Eventually, if we live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens and partake in the kingdom, we shall inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor, 6:9a, 10b; Gal. 5:21b; Eph. 5:5b). Inheriting the kingdom of God is different from entering into the kingdom of God through regeneration. Having entered into the kingdom by being regenerated, we now need to grow and develop in the divine life. Then, as a result of this growth and development, we shall inherit the kingdom of God. Therefore, we should not think that simply because we have entered into the kingdom of God we shall inherit the kingdom. We cannot inherit the kingdom unless we grow to maturity in the proper development in the divine life.
First Corinthians 6, Galatians 5, and Ephesians 5 all speak of inheriting the kingdom of God. In 1 Corinthians 6:9a Paul asks, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?” To inherit the kingdom of God in the next age is a reward to the saints who seek righteousness (Matt. 5:10, 20; 6:33). Believers who are not righteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. According to the Lord’s word in Matthew, we must be absolutely righteous if we are to inherit the coming kingdom as a reward. The Lord even says that our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees (Matt. 5:20). Because God’s kingdom is established upon righteousness, we must be righteous in order to inherit it.
In 1 Corinthians 6:9b and 10 Paul speaks of different kinds of persons who will not inherit the kingdom of God. Once again, Paul does not speak of entering the kingdom of God but of inheriting the kingdom of God. To enter the kingdom of God we simply need a new birth (John 3:3, 5), but to inherit the kingdom of God we need to live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens now. No sinful person or unrighteous person can have any part in the coming kingdom of God.
The word “inherit” in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 10 implies enjoyment. To inherit a certain thing is to enjoy that thing. Thus, to inherit the coming kingdom means to enjoy the kingdom. The coming kingdom will be a joyful inheritance to the overcomers. According to Matthew, the manifestation of the kingdom will be a reward to the overcoming saints as their enjoyment with the Lord. To inherit the kingdom is not simply to enter the kingdom; it is to receive the kingdom as a reward for our enjoyment. This should be an incentive for us to live an overcoming life, a life that is sinless and righteous. By living a righteous life we shall be qualified to inherit the coming kingdom.
The overcomers, the victorious ones, will inherit the kingdom of God when the Lord Jesus comes back. Today the kingdom is not an enjoyment but an exercise. However, when the Lord Jesus comes back, the kingdom will be our enjoyment. At that time we shall enjoy the kingdom, and we shall be kings ruling with the Lord Jesus. Then the kingdom will be our inheritance.
In Galatians 5:21 Paul, referring to the works of the flesh, says, “Those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The inheritance of the kingdom of God refers to the enjoyment of the coming kingdom as a reward to the overcoming believers. It is not related to a believer’s salvation. Those believers who practice the works of the flesh listed in Galatians 5:19-21 will not inherit the coming kingdom as a reward.
In Ephesians 5:5 Paul again speaks of those who have “no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” The kingdom of Christ is the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; Matt. 16:28) and also the kingdom of God (Matt. 13:41, 43). The believers have been regenerated into the kingdom of God and are, in the church life, living in the kingdom of God today (Rom. 14:17). Not all believers will participate in the millennium; only the overcomers will. The unclean, defeated ones will have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God in the coming age.
According to John 3, all those who are regenerated are in the kingdom of God. Romans 14:17 indicates that in the church life we are in the kingdom of God today. However, the millennium will be the kingdom in a way that is more practical than what we are experiencing in the church today. Only in the millennium will the kingdom of Christ also become the kingdom of God. Therefore, the term “the kingdom of Christ and of God” refers not to the kingdom today in the church life but to the manifestation of the kingdom in the coming millennium. Today all believers are in the kingdom of God, but not all of them will have an inheritance in the coming millennial kingdom. Both the defeated ones and the overcoming ones may be in the church as the kingdom of God, but only the overcoming ones will inherit the kingdom during the millennium.
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