Entering the Kingdom of God

Good morning, afternoon, or evening! As we open the Scriptures today, let us remember our calling: to live not by the traditions of men, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4). This topic is both sobering and full of hope: What does it take to enter the Kingdom of God? And perhaps more challenging to our modern ears—is God's love truly unconditional, or does Scripture reveal conditions to His favor and acceptance?

These are not academic questions. They strike at the heart of our faith and our walk with the Almighty. The world proclaims a "love" of God that is without boundaries, without requirements, without any expectation of response or obedience. But is this the testimony of the Scriptures? Or does the Word of God reveal a love that is deep, steadfast, and yet conditional—a love that calls us to respond, to repent, to obey, and to endure?

Let us set aside our own ideas. Let us set aside what we have heard from pulpits that tickle the ears. Let the Scriptures speak for themselves. As it is written in Second Timothy 3:16, "All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for conviction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." We will walk through both the Old and New Testaments, for the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The Kingdom of God: A Scriptural Foundation

In both the Hebrew Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus, the Kingdom is not merely a feeling in the heart, nor simply a future hope. It is the reign and rule of God—both now, in the lives of His faithful people, and in the age to come, when Messiah returns to establish His government on earth.

This is not a human government. This is not a political movement. This is the righteous rule of God Almighty over all the earth, established at the return of His Son, Jesus the Messiah. The prophets foretold it. Isaiah wrote of a time when the mountain of the Lord's house would be established as the chief of the mountains, and all nations would flow to it, and the law would go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2–4).

Jesus came preaching this very Kingdom. His message was clear from the outset:

Notice: the very first word associated with the Kingdom is "repent." Not "relax." Not "just believe and everything will be fine." Repent. Turn around. Change your direction. The Kingdom is coming, and you must be ready to meet it on God's terms, not your own.

Jesus taught His disciples to pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The Kingdom is both a present reality—wherever God's rule is acknowledged and obeyed—and a future hope, when Jesus will reign on earth. To enter this Kingdom is to receive eternal life, to be part of God's family, and to inherit the promises made to Abraham and his seed. But who will enter this Kingdom? Is it automatic? Is it for everyone, regardless of their choices or way of life? The Scriptures give us clear, unambiguous answers—and those answers may challenge much of what the religious world teaches today.

The Kingdom Is Entered on God's Terms, Not Our Own

In a world filled with many voices—some saying "only believe," others saying "just be sincere"—we must return to the Scriptures alone for our answer. We begin by recognizing a foundational truth: God's love, while vast and deep, is not unconditional in the way many suppose. The Scriptures teach that God's love is offered to all, but the fullness of His love—His favor, His promises, His Kingdom—are given on His terms. The invitation is open, but the entrance is not automatic. There are conditions, and these are not man-made, but God-given.

Let that sink in. "I never knew you." These are people who call Jesus "Lord." So-called "Christians." These are people who prophesied, who cast out demons and performed mighty works—all in His name. And yet He says, "I never knew you." Why? Because they were workers of lawlessness.

The Koine Greek word used here for "lawlessness" is anomia—meaning "iniquity, without law, or disregarding God's laws." This is not a minor detail. Jesus is telling us that religious activity—no matter how impressive, no matter how sincere—is not enough if it is divorced from obedience to the Father's commandments. The issue is not a lack of zeal. The issue is a disregard for the Torah, for the instructions of God.

How many today call Jesus "Lord" and yet have never kept a single Sabbath? How many prophesy in His name and yet eat what He declared unclean? How many cast out demons and yet observe man-made holidays rather than the appointed times of the LORD?

Jesus continues immediately after this:

Hearing is not enough. Knowing is not enough. Agreeing is not enough. We must do. The Kingdom is built on the rock of obedience, not the sand of profession.

God's Love Is Conditional: The Biblical Call to Faithful Obedience

Let us address directly the question that many in the religious world refuse to grapple with: Is God's love unconditional? The popular teaching says yes—that God loves everyone equally, regardless of their response, their behavior, or their faithfulness. But what does the Word of God actually say?

The Old Testament Witness

From the very beginning, God's relationship with humanity has been covenantal. A covenant is an agreement—a relationship with terms and conditions. God's steadfast love—His chesed, as the Hebrew says—is extended to those who enter into covenant with Him and remain faithful.

Notice the structure: God keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments. And to those who hate Him—meaning those who reject His authority and His law—He repays them to their face, to destroy them. This is not unconditional love. This is covenantal love with clear conditions.

This is the clearest possible language. "If you obey… then you shall live… But if your heart turns away… you shall surely perish." Heaven and earth are called as witnesses. Life and death are set before us. And God says: choose life. But choosing life means obeying His voice and holding fast to Him. It is not a passive acceptance. It is an active, daily, lifelong commitment.

The prophets echoed this truth. Isaiah declared, "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). Sin separates us from God. His love is steadfast, but sin creates a barrier. The relationship is conditional upon repentance and obedience.

And through Ezekiel, God makes this principle even more explicit: if a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, none of the righteous deeds he has done shall be remembered. Yet if the wicked turns from his sin and does what is just and right, he shall surely live (Ezekiel 33:13–15). It is not our past that secures our place in God's Kingdom, but our present faithfulness.

The New Testament Witness

Some may object, "But that's the Old Testament. Didn't Jesus change all this? Isn't the New Covenant unconditional?" Let us see what Jesus Himself taught.

Simple. Direct. Unambiguous. Love is demonstrated in obedience.

The love of the Father and the Son is poured out upon those who keep the commandments. Jesus does not say that everyone receives this love in the same way. He draws a line: those who keep His words are loved by the Father and the Son in a special, relational, covenantal way. This is not a universal, indiscriminate acceptance. This is covenant faithfulness.

Abiding in God's love requires keeping His commandments. And Jesus Himself sets the example: He kept His Father's commandments. He kept the Sabbath. He observed the holy days. He ate only what was clean. He obeyed the Torah in every respect. And He calls us to do the same.

The apostle John, writing years later, echoes his Master: "And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that says, 'I know Him,' and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3–4). That is strong language. If you claim to know God but do not keep His commandments, John says you are a liar. And again: "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome" (1 John 5:3). The love of God is keeping His commandments. They are not burdensome—they are life-giving, sanctifying, and holy.

Walking in Obedience: The Evidence of Love and the Path to the Kingdom

Faith and Obedience: Not Opposed, but United

Some will object, "But aren't we saved by faith, not by works?" Indeed, salvation is a gift, not something we can earn. "For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9). But read the very next verse: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

We are saved for good works. Grace does not abolish obedience; it empowers it. Grace does not give us license to sin; it gives us the power to overcome sin. The Scriptures never set faith and obedience in opposition. Rather, true faith produces obedience. A faith that does not produce obedience is not saving faith at all.

James, the brother of Jesus, addresses this directly: "Even so faith, if it has not works, is dead, being alone… Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble… Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? … For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:17–26).

The demons believe in God—and they tremble. Mere intellectual belief is not saving faith. Abraham's faith was demonstrated by his willingness to offer Isaac. His faith wrought with his works—they worked together. A faith that does not produce obedience is a dead faith. It will not save you. It will not open the gates of the Kingdom.

Paul himself, so often misquoted in defense of lawless grace, wrote: "For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified" (Romans 2:13). And again: "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid" (Romans 6:1–2). Paul was horrified by the suggestion that grace permits ongoing sin. He calls it unthinkable.

When a rich young man came to Jesus and asked, "What good deed must I do to have eternal life?" Jesus responded: "If you would enter life, keep the commandments" (Matthew 19:17). He didn't say, "Just believe in Me." He said, "Keep the commandments." And then He listed several of the Ten Commandments, showing their ongoing relevance and authority.

Jesus also teaches the necessity of repentance: "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). The Greek word for repentance here is metanoia—a change of mind and direction, a turning away from sin and toward God's ways. This is not a one-time prayer at an altar call. This is a foundational reorientation of the entire life. Repentance is a condition for entering the Kingdom, and it is an ongoing posture of the believer's heart.

The Ongoing Call to Faithfulness and Endurance

Many modern teachers avoid this truth: the requirement of endurance. It is not enough to begin the journey. We must continue in it, walking in the light, overcoming trials, and enduring to the end. Entering the Kingdom of God is not a matter of a one-time decision, but of a life lived in covenant loyalty to our Father and His Son.

This is our Master speaking. The context is sobering: Jesus is describing the great tribulations, the false prophets, the deceptions that will come before His return. He does not promise that salvation is a one-time transaction. He says it is the reward for those who remain faithful through every challenge, every trial, every temptation to fall away.

In Revelation, as Jesus addresses the seven assemblies, He repeatedly says, "To the one who overcomes…" and then lists the blessings of the Kingdom: "To him that overcomes will I grant to eat of the tree of life" (Revelation 2:7). "He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death" (Revelation 2:11). "To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne" (Revelation 3:21). The Kingdom is for the overcomers—not for the passive, not for the comfortable, not for those who signed a card at a crusade and never looked back.

Paul echoes this: "He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life" (Romans 2:6–7). The Greek word here, hypomonē, means steadfastness, endurance, perseverance. The journey to the Kingdom is not a sprint, but a marathon.

The Danger of Falling Away

The Scriptures do not shy away from warning us of the real danger of falling away—perhaps one of the most neglected doctrines in modern Christianity.

That word "if" is a condition. Our participation in Christ is not unconditional. We must remain faithful. The writer continues with an even more sobering warning: "For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit… and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance" (Hebrews 6:4–6). It is possible to begin well, to taste the blessings of God, and yet to fall away through neglect, unbelief, or willful disobedience.

If we know the truth and willfully continue in sin, there is no sacrifice left for us. Only judgment. Paul uses the history of Israel as a direct warning: many who were delivered from Egypt—who walked through the Red Sea, who ate manna from heaven—failed to enter the Promised Land because of unbelief and disobedience. His conclusion: "Wherefore let him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12).

The Role of God's Commandments, Holy Days, and Appointed Times

God's commandments—including the seventh-day Sabbath, the annual holy days, and the dietary laws—are not burdensome, but life-giving. They are part of the covenant relationship. They are the marks that distinguish God's people from the world. And Jesus Himself kept every one of them.

The Sabbath: A Perpetual Sign

The Sabbath is a perpetual covenant—a sign between God and His people forever. Not until the cross. Not until a later dispensation. Forever. To keep the Sabbath from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset is to honor the Creator and to anticipate the rest of the Kingdom. The writer of Hebrews confirms: "There remains therefore a sabbatismos for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9)—the Greek word sabbatismos meaning a Sabbath-keeping. It remains. It has not been abolished.

Jesus kept the Sabbath. Luke records: "And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath day" (Luke 4:16). It was His custom—His regular, habitual practice. If Jesus is our example, and He kept the Sabbath, who are we to discard it?

The Holy Days: Rehearsals of God's Plan

God declares, "These are the feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times" (Leviticus 23:4). These are not the feasts of the Jews. They are the feasts of the LORD—God's appointed times. Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles, and the Eighth Day are rehearsals of God's plan of salvation. Paul himself told a predominantly Gentile congregation: "Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Corinthians 5:8). The prophet Zechariah foretells a time when all nations will observe the Feast of Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16–19). If the holy days will be kept in the Kingdom, why would we not keep them now?

The Dietary Laws: A Call to Holiness

God's dietary laws are expressions of His holiness and our call to be set apart: "You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy" (Leviticus 11:45). Peter himself, years after the resurrection, declared: "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean" (Acts 10:14). The vision in Acts 10 was not about food—it was about people, as Peter himself explains: "God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean" (v. 28). Paul affirms: "Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but keeping the commandments of God is what matters" (1 Corinthians 7:19).

The Danger of Presumption

Scripture warns sternly against presuming upon God's grace while refusing to obey. This is one of the most dangerous spiritual conditions a person can be in—to know the truth and yet to continue in willful disobedience, comforted by a false assurance that "God loves me unconditionally."

"And such were some of you." Past tense. Transformation is required. The old life must be put off, and the new life—a life of obedience—must be put on. The prophet Samuel spoke this truth to King Saul: "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry" (1 Samuel 15:22–23). And Jesus challenges us: "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46).

God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

The Role of God's Spirit in Our Walk

Lest anyone feel crushed by the weight of what is required, let us be assured: we are not left to endure in our own strength. God, in His mercy, has given us His Spirit to help us. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38).

The Spirit is the very power and presence of God, working in us to transform us and enable us to obey. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Romans 8:14). The Spirit writes God's law upon our hearts: "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people" (Jeremiah 31:33; cf. Hebrews 10:16). The New Covenant does not abolish God's law. It writes it on our hearts. It gives us the desire and the ability to obey.

Yet we must cooperate with the Spirit. Paul exhorts: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12–13). We are called to active participation—to strive, to overcome, to endure—knowing that God is working in us.

God's Mercy and the Call to Return

Yet let us not forget the mercy and patience of our Father. Even when we fail—and we will fail—He calls us to return: "Return to Me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts" (Malachi 3:7).

The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32) illustrates this beautifully. The father's love is steadfast. He watches the horizon. He longs for his son's return. But the relationship is restored only when the son comes to his senses, repents, and turns back home. The father runs to meet him—but the son must turn back. God's arms are open, but we must walk toward them. That is the nature of conditional, covenantal love.

If you have stumbled, do not despair: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). God is faithful to forgive. But notice even here the condition: if we confess. And God assures us: "There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape" (1 Corinthians 10:13). If God has begun a work in you, He will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6). But we must not resist His work. We must yield to Him, submit to His commandments, and walk in His ways.

Application: Living as Kingdom People

Conclusion: Choose Life

As Moses set before Israel the choice of life and death, blessing and cursing, so the Scriptures set before us the same choice today. God's Kingdom is glorious. His love is deep and steadfast. But His covenant promises are conditional. To enter the Kingdom of God, we must repent, believe, and obey. We must keep the Sabbath, honor His holy days, walk in holiness, and follow the example of Messiah. We must endure to the end.

Let us not be deceived by the empty promises of lawless grace. Let us not be burdened by the traditions of men. Let us hold fast to the Word of God, keeping His Sabbath, His holy days, and His commandments—not to earn His love, but to abide in it.

May we be among those blessed ones. May we be found faithful, enduring to the end, keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. May we hear those precious words from our Master: