Verse 17
The kingdom of God here refers to the sphere over which God rules and in which all believers live and operate.
"[The ’kingdom of God’ is] an echo of our Lord’s teaching. The phrase is used normally in St. Paul of that Messianic kingdom which is to be the reward and goal of the Christian life . . . Hence it comes to mean the principles or ideas on which that kingdom is founded, and which are already exhibited in this world (cf. I Cor. iv. 20)." [Note: Sanday and Headlam, p. 391. See also Robert L. Saucy, "The Presence of the Kingdom and the Life of the Church," Bibliotheca Sacra 145:577 (January-March 1988):42.]
The emphasis in this reference is on the authority of God over His own. The primary issues in the lives of dedicated Christians should not be external amoral practices but the great spiritual qualities that the Holy Spirit seeks to produce in them. These qualities include right conduct (cf. Romans 6:13; Romans 6:16; Romans 6:18), peace with God (cf. Philippians 4:7), and joy (cf. Galatians 5:22-23). Paul wanted his readers to keep their priorities in perspective.
Be the first to react on this!
