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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

In his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul tells us:

Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
— Romans 10:13; cf. Acts 2:21

In the Gospel of Matthew, however, the Lord Himself says:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter into the kingdom of the heavens, but he who does the will of My Father who is in the heavens.”
— Matthew 7:21

Yet, the Lord here is not contradicting Paul; rather, these two statements balance each other. Paul is sharing how we can receive the free gift of eternal salvation (John 5:24), while the Lord is speaking of gaining the reward of reigning with Him for the 1,000 years of His kingdom on the earth (Rev. 20:4-6). To be clear that these are two very different matters is to rightly divide the word of the truth (2 Tim. 2:15).

And if we are clear about this distinction, it should also help us to understand that God’s goal for us as the believers in Christ is not that we would go to heaven, but that we today would bring God’s authority from the heavens to the earth.

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RESOURCES REFERRED TO IN THIS EPISODE

Podcast 30: “The Gospel of the Kingdom”

Podcast 31: “What Is the Kingdom of the Heavens?”

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BIBLE VERSES

2 Timothy 2:15: Rightly dividing the word of the truth.

Matthew 7:21-23: The Lord’s warning concerning entering into the Kingdom of the Heavens.

Matthew 6:10: The Definition of the Kingdom of the Heavens.

Genesis 2:7: Man was made of the earth and for the earth.

Revelation 21:10: At the end, the New Jerusalem comes down from heaven to the earth.

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RECORDING

This edition of the program was recorded on Friday, 30 June 2023.

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