I noticed that Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:20 and 21) but in 1 Corinthians 6:9 the Bible states that the unrighteous, fornicators, idolaters, etc. will not inherit the kingdom of God. Could the kingdom of God perhaps be the Holy Spirit? Please clarify, as I am stumped by this one.
The Kingdom of God comes in two phases. Phase one is the body of believers we call the Church. Phase two is the literal kingdom the Lord will establish when He returns. Right now we’re in phase one. Romans 3:21-22 says, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe”.
The church has been made righteous by faith in the sufficiency of the Lord’s death to pay for our sins. This qualifies us to inherit the Kingdom. Those who don’t believe are the unrighteous who are not qualified to inherit the Kingdom.