• Is the Kingdom of God in Your Heart?
    Bible Questions Answered

    • What does “the kingdom of God is within you” mean?

      Some people have become confused about the location of the Kingdom by the rendering of Luke 17:21 in some Bible translations. For example, the King James Version says that “the kingdom of God is within you.” To understand this verse correctly, we must consider the context.

      Some of the religious leaders who opposed Jesus

      God’s Kingdom was not in the heart of Jesus’ obstinate and murderous opposers

      Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees, a group of religious leaders who opposed him and shared in arranging for his execution. (Matthew 12:14; Luke 17:20) Does it make sense to think that the Kingdom was a condition in their obstinate hearts? Jesus told them: “Inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”​—Matthew 23:27, 28.

      Other translations accurately clarify Jesus’ statement at Luke 17:21: “God’s kingdom is here with you.” (Italics ours; Contemporary English Version) “The Kingdom of God is among you.” (New World Translation, footnote) The Kingdom of heaven was “with” or “among” the Pharisees, in that Jesus, the one designated by God to rule as King, was standing before them.​—Luke 1:​32, 33.

  • Is the Kingdom of God in Your Heart?
    Bible Questions Answered

    • a Many Christian denominations teach that the Kingdom of God is within a person, or in someone’s heart. For example, in the United States, the Southern Baptist Convention declared that the Kingdom of God is in part “the reign of God in the heart and life of the individual.” Similarly, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI stated that “the Kingdom of God comes by way of a listening heart.”