... We then began to take a look at some other miscellaneous arguments used by "kingdom now" theologians. In the last two installments, we noted how "kingdom now" theologians often appeal to alleged New Testament silence regarding a future earthly reign of Christ. There, we exposed the logical and biblical fallacies associated with such inadequate argumentation. We now move on to examining yet another miscellaneous argument commonly emanating from the "kingdom now" camp...
... We then moved on to examining yet another miscellaneous argument commonly emanating from the "kingdom now" camp: namely, that if Christ is not now reigning from David's Throne in heaven, then He is doing nothing at the present time. As we saw in the prior installment, nothing could be further from the truth. Christ presently pursues an active session through His ongoing roles as the Sustainer of the universe as well and the church's head, husband, bestower of spiritual gifts, and builder. His present activity is also evidenced in that He continually intercedes for and advocates on behalf of the believer. However, these activities comprise His "present session" rather than His Davidic reign...
In this series, the biblical teaching on the kingdom of God has been surveyed from Genesis to Revelation in order to demonstrate that the whole counsel of God's Word conveys the idea that the kingdom is a yet future reality. In addition, this series has examined the isolated New Testament texts and miscellaneous arguments that "kingdom now" theologians typically rely upon and it has demonstrated how each is insufficient to convey "kingdom now" theology. As we move on to the final leg in our journey, we began noting why this trend of equating God's present work in the church with the Messianic kingdom is a matter believers should be concerned about, since this theology not only radically alters God's design for the church but is also the seedbed of many major false doctrines that have sadly entered Christ's church...
... In the last two installments, we called attention to Alva J. McClain's warning concerning the impact of how "kingdom now" negatively impacts the church's calling, purpose, and mission. It is interesting to observe similar warnings given nearly a century ago in the writings of Clarence Larkin: ..
... In the last installment, we called attention to Clarence Larkin's warning concerning the impact of how "kingdom now" negatively impacts the church's calling, purpose, and mission. Larkin noted at least five consequences that 'kingdom now" theology has upon Ecclesiology, or the doctrine of the church. Having already discussed the first two points, we had moved on to the third point. Third, because there are not presently and numerically enough Christians necessary to establish God's kingdom upon the earth, it becomes necessary for the church to find common ground with those who do not share its biblical convictions in order to build the political coalition needed to implement a "kingdom now" social agenda...