Not By Works

it indicates that it was never His intent to establish a physical kingdom when He came. that it was always His intention to do exactly as He did. the failure of anyone or any nation collectively to understand these things has no bearing on whether they are His will

Luke 1 explains what the Jews were looking for. Not only was it prophesied, but the Holy Spirit led Zacharias to speak.

67 And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,
68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people,
69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71 That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
73 The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
74 That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,

The salvation they were looking for was a physical deliverance from their enemies, to have Israel restored so they could serve God without fear. Jesus was/is that deliverer.

One has to understand the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. Most commentaries get it wrong. They equate the two. Simply put, heaven and God are not the same. One’s a created physical place. The other is a spirit.

so what?
does Christ not save?

one King, one kingdom.

Absolutely He saves sinners. Jesus could not usher in a His kingdom while Israel was yet in their sins. This was hidden until after the resurrection. And even then they rejected Jesus because most were still looking for their King. Their King had been crucified. They did not believe in the resurrection. This truth was taken to build the Church upon Gentiles.

One has to understand the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. Most commentaries get it wrong. They equate the two. Simply put, heaven and God are not the same. One’s a created physical place. The other is a spirit.

are entering the kingdom of God, He says. 2,000 years ago. kingdom of God. existing and populating.

So then the Kingdom of Heaven is a physical place?

He says, "it is not for you to know"

ignorance is by definition lack of knowledge.
not knowing = lacking knowledge.

why is this hard for you, lol bbq?

by saying this knowledge is not for you to have, He says this is an ignorance you are to have in place of knowledge.

The 12 were asking him a specific question about timing.

Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

Jesus replied it is not for you to know

You are reading your doctrine about "no physical kingdom on earth" into that reply.

Jesus merely replied with, "it is not for you to know when will that take place."

I wonder why He didn’t rebuke them for such a thought....😉

Simply put, heaven and God are not the same. One’s a created physical place. The other is a spirit.

Yes, there is only one path to salvation for everyone NOW, that is 1 Cor 15:1-4.

As I was telling him, the Jews in the OT were not looking to salvation in the way we are looking towards now. They were looking forward to their promised kingdom.

When their King usher them into that kingdom, all their sins would also be remitted as well (Acts 3:19)

lol do you not know who Jesus is?

No answer for my last question, huh?

But this foolish reasoning behind 'heaven' and 'God' comes from Dispensationalism. No one reading the scriptures would ever come up with that nonsense because it is explicitly implied that the words are used to describe the same place in parallel passages.

And Jesus came and spake...saying, All power is given me in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).

So using your logic Jesus was given power in heaven (a created place) and in earth (a created place).

Jesus went up to heaven when he disappeared out of the apostles sight in Acts 1:9-11.

Now it seems obvious that you are not being honest here.

Jesus basically explained the entire Crucifixion and Resurrection to his disciples and Satan responded via Peter "far be it from thee, Lord".

Jesus descended to the third heaven.

yes
"according to the scriptures" -- it is not that this was not the Lord's intention, and it is not that it had not been written about Him in the book; it is that it was hidden, and could not be seen until He unveiled it. this same thing revealed to Paul was also revealed on the road to Emmaus, yet not until the Spirit was given and opened their hearts and minds to see, did they begin to comprehend.

this is what i mean @Guojing when i say reality is not defined by either the ignorance or the understanding of the apostles, or of any man. it was never Yah's intent to establish a physical kingdom in Israel when He came incarnate. it wasn't a 'lost opportunity' on the part of the people of Israel in 30 AD. as He said through Isaiah and as Christ Himself pointed out, He blinded them and shut up their ears in judgement, just as the heart of Pharaoh was hardened in judgement -- in order that He might call a people to Himself out of every nation, to be made a kingdom "not of this world" just as He said.

your mid-Acts business is not a change of plans. it is an unveiling of the very same design He spoke from the beginning, at the judgement in the garden.



so yes. they did not know what they were inquiring about -- and He replied to them, "it is not for you to know the times or seasons"
He literally told them they were ignorant and would remain so when they asked this.

I believe it was part of the Lord’s intent and still is to establish an earthly kingdom and restore Israel. That part was contingent on the Jews receiving their Messiah. They did not, so the physical has been postponed. The Lord had to die for their sins before the physical could be given.