Is it Necessary to do the Will of the Father to Enter Into the Kingdom of Heaven?

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

seekingthemindofChrist

Casting down imaginations
Jul 10, 2023
1,178
573
113
#21
Do you believe it is necessary to do the will of the Father to enter into the kingdom of heaven?
You are not going to get a straight answer from many people here. Namely, the "only believe" - ers.

Here is what the true grace of God teaches:

Titus 2:11-15

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee."
 

ResidentAlien

Well-known member
Apr 21, 2021
8,256
3,595
113
#22
Is it Necessary to do the Will of the Father to Enter Into the Kingdom of Heaven?
" . . . and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.” Revelation 17:14

It doesn't say those with Him are those who made some kind of decision in the remote past, but those who were faithful.

“For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14
 

John146

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2016
17,109
3,685
113
#24
True, and this is the same exact kingdom that believing Gentiles will enter into one day.

Matthew 8:5-13

"And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour."

The many who shall come from the east and west to sit down in the kingdom of heaven, in context, are Gentiles...just like this Roman centurion.
Yes, as we return with Christ to reign for 1,000 years. The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God will both be realized together. Both were at hand during the earthly ministry of Christ. The kingdom of heaven has been postponed due to Israel's rejection, but the spiritual kingdom of God is still at hand through the body of Christ.
 

Soyeong

Active member
Oct 11, 2023
846
101
43
#25
clearly yes,
it is necessary to believe in the Son.

John 6:39-40​
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:39 says that God's will is to believe in the Son. This is not an intellectual acceptance of the truth about Jesus. it is accepting who He is and what He has done for us through His death and resurrection. This is the first step. It is the key to be born again and so be able to see the Kingdom of God. Entering into the Kingdom of God requires active cooperation with the leading of the Holy Spirit through the lifetime of the believer.

It is possible to be saved and be in heaven, yet have no placement in God's Kingdom. This is a tragedy for the "unbelieving" believer. He will suffer great loss on the day that he faces His master. We have one life to prepare us for eternity. The gospel is the gospel of the Kingdom, not just going to heaven when we die.

We experience something of Kingdom life now, if we are willing to carry our cross and deny ourselves.
It is the will of the Father to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Period. Don't bring up extraneous verses to dilute the truth. Read John chapter 3.
In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said that only those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven in contrast with saying that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him, so there is no need to jump to another book in order to figure out that doing the will of the Father straightforwardly refers to obeying what He has commanded in His law, though this is also confirmed in other passages like Matthew 4:15-23, where Jesus called to repent for the Kingdom of God is hand, and in Psalms 40:8, where he equated delighting in doing God's will by having His law on our heart. Moreover, God's word is His instruction for how to believe in God's word made flesh.
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,404
13,746
113
#26
The kingdom of heaven is that place/state of being where Christians who doeth the will of the Father are allowed to enter into it after they die.
Doeth? Are you King James only? It comes across as pretentious.
 

seekingthemindofChrist

Casting down imaginations
Jul 10, 2023
1,178
573
113
#27
Doeth? Are you King James only? It comes across as pretentious.
It seems to me that he was merely referring back to his opening post and the verse he cited there.

Matthew 7:21

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,404
13,746
113
#29
Do you believe it is necessary to do the will of the Father to enter into the kingdom of heaven?

It is impossible for the Bible to dilute the truth; the Bible is true.
Nice idea, but in reality someone can be very badly misled by trying to apply unrelated verses out of context...

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:5)

Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. (Luke 10:37)

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” (John 13:27)
 

Soyeong

Active member
Oct 11, 2023
846
101
43
#30
If you are Judean and not born again …that scripture might apply to you …since that is who Jesus was addressing. It is not addressing those of us under the new covenant, which was implemented on Pentecost.

Matthew is the only gospel that speaks of the kingdom of heaven (32 x I think) And the book of Matthew, portrays Jesus as King, as described in the O.T. branch. But keep in mind, Jesus was speaking to Israel.


As for entering the Kingdom of heaven ….I couldn’t tell you precisely. What I do know is under this covenant (accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior) You will be “gathered together unto Him” (aka rapture) when Jesus comes for the body of Christ (in the air) and so shall we ever be with Him. (1Th 4:17) .............So wherever Jesus is….. that is where we will be.

It does not mention us being in the Kingdom of heaven….but there are a few things that could be speculated based on scripture…. But I will leave it at that.
In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus said that only those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of God and that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so he did not leave any room for non-Judeans who are workers of lawlessness to expect to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that he and Israel might know Him, an in 1 Kings 2:1-3, God taught how to walk in His way through His law, so God's law is His instructions for how to know Him, which is eternal life (John 17:3), which is also why Jesus said that the way to enter eternal life is by obeying God's commandments (Matthew 19:17, Luke 10:25-28). In 1 John 2:4, those who say that they know Christ, but don't obey his commands are liars, and in 1 John 3:4-6, those who continue to practice lawlessness have neither seen nor known him, no one who is a worker of lawlessness knows Christ regardless of whether or not they are a Judean.

In Matthew 4:15-23, Jesus began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, which was a light to the Gentiles, and God's law was how his audience knew what sin is (Romans 3:20), so repenting from our disobedience to it is a central part of the Gospel message, which he prophesied would be proclaimed to all nations (Matthew 24:12-14), and which he commissioned his disciples to bring to all nations, teaching everything that he taught them (Matthew 28:16-20), so Jesus did not intend what he taught to be limited to only Judeans.

Furthermore, in 1 John 3:4-10, those who do not practice righteousness in obedience to God's law are not born again, and in Romans 8:4-14, those who are born of the Spirit are contrasted with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to God's law. Jesus did not establish the New Covenant for the purpose of negating anything he spent his ministry teaching, but rather the New Covenant still involves following God's law (Jeremiah 31:33). In addition, Jesus did not give his follower any room to disregard anything that he spent his ministry teaching (John 12:46-50).
 

Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,404
13,746
113
#31
It seems to me that he was merely referring back to his opening post and the verse he cited there.

Matthew 7:21

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."
Understandandable, or an easy slip, but it still comes across as pretentious. People simply don't speak that way in the 21st century unless they're reading the KJV aloud or are in a Shakespearean play.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,003
6,530
113
62
#32
Nice idea, but in reality someone can be very badly misled by trying to apply unrelated verses out of context...

So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:5)

Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. (Luke 10:37)

So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” (John 13:27)
Congratulations. You have just started another denomination. But from your doctrine, it looks like it will be short-lived.
 

Soyeong

Active member
Oct 11, 2023
846
101
43
#33
Good works? Nope...believing on the Lord Jesus Christ? Absolutely!
The things that God has chosen to instruct testify about the nature of who he is, for example, we can see that God is wise by seeing that He has given wise instructions, we can see that God is good by seeing that He has given good instructions, and so forth. Likewise, the way that we live testifies about what we believe to be true about the nature of who God is, for example, our good works in obedience to God's instructions testify that He is good, which is why they bring glory to Him (Matthew 5:16), and by testifying that God is good, we are also expressing the belief that God is good, or in other words, we are believing in Him. This is also why there are many verses that connect our faith/belief in God with our obedience to him, such as in James 2:18, he would show his faith by his works, and in Revelation 22:14, those who kept faith in Jesus are the same as those who kept God's commandments, so believing in Christ is not an alternative to doing good works. In other words, obeying God's word is the way to believe in God's word made flesh.
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,705
113
#34
Is it Necessary to do the Will of the Father to Enter Into the Kingdom of Heaven?


Sure. The Father's will is that we call upon the name of the Son to receive salvation through His blood.


Matthew 17:5
“While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,705
113
#35
What is the kingdom of heaven?
In this case, it is eternal life with Jesus. Context is always important.

In this case, The New Jerusalem of the final state will be in the first Heaven.
Only the Marriage Supper will occur in the third Heaven.
The Millennial Reign of 1000 years will occur on Earth.

We should remember that the Kingdom of God is everywhere and encompasses all things...

Psalms 139:8
“If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.”
 
Oct 18, 2023
449
75
28
#36
Understandandable, or an easy slip, but it still comes across as pretentious. People simply don't speak that way in the 21st century unless they're reading the KJV aloud or are in a Shakespearean play.
I used the word "doeth" intentionally to see if anyone would notice. :D It worked. :LOL:
 

oyster67

Senior Member
May 24, 2014
11,887
8,705
113
#37
Why did Jesus say the kingdom of God was at hand if it's something for after you die?
The "Kingdom of God" is now and everywhere. The "Kingdom of Heaven" will come shortly for us because our lifespans are short.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
19,003
6,530
113
62
#38
The "Kingdom of God" is now and everywhere. The "Kingdom of Heaven" will come shortly for us because our lifespans are short.
You don't believe the kingdom of God and heaven are wherever God rules?