We will examine the relationship between the message of the Kingdom of God and its connection to the role of the Holy Spirit within the context of the New Testament era. In this connection, two additional questions arise: the unforgivable sin — the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit in Matthew 12 — and the meaning of apostolic succession (a doctrine which, in some denominations such as Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, is used as alleged proof of the uniqueness of their institution as “the true Church”). These questions are interconnected and are of great importance for accepting and practicing faith in Christ and the teaching of the Lord.

We will begin with the questions: What is the Kingdom of God? What does it look like? When does it begin? In what stage of the Kingdom are we today? How does one enter the Kingdom of God? We answered part of these questions in a previous sermon/teaching, clarifying the complete and final victory in the history of the Kingdom with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But the subject is rich with details, without which the whole picture is harder to understand.

In Acts of the Apostles 1:8 we read:

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Here there is an important connection between the Kingdom of God and the coming of the Holy Spirit. After His resurrection, Jesus spent forty days speaking to the disciples about the Kingdom of God. Yet they still did not fully understand. They asked Him whether He would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel.

Jesus answered them that it was not for them to know the times and seasons appointed by the Father. Instead, He directed their attention to the coming of the Holy Spirit and to their mission as witnesses.

The Message of the Kingdom

The message first preached by John the Baptist was:

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”

This is found in Gospel of Matthew 3:2. Later, when Jesus began His ministry, He preached the same message:

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
— Matthew 4:17

“The Kingdom of Heaven” and “the Kingdom of God” are the same thing. Matthew frequently uses the expression “Kingdom of Heaven” because he writes primarily to a Jewish audience that avoided direct use of the name of God.

The Kingdom of God and the message concerning it are introduced through the preaching of the Gospel message.

The Kingdom Manifested Through the Holy Spirit

In Matthew 12:22–32 Jesus heals people and casts out demons. Some begin to wonder whether He is the promised Son of David — the Messiah. But the Pharisees accuse Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan.

Jesus answers that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. If Satan casts out Satan, then his kingdom is divided.

Then Jesus says something extremely important:

“But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.”
— Matthew 12:28

This is significant because here Matthew uses “Kingdom of God” rather than “Kingdom of Heaven,” clearly showing that the two expressions are synonymous.

The casting out of demons is presented as a manifestation of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom comes through Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus also says elsewhere that the Kingdom of God is “in your midst.” This does not mean that the Kingdom was already internally dwelling within people at that moment. Rather, it means that the Kingdom had come near because Christ Himself was among them.

At this stage of history, the Kingdom was still being manifested externally. Jesus had not yet completed His mission through His death and resurrection.

When Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is “in your midst,” many English translations render it as “within you”:

“The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
— Gospel of Luke 17:20–21

The key phrase comes from the Greek expression:

ἐντὸς ὑμῶν (entos hymōn)

This may be translated in different ways depending on interpretation:

• “within you”
• “among you”
• “in your midst”

Many theologians and translators prefer “among you” or “in your midst” because Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, who opposed Him. Therefore, the idea is usually understood as follows:

The Kingdom of God was present among them because the King Himself — Jesus Christ — was standing among them.

This fits very well with the theme we are discussing: that the Kingdom of God begins through Christ’s earthly ministry and is initially manifested externally before Pentecost.

The First Advance of the Kingdom

The first great movement of the Kingdom of God begins with the incarnation of Christ — God becoming man.

• Satan attempts to destroy Him from His childhood.
• Jesus and His family are persecuted.
• Jesus begins His ministry.
• People become divided concerning Him.
• Some believe, while others reject Him.

The Kingdom advances, but still externally. The decisive victory has not yet occurred because Christ had not yet died and risen again.

The Unforgivable Sin

Then Jesus gives a warning in Matthew 12:31–32:

“Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.”

In Gospel of Luke 22:65 this blasphemy reaches its climax. The accounts in Matthew 26:67–68, Mark 14:65, and especially Mark 15:29–32 describe the insulting and mocking treatment of the Savior, condemned and dying on the cross as a criminal. Yet this blasphemy, Jesus says, will be forgiven.

He continues:

“And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the age to come.”

What Does This Mean?

Before the death and resurrection of Christ, people could fail to understand who Jesus was. They could reject Him because of confusion or ignorance, since the full revelation of His mission had not yet been completed.

The Kingdom had come near, but the work of redemption had not yet been fulfilled.

Therefore, blasphemy against the Son of Man could still be forgiven because later there would be opportunity for repentance through the completed work of Christ.

But after Christ’s death, resurrection, and the sending of the Holy Spirit, the situation changes. How? Jesus fulfilled His mission — He gave Himself as a sacrifice for sins, and the result of His death was resurrection and victory over death. The promise of sending the Holy Spirit was declared to His disciples after the resurrection and before the ascension.

In Gospel of John 20:21–23, He sends His disciples and gives them through the Holy Spirit the authority to forgive and retain sins. They are witnesses for Him and participants in the Kingdom of God.

The complete fulfillment of the promise of the Spirit occurs in Acts of the Apostles 2, while the disciples wait for the promise in the upper room. After the Spirit comes with power, the formerly fearful followers become fearless witnesses to the truth of salvation in Christ. This is the gradual introduction of the Kingdom of God — its inauguration. The apostles become witnesses for Him, just as He commanded them in Acts 1:8.

The Role of the Holy Spirit

According to the Gospel of John, chapter 16, the Holy Spirit convicts concerning:

• sin,
• righteousness,
• and judgment (John 16:6–11)

In verses 13–15, Jesus declares that when the Spirit of truth comes, they will know what is to come and will no longer grieve over Him.

The task of the Holy Spirit is to testify concerning Christ and reveal who He truly is.

Therefore, after Pentecost, rejecting Christ becomes rejection of the Holy Spirit’s revelation about Christ.

That is why blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is unforgivable: it represents rejection of the very means through which forgiveness is offered, of the Person through whom that forgiveness is revealed.

The Meaning of the Unforgivable Sin

The unforgivable sin is ultimately the final rejection of Jesus Christ after the revelation given through the Holy Spirit.

If a person completely rejects Christ and dies in that condition, there is no forgiveness for him, because forgiveness itself comes through Christ.

To reject Christ means to reject:

• forgiveness,
• salvation,
• eternal life,
• and entrance into the Kingdom of God.

That is why Jesus says it will not be forgiven “either in this age or in the age to come.”

“The age to come” refers to the final judgment.

To enter the Kingdom of God in its final victory — at the eternal judgment and the return of Christ — one must enter the Kingdom of God now, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is the Christ.

Have I Committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Many people fear that they have committed the unforgivable sin.

But the very fact that a person is concerned, repentant, or desires Christ shows that he has not become completely hardened against the Holy Spirit.

As long as a person is willing to turn to Christ, forgiveness remains available.

The unforgivable sin is the persistent rejection of Christ until death itself.

A sign of this persistent rejection is blasphemy against the revelation and actions of the Spirit (speaking evil, cruel words, mockery, belittling the person and activity of the Spirit in a manner intended to humiliate; it may also include acts of violence, insults, and humiliation). This blasphemy is also directed against the revelation that Jesus is the Son of God.

This denial of Christ today — after the resurrection, ascension, and sending of the Holy Spirit by Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of the Father as a sign of authority — is blasphemy not only against the Son of Man, but against the Trinity itself (see John 16:13–15).

The Kingdom of God Today

We now live in the age of the Church and of the Holy Spirit.

The Kingdom of God has begun through:

• the death of Christ,
• His resurrection,
• and the sending of the Holy Spirit.

In John 20:21–23 we read:

“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’ And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’”

The Kingdom advances through the witness of believers empowered by the Holy Spirit.

That is why Acts 1:8 is so important:

The Holy Spirit gives believers power to be witnesses of Christ to the ends of the earth.

Apostolic Witness and Succession

The apostles were eyewitnesses of Christ’s resurrection. Their message became the foundation of the Church.

But the true succession of the apostles is not merely institutional or genealogical. It is participation in the apostolic witness through the Holy Spirit.

Everyone who receives the truth about Christ and proclaims it becomes part of this witness.

The power comes from God through the Holy Spirit — not merely through human institutions.

(John 17:20–21; 1 John 1:1–3; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:38)

According to the opening of First Epistle of John, John writes to the readers so that they (we) may have fellowship with them (the apostles), and they in turn have fellowship with the Father and the Son — fellowship which they pass on to us who have believed.

“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word: that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
— John 17:20–21

Apostolic succession, understood in this way, is spiritual rather than material and fleshly, as maintained by the traditions of Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism.

It is not about mechanically transmitting Christ’s teaching and fellowship with God from hand to hand through ordination or institutional affiliation — a fleshly and ultimately unprovable transmission.

Rather, the apostolic inheritance is transmitted spiritually through faith in Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, which makes us witnesses of Christ through the apostles’ witness about Him.

This is a critical conclusion for understanding the relationship between the Kingdom of God and the role of the Holy Spirit.

Victory in the Kingdom

The final victory of the Kingdom of God will come at the return of Christ and the final judgment.

“This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear… Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
— Acts 2:32–36

But even now believers participate in Christ’s victory because:

• Christ conquered death (1 Corinthians 15; Colossians 2:14–15),
• sins are forgiven through Him (Acts 2:38–39),
• and eternal life is promised to those who believe (1 John 1:2).

The Kingdom is already advancing, though its fullness is still to come.

We are victorious not because we can save ourselves, but because Christ conquered death and brought us into His Kingdom through faith.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.