In response to my previous post, I've been asked by a good friend with a Reformed education: "Will all those who enter the kingdom also inherit the kingdom, or only some? Are there different categories of saved people, the spiritual, who are heirs of the kingdom, as opposed to the carnal, who are mere citizens of the kingdom? Would this explain how an unrighteous believer (i.e. a Christian who persists in sin) can be saved from hell, but not share in the inheritance of enjoying rewards in the kingdom during the millennial reign of Christ?"
My response: Yes! However, I want to be clear that I see a full spectrum of obedience/trust among born-again believers, from minimal to monumental faithfulness, not just a simple categorization of either spiritual or carnal. And I'm hesitant to be quite so free with waving the grace-wand on those who "persist in" blatant rebellion, as I would also have doubts as to whether they ever had a genuine conversion experience. "Some went out from us for they were really never part of us" says 1 John 2:19. But yes, I think it's possible for a "true believer" who is living "in sin" to still go to heaven based on his/her being born again genuinely and permanently, receiving God's gift of eternal life by faith. But I wouldn't call that person a disciple or an heir. Even though he is still a "son", by virtue of being born again by grace, he is "cut out of the inheritance" of added blessings and rewards, or anything beyond merely being part of God's family. In other words, his eternal salvation is not based on his own works of perseverence or evidences of faithfulness -- but is based entirely on grace through faith in Christ alone.
The thought I'm pondering now is that Christ's invitation to enter the kingdom may not at all be primarily about "being saved and going to heaven" as we evangelicals have normally interpreted the focus to be, but rather, Jesus may be inviting us to enter into "kingdom living" now by means of living the way Christ instructs us to live (Matthew 5-7) Of course, those who enter fully into this kingdom of God on earth will also continue in this kingdom during the millennium and in heaven, both as citizens and as reward-receiving heirs.
Perhaps a "coming to the middle" view may be to envision "rewards" not in a tangible way (which is so offensive to amillennialists), but in terms of closer proximity to Christ in heaven, of having a more intimate walk with Him in His inner circle, or a more prominent role in running the universe (such as the "sit at my right and left" kinds of positions, which Christ affirmed are real, even though He wasn't going to assign them necessarily to James and John!)
Or we can envision all these rewards taking place in the earthly millennial kingdom, with full equality to follow in eternity, post Revelation 22. But for that view, we still require consistent literal and normal interpretation of prophecy, rather than spiritualizing God's Old Testament promises away.
