall reign.
The Mediatorial Reign ends when the last elect sinner has been saved, and the last enemy put down; when Jesus will return bodily to earth to raise the dead, judge the world, renew the earth, and bring in the eternal state.
Then fourth, there is the Consummated Kingdom, otherwise known as the Kingdom of Glory, or the Eternal State. All things having been accomplished that the Mediator was appointed to fulfill, He will then "resign His commission" and give up the Kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). He will still reign with the Father over redeemed creation by virtue of His Godhood, but no longer as Mediator. There will be no longer any need of a mediator between God and men; for God will now dwell with men forever. All shall be well in a sinless world, and all the happiness of the eternal state will be secure forever!
Because the Lord Jesus Christ will rule forever, though not as Mediator, it is correct to speak of His Kingdom as eternal. It is only the Mediatorial aspect that comes to an end. The eternal Word of God, who became incarnate, will still possess the kingdom that He won by His doing and dying -- His mighty deeds and sacrificial death! (Philippians 2:6-11)
There is a common expression in the New Testament -- "inherit the kingdom of God". A similar expression is also found -- "enter the kingdom of God", and, which means the same thing, "see the kingdom of God". These expressions all relate to the enjoyment of the heavenly kingdom after death, and especially after the day of resurrection, in the consummated kingdom.
Death is the great divide. At that time, a man's eternal destiny is sealed forever. He will either enter into life in the Kingdom of God or into death outside it. He will either inherit the blessedness of the kingdom, or he will be forever excluded from it. He will either see endless days of light and blessing in the kingdom, or be thrust into outer darkness. The heirs of the kingdom will have to wait for the full enjoyment of it until the day of resurrection; but it will be theirs already. Most of Jesus' references to the kingdom of God have this aspect in view, and relate to the hope of personal salvation; for Jesus was constantly emphasizing the personal import of His teachings, pressing men with the urgency of eternity.
The Kingdom of God
Part 2
Christ on the Throne of David
The prevailing theology among Evangelicals today is Dispensationalism, which claims that the Jewish geo-political Kingdom which they say is predicted in the Old Testament has been postponed, and that Jesus Christ is not now sitting on the throne of David. According to Dispensationalism, the present age between the first and second comings of Christ was not revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures, but because the Jews rejected their King when He offered the Kingdom to them, God went to His backup plan -- "the church". It claims that He must return to earth and sit on a literal throne in literal Jerusalem, in order to the fulfillment of the prophecies. This will take place immediately after the second coming.
Reformed theology, on the other hand, teaches that Christ, the Son of David, is already sitting "on the throne of David" in heaven, and that He will reign -- not for 1,000 years merely -- but for eternity. When he returns to earth, He will raise the dead, judge the world, and renew the earth, where He will live with His saints in perfect peace forever. Jesus Christ is the Son of David, and as such entitled to reign, no matter where He may be.
Which is true? While the whole of Scripture must be consulted, it is first necessary to review any texts which directly address the subject in question. We touched on a few of the key texts in part one. These provide the context for our investigation. The following passage directly addresses the question, "Has the Messianic Kingdom of Old Testament prophecy come, or is it on hold while God carries out an alternate plan called "the church"?"
Peter is discussing the meaning of the Pentecost events. He is describing the connection between the recent appearance of Jesus of Nazareth, His ministry, death, and especially His resurrection and ascension -- and the prophecies of Messiah's exaltation to the throne at God's right hand. I will attempt to show that this sermon of Peter's is decisive as to the question whether Christ has fully entered upon His kingship, or whether His present reign is only the "mystery phase" of the Kingdom of God, a "parenthesis" in God's plan, while the main thing is put on hold.
I have, up to this point, asserted many things, with only brief consideration of the textual basis. This is because of the largeness of the subject and the smallness of the time allotted. It is now time, however, to give a more detailed consideration to an extended passage which shows beyond a doubt that the kingdom of God is a present reality. That passage is found in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, in Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the first recorded after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. The heart of the sermon is contained in verses 22-36:
(22) Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (23) Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (24) Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
(25) For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: (26) Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: (27) Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (28) Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
(29) Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. (30) Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; (31) He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (32) This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
(33) Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. (34) For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, (35) Until I make thy foes thy footstool. (36) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Verses 22-24 introduce the subject of Jesus and His resurrection:
(22) Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (23) Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (24) Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Then he quotes a part of the sixteenth Psalm, which he will use to support his main point:
(25) For David speaketh concerning him, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: (26) Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: (27) Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (28) Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance."
The word, "concerning" is misleading. David, as the writer of the Psalm, is putting these words in the mouth of Messiah. He is speaking concerning Messiah -- not himself; but what Peter is saying is that Messiah is to be understood as the one speaking these words.
What follows is an argument for the prophetic necessity of Messiah's resurrection:
(29) Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. (30) Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; (31) He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (32) This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
The most important feature of the Davidic covenant is the oath by which God bound himself “...that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne”. But whose throne is it? The pronoun is ambiguous. Is the antecedent to the pronoun, “David”, or “God”, or perhaps “Jesus”? The last we can rule out, for there would be no need to mention that Messiah will sit on His own throne.
The most natural reading of this text in Acts 2 is to understand “his throne” as David's, since David is the “prophet” who knew “that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.” Whatever throne, wherever it is located, that the Son of David sits on is the throne of David, by virtue of the genealogy and the legal succession.
Further, Messiah rules from heaven over the same territory and nation that David did; but also a whole lot more! He rules over all, but that includes Israel and Palestine. Moeover, He rules over His people, the true Israel. So there should be no debate about whether Christ sits on David's throne.
Peter says that the psalm was written with the oath God made to David in mind, and that it is all about the Messiah. He is the one whose flesh did not see corruption, for He was raised from the dead the third day (after about 36 hours). To this fact, Peter and the rest of the disciples present were all witnesses.
(33) Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Jesus had not only been raised from the dead: He had ascended to the Messianic throne at God's right hand. The proof of this was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit prophesied by Joel, to which he had already alluded (verses 16-21), the miracle of tongues which all present had witnessed.
(34) For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, (35) Until I make thy foes thy footstool. (36) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
David is, no doubt, in heaven, but he is there as a disembodied spirit, like all the rest who wait for the resurrection. He has not been resurrected yet, and so cannot have ascended bodily into heaven, as Christ did. Besides, David says in Psalm 110 that his Lord is the one who will sit on God's right hand.
A Psalm of David The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalms 110:1)
This Psalm tells of the One who will be both a universal king and a perpetual priest after the order of Melchizedek, and has always been held, by Jews and Christians, to be Messianic.
The place from which this Davidic King, the Messiah, is to exercise His royal power is not the earth, but heaven. He will sit there, exercising all power in heaven and on earth, ruling in the midst of His enemies, until they are all conquered (See 1 Corinthians 15:25). Then, at the last day, He will return to earth to judge the world and to make all things right (Acts 3:21). Peter boldly declares the certainty that God has made the Crucified One the universal Lord and King, the Messiah.
Let those who claim to believe in the literal interpretation of Scripture now lay aside their prejudices and hear the words of the New Testament, which literally pronounces the Davidic covenant fulfilled, and the Davidic King established on the throne of David, in the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago!
Let them also note that there are three prophecies mentioned by Peter, all of which refer to this present age. It is simply not true that this age is a "mystery" un-forseen by the prophets! "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." (Act 3:24)
Objections
1. Someone may object that the text is not relevant to the issue because the words "king" and "kingdom" do not appear. But this is to miss the point. And here are the reasons why:
1. Peter claims that Jesus has been raised up to sit on a throne. Who sits on a throne but a king?
2. As we already discussed, Lord and King are synonymous terms. Peter says that God has made Jesus "both Lord and Christ". The word "Lord" is used in an unqualified sense; which means that He is not Lord of this place or that, but universal ruler. The ruler of a little country like Jordan is called a king; so how can that title be denied the Lord of all creation?
3. The word "Christ" means Messiah, and Messiah is explicitly called a king in numerous Scriptures. Has Jesus been made Messiah and not given His kingship? Emphatically not! I refer you again to Psalms 2 and 110.
2. The "throne of David" means the rule over the kingdom of Israel. The nation must accept Him and make Him their king; and this cannot happen until He returns to earth. This objection shows two tendencies of Dispensationalism: its extreme literalism, and its tendency to argue from its own questionable premises, instead of dealing with actual Scripture texts.
1. For the first, their kind of literal interpretation is the same in principle as that of the first century Jews; and it is the very reason that they could not accept Him, and crucified Him. Jesus was the greatest spiritualizer of all time. The throne of a king is a symbol merely, representing the authority which he would have still, if His palace were to be sacked and His throne burnt to ashes.
2. And for the second, there is simply no New Testament text to support the idea that history goes on after the second coming, with wars and unbelief and so forth. The restoration of the Jews taught in Romans 11 is a restoration to the favor of God. It is the salvation of the people, and does not require a restoration of their status as a discrete nation. But even if they are gathered once again, and become a great nation (which I tend to believe) this must take place before the second coming. Once again, it is not the Bible, but Darby and Scofield's system of interpretation of certain texts that is being set against the plain texts that are before us. Many other objections are made of this same kind, that assume Dispensationalism to be true, and interpret Scripture in accord with it. This is perhaps the most cultish aspect of the Dispensationalist churches.
3. Scripture teaches that the rejection of the King by the Jewish nation was prophesied, as well as its result. The Kingdom would not be postponed; but it would be given to the Gentiles instead. Unprecedented judgments would come upon that generation of Jews, and succeeding generations would suffer, until repentance would be given to Israel.
The Kingdom of God
Part 3
What's wrong with
Dispensationalism?
As we have seen, Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost is a ringing affirmation of the fulfillment of God's covenant with David in the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Jesus the Messiah to the throne at the right hand of God. The Davidic King has ascended His throne, and the glorious kingdom of God foretold by the prophets has thus been inaugurated.
Yet many professing Christians today have been taught that Jesus Christ's kingdom is on hold until His second advent. According to the teaching of best-selling books and Fundamentalist pulpits all across America, Jesus came the first time to be our Savior, but He will not really be King until he comes again to reign over the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years. Crucial to this theory is the dogma that Israel and the church are two separate peoples of God, the one with an earthly destiny and the other with an heavenly. The present age is a “parenthesis” of indefinite duration in which the hitherto unrevealed “Mystery Church” fills the place in God's program. The literal, earthly Kingdom of God predicted in the Scriptures of the Old Testament was offered to Israel by our Lord in the early part of His ministry, but, the Jews refused it, so it was postponed indefinitely, until the end of the “Church Age”, when the “prophetic clock would start ticking again” and God's promises to His earthly people would be fulfilled.
This theory, called “Dispensationalism” has enormous implications for many areas of doctrine and practice. For example, if the kingdom has been postponed, then it is clearly incorrect to speak of the kingdom of God as a present reality, to identify it with the church, or to attempt to build the kingdom of God. It would be equally wrong to apply the law of the kingdom to this present age of the church.
Furthermore, this doctrine is bound up with the expectation of an “any moment” rapture of the church, by which all believers are to be removed from earth prior to a “great tribulation” marked by the sudden conversion of a remnant of the Jews, and the rise and monstrous career of the Anti-christ. All this is in preparation for the return of Christ in power and glory to put down His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth during the millennium. For it follows, that if the kingdom Christ came to establish at his first coming was postponed, then the church age must end in some way before the end of history, so that the kingdom can be brought in before history concludes.
And the second coming undergoes a change of meaning as well; for it is no longer, as the church has always believed and taught, the momentous event that brings an end to human history: it now becomes an event (actually, two) that occurs within history! Thus, the finality of this great day has been stripped away!
Dispensationalism is very different from what Christians in other ages have held (and Reformed Christians still hold), namely:
That the “kingdom of heaven” is the spiritual kingdom of God that Christ announced as “at hand” at his first coming;
That it is a mediatorial kingdom, governed by the mediator of the New Covenant, who holds the threefold office of prophet, priest and king.
That this kingdom, foretold by the prophets, was to be set up by a Savior rejected by his nation, murdered and then raised from the dead;
That the “throne of David” is the heavenly throne of God from which the “Son of David”, the Messiah, Jesus Christ exercises all power in heaven and on earth for the salvation of his elect;
That there is but one gospel – that of the kingdom, also known as the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the grace of God, etc.;
That there is but one people of God, the redeemed of Jesus Christ;
That this present age is “the day of salvation”, and that it ends when Jesus comes the second time for eternal judgment;
That the “great tribulation” of the Olivet discourse properly refers to the “days of vengeance” in which God's wrath was poured out on the wicked generation that crucified the Lord Jesus – the period of the Jewish war with Rome that culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the perpetual exile of the Jews from their homeland;
That the kingdom was never postponed, but that it was rather taken away from national Israel and given to a new holy nation, the New Covenant church of Jesus Christ, called out from the Jews and the Gentiles;
That believing Jews and Gentiles are on equal terms in this kingdom of God and in the future;
That it is an everlasting kingdom, which shall never be replaced or superseded, but will continue on earth until the second coming of Christ and beyond, into the eternal state.
The Westminster Larger Catechism, which represents this older, traditional understanding of the kingdom of God distinguishes several aspects to Christ's kingship in the answer to question 45:
Q. 45. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, [1] in calling out of the world a people to himself, and giving them officers, laws, and censures, by which he visibly governs them; [2] in bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, [3] restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory, and their good; [4] and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel.
To summarize:
[1] He sets up and governs the visible church.
[2] He bestows salvation according to His sovereign will.
[3] He exercises all power in heaven and earth on behalf of His church.
[4] He judges His enemies, in history, and at the end of the world.
The kingdom has come, yet not in its fullest sense. Christ has all the authority now, but He must fight an age-long and bloody war to bring the rebellious nations under His scepter. His enemies must be made His footstool (Psalm 110:1). For now, He rules in the midst of His enemies (Psalm 110:2). In the answer to WLC question 91, we learn what it means when we pray “Thy kingdom come”:
Q. 191. What do we pray for in the second petition [of the Lord's prayer]?
A. In the second petition, (which is, Thy kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel-officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate: that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.
What Does it Matter?
Dispensationalism is the doctrine held by Fundamentalist churches and most Evangelical churches today, but it directly contradicts the Scripture doctrine of the present kingdom of God, teaching instead that the kingdom has been postponed until after the second coming of Christ. But why should we be concerned about that? Why can't we just agree to disagree on a doctrine that doesn't affect the way of salvation? Don't we all believe in the fundamentals of the faith, and justification by faith? What's the big deal?
In answer to this, I concede that many Dispensationalists are born-again believers, and that many of the Dispensationalist churches are true churches of Christ. Let me be clear about that. At the same time, sound doctrine is not unimportant just because I can believe some errors and still be saved. Is that all that matters -- that I personally be saved? What if a doctrine could be shown to lead to errors in related doctrines and in practice? What if it could be shown that Dispensationalism encourages people to false hopes, and leads to defeatism and loose living? What if it could be shown that it destroys the unity of Scripture and imposes an arbitrary system of interpretation that hides the true meaning of many Scripture texts?
In that case, would it matter whether Dispensationalism was allowed to rule in the Evangelical church? I think it would, and does. That is why I have titled this third installment on the Kingdom of God, "What's Wrong with Dispensationalism?"
The study of Scripture ought to lead to the development of a complete and coherent system of doctrine. We ought to be able to say, "That cannot be true, because The Bible teaches this, and not that." God's truth is a whole; and so every truth bears a relation to every other truth. We ought to be able to set out the truths of Scripture in a systematic, orderly way. This the Reformed faith does in its various confessions of faith, especially, in our own magnificent Westminster Confession. Dispensationalism attempts to do this, but it fails in three crucial respects. First, it is based on erroneous, unscriptural assumptions rather than biblical facts. Second, it constantly misinterprets Scripture in order to make it fit the wrong assumptions it has made. Third, it is not self-consistent, but is riddled with internal contradictions.
So the state of affairs which we face is that we have a highly consistent exposition of the system of truth taught in holy Scripture that we call the Reformed faith that has historically done enormous good; and set in opposition to that, the inconsistent and unbiblical product of human invention called Dispensationalism that has had many mischievous consequences since its recent appearance in history. I have set forth a complete discussion of these ideas, with extensive Scripture proofs, in my book, The Myth of the Postponed Kingdom. There is no time to go into such detail here. I will just attempt to touch on some of the most egregious errors and most destructive consequences of the current dominance of Dispensationalism.
Dispensationalism's Greatest Defects
First of all, it corrupts the doctrine of grace into antinomianism. Antinomianism is the denial of the law. Abusing Paul's words, "We are not under law, but under grace, dispensationalists generally assert that Christians have nothing to do with the law of God. But where there is a kingdom, it cannot be denied that there is a law; for what is a king without a law? "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us." (Isaiah 33:22)
The Kingdom is present, not future, and the law of the kingdom is the whole canon of Scripture. The whole Bible, and not just the New Testament, is the standard of doctrine and practice. Every indication of the will of God in the entire Word of God has its proper application to the practice of the Church -- whether literally, or in principle. As Reformed Christians, we are "whole-Bible" believers. The Old Testament law is not irrelevant to the Christian's life, but, as it was to David, it is a light upon our path! (Psalms 119:105) It should inform our lawmakers, for it is the most righteous law that ever governed a nation! (Deuteronomy 4:8) Its pages are to be searched for the wisdom we need to live as God intends, and to know His blessing (Proverbs 6:23).
Dispensationalism denies the present kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with it, the present applicability of God's law. The Kingdom is identified with a millennium that supposedly is set up when Christ returns to earth. That will be an age of law, in which the king will rule "with a rod of iron". According to that teaching (in its original and most consistent form) this age is the age of grace, and for Christians, there is no law except for the commandments of Christ expressly given to the church, found mostly in the epistles. In other words, the Old Testament moral law has no authority over Christians.
The sermon on the mount, even, is not for the church, but for the millennial kingdom, according to C. I. Scofield. This is the age of grace, and we must not allow anyone to trammel our consciences with legalistic requirements drawn from the Old Testament or the Kingdom law of the New Testament. So they say; but Christ Himself deliberately refutes that doctrine when He says:
(17) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (18) For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (19) Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)
And Paul says that the Christian is "not without law to God, but under the law to Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:21). We are not under the law as a covenant, or as a means of justification; but as servants of God, bound to do His will, which is expressed in a moral law that never changes. Because we love Him, we keep His commandments.
By perverting the doctrine of God's law, Dispensationalism corrupts the doctrine and practice of the church in ways too numerous to tell. It is therefore of great importance to maintain and proclaim the present reality of the Kingdom and the law of the King.
Second, Dispensationalism is pre-millennial in eschatology. There is no place for an earthly "kingdom" of a thousand years after the second coming of Christ because the kingdom is now present, and because it ends at the second coming. There is no future "kingdom age" after this "church age" or "age of grace": all these terms apply to the same period of time -- these last days in which we live, the days of the Messiah.
Pre-millennialism is inherently pessimistic. It teaches that, even though Jesus is on the throne in heaven -- a throne higher than any throne on earth, that is more powerful by far than all of them put together; yet the world is only going to go on getting worse until the end of this dismal age! But how can this be? Is this the picture we get from the Messianic Psalms? Or is there not a decided note of glorious victory in all of them?
Why is it that so many think that this victory is confined to the personal return of Christ, when the Scripture clearly connects it with His ascent to the throne, and says explicitly that He won't return until He has put down all His enemies? Is it not because pre-millennialists extend history beyond the second coming, and apply those prophecies to a future kingdom age?
The Reformed doctrine excludes that pessimism that has sometimes crept even into Reformed circles, which causes us to expect little from God in this present age. This is the age spoken of in such glowing terms in the Old Testament! This is the age when Messiah reigns; and so, in a preeminent sense, "the day of salvation"! This is the age when the Holy spirit is being poured out on all flesh! This is the age in which the fulness of the Gentiles will be called, and in which "All Israel shall be saved"! We have already seen mighty works of God in history! A biblical doctrine of the kingdom of Christ will help us by faith to "expect great things from God, and attempt great things for God"!
When the Reformed churches have been at their best, when they have been true to this doctrine, they have been the most powerful engines for evangelism and missions that the world has ever seen!
Third, Dispensationalists teach numerous erroneous doctrines; such as that sinners who are alive at the return of Christ will live into the millennium on earth; that there will be an opportunity for salvation for them after Christ returns (and that on other terms than the gospel of grace offers), that glorified saints will live on an un-renewed earth with these sinners for a thousand years after the second coming, that the millennium will be a time of worldwide bloodshed and warfare rather than an age of peace, that the general judgment will not occur until a thousand years after the second coming, that the "great tribulation" of the Olivet discourse was not fulfilled when Jesus said it would be, but is yet future, that there will be a secret rapture of the church before the second coming, etc.
These false doctrines have distracted, divided, disturbed and discredited the church for generations now. They have kept believers ignorant of the Scriptures and the doctrines of the historical church. They have created a false spirituality devoid of the fear of God. They have generally lowered the standards of Christian living. And they have corrupted and debased the worship of the church. Because of this, it is my opinion that the church can never rise to the level of a power in the world again until Dispensationalism is seen to be erroneous, and is abandoned in favor of biblical views of the kingdom of Christ and of eschatology.
Howard Douglas King
June 17, 2017
Part 1
Definitions and Distinctions
The goal of our study series is to unfold the biblical and Reformed doctrine of the Mediatorial Kingdom of Jesus Christ; but this is such a large and complex subject that it is impossible to do it justice without laying some groundwork by way of definitions and distinctions.
This is the more important because the key to a correct New Testament theology is the doctrine of the kingdom of God. Jesus and the Apostles are constantly referring to it. This phrase provides the conceptual and structural context for the whole of New Testament doctrine. To make an error here is to risk misunderstanding much of what the New Testament teaches.
The word for "Kingdom" in the Greek New Testament is basileia. It appears about 160 times; and of these occurrences, about 100 are found in the phrases "Kingdom of God" or "Kingdom of heaven".
Thayer Definition of basileia:
1) royal power, kingship, dominion, rule
1a) not to be confused with an actual Kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a Kingdom
1b) of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah
1c) of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah’s Kingdom
2) a Kingdom, the territory subject to the rule of a king
3) used in the N.T. to refer to the reign of the Messiah
Thayer might have added that a Kingdom is not only a government, but an historical epoch or era as well. This is implied, but it deserves emphasis. The reigns of the kings were in ancient times the basis of chronology. Each reign constituted an epoch. Events that happened during that reign were dated from the first year. The governmental and temporal aspects of a kingdom are therefore really inseparable.
"The Kingdom of God" therefore can refer to:
Christ's Kingship -- that is, His Royal right to reign.
Christ's Kingdom -- or the territory over which He reigns
Christ's Reign -- the time period in which He reigns.
The term is also used to refer to the doctrine of the Kingdom of God.
It is important to keep these facts in mind when interpreting any particular text of Scripture. In some places, it may be difficult to decide which of these ideas is meant.
Basileia is derived from the word for "King", which is basileus. There are synonyms for King and Kingdom in Greek, as in English. Every time that Jesus is called kurios, "Lord", His Kingship is acknowledged; for there is no important difference between the two words. We find the word, "lordship" (kuriotes) in some places. Many other words are sometimes used as equivalents to "kingdom". The words "throne" (thronos) and "sceptre" or "rod" (rhabdos) often means just that. "Horn" (keras) is another (Luke 1:69). It would take too much time to list them all. It is sufficient for our purposes that we be aware that the word "king" or "kingdom" need not be present in every reference to the kingdom or kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom of Creation vs. The Mediatorial Kingdom
The very first kingdom that ever existed was the original creation. There was nothing and no one for God to rule over until God made all things out of nothing. Since that time, God has been the absolute sovereign over all things which He has made. This is the "Universal Kingdom of God" or the "Kingdom of Creation". It is His Kingdom of power, of providence, of absolute sovereignty. He rules over all things, animate and inanimate, exercising His authority and power over each thing according to its nature; so that all things happen according to His sovereign will.
The "Kingdom of God" which John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-2) and Jesus (Matthew 4:17) announced as "at hand", obviously could not have been the Kingdom of Creation; but the Kingdom of Messiah. Jesus was about to "sit down with God in His throne" (Revelation 3:21) of the Universal Kingdom and inaugurate a new epoch in which Jesus Christ, the God-man, would exercise all the authority of God, for the specific purpose of securing the salvation of God's elect. This is often called "the Mediatorial Kingdom" or the "Kingdom of the Mediator"; for Christ rules in it as sole Mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5), as the Mediator of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15, 12:24).
The entire eighth chapter of our Westminster Confession of Faith is dedicated to the subject of Christ the Mediator. Article 1 summarizes the doctrine of the office of the Mediator:
It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man; the Prophet, Priest, and King; the Head and Saviour of his Church; the Heir of all things; and Judge of the world; unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.
And article 3 expounds the equipping of the mediator. It reads, in part:
The Lord Jesus ...was sanctified and anointed with the Holy Spirit above measure ...to the end, that ...he might be thoroughly furnished to execute the office of a Mediator and Surety. Which office he took not unto himself, but was thereunto called by his Father; who put all power and judgment into his hand, and gave him commandment to execute the same.
There are in the Old Testament three offices ordained by God that constitute some men as mediators between God and men: the prophet, the priest and the king. The prophet speaks for God to men. The priest intercedes between men and God. The King rules in the place of God, as the minister of God, over men. All three of these offices are united in Christ, the ultimate Mediator.
Until Jesus Christ was actually sent into the world, there could be no fulfillment of the kingdom prophecies; because the kingdom could only be set up on the foundation of His prophetic and priestly work. Jesus had to come in the flesh, because the ultimate mediator between God and man had to be both God and man. In particular, it was as man that He had to suffer for men, and in their place. It was as man that He had to live a perfect life, that He might have a righteousness to be imputed to His people. And it was as man that He had to be exalted to the right hand of God; that our nature might be raised up to heaven, first, in Him. The Kingdom of God could not be established before God became man.
When Jesus ascended bodily into heaven, it was to be formally invested with the authority to govern the human race by His law. But it was more than that. He was at the same time granted the authority to carry out the eternal decrees of God by the providence of God, in order to effect the fulfillment of all the promises of God respecting the glorious Kingdom of God. He was given both the right and the powers necessary to bring in the Kingdom.
The fact of Jesus "sitting down at the right hand of God", first mentioned in Psalm 110:1, is very conspicuous in the New Testament preaching and teaching of the gospel. "The gospel of the Kingdom" that John and Jesus proclaimed was the good news that the Kingdom was about to appear. After the resurrection, "the gospel of the Kingdom" that Peter and Paul proclaimed was the good news that it had appeared. (The events of the Day of Pentecost proved that Jesus had ascended to the throne of God in Heaven and assumed the Kingship.) The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus are the very core of the gospel; because by these acts of the Divine Son of God our salvation was legally and sacerdotally secured and sealed; but it was equally necessary that He ascend into heaven to carry out to its completion the whole plan for this last age of human history, in which, as King, He directs all things to the goal of the salvation of the world. Yes, of the world -- not merely of a few scattered souls here and there.
The second Psalm gives us a prophetic fore-view of the exaltation of Jesus Christ:
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion."
"I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, 'Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.'"
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. (Psa 2:1-12)
Scripture reveals that the nations which now refuse to bow the knee to Christ will be subdued. This is particularly clear in Psalm 110.
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge among the heathen, he shall fill the places with the dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the brook in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head. (Psa 110:1-7)
It is God's good pleasure that these rebellious peoples of the world be either broken in repentance or in judgment (Matthew 21:44). There will not be a rebel nation left standing when Jesus returns to earth (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). Jesus has been rejected in history, on this earth; and it is fitting that He should be completely vindicated in history, on this earth. Accordingly, we have the promise that "They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him" (Psalm 72:9-11). And the Psalmist, foreseeing the conversion of the Gentiles, celebrates in these words: "God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted." (Psa 47:8-9) There are many other Scriptures which could be adduced that are to the same effect.
Four Crucial Distinctions
There has been a progressive revelation of the Kingdom of God; which requires us to make several important distinctions.
First of all, as we have noted, there is the Kingdom of Creation. This Kingdom dates from the beginning of the world, about 6060 years ago, to eternity future. There are very many references to this universal, eternal sovereignty of God in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms. God reigns by His providence over all -- good men and angels, as well as the evil. He is the Almighty God, the Most High, the Creator; and as such He rules over all, but the idea of God as a king over His people in a special sense is not prominent (if it exists at all) in the book of Genesis.
Second, with the establishment of Israel as a nation, there was born into the world a nation under His sovereignty in a different sense. This was not a Kingdom of providence merely; but of personal relationship with God -- His covenant relationship to a particular people, the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He was from this time forward their Lawgiver, King, Judge and Savior. While the externals of this Kingdom continued to exist for about 1600 years, from the setting-up of the Tabernacle in the wilderness to the destruction of the second temple in 70 A.D., the Kingdom of Israel has now ceased to exist; from which it appears that Israel was not the final form of the Kingdom of God, but a type of the eternal Kingdom of Christ.
The Kingdom of Messiah began to be revealed with clarity at the time when the Kingdom of Israel was waning. In its darkest hour -- the 70 years of captivity in Babylon, when it seemed that Israel was finished, and the Kingdom of God ended in the world -- God revealed to His servant Daniel the great news that within a certain definite span of time, the Messiah would come and set up his universal and eternal Kingdom on the earth. Israel was to be miraculously re-established in the land at the end of the 70 years; but she would be a shadow of her former self. Never was Israel able to escape the control of the heathen nations that surrounded her and become a sovereign state. At the time of Christ, as is well-known, Israel was subject to the Romans. Before that, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Syrians had ruled over them in continuous succession. The comparative freedom achieved by the Macabean revolt was neither stable nor lasting, and involved compromising alliances.
The third development in the Kingdom of God is the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Messianic Kingdom, or the Kingdom of the Mediator. This kingdom has both a beginning and an end. The Kingdom of the Messiah began, in an important sense, with the incarnation; because, as soon as the Son of God was born into this world (indeed, as soon as He was conceived) He owned the title of King, and the right to rule. He was born the King of the Jews, and of all men besides.
When He entered the world, there was a Jewish remnant of believers who were waiting expectantly for Messiah to appear. They knew that Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks had nearly run out. We find two examples of these folk in the gospels: Simeon and Anna. Simeon is introduced with these words: "And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." (Luke 2:25-26) And of Anna it is said that "...she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. (Luke 2:38) The kingdom was at hand, and these people, being guided by God's word, knew it.
He exercised the authority and power of His kingship in a limited way while He was on the earth, assuming the prerogative of God to forgive sins, disposing of the demons at His will, healing diseases with a word or a touch.
When He ascended into heaven after his resurrection, He was officially crowned King of Kings, and seated on the throne of all power. Ever since then He has been reigning as Mediator. His kingdom is already universal as to its authority and power; but it is not yet universally acknowledged. Psalm 2 prophesies the initial refusal of both the Jews and the Gentiles to own God's King. Most of the world still rejects Christ, although the number of people who claim the name of Christ continues to grow at a rapid rate; and more of the habitable globe is brought under His sway as time goes on.
Those who are true and loyal subjects of the true King constitute the church of Jesus Christ; which is a nation and kingdom in its own right. The church is not the same thing as the Kingdom; but it is sometimes so called, because Christ reigns there in a spiritual sense. His people gladly submit to Him as their lawgiver and their judge, as well as their Savior. Unlike the world, they consent to be ruled over by Him.
According to the prophecies, this kingdom -- the body of His loyal subjects -- is destined to expand until it "fills the earth" (Daniel 2:34-35 compared with 2:44-45). Another prophecy of Daniel tells us that "the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever" (Dan 7:18). And verse 27 of the same chapter tells us that "...the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. " Here it is obvious that the word "kingdom" is being used the first time in the sense of the territory that will be given the saints to rule, and the second time in the sense of the actual reign of God.
Isaiah's prediction of the incarnation, so often read at Christmastime, expresses the same expectation:
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)
Many Reformed theologians, believe that the "millennium" of Revelation 20 refers to a time when the church will have triumphed over all opposition, and the kingdoms of this world will have become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. They expect the glorious kingdom prophecies of universal peace and righteousness, and the prevalence of the Christian religion to be fulfilled in the fullest historical sense at this time. The nations will no longer be deceived by Satan, who will have been bound, and the saints shall reign.
The Mediatorial Reign ends when the last elect sinner has been saved, and the last enemy put down; when Jesus will return bodily to earth to raise the dead, judge the world, renew the earth, and bring in the eternal state.
Then fourth, there is the Consummated Kingdom, otherwise known as the Kingdom of Glory, or the Eternal State. All things having been accomplished that the Mediator was appointed to fulfill, He will then "resign His commission" and give up the Kingdom to the Father (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). He will still reign with the Father over redeemed creation by virtue of His Godhood, but no longer as Mediator. There will be no longer any need of a mediator between God and men; for God will now dwell with men forever. All shall be well in a sinless world, and all the happiness of the eternal state will be secure forever!
Because the Lord Jesus Christ will rule forever, though not as Mediator, it is correct to speak of His Kingdom as eternal. It is only the Mediatorial aspect that comes to an end. The eternal Word of God, who became incarnate, will still possess the kingdom that He won by His doing and dying -- His mighty deeds and sacrificial death! (Philippians 2:6-11)
There is a common expression in the New Testament -- "inherit the kingdom of God". A similar expression is also found -- "enter the kingdom of God", and, which means the same thing, "see the kingdom of God". These expressions all relate to the enjoyment of the heavenly kingdom after death, and especially after the day of resurrection, in the consummated kingdom.
Death is the great divide. At that time, a man's eternal destiny is sealed forever. He will either enter into life in the Kingdom of God or into death outside it. He will either inherit the blessedness of the kingdom, or he will be forever excluded from it. He will either see endless days of light and blessing in the kingdom, or be thrust into outer darkness. The heirs of the kingdom will have to wait for the full enjoyment of it until the day of resurrection; but it will be theirs already. Most of Jesus' references to the kingdom of God have this aspect in view, and relate to the hope of personal salvation; for Jesus was constantly emphasizing the personal import of His teachings, pressing men with the urgency of eternity.
The Kingdom of God
Part 2
Christ on the Throne of David
The prevailing theology among Evangelicals today is Dispensationalism, which claims that the Jewish geo-political Kingdom which they say is predicted in the Old Testament has been postponed, and that Jesus Christ is not now sitting on the throne of David. According to Dispensationalism, the present age between the first and second comings of Christ was not revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures, but because the Jews rejected their King when He offered the Kingdom to them, God went to His backup plan -- "the church". It claims that He must return to earth and sit on a literal throne in literal Jerusalem, in order to the fulfillment of the prophecies. This will take place immediately after the second coming.
Reformed theology, on the other hand, teaches that Christ, the Son of David, is already sitting "on the throne of David" in heaven, and that He will reign -- not for 1,000 years merely -- but for eternity. When he returns to earth, He will raise the dead, judge the world, and renew the earth, where He will live with His saints in perfect peace forever. Jesus Christ is the Son of David, and as such entitled to reign, no matter where He may be.
Which is true? While the whole of Scripture must be consulted, it is first necessary to review any texts which directly address the subject in question. We touched on a few of the key texts in part one. These provide the context for our investigation. The following passage directly addresses the question, "Has the Messianic Kingdom of Old Testament prophecy come, or is it on hold while God carries out an alternate plan called "the church"?"
Peter is discussing the meaning of the Pentecost events. He is describing the connection between the recent appearance of Jesus of Nazareth, His ministry, death, and especially His resurrection and ascension -- and the prophecies of Messiah's exaltation to the throne at God's right hand. I will attempt to show that this sermon of Peter's is decisive as to the question whether Christ has fully entered upon His kingship, or whether His present reign is only the "mystery phase" of the Kingdom of God, a "parenthesis" in God's plan, while the main thing is put on hold.
I have, up to this point, asserted many things, with only brief consideration of the textual basis. This is because of the largeness of the subject and the smallness of the time allotted. It is now time, however, to give a more detailed consideration to an extended passage which shows beyond a doubt that the kingdom of God is a present reality. That passage is found in the second chapter of the Book of Acts, in Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost, the first recorded after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. The heart of the sermon is contained in verses 22-36:
(22) Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (23) Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (24) Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
(25) For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: (26) Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: (27) Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (28) Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
(29) Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. (30) Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; (31) He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (32) This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
(33) Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. (34) For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, (35) Until I make thy foes thy footstool. (36) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Verses 22-24 introduce the subject of Jesus and His resurrection:
(22) Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: (23) Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: (24) Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Then he quotes a part of the sixteenth Psalm, which he will use to support his main point:
(25) For David speaketh concerning him, "I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: (26) Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: (27) Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. (28) Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance."
The word, "concerning" is misleading. David, as the writer of the Psalm, is putting these words in the mouth of Messiah. He is speaking concerning Messiah -- not himself; but what Peter is saying is that Messiah is to be understood as the one speaking these words.
What follows is an argument for the prophetic necessity of Messiah's resurrection:
(29) Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. (30) Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; (31) He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. (32) This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
The most important feature of the Davidic covenant is the oath by which God bound himself “...that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne”. But whose throne is it? The pronoun is ambiguous. Is the antecedent to the pronoun, “David”, or “God”, or perhaps “Jesus”? The last we can rule out, for there would be no need to mention that Messiah will sit on His own throne.
The most natural reading of this text in Acts 2 is to understand “his throne” as David's, since David is the “prophet” who knew “that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.” Whatever throne, wherever it is located, that the Son of David sits on is the throne of David, by virtue of the genealogy and the legal succession.
Further, Messiah rules from heaven over the same territory and nation that David did; but also a whole lot more! He rules over all, but that includes Israel and Palestine. Moeover, He rules over His people, the true Israel. So there should be no debate about whether Christ sits on David's throne.
Peter says that the psalm was written with the oath God made to David in mind, and that it is all about the Messiah. He is the one whose flesh did not see corruption, for He was raised from the dead the third day (after about 36 hours). To this fact, Peter and the rest of the disciples present were all witnesses.
(33) Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
Jesus had not only been raised from the dead: He had ascended to the Messianic throne at God's right hand. The proof of this was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit prophesied by Joel, to which he had already alluded (verses 16-21), the miracle of tongues which all present had witnessed.
(34) For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, (35) Until I make thy foes thy footstool. (36) Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
David is, no doubt, in heaven, but he is there as a disembodied spirit, like all the rest who wait for the resurrection. He has not been resurrected yet, and so cannot have ascended bodily into heaven, as Christ did. Besides, David says in Psalm 110 that his Lord is the one who will sit on God's right hand.
A Psalm of David The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalms 110:1)
This Psalm tells of the One who will be both a universal king and a perpetual priest after the order of Melchizedek, and has always been held, by Jews and Christians, to be Messianic.
The place from which this Davidic King, the Messiah, is to exercise His royal power is not the earth, but heaven. He will sit there, exercising all power in heaven and on earth, ruling in the midst of His enemies, until they are all conquered (See 1 Corinthians 15:25). Then, at the last day, He will return to earth to judge the world and to make all things right (Acts 3:21). Peter boldly declares the certainty that God has made the Crucified One the universal Lord and King, the Messiah.
Let those who claim to believe in the literal interpretation of Scripture now lay aside their prejudices and hear the words of the New Testament, which literally pronounces the Davidic covenant fulfilled, and the Davidic King established on the throne of David, in the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Jesus Christ, 2000 years ago!
Let them also note that there are three prophecies mentioned by Peter, all of which refer to this present age. It is simply not true that this age is a "mystery" un-forseen by the prophets! "Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." (Act 3:24)
Objections
1. Someone may object that the text is not relevant to the issue because the words "king" and "kingdom" do not appear. But this is to miss the point. And here are the reasons why:
1. Peter claims that Jesus has been raised up to sit on a throne. Who sits on a throne but a king?
2. As we already discussed, Lord and King are synonymous terms. Peter says that God has made Jesus "both Lord and Christ". The word "Lord" is used in an unqualified sense; which means that He is not Lord of this place or that, but universal ruler. The ruler of a little country like Jordan is called a king; so how can that title be denied the Lord of all creation?
3. The word "Christ" means Messiah, and Messiah is explicitly called a king in numerous Scriptures. Has Jesus been made Messiah and not given His kingship? Emphatically not! I refer you again to Psalms 2 and 110.
2. The "throne of David" means the rule over the kingdom of Israel. The nation must accept Him and make Him their king; and this cannot happen until He returns to earth. This objection shows two tendencies of Dispensationalism: its extreme literalism, and its tendency to argue from its own questionable premises, instead of dealing with actual Scripture texts.
1. For the first, their kind of literal interpretation is the same in principle as that of the first century Jews; and it is the very reason that they could not accept Him, and crucified Him. Jesus was the greatest spiritualizer of all time. The throne of a king is a symbol merely, representing the authority which he would have still, if His palace were to be sacked and His throne burnt to ashes.
2. And for the second, there is simply no New Testament text to support the idea that history goes on after the second coming, with wars and unbelief and so forth. The restoration of the Jews taught in Romans 11 is a restoration to the favor of God. It is the salvation of the people, and does not require a restoration of their status as a discrete nation. But even if they are gathered once again, and become a great nation (which I tend to believe) this must take place before the second coming. Once again, it is not the Bible, but Darby and Scofield's system of interpretation of certain texts that is being set against the plain texts that are before us. Many other objections are made of this same kind, that assume Dispensationalism to be true, and interpret Scripture in accord with it. This is perhaps the most cultish aspect of the Dispensationalist churches.
3. Scripture teaches that the rejection of the King by the Jewish nation was prophesied, as well as its result. The Kingdom would not be postponed; but it would be given to the Gentiles instead. Unprecedented judgments would come upon that generation of Jews, and succeeding generations would suffer, until repentance would be given to Israel.
The Kingdom of God
Part 3
What's wrong with
Dispensationalism?
As we have seen, Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost is a ringing affirmation of the fulfillment of God's covenant with David in the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Jesus the Messiah to the throne at the right hand of God. The Davidic King has ascended His throne, and the glorious kingdom of God foretold by the prophets has thus been inaugurated.
Yet many professing Christians today have been taught that Jesus Christ's kingdom is on hold until His second advent. According to the teaching of best-selling books and Fundamentalist pulpits all across America, Jesus came the first time to be our Savior, but He will not really be King until he comes again to reign over the world from Jerusalem for a thousand years. Crucial to this theory is the dogma that Israel and the church are two separate peoples of God, the one with an earthly destiny and the other with an heavenly. The present age is a “parenthesis” of indefinite duration in which the hitherto unrevealed “Mystery Church” fills the place in God's program. The literal, earthly Kingdom of God predicted in the Scriptures of the Old Testament was offered to Israel by our Lord in the early part of His ministry, but, the Jews refused it, so it was postponed indefinitely, until the end of the “Church Age”, when the “prophetic clock would start ticking again” and God's promises to His earthly people would be fulfilled.
This theory, called “Dispensationalism” has enormous implications for many areas of doctrine and practice. For example, if the kingdom has been postponed, then it is clearly incorrect to speak of the kingdom of God as a present reality, to identify it with the church, or to attempt to build the kingdom of God. It would be equally wrong to apply the law of the kingdom to this present age of the church.
Furthermore, this doctrine is bound up with the expectation of an “any moment” rapture of the church, by which all believers are to be removed from earth prior to a “great tribulation” marked by the sudden conversion of a remnant of the Jews, and the rise and monstrous career of the Anti-christ. All this is in preparation for the return of Christ in power and glory to put down His enemies and establish His kingdom on earth during the millennium. For it follows, that if the kingdom Christ came to establish at his first coming was postponed, then the church age must end in some way before the end of history, so that the kingdom can be brought in before history concludes.
And the second coming undergoes a change of meaning as well; for it is no longer, as the church has always believed and taught, the momentous event that brings an end to human history: it now becomes an event (actually, two) that occurs within history! Thus, the finality of this great day has been stripped away!
Dispensationalism is very different from what Christians in other ages have held (and Reformed Christians still hold), namely:
That the “kingdom of heaven” is the spiritual kingdom of God that Christ announced as “at hand” at his first coming;
That it is a mediatorial kingdom, governed by the mediator of the New Covenant, who holds the threefold office of prophet, priest and king.
That this kingdom, foretold by the prophets, was to be set up by a Savior rejected by his nation, murdered and then raised from the dead;
That the “throne of David” is the heavenly throne of God from which the “Son of David”, the Messiah, Jesus Christ exercises all power in heaven and on earth for the salvation of his elect;
That there is but one gospel – that of the kingdom, also known as the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the grace of God, etc.;
That there is but one people of God, the redeemed of Jesus Christ;
That this present age is “the day of salvation”, and that it ends when Jesus comes the second time for eternal judgment;
That the “great tribulation” of the Olivet discourse properly refers to the “days of vengeance” in which God's wrath was poured out on the wicked generation that crucified the Lord Jesus – the period of the Jewish war with Rome that culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the perpetual exile of the Jews from their homeland;
That the kingdom was never postponed, but that it was rather taken away from national Israel and given to a new holy nation, the New Covenant church of Jesus Christ, called out from the Jews and the Gentiles;
That believing Jews and Gentiles are on equal terms in this kingdom of God and in the future;
That it is an everlasting kingdom, which shall never be replaced or superseded, but will continue on earth until the second coming of Christ and beyond, into the eternal state.
The Westminster Larger Catechism, which represents this older, traditional understanding of the kingdom of God distinguishes several aspects to Christ's kingship in the answer to question 45:
Q. 45. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?
A. Christ executeth the office of a king, [1] in calling out of the world a people to himself, and giving them officers, laws, and censures, by which he visibly governs them; [2] in bestowing saving grace upon his elect, rewarding their obedience, and correcting them for their sins, preserving and supporting them under all their temptations and sufferings, [3] restraining and overcoming all their enemies, and powerfully ordering all things for his own glory, and their good; [4] and also in taking vengeance on the rest, who know not God, and obey not the gospel.
To summarize:
[1] He sets up and governs the visible church.
[2] He bestows salvation according to His sovereign will.
[3] He exercises all power in heaven and earth on behalf of His church.
[4] He judges His enemies, in history, and at the end of the world.
The kingdom has come, yet not in its fullest sense. Christ has all the authority now, but He must fight an age-long and bloody war to bring the rebellious nations under His scepter. His enemies must be made His footstool (Psalm 110:1). For now, He rules in the midst of His enemies (Psalm 110:2). In the answer to WLC question 91, we learn what it means when we pray “Thy kingdom come”:
Q. 191. What do we pray for in the second petition [of the Lord's prayer]?
A. In the second petition, (which is, Thy kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray, that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fullness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel-officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrate: that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up of those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him forever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.
What Does it Matter?
Dispensationalism is the doctrine held by Fundamentalist churches and most Evangelical churches today, but it directly contradicts the Scripture doctrine of the present kingdom of God, teaching instead that the kingdom has been postponed until after the second coming of Christ. But why should we be concerned about that? Why can't we just agree to disagree on a doctrine that doesn't affect the way of salvation? Don't we all believe in the fundamentals of the faith, and justification by faith? What's the big deal?
In answer to this, I concede that many Dispensationalists are born-again believers, and that many of the Dispensationalist churches are true churches of Christ. Let me be clear about that. At the same time, sound doctrine is not unimportant just because I can believe some errors and still be saved. Is that all that matters -- that I personally be saved? What if a doctrine could be shown to lead to errors in related doctrines and in practice? What if it could be shown that Dispensationalism encourages people to false hopes, and leads to defeatism and loose living? What if it could be shown that it destroys the unity of Scripture and imposes an arbitrary system of interpretation that hides the true meaning of many Scripture texts?
In that case, would it matter whether Dispensationalism was allowed to rule in the Evangelical church? I think it would, and does. That is why I have titled this third installment on the Kingdom of God, "What's Wrong with Dispensationalism?"
The study of Scripture ought to lead to the development of a complete and coherent system of doctrine. We ought to be able to say, "That cannot be true, because The Bible teaches this, and not that." God's truth is a whole; and so every truth bears a relation to every other truth. We ought to be able to set out the truths of Scripture in a systematic, orderly way. This the Reformed faith does in its various confessions of faith, especially, in our own magnificent Westminster Confession. Dispensationalism attempts to do this, but it fails in three crucial respects. First, it is based on erroneous, unscriptural assumptions rather than biblical facts. Second, it constantly misinterprets Scripture in order to make it fit the wrong assumptions it has made. Third, it is not self-consistent, but is riddled with internal contradictions.
So the state of affairs which we face is that we have a highly consistent exposition of the system of truth taught in holy Scripture that we call the Reformed faith that has historically done enormous good; and set in opposition to that, the inconsistent and unbiblical product of human invention called Dispensationalism that has had many mischievous consequences since its recent appearance in history. I have set forth a complete discussion of these ideas, with extensive Scripture proofs, in my book, The Myth of the Postponed Kingdom. There is no time to go into such detail here. I will just attempt to touch on some of the most egregious errors and most destructive consequences of the current dominance of Dispensationalism.
Dispensationalism's Greatest Defects
First of all, it corrupts the doctrine of grace into antinomianism. Antinomianism is the denial of the law. Abusing Paul's words, "We are not under law, but under grace, dispensationalists generally assert that Christians have nothing to do with the law of God. But where there is a kingdom, it cannot be denied that there is a law; for what is a king without a law? "For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; he will save us." (Isaiah 33:22)
The Kingdom is present, not future, and the law of the kingdom is the whole canon of Scripture. The whole Bible, and not just the New Testament, is the standard of doctrine and practice. Every indication of the will of God in the entire Word of God has its proper application to the practice of the Church -- whether literally, or in principle. As Reformed Christians, we are "whole-Bible" believers. The Old Testament law is not irrelevant to the Christian's life, but, as it was to David, it is a light upon our path! (Psalms 119:105) It should inform our lawmakers, for it is the most righteous law that ever governed a nation! (Deuteronomy 4:8) Its pages are to be searched for the wisdom we need to live as God intends, and to know His blessing (Proverbs 6:23).
Dispensationalism denies the present kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with it, the present applicability of God's law. The Kingdom is identified with a millennium that supposedly is set up when Christ returns to earth. That will be an age of law, in which the king will rule "with a rod of iron". According to that teaching (in its original and most consistent form) this age is the age of grace, and for Christians, there is no law except for the commandments of Christ expressly given to the church, found mostly in the epistles. In other words, the Old Testament moral law has no authority over Christians.
The sermon on the mount, even, is not for the church, but for the millennial kingdom, according to C. I. Scofield. This is the age of grace, and we must not allow anyone to trammel our consciences with legalistic requirements drawn from the Old Testament or the Kingdom law of the New Testament. So they say; but Christ Himself deliberately refutes that doctrine when He says:
(17) Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (18) For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (19) Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-19)
And Paul says that the Christian is "not without law to God, but under the law to Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:21). We are not under the law as a covenant, or as a means of justification; but as servants of God, bound to do His will, which is expressed in a moral law that never changes. Because we love Him, we keep His commandments.
By perverting the doctrine of God's law, Dispensationalism corrupts the doctrine and practice of the church in ways too numerous to tell. It is therefore of great importance to maintain and proclaim the present reality of the Kingdom and the law of the King.
Second, Dispensationalism is pre-millennial in eschatology. There is no place for an earthly "kingdom" of a thousand years after the second coming of Christ because the kingdom is now present, and because it ends at the second coming. There is no future "kingdom age" after this "church age" or "age of grace": all these terms apply to the same period of time -- these last days in which we live, the days of the Messiah.
Pre-millennialism is inherently pessimistic. It teaches that, even though Jesus is on the throne in heaven -- a throne higher than any throne on earth, that is more powerful by far than all of them put together; yet the world is only going to go on getting worse until the end of this dismal age! But how can this be? Is this the picture we get from the Messianic Psalms? Or is there not a decided note of glorious victory in all of them?
Why is it that so many think that this victory is confined to the personal return of Christ, when the Scripture clearly connects it with His ascent to the throne, and says explicitly that He won't return until He has put down all His enemies? Is it not because pre-millennialists extend history beyond the second coming, and apply those prophecies to a future kingdom age?
The Reformed doctrine excludes that pessimism that has sometimes crept even into Reformed circles, which causes us to expect little from God in this present age. This is the age spoken of in such glowing terms in the Old Testament! This is the age when Messiah reigns; and so, in a preeminent sense, "the day of salvation"! This is the age when the Holy spirit is being poured out on all flesh! This is the age in which the fulness of the Gentiles will be called, and in which "All Israel shall be saved"! We have already seen mighty works of God in history! A biblical doctrine of the kingdom of Christ will help us by faith to "expect great things from God, and attempt great things for God"!
When the Reformed churches have been at their best, when they have been true to this doctrine, they have been the most powerful engines for evangelism and missions that the world has ever seen!
Third, Dispensationalists teach numerous erroneous doctrines; such as that sinners who are alive at the return of Christ will live into the millennium on earth; that there will be an opportunity for salvation for them after Christ returns (and that on other terms than the gospel of grace offers), that glorified saints will live on an un-renewed earth with these sinners for a thousand years after the second coming, that the millennium will be a time of worldwide bloodshed and warfare rather than an age of peace, that the general judgment will not occur until a thousand years after the second coming, that the "great tribulation" of the Olivet discourse was not fulfilled when Jesus said it would be, but is yet future, that there will be a secret rapture of the church before the second coming, etc.
These false doctrines have distracted, divided, disturbed and discredited the church for generations now. They have kept believers ignorant of the Scriptures and the doctrines of the historical church. They have created a false spirituality devoid of the fear of God. They have generally lowered the standards of Christian living. And they have corrupted and debased the worship of the church. Because of this, it is my opinion that the church can never rise to the level of a power in the world again until Dispensationalism is seen to be erroneous, and is abandoned in favor of biblical views of the kingdom of Christ and of eschatology.
Howard Douglas King
June 17, 2017
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