What Must I Do To Inherit The Kingdom of God?

A questioned Jesus was often asked by the Jewish people during his life on earth was, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

By asking this question, the Jewish people were asking, “What must I do to inherit the kingdom of God?”

To the Jewish people, living in the kingdom of God (kingdom of heaven) and living eternally were the same.

We see this in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:1-16).

So what is the kingdom of God, and how can a person live eternally in God’s kingdom?

We learn about the kingdom of God from the prophets in the Jewish Scriptures.

Isaiah 9:6-7 says,

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.

Zechariah 9:9-10 says,

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken. He will proclaim peace to the nations. His rule will extend from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth.

Note: See also Jeremiah 23:5-6 and 33:14-16; Micah 5:2-5; Daniel 2:44; 7:13-14; Psalm 22:28; 45:6; 145:13

God made a promise to the people of Israel that a King would come…a Christ…a Messiah.

The Messiah (Christ) would be both a Savior and a King for the world.

As Savior, he would bring peace the world.

As King, he would bring peace with God.

As Savior, he would bear a cross for the forgiveness of sins, bringing righteousness (justify – make innocent) to people and creating spiritual peace between God and people (Psalm 22; Isaiah 53).

As King, he would wear a crown, bringing peace to the world when he established his kingdom on earth.

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, telling her she would give birth to the Christ.

In conveying this good news to her, Gabriel quoted Isaiah 9:7.

Luke records this event in Luke 1:28-32.

The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

The people of Israel understood from the Jewish Scriptures that the Christ would establish the kingdom of God on earth.

During Jesus’ life on earth, living eternally in the kingdom of God was in the forefront of the Jewish people’s minds, which is why Jesus was often asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”, meaning live forever in the kingdom of God.

The Jewish people understood from the Jewish Scriptures that the kingdom of God would be a righteous kingdom, and they understood that righteousness was required to live eternally in the kingdom of God, or have everlasting life (Psalm 1:1-6).

They understood the standard of righteousness was the Law of Moses…the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 4:8; 6:25; Psalm 119:144, 172) and the righteous acts they must do to gain eternal life, live eternally in the kingdom, involved obedience to the law.

According to the Scriptures, the righteous ones, those who obey the law, will be declared innocent by God on the day they stand in judgment and will, therefore, enter eternal life (Psalm 37:29; 69:28; Proverbs 10:2, 25, 30; Proverbs 11:4; Daniel 12:2-3; Malachi 3:18).

However, the ungodly (sinners, wicked) will perish in judgment (Psalm 9:5; 37:10, 20, 38; 92:7; 104:35; 119:119; 155; 145:20; Proverbs 10:25, 30) and, therefore, will not enter eternal life.

When judgment comes, as the Scriptures declare (Psalm 62:12; 96:13; 98:9; Proverbs 24:12; Ecclesiastes 3:17; 11:9; 12:14; Romans 2:5, 16; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Acts 24:25; Hebrews 9:27; 10:27; 2 Peter 3:7), those who are obedient to the law will be judged as righteous and remain on the earth to live forever in the kingdom of God, and those judged as unrighteous will be removed from the earth (Psalm 1:1-6).

The Jewish people understood this.

When they asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”, he responded by directing them to the law, either the Ten Commandments or the Two Great Commandments.

In Luke 10:25-37, the expert in the law asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.

Jesus directed him to the law, eventually revealing to him through The Story of the Good Samaritan that he (the expert in the law) broke the law to Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and to Love your neighbor as you love yourself because the expert in the law hated Samaritans.

The irony of the story is that the expert in the law hated Samaritans; thus, breaking the laws of love…The Two Great Commandments…and, therefore, disqualifying himself entrance into eternal life.

Jesus knew this.

So, Jesus makes the hero of the story a Samaritan; then tells the expert in the law to love like the Samaritan loves, even though the expert in the law hated the Samaritan.

In Luke 18:18-27, Jesus knew the rich young ruler was depending upon his obedience to the Ten Commandments to merit the righteousness needed to gain eternal life, so Jesus showed him he broke the law by loving money more than God; thus, disqualifying himself entrance into eternal life.

The reason Jesus directed the attention of the expert in the law and the rich young ruler to the law was to show them they were law breakers, and that only by believing in Jesus as the Christ could they have eternal life, or live forever in the kingdom of God.

Believing is the message of John in the book of John. See John 3:16.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus answered the question the Jewish people were all thinking about…how much righteousness do I need to inherit the kingdom of God?

Jesus explained more fully in the Sermon on the Mount about the righteousness required to live eternally in the kingdom of God (Matthew 5).

Jesus said that one’s righteousness must go beyond the external righteousness of the Pharisees and into internal righteousness…the heart.

Jesus explained that if a person has anger in his heart, he has committed murder; and if he has lust in his heart, he has committed adultery.

With this teaching, Jesus is stating that the righteousness needed to live eternally in the kingdom of God is an internal righteousness.

With this teaching, Jesus is revealing that none are righteous, no matter how they appear externally.

In what is commonly known as the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12), treat others the way you want to be treated, Jesus reveals to everyone that we all fall short of the righteous requirements of the law, both internally and externally.

According to Jesus, the Golden Rule is the summation of the law, which we all fall short.

Therefore, since the standard of righteousness is the law and everyone has violated the law, we are all unrighteous; thus, disqualified from living eternally in the kingdom of God.

The Scriptures declare that there is no one who is righteous (Psalm 143:2; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20).

Falling short of obedience to the law is called sin; thus, making us all sinners.

Sinners will not be allowed entrance into the eternal kingdom of God.

Rather, the consequence of sin is death, eternal separation from God.

Paul fully explains all of this in Romans…

…that all have sinned

…that all have broken the law

…that all are unrighteousness.

He also explains that God demonstrates his love for us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8), and he offers us his righteousness and eternal life as a gift, which is received by faith (Romans 3:21-25).

Jesus, the King became the Savior by taking upon himself our sinfulness and offers us his righteousness as a gift of grace, the righteousness needed to live eternally in the kingdom of God.

This gift is received by faith (Romans 3:21-25; Romans 4-5).

So what must one do to inherit eternal life…to live eternally?

Believe in Jesus.

That is what Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:16).

It is what Jesus told the crowd who asked what work they must do to gain eternal life (John 6:28-29).

Jesus said the one who believes will not be brought into judgment (John 5:24).

The Scriptures are clear that salvation from judgment and entrance into eternal life is by believing in Jesus, because by believing we are declared righteous by God.

Today, would you believe that Jesus took all your sinfulness upon himself on the cross and gives you his righteousness, which is received by faith?

You can express your faith in Jesus through the prayer below.

Jesus, thank you for taking my sinfulness upon yourself when you died on the cross for my sins. Today, I receive your forgiveness and righteousness and will live forever in the kingdom of God.

Through your faith in Jesus, you have received the forgiveness of all your sins (Acts 10:43; 13:38-39; 25:15-18) and have been declared righteous by God (Romans 1:16-17).

You are now a citizen of his kingdom.

Colossians 1:12-14 says,

…giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

If you placed your faith in Jesus today, we would love to know. You can send us a message from the Contact Us page.