The Imperial Gospel

The Gospel of the King and the Kingdom

The imperial gospel. The gospel is inherently the gospel of the king and the kingdom. You remember when Jesus Christ came, when he began his earthly ministry, the first words virtually, as far as we know from the Bible, out of his mouth are repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

And he went everywhere preaching and teaching the kingdom of God. So, and this is a vital point to make, whenever we say we should trust in Christ for salvation, you should be baptized and you should obey the word of God.

Christ the King, Not an Escape from the World

We're really saying not that Jesus is getting a people ready to sort of get into the heavenly spaceship, to fly off to heaven, to get away from this world. No, what we're really saying is Jesus Christ is king of kings and Lord of lords.

Every person that trusts in Jesus Christ, whether he or she knows it or not, is inherently bowing the knee to King Jesus. And that's why the Bible teaches what is sometimes called lordship salvation. Now, this is a very important point to understand.

Repentance, Grace, and Turning from Sin

Nobody can get saved without repenting of their sin. It doesn't mean that you have to be perfect. We can't be perfect, of course, to be saved. Salvation is by entirely by the grace of God. But to say, I want to hold on to my sin.

I want to hold on to my immorality. I want to hold on to my wicked thoughts. I want to hold on to all of these sins, but you know, I think I'd like Jesus to, because I want an insurance that I'll go to heaven when I die.

I'm afraid you cannot be a Christian. No, to trust in Christ is to turn from our sins, to trust in him and him alone, not our goodness, not our righteousness, to trust in him. This gospel, though, is not just individualistic.

This gospel is designed to reorient the church and all of life and culture. So whenever we say the gospel of Jesus Christ, let's add to it the King Jesus gospel. It's the King Jesus gospel who is bringing all things under his authority.

And according to Philippians chapter two, one day, every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That, my friends, is the imperial gospel.