In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructed His disciples to pray for the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. This kingdom was a kingdom in which Israel would be supreme among the nations (Deuteronomy 28.1, 13). Hundreds of verses speak of this kingdom in the Old Testament. One will search the Scriptures in vain to find any record that Jews had a hope of heaven. Their hope was wholly earthly.
Paul’s teaching on the kingdom of God bears little resemblance to the kingdom proclaimed by the prophets or by Jesus (Romans 14.17; 1 Corinthians 4.20, 6.9-10, 15.24, 50; Galatians 5.21; Ephesians 5.5; Colossians 1.13, 4.11; 1 Thessalonians 2.12; 2 Thessalonians 1.5; 2 Timothy 4.1, 18). The kingdom of the prophets and of Jesus was earthly. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus called for the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. Paul emphasized God’s heavenly kingdom. Right before his martyrdom Paul declared, [2 Timothy 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. Paul taught that members of the body of Christ, the Church (Ephesians 1.22-23; Colossians 1.18), i.e., Christians, had heavenly citizenship (Ephesians 1.3; Philippians 3.20) in God’s kingdom, not earthly citizenship. This was entirely different from God’s revelation prior to Paul.
Regarding Forgiveness
The second teaching from Paul which is different from the Lord’s Prayer is the matter of forgiveness. In the Lord’s Prayer, divine forgiveness was conditional. It depended upon human forgiveness. Some, in an attempt to homogenize the teachings of the Gospels with the teachings of Paul, argue that Jesus was talking about forgiveness of one believer for another not divine forgiveness. While it is true that believers are to forgive one another, this was not the point of Jesus’ teaching. Jesus stated God would forgive based upon human forgiveness. To ensure no one misunderstand Him, He restated His point in Matthew 6.14-15. He declared, Matthew 6:14: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: Matthew 6:15: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Can Jesus's words be more plain? Conditional forgiveness is clearly in view here in Matthew 6.
Today there is no condemnation [Romans 8:1]. Today, nothing could be further from Christ's teaching regarding forgiveness than that of Paul’s teaching regarding forgiveness. God had Paul teach that there are no conditions that exist in order to receive God’s forgiveness: simply than than believing the gospel (1 Corinthians 15.1-4). Paul taught that when one believed the gospel then immediately that believer received God’s forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1.7; Colossians 1.13-14, 2.13). Paul declared that believers "have" (ἔχομεν, present, active, indicative of ἔχω, "to have or hold") forgiveness of sins. For the believer of Paul’s gospel, forgiveness is a present possession, based, not upon forgiving other people, but upon believing upon the faith of Christ Jesus that His failfullness as expessed in the gospel is all sufficient and paid in full for the believer.
In Ephesians 4:32, Paul wrote, Ephesians 4:32: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. This is vastly different from what the Lord Jesus taught in His prayer to the Jewish disciples. Paul exhorted believers to forgive one another – not as a condition for divine forgiveness – but because Christ Jesus had (past tense) already forgiven us. This is how grace and truth works, rather than Law.
Take you Bible and follow this comparision of Forgiveness which the Word of God has established:
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| Earthly Kingdom Program [Israel]: Conditional | Body of Christ Grace Program [Gentiles and Jews]: Not Conditional | ||
| Forgiveness with God | Acts 8:22: Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. | Colossians 2:13: And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses | |
| Luke 6:37: Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven | |||
| Matthew 18:35: So likewise shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses. | Ephesians 1:7: In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace | ||
| Matthew 6:14: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you | |||
| Matthew 6:15: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. | Colossians 1:14: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins | ||
| Forgiveness with fellow man | Luke 17:3: Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. | Ephesians 4:32: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. | |
| Colossians 3:13: Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. | |||
So, AmbassorForChrist, you say, “One will search the Scriptures in vain to find any record that Jews had a hope of heaven. Their hope was wholly earthly.”
Let us make this very simple, rather that go to many verses of the OT or the words of Jesus, both of which you claim know nothing of a kingdom of God in heaven, only on earth, let’s just keep this to a single part of the Bible, Hebrews 11. Are you claiming that Hebrews 11 (quite non-Pauline by the way, unless as a Roman Catholic you insist that Paul is the author) says nothing about the Jews of the OT believing in a kingdom of God in heaven, that is to say, apart from this earth? Is that really what you are saying?