A Basic Concept

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:14,15)

The purpose of this booklet is to explain the Divine purposes in redemption and to describe the Kingdom of God. We are stating that there are two classes of saved people, the Church and the nations of the saved, and that God has a specific plan for each group.

We are defining the elect, including Jews and Gentiles, as those who have received Christ and have been born again of the Spirit of God.

Hopefully this booklet will help clarify our thinking and increase our understanding of the Kingdom of God. We will be describing the two classes of saved people, the Church and the nations of the saved, and what God has in mind for each class.

The terms Church, elect, Wife of the Lamb, new Jerusalem, saints, Body of Christ, Israel of God, sons of God, brothers of Christ, house of God, temple of God, tabernacle of God, Zion, mountain of the Lord are treated as synonyms in this booklet. The people so described are those who have received Christ and have been born again of the Spirit of God, including both Jews and Gentiles.

The present land and people of Israel are viewed by us as God's elect in a physical sense who will, in the future, be redeemed through Christ and brought into the spiritual-material realm of authority known as the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Heaven). As soon as the people of Israel embrace Jesus, their Christ, they will be an integral part of the one Kingdom, the one Church of God.

The nations of the saved, the other class of saved people, are not part of the Church, the elect of God but are nations of people whom Christ has chosen to be part of His Kingdom and who will receive eternal life at the hands of the saints.

The Elect and the Nations of the Saved

We cannot comprehend the Divine plan of salvation, or the Kingdom of God, until we grasp the fact that there are two classes of saved people—the elect (the Church), and the nations of the saved. There also are people who are not saved, that is, they are not accepted of God for one reason or another and will not enter eternal life in the Kingdom of God. They will not be part of the new world of righteousness.

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (II Peter 3:13)

The primary purpose of the two thousand years of the Christian Era has been to bring the elect, the saints (holy ones), to the maturity God desires. As soon as the elect, or at least a firstfruits of the elect, have come into the unity with the Godhead to the extent God desires, many nations of the world will believe that God has sent Christ and will come to the spiritual light emanating from Christ—Head and Body.

To be continued A Basic Concept 2

Word of Righteousness '