But seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
What is the Kingdom of God?
the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, shalom and joy in the Ruach HaKodesh. (Romans 14:17 CJB)
the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (NASB)
I once heard someone say that the Kingdom of God is the Holy Spirit. That is a simplistic view; it is not entirely incorrect, neither is it entirely correct. It is better to focus on righteousness, peace, and joy, and work backward from there.
Recall that everything we do can be manufactured from any spirit we choose to align ourselves from. We can choose happiness in a legalistic spirit or joy in a religious spirit. We can find joy in evil:
Don’t let those who are wrongfully my enemies gloat over me; and those who hate me unprovoked — don’t let them smirk at me. (Psalm 35:19)
For I said, “May they not rejoice over me, Who, when my foot slips, would exalt themselves over me.” (Pslam 38:16 NASB)
Thus, our fruit, the expression of Holy Spirit – the qualities of the Kingdom – must be grown from our relationship with Holy Spirit:
Beware of the false prophets! They come to you wearing sheep’s clothing, but underneath they are hungry wolves! You will recognize them by their fruit. Can people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every healthy tree produces good fruit, but a poor tree produces bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, or a poor tree good fruit. 19 Any tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire! So you will recognize them by their fruit. (Matthew 7:15-20)
Remember: trees do not labor nor choose to produce fruit at will. Fruit is a natural by-product of WHAT they ARE. Such is the fruit of the spirit:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control. Nothing in the Torah stands against such things. (Galations 5:22-23 CJB)
“… So you will recognize them by their fruit.”
What is Righteousness?
There’s no good, succinct way to explain righteousness as a concept, so I’ll refer you to this scripture and allow you to infer the implied qualities:
It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to obey all these mitzvot before Adonai our God, just as he ordered us to do. (Dueteronomy 6:25 CJB)
and it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to follow all this commandment before the Lord our God, just as He commanded us. (NASB)
What is His Righteousness?
Jesus the Christ is God’s righteousness:
It is his doing that you are united with the Messiah Yeshua. He has become wisdom for us from God, and righteousness and holiness and redemption as well! Therefore — as the Tanakh says — “Let anyone who wants to boast, boast about Adonai." (1 Corinthians 1:30 CJB)
When those days come, at that time, I will cause to spring up for David a Branch of Righteousness. He will do what is just and right in the land. (Jeremiah 33:15 CJB)
And the Kingdom of God is?
The Kingdom of God consists of these qualities:
- Seeking after Jesus and His righteousness
- Living by the spirit, so that the fruit of the spirit is naturally produced in your life.
A Recovering Legalist 