Gospel Studies I: An Inward Kingdom of God Necessary to Salvation

GOSPEL STUDIES. I. AN INWARD KINGDOM OF GOD NECESSARY TO SALVATION. BY PROFESSOR N. L. NELSON. There is in the Sunday School of the Brigham Young Academy, a missionary class, composed of about one hundred earnest young men, over whom it is my privilege and honor to preside. Each year a large number of these students are called on missions, and I invite them to write me for help whenever in their ministry they get into theological difficulties. Accordingly a bright young Elder now laboring in Atlanta, Georgia, presents me a passage of scripture which he has found difficult to explain satisfactorily. I have been trying for a month or two to find time for reply; but the more I study it, the more I see that it is too big a theme for a letter; and as it will no doubt be found of general interest to preachers and teachers of the gospel, I beg space in the Era for my answer. The passage is found in Luke, seventeenth chapter, twentieth and twenty-first verses, and reads as follows: "And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." The difficulty presented by the passage is this : our Elders preach an outward kingdom (or Church) of God; a kingdom perfect in organization as the wisdom of heaven can make it; with Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Deacons, helps, governments, and so forth, making what is called by Paul the body

of Christ; and by many passages of scripture they maintain that salvation is not to be found outside this organization. Now, Christ's words to the Pharisees, as quoted above, seem to contradict this attitude. Not only does he deny that the kingdom ''cometh with observation," and that the kingdom is something of which one could say, "Lo here it is," or "Lo there it is," but he expressly affirms the contrary; viz., that the "kingdom of God is within you." It may be observed as a preliminary that to those who might wish merely to stop the mouths of cavilers, it would perhaps be sufficient to point out that the marginal reading of the word "observation" is "outward show," and of the words "within you," is "among you;" whence the passage would signify: "You need not expect the kingdom of God to come, for it is already among you;" which would therefore present no conflict with passages maintaining the need of an outward kingdom. Such a reply might often be the better way of meeting the objection, especially when the objectors are shallow, bigoted, and wordbound. Evasions of this kind are justifiable when the object is to avoid "casting pearls before swine." But for purposes of real spiritual enlightenment, the other meaning should be maintained; viz., that "the kingdom of God Cometh not with observation— * * * it is within you." I take this ground for two reasons: 1. Because it is the meaning which forms the warp and woof of modern spiritual thought; and consequently if we expect to make any headway in correcting and elevating thought, we must recognize in it what is consistent and worthy of attention; and 2. Because the passage expresses a most profound truth; a truth which it is quite as essential to keep in view in these "last days" as it was during the "meridian of time." Before taking up the real meaning of these words, let us consider why it was necessary for Christ to emphasize to the Jews the absolute necessity of an inward or spiritual kingdom. There are two ways of influencing mankind; an external and an internal. The first proceeds on the assumption that "might makes right," and moves men to do or to be, through fear. All the unrighteous and unstable kingdoms of the earth have been

founded on this principle; and it has ever been, and ever will be, the cause of their unstableness and the occasion of their disintegration. In the realm of faith we may count the Catholic and Mohammedan religions as having attained their growth on this principle ; and therefore, knowing the nature of the seed, we may as confidently predict the death of the plant. The tendency to act on the principle that "might makes right" is always present in the degree that the Spirit of God is absent; and this is true of individuals as well as of nations and peoples. The idea had reached its greatest force and widest application in the world to which Christ was born. Even God's chosen people had not escaped its influence. The Jews could see only one way to set up the kingdom of God. It must come, when it did come, "with observation;" presenting a showy front, and accompanied with all the regalia of pomp and power; a kingdom that should trample all other kingdoms in the dust, and elevate these holy, "whited sepulchres" to thrones and dominions over the rest of mankind. Howsoever regarded within the little circle of man's horizon, victories gained by external forces are from their very inception always miserable defeats, from God's point of view; for nothing counts as an advance with God save that which brings us nearer to his perfection. Eternal life cannot be forced into man from without; it must spring up from within. Each man's heart is the center of the universe. It is the only place where salvation can begin for him. Internal forces are such as stir up the soil and plant the seed of truth in this center. Internal influences proceed by reversing the Roman maxim, just as they reverse the Roman method. "Right makes might," and nothing else than right can do it; at least, the might which counts for eternity. This was the truth which our Savior pointed out so sharply to the Pharisees. It is a truth which needs to be pointed out with equal force and brevity to any organization in our day, whether it be political party, social guild, church or state, which depends upon mere external machinery for the betterment of mankind. Whatever lasting reforms come to this earth, come primarily through that blind door, the human heart, and represent the silent

impress upon humanity of the infinite spirit of order and harmony. The noisy demonstrations which immediately precede or accompany such reforms, are merely the crest-play of the tidal wave; let us never mistake them either for its cause or the true index of its momentum. God rules not as man rules. A nation or a people wakes up after a night's sleep, and discovers that it has made a change of front. Let us not be among those who ascribe such a miracle to the head-lines of newspapers or the mouthings of orators. Let us rather recognize that God's dominion is that mysterious "kingdom within you;" that mysterious center whence light breaks which does not come from the sun. As to the real meaning of the expression "the kingdom of God within you," it must be plain at a glance that the words are used figuratively. Technically, we have here the figure of rhetoric called metonymy, and specifically, it is the kind in which the effect is named instead of the cause. The kingdom of God is plainly an organization having a king, officers, subjects, etc. ; and as such, could not literally be within anyone; but being an organization, it may be regarded as the visible effect of some unseen spiritual force. This force, whatever it be, is of a nature to dwell in the soul. It is the principle of the kingdom, not the kingdom, which Christ declares is within us. A little reflection will show that no man can be in the kingdom of God unless the principle of this kingdom be first in him. The kingdom is not therefore a matter of outward show; it steals into men's hearts unseen, unheard, but not unfelt. The passage fully paraphrased might read as follows: "The kingdom of God cometh not by external conquest. It is not like an army of which you might say, 'Lo here,' or 'Lo there;' on the contrary, the principle of cohesion which makes the kingdom of God possible, must be born (i e. engendered) in each subject. There can be no kingdom of God withow^ you, until there is a kingdom of God withm you." What then—precisely—does it mean to have the kingdom of God within one? In other words, what is the divine principle of cohesion above referred to? No writer has been able to tell exactly what it is. The change involved in the human soul is so

ethereal or transcendental that it defies the finest human vocabulary. Christ felt the impossibility of conveying the idea in words, when he said: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but whence it cometh, and whither it goeth, no man knoweth. So is everyone that is born of the spirit." And if Christ must resort to comparison to explain the meaning of the "kingdom within you," can we expect better from his disciples? "Being born again" and "being born of the spirit," were favorite ways of naming this change. Paul speaks of it as "putting off the old and putting on the new," as "having Christ formed within you," and as "passing from death unto life;" all of which are graphic similes. We in our day, grown less poetical, speak of the change simply as "a testimony of the gospel." The most comprehensive word to convey the meaning is perhaps faith, using the word in the sense of kindling the heavenly hope within us. Far or near as these symbols may be from the thing symbolized, no one who has felt the "change of heart," as our sectarian friends put it, can ever be mistaken about it; and those who have not felt it, cannot be made to realize adequately what it is, even were all the metaphors in the language called into requisition. Be this as it may, it is plain that there can be no kingdom of God "without," until there is first a kingdom of God "within." The question between us and our sectarian friends is: "Granted that the kingdom be formed within, what will happen? Will the man or woman in whom this change takes place, seek to form or unite with a kingdom of God that is without, or will he remain a silent unit, self-centered and self-sufficient?" That is, to use the phraseology of our friends, will he count it enough to "give his heart to Jesus and rest idly secure in the arms of the blessed Redeemer?" Or will he immediately seek to unite with others who have experienced the same change, and endeavor to establish an outward kingdom? This question brings me fairly to the theme of my next article which will seek to demonstrate the proposition: "An outward kingdom of God necessary to salvation."