Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,' or ‘There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20,21—NIV)

The Lord did not teach about going to Heaven. Read the four Gospel accounts and see for yourself. The Lord taught about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not a place where you go, it is a state of being that is developed in you as Christ is formed in you. The Kingdom will come as an entity when the Lord Jesus Christ and those in whom He has been formed return to the earth. The Kingdom is in them, thus corporately they constitute the Kingdom that is to come to the earth.

We enter the Kingdom of God by being born again. This does not mean taking the "four steps of salvation" gives us a pass out of Hell and admittance to Heaven. It means we enter the Kingdom of God as Christ is formed in us. The Kingdom of God is not a place, it is a realm of authority.

Paul told us the believer who continues in sin shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. This is because sinful behavior is not permitted in the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God always results in the doing of God's will in the earth.

As we study the New Testament we find the goal of salvation is to deliver us from the person and works of the devil; to conform us to the moral image of Jesus Christ; and to bring us into rest in the perfect center of God's will.

These Kingdom changes in us are necessary for the following reasons:

So we shall be pleasing to God.

So we can have fellowship with God.

So we shall be eligible and competent to fulfill the roles and tasks of the Kingdom of God.

So Jesus Christ will know us and we can walk with Him. How terrible to have done mighty works in His name and then have Him say, "I never knew you!"

So we can abide in the Vine, in Jesus Christ.

So we can bear in our personality, words, and actions a true witness of God, of His Person, will, way, and eternal purpose in Christ.

Now, let's stop and think.

Would you agree that the goal of salvation is as we have stated—deliverance from Satan, change into the moral image of Christ, and rest in the center of God's will?

If you cannot accept the goal as we have presented it, but continue to believe (in spite of the fact that there is no scriptural basis for your belief) that the goal of salvation is that we may escape Hell and go to live forever in the spirit Paradise, then I cannot help you. My reasoning will not make sense to you. Your time will be spent more enjoyably in some other direction.

To be continued.