The kingdom of God is not for ‘believers’
I have searched the scriptures through and through and I found no place for ‘believers’ in the kingdom of God.
Most English definitions of the word believer mean a person who accepts that something is true or a person who is devoted to a religious belief — this is what I mean by believers.
Although, the meaning of believer as translated by most English bibles doesn’t mean the same as it is in the English dictionary. Strangely in Christianity many people who call themselves believers act more like the English dictionary definition than the true biblical meaning. They believe in the gospel and claim they’re born-again but never had the supernatural rebirth.
To strongly believe in God and His Son Jesus is not a ticket to heaven because there is no provision for such in the bible.
Why you may ask?
Because the bible says demons also believe too, will demons enter the kingdom of God for just believing?
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! James 2:19
If you’re sure demons wouldn’t, why should ‘believers’ enter?
The kingdom of God is for faithful believers and not for ordinary believers as the demons, who know God but wouldn’t submit to His will. So don’t be deceived when you seem very knowledgeable about the things of God, what matters is your conformity to God’s word.
In the sermon of the mount, Jesus told His disciples how to enter the kingdom of God in 2 of the beatitudes;
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3&10
The poor in spirit and the persecuted are the ideal candidate for the kingdom of God. On the other hand, to be rich in spirit means you don’t rely on God and His Holy Spirit to guide your steps. You’re like the people of Babel that want to make a name for themselves without reverence to God.
In the same way, those who avoid persecution are not able to follow Jesus even though they claim to work for Him.
“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23
Although from the outside it seems you’re a believer who is a follower of Jesus because you perform miraculous signs and wonders as Jesus did. But don’t be deceived, Jesus would not be moved by the supernatural miracles you performed in His name. This was demonstrated in Matthew 7:21–23;
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
How do you expect Jesus to turn a blind eye to your practice of lawlessness?
The primary reason Jesus came to this world was to set us from sin and this was clearly stated in the first announcement of the name of Jesus to Joseph — his earthly father;
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:22
So if you believe in Jesus and the kingdom of God and yet you’re continuing in sin, then that belief can’t take you anywhere — you’re an ordinary believer.
Ordinary believers believe that Jesus saves them to enjoy material things like wealth, health, power but with no holiness given to them. They admire God’s righteousness but never seek after it, they even go as far as teaching about it but have no hunger to live it.
Sadly there are still many believers — pastors, prophets, evangelists etc. who act as described in Matthew 7 and yet they have a false hope of a place in the kingdom of God. I call it false hope because it’s clearly not based on the word of God but from delusive doctrines from a misinterpretation of the scriptures.
They hold tightly to these delusive doctrines which tell them they‘re saved because they believe — which they derived from scriptures that say “believe and be saved.” They ignore the fact that ‘be saved’ is translated from over 50 Greek words which mean several things.
Over 60% of ‘be saved’ in the bible actually mean to be saved from sin and destruction. And to be saved from sin doesn’t only mean forgiveness of sin — is much more than that, it means freedom from the slavery of sin as written by Paul to the Romans;
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. Romans 6:22
So then, if you believe you’re saved and still you’re living in sin, how do you expect to escape the final destruction and have eternal life?
Therefore, the kingdom of God is not for believers who are still slaves to sin but for those who have overcome sin through the blood of Jesus and bear the fruit of holiness.
