One thing we hear very often, is that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The Bible says so. But what I want to talk about is what that means for us. I was talking in another thread about Romans 7 and the topic came up. I thought it was a different issue, so I thought would post my thoughts on it and see what you all think. Some people apart from this forum, teachers of the Bible have said that it is not possible for us to yet inherit the Kingdom of God because as the Bible says: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Corinthians 15:50-52
I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
This is speaking of time that we hope for, by which we are changed and caught up with Christ to the heavenlies. This verse, to many people is often used to show that we cannot inherit the kingdom of God now while we are in our physical form, which is to say we cannot be in the Kingdom now. But we do see some other scriptures that suggest we can.
1 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Colossians 1:12-13
giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
Ephesians 2:5-8
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.
So what do we do with scriptures that tell us that we have not yet inherited the kingdom, and others that say we ARE seated together in the heavenlies. Here is how I understand it: we are not our own flesh and blood. Romans 7 is a great chapter because, in great detail, Paul breaks down everything about us, and determines who we really are. One thing he says is that when our minds warred with the flesh, when we were under the law, the "inner man" wished to do good, but the sin in the flesh held him captive. So, when we sinned, it wasn't US who did it, but the sin in us. This is not to say that we were not held accountable, but that there were workings beyond our power which were apart, or DISTINGUISHABLE from who WE really are.
We are not our own flesh, but we are souls. Everything about who we are is not in our toenails, or hair follicles, or skin, or muscles, or even the brain. It's all in our mind, who we are, our emotions, our personalities etc, it's all in our mind. This is why we are IN the flesh but are also distinguishable from it. Here is what Jesus says about inheriting the Kingdom:
John 3:3-6
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Paul says this:
Romans 14:17-18
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
If you understand that definition, and lay hold of the fact that man is not his own flesh, then you can understand why we can inherit the kingdom now, and why we will inherit the kingdom, to a greater degree, in the future. If we say that since flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom, that it means we must only inherit the kingdom in the future, do we say that we cannot have "righteousness peace and joy in the Spirit" now, but later? If so, then Jesus died for nothing.
In Romans 8, Paul says a VERY critical thing that ties it together. He says "You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if it so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you." This is possible, again, because you are not your own flesh. What it means is that your MINDS are transferred actively to the Kingdom (the Spirit) upon faith, by which you are seated in heavenly places, even while still made flesh on earth. However you have not received the full inheritance as evidenced in 1 Corinthians 15. So, while your minds are not in the flesh, but in God, your bodies still wait to be changed in an instant. Flesh and blood can NEVER inherit the kingdom, which is why your minds (not meaning your physical brain) are first removed from flesh, then the process is complete when you receive a new heavenly body which waits for us in Heaven.
