We have seen that in the progressing stage, the stage of transformation, in God’s full salvation, we experience and enjoy the processed Triune God in the dispensing of the Divine Trinity. In this stage we continuously experience God’s redemption and the dispensing of the Divine Trinity in the divine transformation for the divine conformation. This lesson continues from level 3, volume 3 and goes on to present how we corporately experience the dispensing of the Divine Trinity.
In the New Testament, God’s salvation and the kingdom always go together. Many pay close attention to God’s salvation but neglect the kingdom, considering that the kingdom is a matter related only to the future. Nevertheless, the kingdom is part of God’s salvation that we obtain today. If we have been saved, we are in the kingdom of God.
According to the natural and religious concept, the purpose of repentance and regeneration is to obtain salvation. However, according to the New Testament, the purpose of repentance and regeneration is to provide us with an entrance into the kingdom of God. John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, preached the gospel of repentance for the kingdom, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (Matt. 3:2). Later, when the Lord Jesus began His ministry, He continued the preaching of John the Baptist, also saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near” (4:17). In John 3 the Lord Jesus also said to Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (v. 5). When we believe into the Lord, we are regenerated, and through regeneration we enter into the kingdom of God. Thus, the kingdom is present, and every regenerated believer in Christ has entered into the kingdom. The New Testament reveals that repentance and regeneration, through believing in the Lord, are primarily for the kingdom, not salvation; moreover, God’s salvation and the kingdom are mutually related.
Some Bible teachers have said that the kingdom is a matter related only to the future. They teach that Christ brought the kingdom with Him and presented it to the Jewish people and that it has been suspended and postponed because the Jewish people rejected it. Therefore, these teachers think that the present age is not the age of the kingdom but the age of the church. They completely separate the kingdom from the church. Nevertheless, the New Testament clearly shows that where salvation is, there the kingdom is also. Moreover, the New Testament reveals that where the church is, there is the kingdom. Romans 14:17 says, “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” The context of this verse is the church life; therefore, this verse is strong proof that the church in the present age is the kingdom of God. Furthermore, in Revelation 1:9 John writes, “I John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Jesus.” This verse indicates that John and other believers were already in the kingdom because of their exercise in tribulation and endurance. These verses in the Scriptures reveal that the kingdom exists in this age. The kingdom, which includes God’s salvation and the church, is present today.