Is the Kingdom of God Within You?
No. I have often heard people quote Luke 17:21, to argue that it is "in our hearts." Unfortunately, the NIV translates the verse to read, "The kingdom of God is within you." Put that together with American-self-centered-biblical hermeneutics and you read that the Kingdom of God is in your heart or soul. Every time we see the word "you" in the Bible, we immediately assume that the text is talking about "me." The wise Bible reader would be safe to assume that "you" in the Bible is plural rather than singular, and you would be right most of the time. This means that when we read "you," we should think "us" instead of "me."
Nearly all other languages have fixed this problem. They all have a plural form for "you." In English, we just have the one word. But in the South, we have fixed it. We have the glorious word, "Y'all," standing in the plural. "You" means that person I'm talking to, and "Y'all" means this group I am talking to. It is singular vs. plural. The Biblical "you" is almost always the Southern "y'all." Let's read the verse in Southern.
"The Kingdom of God is within y'all." (NRDT, Non-Revisable Dixie Translation)
This changes the meaning entirely. The kingdom is not within me. It is within us. Now let's examine this in context.
Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. The last time the Pharisees were in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said this about them. "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts..." (Luke 16:15 NASB). Clearly, Jesus knows what is in the hearts of the Pharisees. And it is definitely not the Kingdom of God. Jesus told the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God is "within you." More accurately, the translation should be, "Among you, or in your midst." He is actually saying that the Kingdom of God is right here in front of their faces and they are so stupid that they can't see it.
The Kingdom of God is not within us. We are in the Kingdom of God.
Matt. 5:20 - "...enter the Kingdom of God.
Matt. 7:21 - "but he who does the will of my Father... will enter."
Mark 10:23 - "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God."
Just three examples of people entering the Kingdom. It is not the other way around.
Nearly all other languages have fixed this problem. They all have a plural form for "you." In English, we just have the one word. But in the South, we have fixed it. We have the glorious word, "Y'all," standing in the plural. "You" means that person I'm talking to, and "Y'all" means this group I am talking to. It is singular vs. plural. The Biblical "you" is almost always the Southern "y'all." Let's read the verse in Southern.
"The Kingdom of God is within y'all." (NRDT, Non-Revisable Dixie Translation)
This changes the meaning entirely. The kingdom is not within me. It is within us. Now let's examine this in context.
Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. The last time the Pharisees were in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus said this about them. "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts..." (Luke 16:15 NASB). Clearly, Jesus knows what is in the hearts of the Pharisees. And it is definitely not the Kingdom of God. Jesus told the Pharisees that the Kingdom of God is "within you." More accurately, the translation should be, "Among you, or in your midst." He is actually saying that the Kingdom of God is right here in front of their faces and they are so stupid that they can't see it.
The Kingdom of God is not within us. We are in the Kingdom of God.
Matt. 5:20 - "...enter the Kingdom of God.
Matt. 7:21 - "but he who does the will of my Father... will enter."
Mark 10:23 - "How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the Kingdom of God."
Just three examples of people entering the Kingdom. It is not the other way around.
Labels: Doctrine, ESV Study Bible, Kingdom of God
posted by Bryan Cirlot at
1:24 PM
1 Comments:
Good Stuff Cirlot. a very good way to explain this point. I think it is very important that the american church be taught this and understand this. our self-centered self-serving culture robs us of the truth sometimes, ok, a lot of times.
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