When one sets forth the Baptist claim to perpetuity and attempts to demonstrate that Baptist churches alone can claim Jesus for Founder and Head, there are always those who immediately jump to the conclusion that Baptists claim that none are saved but Baptist. They get the idea that Baptists deny them a place in the kingdom and family of God. Such is by no means true. Far be it from any true Baptist to claim that one must be a Baptist in order to be saved, indeed, they believe just the reverse, for according to their view one must be saved before he can be a Baptist: and as for the kingdom and family of God, true Baptists are members of both before they ever become members of a Baptist church. If not, they are not fit to belong to a Baptist church, for they are yet unsaved.

What is the difference between the family, kingdom and church of God?

I. The Family of God.
    A. The family of God includes all the saved in heaven and on earth (Eph. 3:14-15). “For this cause I bow my knees unto
        the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom  the whole family in heaven and earth is named,”
    B. All believers are God’s children (Gal. 3:26). “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus”.
    C. Since Old Testament saints were saved by faith in Christ they too are all members of God’s family (Acts 10:43; Rom.
        4:16).
II. The Kingdom of God.
    A. The kingdom of God includes all the saved on earth at any given time (John 3:3-5; Matt. 11:11; Luke 16:16; Rom.
        14:17; John 18:36). (Col. 1:13)  “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the
        kingdom of his dear Son”.
        1. Jesus gave His church the authority of the kingdom (Matt. 16:19). “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom
            of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth
            shall be loosed in heaven.”
    B. This is not the kingdom of (Dan. 2:44; Luke 19:11-27; Acts 1:6).
        1. These passages refer to the Millennial Kingdom .
        2. That kingdom is yet future.
    C. The family of God includes all of the saved of all ages, whether in heaven or on earth; the kingdom of God includes that
        part of the family of God who are on earth now.
III. The Church of God.
    A. The terms “church” “churches” in the New Testament are never used of any institution except of an assembly or
        congregations of baptized believers in some given locality such as “the church of God which is at Corinth” (1 Cor. 1:2);
        “unto the churches of Galatia” (Gal. 1:2, etc).
    B. The only kind of churches God has on earth today are local, visible, independent assemblies of baptized believers
        covenanted together under New Testament law to carry out the Commission with an unbroken history from Christ to this
        present day.
    C. No Bible description is given of a church in the aggregate, on this earth.
    D. The Lord has churches, but no “THE CHURCH” composed of all the redeemed.
        1. There is only one family of God, composed of all the redeemed of all the ages in heaven and on earth.
        2. There is one kingdom of God, composed of all the born again on earth now.
        3. There are hundreds of churches of God on earth.
    E. When one is born again, he is born into the family of God.
        1. This relationship never changes.
    F. When one is born again he also enters into the kingdom of God on earth.
        1. When he dies he passes out of the kingdom on earth and enters “His  heavenly  kingdom” (2 Tim 4:18).  “And the
            Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for
            ever and ever. Amen”
    G. After one is born again, he is not yet in the church of God but is now a Scriptural subject for admission into a church of
         God (Acts 2:41-47).
    H. Baptism is not essential to admission into either the family of God or the kingdom of God but it is essential to admission
        into a church of God.
IV. Some Differences of Church and Kingdom that We Can Read.
    A. We read of the faith of the church. (Rom.1:8); no faith of the kingdom.
    B. We read of members of a church (I Cor.12:27);  but not of the kingdom.
    C. We cannot inherit, or be heirs of the church; but we can inherit and be heirs of the kingdom (Gal. 5:21).
    D. Elders in a church (James 5:14); no Elders of the kingdom.
    E. We cannot read of the possibility of us receiving the church; there is a possibility of us receiving the kingdom
        (Matt. 25:34).
    F. We cannot read of children or sons, of a church; we can read of children, or sons of the kingdom (Matt. 13:38).
    G. We can read the names of the churches, as to location (I Cor. 1:1-2 etc); never used of the Kingdom.
    H. The church is the “secret hid in God” until revealed in the New Testament (Eph. 3:10); but the kingdom is revealed in
        Old Testament prophecy, without the New Testament Church.