What does it mean the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost? What does this mean for the Church; the Body of Christ? What does it mean for the life and walk of Christians? Do Christians live in the Kingdom of God and do they walk in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost?
The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost
For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17)
In Romans 14:17, Paul wrote that the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. What Paul meant by this and in what context Paul wrote these words, is already discussed in the previous blog post (Read also: The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink).
In this blog post, the meaning of the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost will be further discussed (not in the context of Romans 14).
The Kingdom of God is righteousness
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy Kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows (Hebrews 1:8-9)
For the word of the Lord is right; and all His works are done in truth. He loves righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord (Psalms 33:5)
The scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His Kingdom, because God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost are holy and righteous and love righteousness and hate iniquity (a.o. Psalms 45:7; 50:6; 71:19; 72:2; 96:13; 97:6; 98:9; 111:3; Jeremiah 50:7, Revelation 2:6).
God can’t have communion with sin, He can’t be a partaker of sin and iniquity (Read also: Is Jesus a Promoter of sin?)
Everyone, who claims the opposite and says that it is possible, is a liar, based on God’s Word and does not speak and act from God’s Word and doesn’t walk in the truth of God, but speaks and acts from his flesh (corrupt nature, carnal mind, feelings, emotions, opinion, etc.) and walks in the lies of the devil that keeps people in bondage. Because the lies of the devil don’t lead to holy lives and (eternal) life, but lead to sin and the destruction of people (a.o. Proverbs 8:20; 12:21, Romans 1:16-32)
Throughout the Bible and even today, we see where the lies of the devil lead to. Yet every single time, the devil manages to deceive God’s people and lead them astray, despite the warning of God’s Word (Read also: Are God’s people destroyed for lack of knowledge?).
God is holy and righteous and shall never approve the evil walk of (fallen) mankind
For Thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with Thee. The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man (Psalm 5:5-7)
The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord: but He loves him that follows after righteousness (Proverbs 15:9)
God has never approved the wicked walk of people, which derives from the corrupt nature of (fallen) man. And God shall never approve the evil walk of people and wickedness and He shall never bless sin, because God is holy and righteous.
God calls the people to repentance and the removal of sins and by faith become born again in Christ and become sons of God (this applies to both males and females) and as His sons walk holy and righteous in His will. God didn’t send His Son for nothing.
God didn’t give His Son as a living sacrifice, so that people could live in sin
For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:3-7)
God didn’t send His Son to the earth and didn’t give His Son as a living sacrifice, so that people could continue to do the evil works of the flesh that oppose the will of God, and live in disobedience to God in sin.
But God has sent and sacrificed His Son for humanity to deal with the sin problem of humanity (the sin and sin nature of (fallen) man) and to heal fallen man (restore them in their state, position, and relationship with God), by making in Christ a new creation (by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost), who is perfect created in His image and through the Holy Ghost possess His righteous nature (a.o. John 3:16-31), Romans 3:20-28; 8:29-30, 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 4:24, Colossians 2:9-15).
Therefore, no one has an excuse to keep living as a sinner and persevere in sin (Read also: Can you use a broken world as an excuse?).
Faith in the lies of the devil leads to death
By faith in the lie of the devil, man fell from his position and death entered and man became corrupt. Man was no longer perfect, but by faith in the lie of the devil and doing his word, man became a sinner. However, man wouldn’t remain a sinner forever.
Immediately after the fall of man, God prophesied and promised (fallen) man, that the position of fallen man and the unrighteous state of fallen man and the relationship between fallen man and God would be restored through the Messiah; Jesus Christ, so that man would be made righteous and reconciled with God and man would live holy and righteous in communion with God and reign with Christ on earth in His power after His will (Read also: What does it mean the head of the devil bruised because the heel of Jesus was bruised?).
Every person needs the sacrifice and blood of Jesus to be saved and be made righteous
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 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 hath 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; To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus (Romans 3:21-26)
Everyone is born as a sinner and has a corrupt nature that produces sin and iniquity.
Everyone is a sinner and therefore everyone needs to be born again to be saved. God has made a way for the redemption of mankind and to be saved and that Way is Jesus Christ.
There is no other way to be saved and there is no other way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than through Jesus Christus, Who is the Way the Truth, and the Life, and by regeneration in Him (Read also: Is there no other way to eternal life?)
The sinner is made righteous in Christ by His blood and has become a righteous person
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:20-21)
Without regeneration in Christ, people are lost. Because the judgment of God shall come over the sinners, who live in enmity with God and rebellion and disobedience to His Word (a.o. Romans 1:32; 2:2-16, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9, Hebrews 13:4, 2 Peter 2:9, Revelation 20:11:15)
Only by the redemptive work and the blood of Jesus Christ, a person can be saved and be made righteous. Therefore a person can only become righteous by faith in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and regeneration in Him.
The righteous walks in righteousness
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid (Romans 6:12-15)
I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment (Proverbs 8:20)
When a person is born again in Christ and made righteous and because of the justification in Him received the Holy Ghost and entered the Kingdom of God, the person shall live from this Kingdom by the Holy Ghost from his righteous state and position in Christ, and from his new nature (God’s nature) and new heart, wherein the law of Christ (the law of the Kingdom of God; the will of God) is written and reigns, and walk in righteousness and do righteous works
This proves whether a person has become a new creation in Christ and received the Holy Ghost and belongs to God and His Kingdom or not.
Because as God is righteous and the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of His Kingdom, so is everyone, who is born of Him righteous and shall walk in righteousness and live after His will (Read also: The will of God vs the will of the devil).
But if someone keeps doing the wicked works of the flesh and perseveres in sin, then that person doesn’t possess the Holy Ghost. Because the Holy Ghost is holy and righteous and hates sin and iniquity and can’t have communion with sin.
Those, who live in sin and keep doing the wicked works of the flesh, hate the Light and prove by their works that they love darkness rather than light.
The person can say all kinds of things and act piously and quote Scriptures and maintain religious statutes and rituals, but the works of the person prove to whom the person belongs; God or the world.
The Kingdom of God is peace
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1-2)
Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust (2 Peter 1:2-4)
The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will bless his people with peace (Psalms 29:11)
Jesus is the Prince of peace and through His sacrifice and by His blood, you have been made righteous. Because of the justification in Christ, you are reconciled with God and have peace with God, whereby you have received the peace of God, which passes all understanding, through the Holy Ghost and live from this peace (a.o. Ephesians 2:13-18, Colossians 1:20, 2 Thessalonians 3:16, Hebrews 13:20-21 (Read also: What kind of peace did Jesus bring on earth?)).
As you are no longer the old creation, who is sense-ruled and walks after the flesh, you shall no longer be dependable on other people, situations, and circumstances and no longer have to apply (human) methods and techniques and follow all kinds of steps to experience and have peace in your life. Since the peace of God, which you have received through regeneration in Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is a permanent peace that remains forever.
The peace of God does not depend on natural and external factors but depends on your life in Christ.
Jesus Christ is your peace
For He is our peace, Who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father (Ephesians 2:14-18)
Jesus Christ is your peace. And as long as you stay in Christ and walk by faith in obedience to Him after the Spirit on His way (the way of righteousness, peace, and life), you shall bear the fruit of peace, which is a fruit of the Spirit (a.o. John 14:27 16:33, Romans 3:17-18, Philippians 4:7, Colossians 3:15 (Read also: The fruit peace)).
By the Holy Ghost, you shall have the peace of God and experience His peace in your life, and walk in His peace.
You shall live in peace with God and with your brothers and sisters in Christ and edify one another, so that the work of God be built and His Kingdom be established on earth, instead of darkness (Read also: Destroying the works of God instead of destroying the works of the devil).
You shall be a peacemaker, by preaching the gospel of peace and speaking the words of God (the truth) to your neighbour, so that they also have the ability to be delivered from the corrupt nature and the power of darkness and be reconciled with God and live in peace with God and experience His peace in their lives, by faith in Jesus Christ and regeneration in Him (a.o. John 20:21-23, Acts 10:33, Ephesians 6:15 (Read also: The peacemakers of God)).
The Kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Ghost
As the Father hath loved Me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love. These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full (John 15:9-11)
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves (John 17:13)
And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost: So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7)
Through righteousness and peace, you shall have joy in your heart. This joy that you have, through the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, is a fruit of the Spirit and is a permanent joy.
The joy of the Lord is just like the peace of God not dependent on natural and external factors (people, provisions, entertainment, success, prosperity, wealth, situations, and circumstances).
This joy is neither a temporary (outwardly) carnal joy that is controlled by the flesh, but the joy of the Lord is a permanent (inwardly) calm joy, that is controlled by the Holy Ghost.
A person, who possesses this joy of God, shall not murmur and complain and shall not experience severe mood swings and feel happy and great one day, and the next day feel down and depressed and drown in self-pity (Read also: Joy or pity party?)
But the person shall live by faith in the Word and in the hope and the presence of God and shall delight himself in the words of God, and despite the circumstances and situations, be full of joy.
Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by Thy name, O Lord God of hosts (Jeremiah 15:16)
The joy of the Lord is the strength of every Christian
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore (Psalm 16:11)
The believer shall experience this joy of the Lord by the Holy Ghost and from this joy overcome the difficulties, obstacles, and persecution and persevere until the end.
Therefore the joy of the Lord, which derives from Him, is the strength of every Christian.
The believer delights himself in the Lord and His words and trusts the Father and His Word, whereof the Holy Spirit is a Witness and shall live in unity with the Father and the Son by the Holy Spirit.
Because of that, the believer shall not fear evil, because God is with the believer and shall always be with the believer, as long as the believer stays faithful and obedient to Him (Read also: Why do so many believers panic?)
The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13)
The believers, who belong to the Kingdom of God, shall obey Jesus, the King, and shall live according to the law of God’s Kingdom, which is written upon the heart of the new man by the Holy Spirit.
Because they live in submission to Christ in obedience to the Word and the Holy Ghost, they shall do the words of God and bear the fruit of the Spirit and walk in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost and represent and establish the Kingdom of God that exists in righteousness, peace, and joy, on earth, so that the Name of the Lord be exalted.
‘Be the salt of the earth’
