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George asked:
How was it possible for the "scribes" and "Pharisees" to "shut up the kingdom of heaven against men"?
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Assuming as I do that the two phrases are describing the same kingdom, the answer is clear. Jesus said that one must be born again. The adversaries of Jesus rejected that, "for ye neither go in yourselves" and they through their false religion and pressure caused others not to see the truth, "neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in".
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Matthew 23:15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
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I know nothing about Dr. Ruckman's position on these things. I understand that you give him high credibility in other areas. Is this idea of two kingdoms something that he espouses? I'm NOT saying that you aren't thinking for yourself here, I'm just trying to understand what might make you press the "rightly dividing" so hard that it blinds you to simple verse comparison.