Is the kingdom of God identical with the Church? Can this position be defended from Scripture?

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Independent Reformed Baptist Church (NE England, nr. Durham)

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Chris Coldwell, Lakewood Presbyterian Church (PCA), Member
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The Regulative Principle: Samuel Miller gives a succinct statement of this principle when he writes that since the Scriptures are the “only infallible rule of faith and practice, no rite or ceremony ought to have a place in the public worship of God, which is not warranted in Scripture, either by direct precept or example, or by good and sufficient inference.”

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See Matt. 16:18, 19, for the close connection of the two concepts. The two words are often used to apply to the same entity through the epistles. If a difference is to be found in the two concepts it is in the "kingdom" being an eschatological realisation of the church, i.e., either the church mystical (Rom. 14:17) or the church triumphant (1 Cor. 6:9). The strict use of the word "church" is usually confined to a visible manifestation of believers on earth; but it too is used occasionally to refer to the church mystical (Eph. 5:25), and to the church triumphant (Heb. 12:23).

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Yours sincerely,


"Illum oportet crescere me autem minui."