Kingdom Christian: Living in the Kingdom of God here on Earth

By E.C. Moses

Millions of people profess to being religious. And a large percentage of those people profess to be
Christian. With so many people claiming to belong to a Christian religious order, why are so many
people living defeated, empty lives?
The primary reason religions fail is because they have no power. Religious doctrine is based u

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Nov 12, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640884106

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Kingdom Christian

Living in the Kingdom of God Here on Earth

E. C. Moses

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2019 by E.C. Moses

All Scripture references within were taken from the New King James Version® unless otherwise noted. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Verses marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotation marked AMPC taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

B-ISBN#: 978-1-64088-409-0

E-ISBN#: 978-1-64088-410-6

I dedicate this to my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Without His grace I would not be in a place to share this manuscript. It was by the hand of the Holy Spirit that I have been able to write this, and my praise and thanks go to the heavenly Father. I have attempted to demonstrate the love and grace He has shown to me in the space that follows. May your heart be blessed by this work.

I also would like to thank my wife, Nila. She is my true friend and my partner in life. She inspires me more than she realizes, and it is my heart’s desire to bring happiness to her every day.

RELIGION

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:3-5 ESV

The modern Christianity of the world, regardless of fundamental beliefs, cannot set people free from the evils that bind them. This is true for all religious organizations, regardless of Western or Eastern influence. The general rebellion of society over the last 300 years has led people to desire control of their own destiny. They looked to create their own idealism for self-governance. These societies formed various types of governments to soothe their conscience, which led to a general rejection of what God had in mind when He created Man.

The primary reason religions fail is because they have no power. Religion is mankind asserting our will and desires upon the standards set by God. If the people within a religious order decide they don’t like the rules, or they feel the basic established tenets are outdated, they start a vote to change them.

I ground the failure of this thinking in the rebellious nature of humanity. They want to rule themselves but cannot do so. It dooms them to change their moral guidelines to suit the temperament of society as time progresses. Rebellion seals their fate because within their hearts is the basic desire to reject God. Religions have an issue with Him, or His standards.

Regardless of the name of the religion, or how organized the belief system, they are all subject to fail. The principle reason they will fail is because despite whatever arguments they may use to legitimize their beliefs, they are basing their success on the human interpretation of what they think God’s will for mankind is. They found their interpretations on the rebellion harbored within their character. Rebellion always skews the truth.

Jesus gave Christianity a charge to take His gospel into all the earth, making disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Christians are commanded teach people to observe all things Jesus taught. (See Matthew 28:19-20.)

Christianity is failing to usher in the return of Jesus because Christians don’t know who they are or what their true mission on this earth is. They form churches and denominations from people who separated because of differences. Some of those schisms occur over the most fundamental practices of the same Christian belief.

Until the Church, the body of Christ, understands who they are, there will continue to be discord and division instead of unity. The mandate given to us when Jesus walked the earth was not about religion. He never preached religion, even though he attended Synagogue every Sabbath. In fact, he spoke against the established religious leaders in the region where he lived. The Bible records the Pharisees and Sadducees followed him wherever he traveled, looking for something to trap him with. But it was their traditions keeping the people bound in chains they themselves could not get free from. Religion holds people in bondage in their bodies, in their minds, and in their hearts.

Jesus stated in Luke 4:18,

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.

He is recorded saying in Matthew 4:17, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. With this statement, He began His ministry. He only spoke kingdom principles throughout His ministry. Until we as believers understand what He meant by His statement here, we will continue to flounder and fail our assignment. Jesus stated in Matthew 24:14, And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. Until we preach the gospel, the good news" of His Kingdom, to everyone in every nation, He will not return.

Christianity, and the church, mostly failed in executing their assignment given by God. One can look around and see how proclaiming of the release of captives, restoring sight to the blind, and setting free the oppressed has not happened. There has, however, been much success at propagating religion around the world.

The United States of America, and most nations formed over the last few centuries using democratic principles, invested vast resources into expanding religion, both in their own territories and abroad. They tried to propagate Christianity throughout the world with the goal of converting every race and creed. Crusades were waged executing physical warfare that caused division instead of unity among the different races. The dispatching of missionaries to every corner of the globe, hoping to convert the world, began.

While there has been success in creating converts, there is a great failure in setting people free from their lifelong bondages. This is because religion does not free people, but rather enslaves them to a different dogma.

Review the history of persecution occurring since the start of Christianity. The believers of Jesus understood and expected persecution of the early church during the first and second centuries. Jesus himself told his disciples in Matthew 24:9, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake."

The Apostles hid nothing from the population of new believers concerning the possibilities of these torturous acts. In fact, people were told there would be suffering, yet they were to rejoice. This persecution came first by the hands of the religious zealots of Judaism. In their minds, these Jews were blasphemous. The bulk of persecution that followed came from the pagan rule of Rome, performed by the Roman soldiers and wild beasts in the coliseums. They perceived the activities of the believers of the way as rebellion against their own beliefs.

As the centuries progressed, persecution by governing pagan rule subsided. The evil in the hearts of men, however, continued. Religious practices and traditions took hold, and before long, persecution between various denominations became prevalent, more so during the last 600 years. People were tortured as heretics, burned at the stake as witches, and drawn and quartered in public settings for not following the principles outlined in the fashion impressed upon them by the ruling church authority.

They did these persecutions in the name of Christ, by the church, believing they were doing the work of God. Persecution is not the release of captives or the setting free of the oppressed Jesus exclaimed as His mission for us.

Religious doctrine says, Convert the world to Christ, and teach them our tenets so they will become what we showed to be the correct way to live as Christians. So which doctrine is correct? To name a few of the large branches of religious denominations, there is Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Catholic, Baptist, and Pentecostal as examples.

The Presbyterian branch is an institution governed by elders. Presbyterians trace their history to the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. There are various levels of governing elders setting the doctrines and bylaws. When the Presbyters wish to start a change or act on a policy, they vote on the matter. The majority rules and the matters become policy.

The Episcopalian and Catholic branches are institutions of churches governed by overseers, such as bishops. They are very much alike, but some basic differences exist. There is a Pope to oversee all the bishops in Catholicism. Episcopalians do not use a Pope. Catholic parishioners practice confession of sins to the priest, while Episcopalians ask God for forgiveness of sins.

The Baptist branch is an institution where the body of beliefs state you must be baptized by full immersion when you reach an age in which you may make a conscious decision to convert to Christianity. Pentecostal believers establish churches believing in the infilling of the Holy Spirit with evidence and signs following. Within these groups, there are perhaps hundreds of smaller factions. They all teach about Jesus the Christ, but differ on manners of theology, governmental rule, and doctrines.

None of them are wrong for teaching Jesus the Christ is the Son of God, but none of them are correct, because there is an emphasis on proselytizing the convert to their specific doctrines. Converts are taught there are rules of engagement they must adhere to, along with certain manners of conduct when accepting and signing the membership roll of said denomination.

Walls go up and they draw boundaries between the various camps. You shouldn’t go around those people, they are dunkers. Or, "That group