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Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God?

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Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God?

Mark 1:15
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
KJV

Are the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God the same throughout Scripture? Is one concept taught in one place and another place? Research and discuss at length your conclusions.

If the New Testament is the fulfillment of the Old, then the single kingdom of the Old Testament must carry over into the New Testament. Returning to the statistics for a moment, most of the occurrences of "kingdom of God" come in the Gospels, with the 15 non-Gospel occurrences coming in Acts or Paul’s epistles. The word "kingdom" occurs 34 times in Acts through Revelation, with most of these being references to earthly kingdoms. Most of the exceptions are found in Revelation where there are references to "the kingdom of our God" (Rev 12:10), "the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ" (Rev 1:9), and "the kingdoms of our Lord" (Rev 11:15). Peter also uses a similar phrase, "kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:11).

The only one of these phrases that might suggest multiple kingdoms is Revelation 11:15. However, a complete reading of this verse (or the verse and its immediate context) makes it clear that the discussion is about all of the kingdoms of the earth coming under the rule of Jesus. The plural term is referring back to the plural earthly kingdoms and the phrase does not interject the concept of multiple kingdoms of God. ("And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever."). And, note the actual text. The italicized phrase indicates the words are not present in the Greek manuscripts and are supplied by the translators for better understanding in our English version. As such, the doctrine of multiple kingdoms should not rest upon an interpretation of this word. The text could just as easily read "the kingdom of our Lord."

The "kingdom of God" is an important theme in the preaching of the Apostles as set forth in Acts (8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31). Acts 19:8 is an example of Paul’s use of the concept of the "kingdom of God": "And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God." A review of these passages from Acts, as well as those of 2 Peter and Revelation, make it clear the preaching pattern of the New Testament sees only one kingdom, not two. 

Those who support the idea of the "kingdom of heaven" being different from the "kingdom of God" must draw upon some Scripture to support their position. One should consider these Scriptures and address any points raised by such passages. It appears those advocating a difference in the two phrases can address only a few differences:

Those entering the kingdom of God require a new birth (John 3:3, 5) while those entering the kingdom of heaven do not (Matt 5:20; 7:21)?

The kingdom of God is eternal (Dan 4:2, 3; Heb 1:8) but the kingdom preceding it (the kingdom of heaven?) does not (1 Cor 15:24; Rev 20:6).

Only the saved are in the kingdom of God (John 3:3, 5) while unsaved people are in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 13:41-43, 47-51). Likewise, those saved in the kingdom of God are safe (John 5:24; 10:28, 29) while the Matthew verses indicated that the unsaved are cast out of the kingdom.

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