PREFACE: This article was kindled from both the work of Dr. Michael Heiser and that of Dr. Matthew Bates. What you will find here is now blended within me as the Lord has led. I pray you find it of value.
The Unseen Realm, Reversing Hermon, Salvation by Allegiance Alone.
In his book, Salvation by Allegiance Alone, it seemed to me (forgive me if I am wrong) that Dr. Matthew Bates largely anchored his work around Paul, with a smattering of other apostles from Acts to Revelation. While there are plenty of references used from the Gospels, I do not recall an emphasis there in terms of the words gospel and kingdom. This article is being written to explore just a view of the data that is available to us from the Gospels.
The gospel before Jesus
Dr. Bates covered the use of the word gospel (εὐαγγέλιον) quite well as it was used by Paul as a captured and re-purposed word from the Greco-Roman empire in its official capacity as a heralding of "good news" with respect to some beneficial aspect of the Roman empire (e.g., a battle won, a new emperor, et al). Below is a side-bar survey of the word in its various forms and derivative.
You can find more on the matter of "The Gospel" as demonstrated by Paul in the following two articles: Gospel Allegiance and The Gospel.
The biblical word εὐαγγέλιον (euangelion) means "good news" or "gospel". It is derived from the Greek word εὐάγγελος (euangelos), which means "bringer of good news".
In the New Testament, εὐαγγέλιον is used in various forms to refer to the message of salvation through Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It is also used to describe the written accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus, known as the four Gospels. Here are some of the forms of εὐαγγέλιον and their meanings:
- εὐαγγέλιον: the basic form of the word, meaning "good news" or "gospel". It is used 76 times in the New Testament, mostly in the Pauline epistles.
- εὐαγγελίου: the genitive form of the word, meaning "of the good news" or "of the gospel". It is used to indicate the source, the content, or the object of the good news. For example, εὐαγγέλιον τοῦ Θεοῦ means "the gospel of God" or "the good news from God".
- εὐαγγελίῳ: the dative form of the word, meaning "to the good news" or "with the gospel". It is used to indicate the recipient, the instrument, or the manner of the good news. For example, εὐαγγελίῳ τῆς χάριτος τοῦ Θεοῦ means "with the gospel of the grace of God" or "by means of the good news of God's grace".
- εὐαγγέλιον: the accusative form of the word, meaning "the good news" or "the gospel". It is used to indicate the direct object, the extent, or the purpose of the good news. For example, κηρύσσειν τό εὐαγγέλιον means "to preach the gospel" or "to proclaim the good news".
The other word we want to capture and explore as it relates to the word gospel is the word kingdom (βασιλεία).
The word kingdom in the New Testament is usually a translation of the Greek word βασιλεία (basileia), which means "royal power, kingship, dominion, rule". It is derived from the Greek word βασιλεύς (basileus), which means "king".
In the New Testament, βασιλεία is used in various forms to refer to the reign of God or Christ over the world and the hearts of people. It is also used to describe the territory or the people subject to the rule of God or Christ. Here are some of the forms of βασιλεία and their meanings:
- βασιλεία: the basic form of the word, meaning "kingdom" or "rule". It is used 159-162 (approximate) times in the New Testament, mostly in the Gospels and the Acts.
- βασιλείας: the genitive form of the word, meaning "of the kingdom" or "of the rule". It is used to indicate the source, the content, or the object of the kingdom or the rule. For example, βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ means "the kingdom of God" or "the rule of God".
- βασιλείᾳ: the dative form of the word, meaning "to the kingdom" or "with the rule". It is used to indicate the recipient, the instrument, or the manner of the kingdom or the rule. For example, βασιλείᾳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ means "to the kingdom of Christ" or "with the rule of Christ".
- βασιλείαν: the accusative form of the word, meaning "the kingdom" or "the rule". It is used to indicate the direct object, the extent, or the purpose of the kingdom or the rule. For example, εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τήν βασιλείαν means "to enter into the kingdom" or "to come under the rule".
In the Gospel of the Kingdom story, the next person beyond the Roman government (as a whole) to show up with any public prominence using either word or both is John the Baptist. In his case, John only uses the word kingdom and never the word gospel. Why this is so is not immediately apparent, so we will just state it as a plain fact and leave the theological implications on the shelf for the moment. We do this because we are headed to the more import person: Jesus Christ.
The Gospel of the Kingdom through Jesus
It is Jesus who uses Kingdom (and gospel) with great quantity and quality during his three years or so of ministry. In fact, he is the overwhelming majority user of the word kingdom. What follows is a list of each time he uses it:
Matthew: 3:2; 4:17; 4:23; 5:3; 5:10; 5:19-20; 6:10; 6:13; 6:33; 7:21; 8:11-12; 9:35; 10:7; 11:11-12; 12:28; 13:11; 13:19; 13:24; 13:31-33; 13:38; 13:41-43; 13:44-47; 13:52; 16:19; 16:28; 18:1-4; 18:23; 19:12; 19:14; 19:23-24; 20:1; 20:21; 21:31; 21:43; 22:2; 23:13; 24:7; 24:14; 25:1; 25:14; 25:34; 26:29
Mark: 1:14-15; 4:11; 4:26; 4:30; 9:1; 9:47; 10:14-15; 10:23-25; 11:10; 12:34; 13:8; 14:25; 15:43
Luke: 1:33; 4:43; 6:20; 7:28; 8:1; 8:10; 9:2; 9:11; 9:27; 9:60; 9:62; 10:9; 10:11; 11:2; 11:20; 12:31-32; 13:18-20; 13:28-29; 14:15; 16:16; 17:20-21; 18:16-17; 18:24-25; 18:29; 19:11; 19:15; 21:10; 21:31; 22:16; 22:18; 22:29-30; 23:51
John: 3:3; 3:5; 18:36
Out of those 89 instances, 70 are Jesus directly speaking and 19 are other. The other instances are either narrations by the authors of the books, or quotations by other characters, such as John the Baptist, the angel Gabriel, or the apostle Paul. You can verify this by looking at the context and the quotation marks in the verses, such as [this one].
Total instances = 89
Jesus speaker = 70
Other speaker = 19
Of the other:
Out of the 19 instances of the word "kingdom" that are not Jesus directly speaking, four are John the Baptist, three are one of the disciples, and twelve are other. Here are the details:
John the Baptist: Matthew 3:2, Luke 3:2, Luke 7:28, Luke 16:16. These are the verses where John the Baptist is quoted as preaching the kingdom of God to the people and preparing the way for Jesus.
One of the disciples: Acts 1:3, Acts 8:12, Acts 28:31. These are the verses where the apostle Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, is narrating the events of the early church and the spread of the gospel of the kingdom.
Other: Luke 1:33, Mark 15:43, Luke 23:51, Acts 14:22, Acts 19:8, Acts 20:25, Romans 14:17, 1 Corinthians 4:20, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:24, 1 Corinthians 15:50, Galatians 5:21. These are the verses where the word "kingdom" is used by other characters, such as the angel Gabriel, Joseph of Arimathea, the apostle Paul, or the authors of the books.
There are also instances where Jesus uses both words, gospel and kingdom:
- Matthew 4:23 - And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
- Matthew 9:35 - And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction.
- Matthew 24:14 - And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
- Mark 1:14-15 - Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."
- Luke 4:43 - But he said to them, "I must preach the good news (gospel) of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose."
- Luke 8:1 - Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news (gospel) of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,
The phrase "gospel of the kingdom" is also used by the apostle Paul in Acts 20:25, where he says, "And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again." The phrase implies that the kingdom of God is both a present reality and a future hope for those who believe in Jesus. The gospel of the kingdom is the message that God has fulfilled his promises in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and that he invites everyone to enter his kingdom by repentance and faith. The gospel of the kingdom also calls for obedience and discipleship, as Jesus taught his followers to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33). The gospel of the kingdom is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).
The text of Jesus' words highlighted in red, bolded, italicized, and underlined, cannot be overstated; "for I was sent for this purpose" and what purpose is that? To "preach the good news (gospel) of the Kingdom of God"!
Jesus points directly to his purpose of why he was sent!
And the question immediately arises: Sent by who? Of course, he is sent by the father! Why? Because the highest desire of the father is for the damage done by wicked Watchers and wicked human beings following them to be reversed and overwhelmed by the grace, love, mercy, life, and power of God! Only his own son can bring this about, but first—the loyalty of his own son as come in human flesh must be proven and tested and the acted out as he preaches the Gospel of the Kingdom that is coming!
And Jesus does not disappoint or fail in any way—all the way to the cross, death, and burial, to which God responds in power to raise him up, strip those wicked Watchers and men of power, give all power and authority in all the heavenly realms and earthly realms over to his Son, who the father enthrones as King of all at his own right hand!
Jumping to conclusions
In the end, it wasn't people like Paul who started the ball rolling on the use and repurposing of words like gospel and kingdom—it was Jesus. After all, it was the God-man, Jesus Christ, who came and walked the perfect loyal life to both his father and to us from conception by the Spirit to cross, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to being King of kings, King of the cosmos, and King of heaven and earth with all power and authority given to him by his father.
As one examines the prioritized content of Jesus' words across his ministry and throughout the New Testament, we find that his Kingdom is the paramount topic with everything else hinging and hanging from it. It is the Kingdom and King, Jesus Christ who is the central theme of what God is doing. And the matter is not even just this—there is a larger and more epic story into which this is all painted. It is the story of a powerful rebellion and rebels who literally controlled the earthly realms for awhile until Jesus shows up and rips it all away from them.
Thus, it is from these former kingdoms of darkness that we are receiving the gospel of the kingdom, which places upon us a pair of twin demands: First, the disavowal of our allegiances and loyalty to gods and demons of darkness and then, second, a giving of allegiance, loyalty, and fealty to the King of kings, Jesus Christ. Not only this, but inherent within this action is our promise to live out this allegiance through disciplined seeking after the very nature and person of our king for the purpose of being like him in thought, word, and action. This is borne out in mercy, compassion, love, help, healing, and all that Jesus demonstrated for us while he was here, which is recorded to enough extent in the Gospels and is expounded on from Acts to Revelation.
So, what are we to make of all of this? The key takeaway strongly appears as King and Kingdom are above all else first and everything flows from the King and his Kingdom. It is our lived-out embodied allegiance in thought, word, and action that adheres us to the King, Jesus Christ. One can see this in scripture verses like:
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So I am eager to preach the gospel (of the kingdom) to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel (of the kingdom), for it (the gospel of the kingdom) is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (pledges and lives by allegiance), to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
17 For in it (lived out allegiance) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith (of Jesus to us) for (our) faith (allegiance to Christ as King), as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”
This notion of King-and-Kingdom and the bond of allegiance that puts us in union with Jesus Christ as King is the source of everything that will matter on the day we are judged by him. It will be mercy given to the faithful (full-of-lived-out-allegiance) who give mercy to all as they follow their King, Jesus Christ.
Moreover, the expression of the "Now, but not yet" is held within the embrace of this reality. In our living out of disciplined allegiance to the Lord (King) Jesus Christ, we are adhered to him, whereby we have his faithful (loyal) assurance of his promise to provide us with his righteousness as the cover over our frailty and failures to be perfectly loyal to him as he is perfectly loyal to us. In this final point of judgment is where the work of the cross and Spirit comes to final fruition.
Therefore, the message for us now is one of perseverance in our walk of loyalty to Christ by obedience to him by a living relationship with the living Spirit of Christ within us—such that—as the Spirit says, "Do", then we do. If he says, "Do not", then we do not. And for where we fail from time to time, our expression of allegiance is found in our contrite confessions of frailty and failure, which is both a bowing to our King, but also a demonstration to our brothers and sisters also in Christ of our merciful approach to them as they seek mercy in their own lives and lived out loyalty to Jesus Christ, the King of kings!