Kingdom Of God

John 3:3-5 – Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

Matthew 3:1-2 – In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Acts 22:16 – And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

Titus 3:4-7 – But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.

Application:

• ·         The “kingdom of heaven/God” in the preaching of Jesus as recounted in the Gospels is the reign of God that He brings about through Jesus Christ—i.e., the establishment of God’s rule in the hearts and lives of His people, the overcoming of all the forces of evil, the removal from the world of all the consequences of sin—including death and all that diminishes life—and the creation of a new order of righteousness and peace.
• ·         Baptism is the outward sign of an inward work of grace.
• ·         The new birth and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are central to the gospel message.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV