Discovering the Biblical Kingdom of God, Jesus & Holy Spirit
America's Choice: Constitutional Republic or Democrat-Socialism?
Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants. --Benjamin Franklin
Biblical Clarity of Pentecost and the Promise of the Father
"For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." (Acts 2:37-41)
“Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees Him not, neither knows Him: but ye know Him; for He dwells with you, and shall be in you.” –John 14:17
Pentecost and the Promise of the Father
Jesus said unto them,
If you were blind, you should have no sin: but now you say, We see; therefore
your sin remains. (John 9:41) Paul declared: For all have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in His Blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that
are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:23-25) For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
If the Biblical premise to repent and accept Jesus as Savior
and Risen Lord is significant for salvation, the “Promise of God,” which Jesus
proclaimed, should not be considered any less significant. Defining eternal
life, born again, water baptism, Spirit baptism, Promise of God, and Kingdom of
God, should be as clear as John 3:16 for Biblical Christians.
With this Biblical clarity, Christians can fulfill Christ’s
call to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” Biblical Christians do not
rely on worldly glasses to see the Word of God clearly, for it is spiritually
discerned. (1 Corinthians 2:14).
Paul put it this way: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a
child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish
things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I
know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12)
How “then shall I know?” At the least, by Scripturally defining the Biblical
precepts outlined above.
As Christ told Nicodemus in John 3:3-7, salvation, or to be
“born again,“ is required for “eternal life.” Jesus clarified the definition of
“eternal life” in His prayer to the Father in John 17. “And this is life
eternal, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You
have sent.” (John 17:3)
If eternal life is to “know” the “only true God, and Jesus Christ,” how are we
to “know?” In John, chapters 14 through John 16, Jesus revealed in order to
"know" we need to depend and rely on the Holy Spirit. Even after being
with His Disciples for three years He told them” “I have yet many things to say
unto you, but you cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is
come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of self; but
whatsoever He shall hear, that shall he speak: and He will show you things to
come. He shall glorify me: for He shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto
you. All things that the Father has are mine: therefore said I, that he shall
take of mine, and shall show it unto you.” (John 16:12-15) Jesus had made clear
in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4 that the "Spirit of Truth" is the "Promise of the
Father.” On the Day of Pentecost Peter also highlighted the significance and
importance of the “promise.” (Acts 2:33,39)
“And He (Jesus) said unto them, I must preach the Kingdom of
God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent.” (Luke 4:43) With the
“Kingdom of God” being why Jesus was sent, what is the Scriptural definition?
Paul was prompted to clarify the “Kingdom of God” in his teaching to followers
in Rome: “For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 14:17)
The Holy Spirit, the “Spirit of Truth, which is the “Promise
of God,” is paramount for the Biblical Christian as Jesus made clear: "Wherefore
I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but
the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And
whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but
whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither
in this world, neither in the world to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32) And as Jesus
also declared: “It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63)
Jesus challenged our worldly wisdom vs. spiritual wisdom: "He that has ears to
hear, let him hear..." (See Matthew 11:15-30 for this discourse.)
The significance and importance of the “Promise of the Father,” becomes even
more apparent as the Word of God declares “flesh and blood cannot inherit the
Kingdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 15:50) And: “Then shall the dust return to the
earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”
(Ecclesiastes 12:7) As Scripture reveals,
it is not our flesh and blood that is eternal, but our spirit. The emphasis
Scriptures place on both God’s Spirit and our spirit reveals that it is our
spirit, through the Holy Spirit, by which we come to “know” the Father and the
Son (John 17:3). "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God
your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)
As we are “created in His image” (Genesis 1:27), “spirit and
soul and body,” does a comprehension of the Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit
provide Biblical clarity? (For further Scriptural make-up of man
see Job 10:11-13, 32:8-10, 38:36.) For this is how and why Jesus confirmed where the
Holy Spirit would reside: “And when He (Jesus) was demanded of the Pharisees,
when the Kingdom of God (Romans 14:17) should come, He answered them and said,
The Kingdom of God comes not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here!
or, lo there! for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21)
"He that believes on Me, as the Scripture has said (Isaiah 58:11), out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this He spoke of the Spirit, which
they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given;
because that Jesus was not yet glorified. (John 7:38-39)
The “Promise of the Father” prophesied by Joel 3:1-5, that Peter shared came to
pass on the Day of Pentecost: "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet
Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, said God, I will pour out of
my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and
your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." (Acts 2:16-17)
“Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what
shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and
to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with
many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this
untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and
the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls." (Acts 2:37-41)