... Another New Testament text employed by "kingdom now theologians" is Colossians 1:13, which says, "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son." A parallel passage is found in Acts 26:17-18. Here, the Lord defines Paul's ministry as follows: "...the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.” According to kingdom now theologians, these verses teach that when someone becomes a believer, they are transferred from Satan's kingdom or dominion into the present, spiritual form of the Messianic kingdom...
... Sometimes John 3:3-5 is used to support the notion of a present, spiritual messianic kingdom. These verses say, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'" ...
... A text commonly used by "kingdom now" theologians is Revelation 1:5-6, which says that Christ has made believers into a kingdom of priests. These verses say, "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood; and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever." The logic of the argument from the "kingdom now" theologian here is that if we indeed are a kingdom of priests then we must now be in the present spiritual Messianic kingdom...
... At this point, we largely find ourselves in agreement with the following statement by E.R. Craven. Concerning "the passages which have been referred to as proving the doctrine of a present establishment" and "those passages which, it is alleged, logically imply a present establishment of the Basileia," Craven notes, "There is no critically undisputed passage in the Scriptures which declares, or necessarily implies, even a partial establishment in New Testament times." In this and the next installment, we will begin to take a look at some other miscellaneous arguments used by "kingdom now" theologians...
... Since the biblical text itself fails to positively teach or convey the notion of a present spiritual establishment of the Messianic kingdom of God upon the earth, it is common for "kingdom now" theologians to appeal to an argument from silence. According to this line of thought, since the New Testament fails to mention or emphasize a future earthly kingdom, then the promise of a future terrestrial rule of Christ has somehow been cancelled...