The KIngdom of God in Stages

Originally posted by @sonship

You think anyone who professes their faith with their mouth has that assurance.

You lie in that you exclude the important matter along with confess with your mouth - [b]"believe in your heart" .

That is not MY invented thought. That is the apostolic teaching of the New Testament:

But what does it say? The word i ...[text shortened]... tht through many tribulations we most enter into the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)

[/b]

Do you know what a man has in his heart?

NO.

Therefore only God knows who is saved eternally.

Yet you constantly proclaim that you know who is saved.

Folks, Peter was given the [plural] keys to the kingdom of the heavens.

He used the first key to let some Jews into the kingdom of God. Then he used the second key [ it said (plural) "keys" ) ], to let the Gentiles into the kingdom in the house of Cornelius.

Now to these Jews and Gentiles in the church in the kingdom of God in that stage, the apostles further exhorted that they had to have endurance to ENTER ... into the kingdom of God in another stage in the future -

"Establishing the souls of the disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22)

Argue with me ... X Jehovah's Witness.
Let's make an example out of you.

Originally posted by @rajk999
Do you know what a man has in his heart?

NO.

Therefore only God knows who is saved eternally.

Yet you constantly proclaim that you know who is saved.

You are STUCK on STUPID.

Sure, only God knows for certain who believes in the heart. That does not mean that Christians should NOT encourage one another exactly along the lines of First John -

"He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

I have written these things to you that you may KNOW ... that you have eternal life, to you who believe into the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:12,13)

Did the Holy Spirit come down to your X Kingdom Hall to seek advice on how He should direct John to write that?

Did John say "that you may hope?"
Did John say "that you may see how it turns out if you're good?"
Did he write "that you may see how it all pans out because really only God knows for sure?"

Emphatic there !

" ... that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe into the name of the Son of God."

Lack of assurance is not humility. It is unbelief.
That you may KNOW ... that you HAVE (NOW) eternal life.

So we come to the big question perhaps about this thread.

Those who Jesus says He never knew them and cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 7:21-23 New King James Version (NKJV)

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

New King James Version (NKJV)

Could this verse include some who have eternal life but are not ready for a further stage of the kingdom of God?

The word here in "I never KNEW you" can also be translated "I never approved you." It is the same word as in Romans 7:15 where Paul says what he did he did not approve, or acknowledge.

"For what I work out, I do not acknowledge; for what I will, this I do not practice but what I hate, this I do." (Rom. 7:15)

Lawless workers could also be Christians who are saved yet never worked in a way that the Father approved or acknowledged. He never knew them - or He never approved their methods.

Here is an example of a Christian who loses his reward because Christ did not approve or acknowledge his methods of service. Yet he is still saved after suffering some loss in the coming kingdom age.

"If anyone's work is consumed, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." (1 Cor. 3:15)

Because his methods were lawless Christ will not recognize them as building with gold or silver or precious stones. Rather his flammable works of wood, hay, stubble, are burnt up in the fire of Christ's examination. He will not approve. He never allowed it though it was practiced.

The disciplined Christian servant is saved, yet so as through fire. He suffers loss of being excluded from the reward of reigning with Christ in the coming stage of the kingdom of God.

For the Christian -

Eternal life is assured.
Reward is not assured.

Assurance of eternal salvation is assured in this age.
Assurance of entering into that stage of the kingdom of God in the future, will be determined when Jesus examines us at His second coming.

GIFT is assured.
REWARD is still pending.

Originally posted by @sonship
For the Christian -

Eternal life is assured.
Reward is not assured.

Assurance of eternal salvation is assured in this age.
Assurance of entering into that stage of the kingdom of God in the future, will be determined when Jesus examines us at His second coming.

GIFT is assured.
REWARD is still pending.

What did Peter say about those Christians who fell away.

Why do you only say half the story Mr False Teacher

Originally posted by @sonship
For the Christian -

Eternal life is assured.
Reward is not assured.

Assurance of eternal salvation is assured in this age.
Assurance of entering into that stage of the kingdom of God in the future, will be determined when Jesus examines us at His second coming.

GIFT is assured.
REWARD is still pending.

What did Peter say about those Christians who fell away.

Why do you only say half the story Mr False Teacher

Originally posted by @rajk999
What did Peter say about those Christians who fell away.

Why do you only say half the story Mr False Teacher

They were BORN of incorruptible SEED.
Whatever Peter said, they could not be UNBORN.

" Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God." (1 Pet. 1:23)

If you have old JW teacher's manuals, I would advise you to BURN them.

It is a matter of divine LIFE. Once born of God one cannot be unborn of God.

Once born of God one may or may not GROW. Growth is needed to enter into the further stage of the kingdom of God.

"As newBORN babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may GROW ... unto salvation.

If you have tasted that the Lord is good." ( 1 Pet. 2:4,5)

Originally posted by @sonship
It is a matter of divine LIFE. Once born of God one cannot be unborn of God.

Once born of God one may or may not GROW. Growth is needed to enter into the further stage of the kingdom of God.

[b] "As newBORN babes, long for the guileless milk of the word in order that by it you may GROW ... unto salvation.

If you have tasted that the Lord is good." ( 1 Pet. 2:4,5)

[/b]

That satement which you constantly make 'cannot be unborn of God' is nonsense and does not exist in the Bible.

Those who fall away their fate is worse than if they did not know Christ in the first place. The are not allowed to enter the Kingdom of God.

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (2 Peter 2:20-21 KJV)

Originally posted by @rajk999
[b]That satement which you constantly make 'cannot be

That satement which you constantly make 'cannot be unborn of God' is nonsense and does not exist in the Bible.

That's the point. Neither in the Bible nor in nature can it occur.

So it is nonsense to believe one born of God will not inherit eternal life.

Those who fall away their fate is worse than if they did not know Christ in the first place. The are not allowed to enter the Kingdom of God.

Since the OP is about the kingdom of God is in stages AND a saved person may fail to enter into a stage, you are agreeing with Scripture.

In my third post I quoted the First Corinthians 6:9,10
In another thread I added also Gal. 5:17-21 and Eph. 5:5-7.

You are now saying what I have been saying.

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be led astray, neither fornicators nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor homosexuals not thieves nor the covetous, not drunkards, not revilers, not the rapacious will inherit the kingdom of God. " (1 Cor. 6:9,10)

I will speak to 2 Peter 2:20-21 in another post.

For the purpose of the OP it has been proved that participating in the kingdom of God in one stage may not guarantee the timely entrance into the further stage of the kingdom of God at a future time.

Christians have been transferred into God's kingdom (Col. 1:13).

Yet through much tribulation we are to enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

And yet we are to pray "Thy kingdom COME." (Matt. 6:10)

And yet they are warned about being unable to inherit the kingdom in the future (1 Cor. 6:9,10)

Yet they should make their calling of selection more sure that a rich entrance into the kingdom will be supplied in the future (1 Pet. 1:11)

Yet the day comes when it is announced "Now has come ... the kingdom of our Lord and the authority of His Christ ..." (Rev. 12:10)

Yet the day comes when the kingdoms of the world BECOME the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15) .

All these passages prove that participants in the kingdom of God in one stage are normally to proceed on to enter into the kingdom of God in another stage - on time.

Originally posted by @rajk999
What did Peter say about those Christians who fell away.

Why do you only say half the story Mr False Teacher

What did Peter say about those Christians who fell away.

The false teachers in Second Peter 2:1-22 are not Christians but like the tares of Matthew 13:24-30. They are nominal Christians who become false teachers exactly like the false prophets of the Old Testament that Peter compares them to.

They are not backslidden sheep. They are dogs who return to their vomit and sows who wallow in the mud. Jesus did say He gives eternal life to His sheep. He never said He gives eternal life to His dogs and sows.

A backslidden Christian may indeed go to his previous sins again, but he will never feel comfortable about it. It is against his nature within and his conscience will never allow him to feel like he is enjoying the wallowing again in mud.

The sow by nature wallows in the mud happily. The dog returning to eat what it previously vomited up is a nominal Christian iike the tares growing along with the wheat.

Such tares in the world growing along with the wheat are sometimes impossible for the servants of the Lord Jesus to determine from the wheat. The job of eliminating nominal Christians from the kingdom of God is strictly left as the responsibility of the angels in the second coming.

The false teachers in Second Peter 2:4-22 correspond to the tares among the wheat in Matthew 13:24-30.

The parable of Jesus teaches that even the servants will not always be able to tell the real wheat from the tares. The angels at the second coming will make an infallible decision.

"And the slaves of the master of the house came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did the tares come from?

And he said to them, An enemy has done this. And the slaves said to him, Do you want us then to go and collect them? But he said, No, lest while collecting the tares you uproot the wheat along with them.

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Collect first the tares and bind them into bundles to burn them up, but the wheat gather into my barn." (Matt. 13:27-30)

The sows wallowing in the mud and the dogs returning to their vomit in Second Peter 2:4-22 are these false teachers and false prophets of the New Testament age. At times it will be impossible for even the apostles to clearly tell them apart from real believers.

Only the angels of God will be able to rid them out of the world in the second coming.

If the Lord Jesus told His servants that sometime the overlap between the true Christians and the nominal Christians they will not be able to detect, then there will be times when those professing to serve Christ and even cleaning themselves up a little will be deceptive.

Second Peter 2:4-22 is portion dealing with this mixture of nominal Christian false teachers with true Christians. It will be a real problem as Peter elaborates.

I will more closely examine why he and others believe those here "denying the master that bought them" means true Christians below. They read this but in their mind think "denying the Lord who saved them." There is a difference as we will see.

Then I will examine them being again entangled in what they escaped (2 Pet. 2:20).

Originally posted by @rajk999

Those who fall away their fate is worse than if they did not know Christ in the first place. The are not allowed to enter the Kingdom of God.

For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. (2 Peter 2:20-21 KJV)

We know from Matthew 13:24-30 with the interpretation provided directly by Christ Himself in verses 36-43 that in "the world" (v.38) there will grow together true believers and nominal believers.

The overlap will at times be so subtle that without the infallible help of the angels, true Christians may be dismissed as false ones and false ones taken as true ones.

This is a sad fact of history. Christ said do not go into the world to try to eliminate false Christians.

Some people will clean themselves up outwardly for awhile because they hear something about Jesus Christ. They will self reform somewhat in a religious way. But they never received the Lord within.

This does not mean that all who received the Lord within will grow normally. That is the WHEAT and the TARES sometime being impossible to tell apart.

Peter says of the false teachers -

"For if, having escaped the defilement of the world by the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ..." (2 Pet. 2:20a)

They may have had some doctrinal knowledge of the Christian's Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Perhaps they reformed themselves some in a self help kind of way. But their nature did not receive a new birth.

They may have escaped some sinful living somewhat. But they are defeated by the unchanged nature as a dog is unclean WITHIN by eating its vomit or a sow is unclean WITHOUT by wallowing again in the mud.

"For if, having escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ but have again been entangled in these, they are defeated, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

It has happened to them according to the true proverb: the dog has turned to its own vomit, and the washed sow to wallowing in the mud."

The returning DOG means that it never became a SHEEP.
The returning SOW means that it never became a SHEEP.

Some nominal Christians in name may however clean up their act some for a temporary time having heard something from the Bible. They got some knowledge of our Lord and Savior Christ. But they never received Him.