In the Sermon on the Mount, most people assume Jesus is teaching about Kingdom 'entrance.' But by focusing on the audience (disciples), the timeline of what they knew, the introduction and each part of the sermon (not to mention Matthew's overall purpose, Old Testament prophecies, New Testament theology, the grace gospel, etc.) Elkins shows Jesus is addressing Kingdom greatness, not entrance.The Bible knows nothing of a present, or present-not-yet, form of the Kingdom. The Kingdom Jesus is talking about is the one He, John, and the disciples had been preaching, the one understood by the Palestinian audience, the literal future, earthly Kingdom of Messiah on earth.Jesus will get around to addressing Kingdom entrance in His evangelistic close, but not at all in the manner it's usually taken. Rather, He gives the clearest, most cogent refutation of so-called lordship salvation, and actually presents the John 3:16 message as the means of entrance.If keeping the words of the sermon were necessary for 'entrance, ' the one thing it will have succeeded in doing is making sure no one will enter the Kingdom If, on the other hand, it's about 'inheriting' the Kingdom as a possession--to rule and be great there--it works wonderfully well, and is the great discipleship primer it's intended to be.
Author: Steve ElkinsPublisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 03/20/2015
Pages: 432
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.27lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.88d
ISBN13: 9781507602461
ISBN10: 1507602464
BISAC Categories:-
Religion |
Christian Living | Spiritual GrowthAbout the Author
Steve Elkins (BBA, SMU; Th.M., Dallas Seminary) served on Young Life staff for over twenty-five years, and for the past eight as pastor of Believers Bible Church, Corsicana, Texas. Steve's mentor was the great scholar and exegete, Zane Hodges, who taught him the intricacies of the free-grace message. When one settles on the primacy of John's Gospel for understanding the Gospel of eternal life, the difficulties melt away for understanding Christian life passages, reward passages, discipleship, warnings, etc--and not confusedly mixing them in with Gospel passages. As one free-grace writer says, "God gives us eternal life, but He pays us for our works," and another says, "Salvation is free, but discipleship is costly." Please look at Steve's works on the web, steve-elkins.com, or contact him at stevemelkins@gmail.com
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