HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, October 223, 2026 – There is a sharp, clear divide between the Kingdom of God and the world. The divide was placed there by God so that no-one could stray (or sneak) from one realm to the other. And because of the divide, Kingdom laws are not meant to be applied to the world any more than worldly laws are meant to be applied to the Kingdom. By “Kingdom”, I mean the spiritual realm (the Church) inhabited by us bornagain believers; by “Kingdom laws”, I mean the teachings of Jesus.
We need to remind ourselves about this divide whenever we address the topic of laws or moral behavior. Who are we lecturing? The world? If so, then we’d best keep our mouths shut and move on. The world has no interest in hearing God’s Truth. Or they’ll hear it, sneer at it, and then turn and tear us to pieces, like Jesus warned us. Or is it the worldly church that we’re lecturing? If so, then caution is warranted there, too, because most of that church is made up of the world, with only a light dusting of churchianity. And like the world, the worldly church mostly rejects God’s Truth and will also gladly tear us to pieces, given the chance. It was the worldly church that betrayed and condemned Jesus, and it’s the worldly church that continues to martyr true believers even to this day.
But if you’re lecturing your brothers and sisters here in the Church that Jesus built, let ‘er rip! Now is not the time for kid glove treatment. The Commandments are just as valid to the Kingdom today as they were to the children of Israel in Moses’ day. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. The only thing that’s changed is the form of temptation.
For instance, let’s take a look at coveting. Are you breaking that Commandment without realizing it? Do you have any loans? Overdrafts? Credit cards? A mortgage? For the world, operating under credit and debt are fine and dandy, but not for the Kingdom. The world’s financial instruments have no place in the Kingdom. Jesus taught us that we cannot serve both God and mammon; we can only serve one or the other. If you’re in debt through loans and/or credit, that means you’re coveting: You want something that God hasn’t given you, and so you’ve bypassed your heavenly Father and gone straight to your local neighborhood Mammon instead. All borrowing comes from Mammon, which means that if you’re servicing some form of debt, you’re serving Mammon.
And what does you borrowing from (a.k.a. serving) Mammon say about your relationship with God?
It says: “God hasn’t given me enough. I want more!”
Guess who else once said that (or words to the same effect)?
Satan, just before he lost his grace and was kicked out of Heaven.
(I warned you – no kid gloves here!)
Or perhaps you’re breaking the Commandment about honoring your mother and father without realizing it? For instance, you might be in the habit of murmuring about your parents to your friends or other confidantes, not understanding that regardless of what your parents did, it’s not open for discussion to anyone but God. You don’t trash-talk your parents; you cover your parents, like Noah’s sons covered him. You keep your grievances about your parents strictly between you and God. As with all the other Commandments, there are no instances when dishonoring your parents is acceptable in God’s eyes, not for those in the Kingdom. It’s worth noting that you also dishonor your mother and father by persistently engaging in immoral or unscrupulous behavior that leads to a bad reputation and reflects poorly on them. But I’m assuming none of us here in the Kingdom have this problem. I hope I’m correct in my assumption.
The Commandments and other laws and statutes given to Moses from God were meant for the Israelites under the covenant between them and God. Those laws and statutes were not meant for non-Israelites. We in the Kingdom are not under that covenant and so we don’t need to observe everything the Israelites were obligated to observe, but we do need to keep the Ten Commandments because Jesus said we do, and we do need to keep the Passover (because Jesus said we do).
It’s critical to understand that the Ten Commandments were never meant to be universally applied; just as the Mosaic Law was meant for the Israelites and only the Israelites, the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus are meant for the Kingdom and only for the Kingdom, not for the world at large and not even for the worldly church. The worldly church labors under different laws and teachings that are (I’m being charitable here) an unholy compromise between the laws and teachings of the Kingdom and the laws and teachings of the world. God permits such an unholy compromise, much the same way as he permitted Moses to allow for bills of divorce for the “hard-hearted”, because that’s the only way the worldly church can survive.
But we in the Kingdom dare not compromise. Jesus prayed for us to be in the world physically but not of the world spiritually, and so we are. Our laws are not those of the world, and vice-versa. Our morals are not those of the world, and vice-versa. The Kingdom stands above and beyond and separate from the world, divided from it by a spiritual force that is impregnable and unbridgeable. It is in this Kingdom that we, as bornagain followers of Jesus, “live and move and have our being”, and it is in this Kingdom that we are inhabited and protected by God’s Holy Spirit. The Kingdom is the prophesied Zion promised to God’s people, and Jesus spent the last three years of his earthly incarnation teaching his followers how to live in it. He did not teach the world how to live in the Kingdom; he taught his followers how to live in it.
Therefore, like Jesus, we’re not to teach the world how to live in the Kingdom nor admonish it for not following those teachings; we’re instead to remind each other what Jesus taught us and humbly follow him.
