The Gospel of the Kingdom, what is it? what does it look like?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by michael on October 19, 2009 at 2:28am

Hi Jeromy et al,

You listed out a whole slew of verses without a lot of explanation. Could you please tell me what you intended them to mean to, I assume, me?

Re: "one eternal Torah"...I will just say that there was Torah before the Law of Moses was given. The Law of Moses is an elaboration and application of the eternal Torah. This eternal Torah was the blueprint God used when creating the heavens and the earth. This idea of an eternal Torah was based (among other passages) on Psa 119:89-92:

"Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants. Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction."

And upon the connection made in Psa 19 between the witness of nature and the Law of Moses.

During the Intertestamental Period, this connection was developed further, and Torah essentially equated with God's eternal Wisdom (Pro 8) and this then provided the backdrop for the Targumim (Aramaic translation/commentaries) and their evolved MEMRA/LOGOS doctrine...which in turn provided the backdrop to John's Gospel. The portrayal of Jesus as God's eternal LOGOS in John's Gospel is a MIDRASH on the Law of Moses.

You mentioned giving precedence now to the KETUVIM (Writings), but that is not biblical. Note the exalted position the Torah still receives in the writings of the Apostles et al. No need to be scared of the writtenTorah. It won't bite...unless you try to substitute it for Jesus, the eternal Torah.

Shalom from Manila,
--Michael

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Permalink Reply by jeromy and Marcelia on October 19, 2009 at 1:17pm

You mentioned giving precedence now to the KETUVIM (Writings), but that is not biblical. Note the exalted position the Torah still receives in the writings of the Apostles et al. No need to be scared of the writtenTorah. It won't bite...unless you try to substitute it for Jesus, the eternal Torah.

By Torah you would be saying the Tanak or just Torah or what...

I believe all the writings are given to us as a line upon line revelation of the One true God.I love the Torah ,Tanak and the Later writings or the Apostolic scriptures.

michael said:

Hi Jeromy et al,

You listed out a whole slew of verses without a lot of explanation. Could you please tell me what you intended them to mean to, I assume, me?

Re: "one eternal Torah"...I will just say that there was Torah before the Law of Moses was given. The Law of Moses is an elaboration and application of the eternal Torah. This eternal Torah was the blueprint God used when creating the heavens and the earth. This idea of an eternal Torah was based (among other passages) on Psa 119:89-92:

"Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants. Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction."

And upon the connection made in Psa 19 between the witness of nature and the Law of Moses.

During the Intertestamental Period, this connection was developed further, and Torah essentially equated with God's eternal Wisdom (Pro 8) and this then provided the backdrop for the Targumim (Aramaic translation/commentaries) and their evolved MEMRA/LOGOS doctrine...which in turn provided the backdrop to John's Gospel. The portrayal of Jesus as God's eternal LOGOS in John's Gospel is a MIDRASH on the Law of Moses.

You mentioned giving precedence now to the KETUVIM (Writings), but that is not biblical. Note the exalted position the Torah still receives in the writings of the Apostles et al. No need to be scared of the writtenTorah. It won't bite...unless you try to substitute it for Jesus, the eternal Torah.

Shalom from Manila,
--Michael

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Permalink Reply by michael on October 19, 2009 at 5:41pm

Hi Jeromy et al,

By "Torah" I mean primarily the five books of Moses. The rest of the Bible (including the New Testament) is founded upon that initial written revelation given via Moses at Mt. Sinai and in the Wilderness...and, it could be said, all subsequent Scripture is basically commentary on the Torah. This priority to the Torah is based on what God Himself said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, when the latter two attempted to "democratize" (i.e. flatten out...remove all hierarchy from...) the status and revelation given by God to Moses:

Then [the LORD] said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?" (Num 12:6-8).

Notice that the revelation given by God to prophets via visions and dreams is deemed inferior in essence to the "face to face" revelation God gave to Moses. This God-ordained priority of the Mosaic revelation as being the basis by which to interpret the other less-clear revelations given by the LORD to Israel's prophets -- written revelation and otherwise -- made its way into common speech habits so that the TaNaKH was/is referred to, not as "The Prophets and Moses," but as "Moses and the Prophets" etc. Jesus and the Apostles et al maintained this Mosaic priority in both common speech and in citation habits as well. Truly there are rankings in the written revelation, and things are not flat and democratic when it comes to strata of biblical authority. The Torah is the root out of which all of Israel's Scriptures is based, evaluated, and applied

The Torah [of Moses] is the Kingdom manifesto. And in the New Covenant this same Mosaic Torah (TORATI - Jer 31:33) is now written by God Himself on the hearts of His people, via the indwelling Spirit.

Shalom from Manila,
--Michael

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Permalink Reply by David Evans on October 19, 2009 at 5:56pm

Michael
You said - "The Prophets and Moses," but as "Moses and the Prophets" etc. Jesus and the Apostles et al maintained this Mosaic priority in both common speech and in citation habits as well. Truly there are rankings in the written revelation, and things are not flat and democratic when it comes to strata of biblical authority. The Torah is the root out of which all of Israel's Scriptures is based, evaluated, and applied
"
I take a very important objection to your assertion. There may be a ranking and if there is I will take the revelations of Jesus and his apostles and so does the author of Hebrews.

"take note of Jesus, THE Apostle and THE High Priest whom we confess, who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s house. For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself! For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all God’shouse as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken. But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. We are of his house, if in fact we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope we take pride in(Jesus)

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Permalink Reply by jeromy and Marcelia on October 19, 2009 at 10:19pm

Lu 7:28 -
For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.


John 8:51-59
51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. 52 Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. 53 Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead?and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? 54 Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: 55 Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. 57 Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

Hebrews 11:24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Lu 24:27 -
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself

Ac 13:39 -
And all by him that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.

(By the way we believe on him through the Apostles word right? Then we are overjoyed to see these things in Moses "Torah" also)


Hebrews 3:1-6
1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; 2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. 3 For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. 4 For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. 5 And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; 6 But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

How did you come to know of Messiah? would you know Yeshua without the New Testament? Be honest? come on we would not have any connection to Torah without being made partakers through the promises to us clearly explained through the New Testament,I am not discounting Torah I am glad for all the scripture but I would not give a lick about Torah if I did not know the Gospel. I know the gospel so now I love The law in my heart and on the pages of my Bible!

michael said:

Hi Jeromy et al,

By "Torah" I mean primarily the five books of Moses. The rest of the Bible (including the New Testament) is founded upon that initial written revelation given via Moses at Mt. Sinai and in the Wilderness...and, it could be said, all subsequent Scripture is basically commentary on the Torah. This priority to the Torah is based on what God Himself said to Moses, Aaron, and Miriam, when the latter two attempted to "democratize" (i.e. flatten out...remove all hierarchy from...) the status and revelation given by God to Moses:

Then [the LORD] said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; and he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?" (Num 12:6-8).

Notice that the revelation given by God to prophets via visions and dreams is deemed inferior in essence to the "face to face" revelation God gave to Moses. This God-ordained priority of the Mosaic revelation as being the basis by which to interpret the other less-clear revelations given by the LORD to Israel's prophets -- written revelation and otherwise -- made its way into common speech habits so that the TaNaKH was/is referred to, not as "The Prophets and Moses," but as "Moses and the Prophets" etc. Jesus and the Apostles et al maintained this Mosaic priority in both common speech and in citation habits as well. Truly there are rankings in the written revelation, and things are not flat and democratic when it comes to strata of biblical authority. The Torah is the root out of which all of Israel's Scriptures is based, evaluated, and applied

The Torah [of Moses] is the Kingdom manifesto. And in the New Covenant this same Mosaic Torah (TORATI - Jer 31:33) is now written by God Himself on the hearts of His people, via the indwelling Spirit.

Shalom from Manila,
--Michael

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Permalink Reply by michael on October 22, 2009 at 6:13pm

Hi David E et al,

You wrote:

There may be a ranking and if there is I will take the revelations of Jesus and his apostles and so does the author of Hebrews.

I'm not demoting Jesus at all! Christ outranks Moses by far!!! He, not Moses...and he as Son...is the primary means by which God has "in these last days spoken to us" (Heb 1:1,2). The LOGOS was revealing God to humanity through all previous generations (Joh 1:9). Including Moses' generation. The LOGOS is eternal; the Mosaic Torah was given in time and space. It should therefore be understood in what I am saying that Christ is the eternal LOGOS of which the Mosaic Torah is but a written facsimile...an imperfect (in terms of its medium, i.e. written) expression of God's mind and heart. A book about a person, no matter how true-to-fact, is never as accurate or complete as having the person present about whom the book was written. So by all means the person of Jesus is superior to the Mosaic Torah!

However (and this is important), we still receive the words of Jesus through the writings of the Apostles et al.

Let's not confuse our personal relationships to Jesus with the recorded sayings of Christ we have in the Gospels and in some of the Epistles. I know Christ personally; you know Christ personally. He communicates to both of us via the Holy Spirit apart from (but, I would argue, not in actual contradiction to...) his words as recorded by the Apostles et al. Yet, Jesus left us no direct written revelation, from his earthly human hand that was then transmitted in written form to our hands and eyes. We have his words mediated to us via the writings of the Apostles et al. As copied by others, who then copied the copies. And so on... The Holy Spirit superintended the entire enscriptuation process, but there is human personality in the mix...and (I say this from an informed position as a committed evangelical Christian who has studied textual-criticism at the graduate level) human error in the transmission of manuscripts.

Therefore -- and as with the Torah or other written revelation -- we are now dealing in concentrated doses with what the Jews call SPECULARA, i.e. conceptual "lenses" in layers that each have the potential to distance us by degree from the pristine communications of the eternal TORAH/DAVAR/MEMRA/LOGOS. Paul made oblique reference to SPECULARA when he wrote, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face" (1Cor 13:12). All revelation from God to humans necessarily comes by way of SPECULARA -- written revelation, spoken revelation, or revelation communicated otherwise. It is the human condition, and it is noted by the ancient Jewish interpreters that, of course, even Moses had SPECULARA distancing him from God's "face to face" communications with him. Nevertheless, God, in the Num 12 passage (as mediated through Moses' recording of the event, as mediated via the copies of Moses' record to various priests and scribes, translators, printsetters, publishers, etc, throughout history until today...thus via SPECULARA), mentions that a situation in which prophets receive divine revelation by means of visions and dreams etc is considered by Him -- i.e. by the LORD -- to be less in rank than "face to face" (Lit PEH EL PEH - "mouth to mouth") revelation. Why? God says that visions and dreams do not communicate "plainly," but rather are examples of "dark sayings," (Lit KHIDOT, things, words, ideas, oral and/or visual representations that are more open to various interpretations - Num 12:6-8). As the ancient Jews explained it, the more SPECULARA there are, the more open to various and sometimes conflicting interpretations God's revelations become.

So now we come to the Gospels and the Epistles. We have written records of Jesus' life and ministry -- and words -- as filtered through the human authors' memories, through their interpretations of events, through their literary purposes, through their applications of OT passages to Christ's life, ministry, and words, etc. It is all "God-breathed;" I firmly believe that! However, that does not prevent SPECULARA; it wasn't intended by God to prevent SPECULARA.

Add to that the transmission history of the New Testament manuscripts -- in particular the transmission history of the Gospels (a history that was demonstrably not as accurate as the transmission of particularly the Torah manuscripts) -- translation from Greek into other languages, the theological biases of the translators, the biases of the readers, etc, and the SPECULARA increase substantially.

Furthermore, if the Apostles et al considered their handwritten records of their direct contacts with Christ, the incarnate LOGOS of God, to be a superior quality of revelation to the Mosaic Torah (and there exists evidence that at least some of them were aware that specific Apostolic writings were "Scripture" - 2Pet 3:16), then why do the Apostles et al nevertheless keep appealing back to the Mosaic Torah to bolster what they are saying? A prime example would be Paul's statement in 1Cor 12:8, 9:

"Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses..."

And he goes on to quote Deu 25:4. Paul contrasts the possible perception his audience may have of his case that Apostles are rightfully renumerated financially (although he proceeds to explain in context why in the Corinthians' situation he voluntarily forgoes such rightful renumeration), that it may just be the speculations of a "mere man," with an authoritative source that both he and the Corinthians recognise and respect: "the law of Moses." We likewise see this in non-Pauline letters and in the Gospels. The constant appeal to Israel's Scripture in general, and to the Mosaic Torah in particular, in order to prove or bolster a point indicates that the Apostles et al, when writing their letters and Gospels, did not conceive of their writings to be of superior quality (SPECULARA-wise) to what had been previously written by Moses and the Prophets.

Christ himself is a superior revelation to the Mosaic Torah! Way superior!!! But the Apostolic written records of the Christ-event (i.e. the Gospels), and his words as recorded therein (and, I might add, not always Christ's exact words), were not conceived of by the Apostles et al as superior to Israel's previous Scripture in general, and to the Mosaic Torah in particular. Therefore your point about the writer to the Hebrews only demonstrates what I am trying to say. It does not contradict it. In other words, the Gospels (or the Epistles, etc) do not somehow "trump" the revelation from the Mosaic Torah. They build upon it, expand it, and comment on it. That is my point.

Shalom from Manila,
--Michael

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Permalink Reply by michael on October 22, 2009 at 6:38pm

Hi Jeromy et al,

The gospel existed before the Gospels were written. It existed during Abraham's day (Gal 3) and existed with the Israelites in the wilderness (Heb 4). Undoubtedly the gospel existed at the fall of Adam and Eve (Gen 3).

Christians for the first two hundred plus years after Christ's first advent proclaimed the gospel and expanded God's Kingdom using as Scripture nothing more than the TaNaKH. The New Testament is somewhat like Cliff Notes, i.e. it condenses and interprets the salient points of the TaNaKH, then applies the TaNaKH to the new situation (i.e. post-Messiah's first advent; pre-Messiah's second advent, Gentiles streaming into the New Covenant).

You are starting with your perspective....your time-period. Etc. A helpful hermeneutical tool/technique, however, is to start from the perspective of Jesus (and his people of that time), the Apostles, the original recipients of the New Testament, etc. Then reason from there to your own times. It makes a difference in what you prioritize. It opens up more useful interpretational vistas.

Again, I am not trying to denigrate the NT writings! If I were on an island alone for years and only had one book, it would be the "Cliff Notes," of the TaNaKH over the TaNaKH. That's because the NT writngs bullion things down for me and apply the written Torah (and the Prophets etc) closer to my day and age. But I remain cognizant that they are God-breathed "Cliff Notes" of Israel's previous Scripture...and in particular the Mosaic Torah. They are not complete without the TaNaKH. I am taking my clues from the New Testament writers themselves in how I am prioritizing the written revelation. I hope you see my point now, or are at least more sympathetic to the point I am trying to make.

Shalom from Manila,
--Michael

P.S. And this then factors into my concept of God's Kingdom and the way that we, Jesus' postmodern disciples, are to conduct Kingdom living today.

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Permalink Reply by Bill Bremer on March 21, 2010 at 11:20am

Shalom Michael,

Would you be so kind as to write a 2 or 3 sentence blub for my upcoming book?

http://www.housechurchconnections.com/?p=1504

michael said:

Hi Jeromy et al,

You wrote about a Christian brother's viewpoint:

His argument is that the Lords prayer is before the cross. It seems after the cross there is repentance but not asking for forgiveness,as asking would deny the finished work of the cross.

What do you think your friend (and our brother) would answer if I asked him about the full implications of this post-cross verse?

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1Joh 1:9).

It seems that there is a sense in which God's forgiveness is ongoing and contingent up our confessions...even after the cross. Wouldn't you say, Jeromy? I don't think that one has to recount and forsake every single sin and thought and deed in order to be forgiven by God in the ultimate sense. But I do think that there is a level of fellowship or something that is affected by our known sins and that God deals with (and helps us deal with) the sins hidden from our consciousness. When sins are brought to our awareness by our conscience working in conjunction with the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit, then we are to confess them to God in order to receive His forgiveness...post-cross. At least that is how I see this verse right now. Do you see it differently?

Shabbat Shalom from Manila,
--Michael

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Permalink Reply by James Rohde on June 21, 2010 at 11:04pm

The Kingdom of God is different from other kingdoms. God alone is the Ruler of the kingdom of God. That is why it is so called. The realm, the kingdom of the heavens, is just God. He is both the Ruler and the Realm. He relates to us directly through Jesus. There are no other mediators. Even through others, it is God and not them with Whom we have to do. It is like a popsicle. You accept the stick to get the popsicle, but you don't eat the stick. We accept the humanity of someone anointed, but it's the anointing we partake of. Christ is the anointing.

In other kingdoms there is a hierarchy of authority. The kingdom of God is much simpler. It is just God and us, corporately and individually. There is no delegated authority. Another among us, usually with titles of honor from other men, claiming to be God's authority over us is like another man between a husband and his wife, telling the wife that to love her husband she has to go through him. Since the wife is the Church and the husband is God the position of another mediator is not one I'd like to assume.

The mouth of the Body of Christ is in the head. Any other person assuming authority is speaking out of another orfice and ought not be regarded as having any authority in the Church. This is why we refer to the Holy Scriptures. It is the whole groundwork of the voice of God in our midst. It is authoritatively His Word.

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Permalink Reply by Sandy McCoy- Foust on June 23, 2010 at 7:25pm

Hi James....I like this concept!!!...The kingdom of God is much simpler. It is just God and us, corporately and individually...

I believe Jesus went to prepare a place for us.....and we are now a kingdom of priests... we dwell in Gods kingdom...IN HIM we live and breath and have our being...... right here..right now!....The kingdom of God is near, among us....in our mist!

Blessings,
Sister Sandy

James Rohde said:

The Kingdom of God is different from other kingdoms. God alone is the Ruler of the kingdom of God. That is why it is so called. The realm, the kingdom of the heavens, is just God. He is both the Ruler and the Realm. He relates to us directly through Jesus. There are no other mediators. Even through others, it is God and not them with Whom we have to do. It is like a popsicle. You accept the stick to get the popsicle, but you don't eat the stick. We accept the humanity of someone anointed, but it's the anointing we partake of. Christ is the anointing.

In other kingdoms there is a hierarchy of authority. The kingdom of God is much simpler. It is just God and us, corporately and individually. There is no delegated authority. Another among us, usually with titles of honor from other men, claiming to be God's authority over us is like another man between a husband and his wife, telling the wife that to love her husband she has to go through him. Since the wife is the Church and the husband is God the position of another mediator is not one I'd like to assume.

The mouth of the Body of Christ is in the head. Any other person assuming authority is speaking out of another orfice and ought not be regarded as having any authority in the Church. This is why we refer to the Holy Scriptures. It is the whole groundwork of the voice of God in our midst. It is authoritatively His Word.

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Permalink Reply by jeromy and Marcelia on June 26, 2010 at 7:59am

I have come to believe that the kingdom is The Lord Yeshua Messiah .

James Rohde said:

The Kingdom of God is different from other kingdoms. God alone is the Ruler of the kingdom of God. That is why it is so called. The realm, the kingdom of the heavens, is just God. He is both the Ruler and the Realm. He relates to us directly through Jesus. There are no other mediators. Even through others, it is God and not them with Whom we have to do. It is like a popsicle. You accept the stick to get the popsicle, but you don't eat the stick. We accept the humanity of someone anointed, but it's the anointing we partake of. Christ is the anointing.

In other kingdoms there is a hierarchy of authority. The kingdom of God is much simpler. It is just God and us, corporately and individually. There is no delegated authority. Another among us, usually with titles of honor from other men, claiming to be God's authority over us is like another man between a husband and his wife, telling the wife that to love her husband she has to go through him. Since the wife is the Church and the husband is God the position of another mediator is not one I'd like to assume.

The mouth of the Body of Christ is in the head. Any other person assuming authority is speaking out of another orfice and ought not be regarded as having any authority in the Church. This is why we refer to the Holy Scriptures. It is the whole groundwork of the voice of God in our midst. It is authoritatively His Word.

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Permalink Reply by Katie Mather on September 6, 2010 at 3:04pm

Hi Jeromy and Marcelia, I can't believe that this conversation has been going on for more than a year! I haven't been on Simplechurch.com because of so many conversations consumed by a few people with extremely fringe point of theological views.

I wish to make just a few simple points.

Jesus announced the good news in Luke 4:18 of salvation, healing broken hearts, deliverance for the captives, liberty for the bruises of life, and recovery of spiritual sight. The good news is about the Kingdom and Luke 4:18 describes life in the Kingdom.

In Matthew 4:17, Jesus said, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Despite what the word "repent" is used for today (to renounce or confess sin), repent really means to change the way you think. Jesus was saying to change the way you think for there is another Kingdom and in this Kingdom life is very different. We are to change the way we think from kingdom of darkness thinking to Kingdom of Heaven thinking.

Jesus taught and demonstrated life in the Kingdom. First of all, he built upon the authority given to Adam and Eve who had been given dominion over the earth and the animals (note: and not people or each other). We are a Kingdom of Kings and Priests. Priests serve the Lord and Kings rule over their domain. We who gave our lives to God are Priests and Kings. Jesus showed us that we are to have dominion over the earth by his miracles that are contrary to our natural world, like calming the storm, increasing food supplies and cursing a tree. He added to our domain by showing us that we have authority over the enemy in the spirit realm and demons by casting demons out of people. He showed we also have authority over sickness and infirmity by healing the sick. Before he left this realm he declared that we would do greater things than these.

But we still don't have authority over other people. I know that this scripture is interpreted in many different ways in different Bible versions but I believe Matthew 11:12, the violent verse, talks about the Kingdom suffers violence by satan and his minions and we must take authority over them and their kingdom in the spirit realm. I do not believe that this means we should be doing "spiritual warfare" over earthly regions and territories but in first casting out demons through deliverance in individuals who give their lives to the Lord. Then after deliverance, the primary area of spiritual warfare is in our own souls; our minds, wills and emotions, again changing the way we think from kingdom of darkness thinking to Kingdom of Heaven thinking and believing. This is Romans 12:1-2 transformation by the renewing of our minds.

This is not about a change of intelectual thinking and reasoning but a supernatural transformation as we dig up the old roots of what we think and believe and allow the Holy Spirit to change us from the inside out.

Enough on this here. I am going to write more on this later tonight and post it on my blog at katiemather.blogspot.com.

Thanks and Blessings,
Katie

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