Today the believers live the kingdom life in the church, for the church is the kingdom of God in this age (Matt. 16:18-19; 1 Cor. 6:10; Gal. 5:21; Eph. 5:5). This is a very practical matter involving much exercise. In one sense, the church is God’s family, God’s home (Eph. 2:19; 1 Tim. 3:15). In this home we enjoy grace and receive the life supply. In another sense, the church is also the kingdom. The word “kingdom” denotes ruling. On the one hand, the church is a family, a home, full of grace and life; on the other hand, the church is a kingdom, a government, to rule. The church as the kingdom is a matter of exercise. The church is our family and also our kingdom. In our family we have the enjoyment of love, the supply of grace, and the riches of life. In the kingdom we have rule, government, exercise, and discipline.
A verse that strongly proves that the church in this age is the kingdom of God is Romans 14:17. “The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. ” According to some Bible teachers, the kingdom has not yet come. They say that now is the dispensation of the church, and the next dispensation will be that of the kingdom. But in 14:17 Paul does not say that the kingdom of God shall be; he uses the present tense and says that the kingdom of God is. According to the context of Romans 14, which speaks of receiving the believers, the kingdom is today’s church life. The reality of the church life is the kingdom. Romans 12 speaks of the Body life and Romans 14, of the kingdom life. This indicates that, in Romans, the kingdom life is the reality of the Body life.