Forcing Ones Way into the Kingdom
NCW 17, March 1995
Q. What did Jesus mean when He said that "everyone is forcing his way into (the kingdom of God)"? (Luke 16:16, NIV). Was this a reference to the Kingdom in Jesus's time or for all time?
The meaning of this passage has been disputed by commentators and theologians though most would agree that it is describing the fierce earnestness with which people were responding to the Gospel while Jesus was alive. Multitudes were coming to hear Jesus and to receive His message. Translations other than the New International Version use similar language: "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it" (AV). The same word is used by Moffatt.
It is important, in trying to understand this passage, that we do not look at it in isolation. The context of it is the relationship between the Old Covenant "law and prophets" and the New Covenant "Gospel/Good News of the Kingdom of God". Most commentators assume that Jesus is saying that John represents the boundary between the Old and the New Covenants and that the Kingdom of God, as proclaimed by Jesus, "replaces" the Law. But in the very next verse Jesus reminds us: "It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law" (Luke 16:17). To re-enforce His point that the Law is still valid, He then goes on emphasise the Law even more than the Pharisees by saying: "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery" (v.18).
We see very clearly that the authority of the Law continues in the New Covenant. Adultery is still adultery, still unlawful and still sinful. The moral Law is unchanged. If anything, Jesus makes it even stricter: just looking lustfully at a woman is adultery of the heart even if no physical adultery takes place (Matt.5:31-32).
So we have, once again, a beautiful example of the relationship of the Law to the New Covenant. We do not proclaim the Law and the Prophets but the Kingdom of God. In otherwords, we proclaim the saving grace of Christ. By living the Law in our own strength we cannot succeed; accepting Christ as Saviour, and repenting of our sins, enables us to live the Law in every detail THROUGH CHRIST. Living the Law -- the moral Law -- is the evidence of our salvation, because it will flow naturally from us.
Now the scripture says that people were pressing -- forcing -- their way into their Kingdom. Lots of them. People wanted to follow Jesus. He attacked the hypocricy of the custodians of the Law (the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees), He fed them through miracles, healed their sick, told them to love their enemies, and so on. He was a revolutionary teacher. He showed them the inner aspect of the Law, told them mere external religious observance is not enough -- that it won't make people right with God. He said that faith saves, not works BUT He reminded them...many times...that the moral works of the Law were the fruits of this true faith. He never said that He had come to get rid of the Law, as many Christians teach today. He never said that we could "forget" the Old Testament and just use the New. Rather the opposite -- He said that His message -- the good news of the Kingdom -- would bring the Law to COMPLETION.
People in Jesus's day wanted a cheap and easy Gospel. They wanted the grace and the forgiveness -- the miracles and the wonders -- but they weren't too keen necessarily on obeying the Law just as many modern Christians aren't. Always Jesus balances grace with law and reminds people that heaven and earth will not pass away until every last stroke and i-dot of the Law has been fulfilled.
Yes, people are still trying to force their way into the kingdom of God today. They want the blessings but not the responsibility. They want love but not obedience. They want a quick and easy way to salvation. Jesus contradicts them all. He says: Yes, My Grace is free, but if you have truly received this grace, you will be living the Law. This means that those who break the Ten Commandments (for example) have not, in truth, received the fullness of that grace, because they are sinning. A person who takes God's Name in vain, who committs adultery, who steals, who dishonours his parents, who dishonours the Sabbath day of rest, etc., is bearing testimony to the fact that he is not saved by grace but either never received it or fell out of it.
When Jesus forgave the adulterous woman through grace -- she deserved the death penalty according to the Law -- there was a condition -- sin no more, i.e. don't do it again.
NOT ONCE DOES JESUS EVER REPUDIATE THE LAW. HE UPHELD IT TO THE VERY DETAIL. He was the only man ever to live it perfectly. We can't, because we are sinful by nature. But we can live it THROUGH HIM, i.e. through His grace. It is that grace that saves us, not our own works, because He works through us. If He doesn't work through us then it's because we have not received Him as the Lord and author of the Law.
Jesus "updated" the Law, removing the ceremonies that pointed towards Him (animal sacrifice, circumcision, and other Hebrew observances), replacing them with new ordinances (the Lord's Supper, baptism, etc.). But the ethical and moral aspects of the Law remain unchanged.
The New Covenant Church of God strictly observes the Law through Christ -- not as a legal requirement for salvation, but as evidence of that salvation. The Law is designed to bring us to consciousness of sin, cause us to repent, and receive forgiveness through the blood of Christ. It is not therefore suprising that most Christians (especially non-Hebrew) flock to the watered-down Gospel of other Christian Churches searching for a quick route to salvation. There is none. Christ is salvation, and love is the greatest commandment, but love embraces the whole ethical and moral law. Adultery is not love. Swearing in not love. Disrespecting parents is not love. Fornication and adultery are not love. O how "love" has been abused by religionists to mean what they want it to mean! Love has been reduced to a mere emotion -- a sentiment. But for Jesus love was obeying the commandments -- not as an obligation -- but out of a love for the welfare of others and out of respect for God.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is, at its core, a matter of a pure heart which manifests itself in deeds of the flesh. That is the New Covenant Law. Love, in the Gospel, is never merely intent or feelings, but is active in deeds. That is why James said the faith without works is dead. A dead faith produces no works.
This page was created on 1 May 1998
Last updated on 1 May 1998
Copyright © 1987-2008 NCCG - All Rights Reserved