 THE
DEMANDS OF THE KINGDOM
When we examine the evangelical doctrine of salvation, which is
preached as the "Gospel of Salvation", we may be amazed that someone even speaks
about " THE DEMANDS OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD". The reason is because the Gospel of
Salvation is presented as the free gift of God's grace. Most all evangelicals believe that
salvation is by faith and faith only, plus nothing. We are saved by faith, not by works,
lest any man should boast. Throughout the book of Romans Paul is very precise about the
fact that we are justified by faith and declared righteous before God by faith. Faith is
counted as righteousness by God. Jesus Christ's sacrifice on Calvary has totally satisfied
God's righteous demand for the forgiveness of our sins. 2CO 5:18 Now all {these} things
are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation, 2CO 5:19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,
not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of
reconciliation. 2CO 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were
entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2CO 5:21 He
made Him who knew no sin {to be} sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness
of God in Him. To preach that there is anything that we can do as good works, that will
forgive our sin or make us righteous before God, is an offence against Calvary. ROM 3:24
being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;
ROM 3:25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. {This
was} to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over
the sins previously committed; ROM 3:26 for the demonstration, {I say,} of His
righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who
has faith in Jesus. God does demand that we exercise faith in the whole work of Calvary,
including the shed blood of Jesus, in return for our forgiveness of sin. Also for our
being made righteous and for our redemption. God does require that we exercise living
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be reconciled to God. Now holding firmly to all
that, While salvation is free the Kingdom of God and discipleship will cost us everything.
LUK 14:33 "So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all
his own possessions. How then can we reconcile a free salvation with discipleship that
will cost us all that we have? If we preach a free salvation and ignore the cost of
discipleship, we are just preaching half a gospel. This is also true if we preach a free
salvation and ignore the demands of the Kingdom of God. In the book of Romans it appears
that Paul preached the free gift of salvation through faith and said nothing about the
cost of discipleship or the demands of the Kingdom. In chapter 12 Paul said ROM 12:1 I
urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and
holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of worship. ROM 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
However, Paul didn't emphasize that doing the will of God is the minimum requirement to
enter the Kingdom of God. One interpretation of this is that these are two different
things. Salvation is free while the Kingdom and doing the will of God only has to do with
rewards. As long as we have participated in the faith part, our salvation is secure. If we
die tonight, we immediately go to "heaven". Since "heaven" is just
another way of saying "The Kingdom of heaven", salvation is synonymous with
entering the Kingdom. This is a widely accepted "Truth" in the fundamental
church. This is called " The Roman road to heaven". We in no wise deny these
scriptures are true and was used to refute false doctrine that had entered the church at
Rome. However, it is clear that neither discipleship or the Kingdom are in view here. If
we think the book of Romans is the entire gospel of the Kingdom, we may miss the greater
viewpoint and the logical demands of the Kingdom. It is clear that neither Paul nor the
early church neglected the "gospel of the Kingdom". ACT 8:12 But when they
believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus
Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. ACT 28:23 And when they had set a
day for him, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to
them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God, and trying to persuade them
concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until
evening. ACT 28:30 And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters, and was
welcoming all who came to him, ACT 28:31 preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered. From this it should be
clear that the early church preached both the Kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It
should also be clear that this is not two messages but one. The "KING" and His
"KINGDOM" is the good news of the gospel. The sacrifice and the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ is essential to the gospel, but so is the Kingdom of God. To separate
these into two is to cut the gospel in half. It is clear that God intended it all to be
one gospel. When we view Calvary from the viewpoint of the Kingdom we see the fuller
truth, but from the same author of the book of Romans. 2CO 5:14 For the love of Christ
controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; 2CO 5:15
and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him
who died and rose again on their behalf. The Kingdom side of the gospel is that no one
should continue to live for himself but to now live for Him who died and rose again on
their behalf. If the believer receives the grace of God in forgiveness of sins and then
continues to live for himself, he is denying Christ and the purpose of His sacrifice. One
of the purposes of Calvary is to turn self-centered and self-serving man away from himself
and give man a new dimension of living and serving the one who purchased him. This
requires the Kingdom side of the gospel. If all man hears is grace, grace, he will
unlikely discipline himself to obey the King and His Kingdom. ROM 14:7 For not one of us
lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; ROM 14:8 for if we live, we live for the
Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the
Lord's. ROM 14:9 For to this end Christ died and lived {again}, that He might be Lord both
of the dead and of the living. ROM 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you
again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we shall all stand before the
judgment seat of God. ROM 14:11 For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every
knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God." ROM 14:12 So then
each one of us shall give account of himself to God. This is the Kingdom side of the
gospel and is the result of the grace side of the gospel found earlier in the same
epistle. It is just one message! If we have received His life and the grace of forgiveness
of sins, we can no longer live for ourselves. Why? Because we all must stand before the
judgement seat of Christ and answer for what we did while in this body. If we intend to
receive the free gift of God's grace and then live for ourself, we deny the purpose of
Calvary. The standard interpretation of the evangelical church is that we are saved by
grace plus nothing. However, if we then live for the Lord and do His will there are
certain rewards we will receive for that "unrequired" service. After we are
"saved", we only stand before the judgement seat of Christ to receive our
rewards and not for judgement. Forgiveness of sins causes us to escape judgement. Of
course just a simple study of judgement will reveal the Kingdom requirements for
believers. HEB 10:26 For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of
the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, HEB 10:27 but a certain
terrifying expectation of judgment, and the fury of a fire which will consume the
adversaries. HEB 10:28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on
{the testimony of} two or three witnesses. HEB 10:29 How much severer punishment do you
think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as
unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit
of grace? HEB 10:30 For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay."
And again, "The Lord will judge His people." HEB 10:31 It is a terrifying thing
to fall into the hands of the living God. The standard evangelical interpretation of these
scriptures is that this is only speaking of unbelievers or those in the church that have
never really been born again. The reason for this error is that they obviously have not
seen the Kingdom side of the gospel. Or, of course, they may have seen it and rejected it.
The Kingdom does place certain demands upon the believer. The branch that is attached to
the vine( which is Jesus) must produce fruit or be cast into the fire. JOH 15:5 "I am
the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit;
for apart from Me you can do nothing. JOH 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is
thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire,
and they are burned. The Kingdom parables are very clear about the demands of the Kingdom
upon all who participate in the grace of God. The standard evangelical answer to the clear
teaching of the parables is that you can't set doctrine from the parables. LUK 19:11 And
while they were listening to these things, He went on to tell a parable, because He was
near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.
LUK 19:12 He said therefore, "A certain nobleman went to a distant country to receive
a kingdom for himself, and {then} return. LUK 19:13 "And he called ten of his slaves,
and gave them ten minas, and said to them, 'Do business {with this} until I come {back.}'
LUK 19:14 "But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We
do not want this man to reign over us.' LUK 19:15 "And it came about that when he
returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given
the money, be called to him in order that he might know what business they had done. LUK
19:16 "And the first appeared, saying, 'Master, your mina has made ten minas more.'
LUK 19:17 "And he said to him, 'Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful
in a very little thing, be in authority over ten cities.' LUK 19:18 "And the second
came, saying, 'Your mina, master, has made five minas.' LUK 19:19 "And he said to him
also, 'And you are to be over five cities.' LUK 19:20 "And another came, saying,
'Master, behold your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; LUK 19:21 for I was
afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down, and
reap what you did not sow. ' LUK 19:22 "He *said to him, 'By your own words I will
judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I
did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? LUK 19:23 'Then why did you not put the
money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?' LUK 19:24
"And he said to the bystanders, 'Take the mina away from him, and give it to the one
who has the ten minas.' LUK 19:25 "And they said to him, 'Master, he has ten minas
{already.}' LUK 19:26 "I tell you, that to everyone who has shall {more} be given,
but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. LUK 19:27
"But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here
and slay them in my presence." This is a Kingdom parable that presents Kingdom
demands upon the servants or slaves of the Master. In this parable 10 purchased slaves,
who were to no longer live for themselves or according to their own plans, were given 10
minas. Each was given one mina. All were given equal amounts. Only two of the ten were
faithful and multiplied what they were given. Each of the faithful were given a reward
equal to the increase of what they were given. The one who made 10 more was rewarded with
authority over 10 cities. The one who made 5 more was rewarded with authority over 5
cities. Now there were eight others who did not want to come under the authority of the
Master and did not want Him telling them what to do. Even though He was their master and
they were His slaves, they took the provision and did nothing with it. Because of their
disobedience, the Master considered them to be His enemies, even though they were slaves
in His own household. One of those eight, who was now considered an enemy, was called to
give an account for what he was given. He knew the Master and was well aware of His
requirements to use what he was given and multiply it. However, he did nothing with it and
was willing to just give it back the same way he received it. His attitude was, at least I
didn't lose it. But now comes the judgement when he must answer to the King of the Kingdom
for what he didn't do with what he was given to do business with. The Master judged the
slave by his own words. His own words confirmed that he knew the Master and knew the
requirements. The man's problem was that he didn't want the master to rule over him and
tell him what he must do. He didn't want to take any responsibility to obey the master.
This was interpreted by the Master as being the Master's enemy. Even though this slave was
bought and paid for by the Master, he just wanted to live for himself. The other 7
worthless slaves were included with this worthless slave because they had the same
philosophy. It wasn't their fault. The Master was a greedy guy who wanted to reap where He
didn't sow. If He wanted a return on His mina He should have taken care of it Himself! It
is His fault for giving it to me in the first place. I didn't ask for it, therefore I am
not responsible. This is the same philosophy of the gospel of the giveaways. A philosophy
seeks to have an answer and explain everything but change nothing. The Kingdom offers few
answers and explains little and yet seeks to change everything. Especially this problem of
slaves just living for themselves and then giving excuses. What happens next just does not
fit into the gospel of the half price sale and the gospel of the bargains. This gospel
teaches that we can receive forgiveness of sins and then do your own thing. God's grace
permits us to escape judgement. God loves you just like you are, even if you are
worthless. Just ask forgiveness for your rebellion. Now the philosophers have to get their
heads together to seek justice for this poor misunderstood slave. Even though he was
worthless and disobedient, at least he must be treated with respect. It appears his human
rights were violated and the A.C.L.U. should be notified. This must be taken to the
Supreme Court to get a ruling on whether the Master acted in an unrighteous way. They
conclude that no master has a right to mistreat His worthless slave. He should be
reinstated with back pay. After a slave is purchased from the auction block he should have
certain guaranteed rights and privileges. His opinion about his master is all part of his
freedom of speech. Nothing should give a master the right to slay a slave in His presence.
We agree he was a worthless slave but that does not give the master the right to violate
his civil rights. He was certainly entitled to a second chance. The Master has publicly
testified He was a man of mercy and willing to forgive. Then we must force the Master of
this slave to show mercy and forgive. The question before the court of the Christian
philosophy of cheap grace is this; Does the Master have the right to take away the life of
eight slaves that He purchased with His own blood, just because those slaves don't want
the Master to rule over them? While the Master was away on a long trip to receive a
Kingdom, it appeared these eight slaves were getting away with their plan to ignore the
Kingdom requirements. However, when the Master returned they were all called to give an
account for themselves. They each had to stand before the judgement seat of the Master to
give account for what they did with what they were given. This is the Supreme Court of
heaven and the A.C.L.U. will not be around. The A.C.L.U. will be having their own problems
and won't be any help. The problem with the "Judgement Seat Of Christ" is you
must answer for yourself. No one will answer for you. It is just you and Jesus. Your
attorney has become your judge. The real question is this; Does the God of all the earth
have the right to judge the people of His creation whom He has bought with His own blood?
The Christian philosophers will seriously question if that could ever happen. They will
consider the mercy of God and will proclaim that the grace and forgiveness of God must be
extended to all God's children. After all, isn't God supposed to be long suffering and put
up with all kinds of rebellion and nastiness in His children? Even if they are perverted,
they are still His children. He cannot deny His own children. If He has once given them
life, He can't then take it away. The philosophers will argue that Jesus forgave the woman
at the well and the woman caught in adultery. Therefore, He must also forgive the
worthless slave. They proclaim that God is not a respecter of persons. If He forgave one,
He must forgive all! This is according to the Christian philosophers but not according to
the King and His Kingdom. In the Kingdom slaves have no civil rights. They do have the
right to obey the King. It is a fatal mistake to evaluate the woman caught in adultery
with the worthless slave. These are two completely different situations. The woman needed
redeemed but the worthless slave was already redeemed from the auction block. He was
already a member of the Master's household and under His authority and subject to His
commandments. To say the King does not have the power of life and death over His slaves is
to misinterpret the Kingdom and the absolute sovereignty of the King. When it becomes
clear that both the sheep and the goats are all part of His flock, the philosophers will
question why the Master doesn't just forgive the goats? Maybe He could just take away some
of their rewards. The worthless slave had the mina taken away so surely it is not
necessary to also lose his life. They will argue that the Master should have traded his
reward for his life. Why didn't the master accept a plea bargain? Because this is not the
gospel of the half price sale or the gospel of the giveaways. This is the gospel of the
Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is a tremendous treasure and a pearl of great price. Men must
be willing to sell all that they have to buy that great value. If we don't recognize the
exceeding great worth, then any cost may seem too high to pay. If we are assured that
salvation is free, then any cost for the Kingdom will seem excessive. If we have never
been confronted with the cost of the Kingdom we can easily reject it as strange doctrine.
MAT 13:44 "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man
found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that
field. MAT 13:45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine
pearls, MAT 13:46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he
had, and bought it. MAT 25:14 "For {it is} just like a man {about} to go on a
journey, who called his own slaves, and entrusted his possessions to them. MAT 25:15
"And to one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each
according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. MAT 25:19 "Now after a long
time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them. MAT 25:30 "And
cast out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth. MAT 22:11 "But when the king came in to look over the dinner
guests, he saw there a man not dressed in wedding clothes, MAT 22:12 and he *said to him,
'Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?' And he was speechless. MAT
22:13 "Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into
the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' MAT 22:14
"For many are called, but few {are} chosen." MAT 8:11 "And I say to you,
that many shall come from east and west, and recline {at the table} with Abraham, and
Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; MAT 8:12 but the sons of the kingdom shall be
cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. " In these few scriptures it is clear, the Kingdom of God is not a sentimental
place where everybody is accepted regardless of their worthlessness or laziness. Some have
the impression that when God speaks, if we take our time about responding, God will soon
forget He spoke to us and gave us a commandment to obey. Many have thought God is like we
are with our children. If they ignore us we try to believe that maybe God will cause them
to grow out of their disobedience. The Kingdom is reserved for those souls that have
Kingdom character and do the whole will of God. MAT 7:21 "Not everyone who says to
Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father
who is in heaven. Crying or throwing a tantrum or feeling sorry we didn't respond to the
Kingdom requirements, will not buy us anything in the Kingdom. God is not moved by emotion
or tears. He is moved by quick obedience to the will of God and character of the Kingdom
that we have experienced. The Kingdom of God is the basis of this parable. Many felt that
as soon as the Messiah was revealed the Kingdom would immediately be established. Jesus
revealed that He must first go away and receive the Kingdom and then someday return. In
the meantime His slaves, or those who were His because He bought them with His own blood,
were to do business with what they were given. What they were given was the sole property
of the one who would be made King. The minas were not given to the slaves to become their
possessions. They were only stewards of the money and were commanded to do business with
it until He came back. First Jesus identified these stewards as His "slaves"
(V13) and then as His "citizens". (V14) This tells us that in His thought His
citizens are all His slaves. He doesn't now at this time have two groups. That is, one
group are His slaves that must serve Him and then another group that are His citizens who
just enjoy their freedom, sit in a pew and do as they please. It would not be acceptable
for "the slaves" to send a delegation to the King and say we don't want you to
rule over us. They just saw themselves as "citizens" who saw nothing wrong with
sending a delegation to the King and reject His authority and rule over them. They thought
all that was necessary was to inform the King that they were free from His Lordship.
Nevertheless, God sees everybody who are citizens of His kingdom as His slaves. A slave
could not proclaim his freedom until his dept was fully paid. The nature of our debt is
that no one can sufficiently pay it. Our debt can only be paid with a perfect sacrifice.
Only Jesus can and did pay our debt. At the same time He purchased us off the auction
block so that we are no longer our own but we belong to Him. This is much more that
accepting Jesus as personal savior. Even if we acknowledge Jesus as personal savior, we
are still not our own. We belong to Him as His purchased slave. Then why don't we
acknowledge that fact and then take our freedom and do our own thing? Because we can't
release ourselves. We were bought with a price and therefore we are not our own, we belong
to Him. The cheap gospel of grace has implied that we are friends of Jesus through
redemption rather than slaves. That through redemption Jesus becomes our elder brother and
we enjoy the freedom of the sons of the same Father. Multitudes today have accepted Jesus
as personal savior. They even confess that He is Lord and coming King but they still don't
want Him to rule over their lives in daily reality. The gospel of "personal
savior" is quite different than the gospel of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is God's
government, His laws, His authority and His absolute sovereignty. The Kingdom revolves
around The King, who has power of life and death over His citizens. The Kingdom certainly
speaks of blessing but in reference to responsibility, fruitfulness and increase. It also
speaks of judgement upon those who are lazy and worthless and didn't use what they were
given to increase the Kingdom goals. The "gospel of personal savior" presents
Jesus as the Lamb who has died for us so we could be accepted as righteous before God. All
this is true and scriptural but if we don't also present the gospel of the Kingdom, many
assume that there is no longer any judgement regardless of how lazy or wicked we remain.
We must not overlook the fact that not only was the mina taken away but the worthless
slave was also slain in the King's presence. He not only lost the mina he was given but he
lost the life he was given. This is a glimpse now into eternity. In eternity there is a
great difference between the one who had made 10 minas and the one who had made 5 minas.
Where we fit into the eternal Kingdom will depend upon what each of us did with what we
were given. Both were blessed but one was blessed with leadership over 10 cities. The
other was blessed with leadership over 5 cities. It should be obvious that both the 10
mina man and the 5 mina man wanted the King to rule over them. It is also obvious that the
1 mina man and the others didn't want the King to rule over them and sent a delegation to
tell the King that. In effect they said" we will not submit to your authority or
sovereignty. We want your salvation but we reject all obedience. We want your
righteousness and we do believe that you are the savior. We will gladly accept you as our
savior but we don't want to be bound by our performance and responsibility. One thing that
has been nearly universally taught is that salvation and forgiveness of sins are one thing
and rewards and crowns are another. You can have the first without bothering about the
second. Crowns and rewards are something extra that we can work for if we want but are
unrelated to our salvation or the "life" He has given us. Some say striving for
crowns is foolish because we are just going to throw the crowns at Jesus feet anyway. The
commandment of the King was to "do business with this until I return". Each was
judged by the "business" they had done. Business has to do with profit and
increase. Without profit and increase there is no business. The profit is essential to
business. Then the Kingdom is about business, profit and increase. In business if you just
take up what you laid down you didn't even break even because there are always expenses.
In any business you must reap more than you sow. If a farmer sows a bushel of seed and
only gets a bushel of harvest he has crop failure. Some might say he broke even but he
lost all his labor and what other expense he incurred. In Ohio if you sow one seed of
corn, you should reap two ears of corn. At least a 200% increase. If you were farming on
the shares, you would keep one ear and the other would go to the land owner. The one who
owns the land must also profit from the harvest. In this case the King owned everything
and His purchased slaves owned nothing and had no right to anything. However, this King is
quite generous and rewards His slaves with abundance above all they could ask or think.
Some condemn the business man for insisting on a profit. These citizens also was ignorant
of how business works. They were willing to condemn the King for insisting upon a profit.
LUK 19:21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you
did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow. ' LUK 19:22 "He *said to him, 'By
your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting
man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? Now the worthless
slave had a certain respect for the mina he was given. He carefully wrapped it in a
handkerchief put it away in a safe place. He didn't throw it away or let it be stolen. He
just returned what he was given but without any increase. The gospel of personal savior
might think that was good enough because nothing was lost and the man showed certain
respect for what he was given. However, the King is not looking for "respect" of
the gift, He is looking for increase. Even if the worthless slave had no ability in
business he should at least have put it out to interest with someone who was business
minded. The Kingdom is not about breaking even. This is not the gospel of prosperity
either. This is not about the faithful slave multiplying his mina and then using the
increase to buy summer homes and cadillacs. The increase was not given for this life but
for the time the King returns. The one who had increased the most was given the worthless
slave's mina and now he had 11. Now there are also a group of bystanders who have not
participated but are watching how the King handled the situation. They thought it was
strange that the one who had made the 10 minas was given another. Surely it would have
been more democratic to give it to the one who had 5 minas and then he would have had 6
minas. A much better distribution of wealth. Now there were 16 minas total. If the King
had taxed the one who had 10 minas, 2 minas and given the one mina to the one who had
five, it would have made each have eight minas. That would have agreed more with our
current system of democracy. However, in the Kingdom of God the one who works hard and
prospers is also given what the others didn't use. God is committed to rewarding the one
who works hard and letting him keep what he has earned. Some of those who preach a gospel
of personal savior are infuriated by any thought that we are commanded to work in the
Kingdom and to increase what we were given and that those who are worthless to the Kingdom
are stripped of what they had and then slain. To lose your life because you didn't profit
and increase is considered as heresy. The Kingdom of God is not a democracy but an
absolute monarchy and theocracy. He owns it all but He permits us to work "on the
shares" so that we may benefit from our labors and then benefit also from those who
do nothing with what they were given. LUK 19:26 "I tell you, that to everyone who has
shall {more} be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be
taken away. LUK 19:27 "But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over
them, bring them here and slay them in my presence." This is opposite to our current
welfare system. In this system if you have it is taken away given to those who won't work.
That is called "redistribution of wealth". It rewards the worthless slave for
being worthless. Of course God always looked out for the widow and orphan and those who
were helpless, but being lazy and worthless is another thing in God's eyes.
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