The King Jesus Gospel - Review

At Euangelion Joel Willitts is working through Scot McKnight's The King Jesus Gospel.

You can read an excerpt below, and click here to read parts 1, 2, and 3.

_________________

"Tom Wright is certainly correct when he wrote in the forward: “The revolution Scot is proposing is massive–so massive that I doubt whether any of his colleagues, and certainly not this writer, will at once agree with every detail”.  Still, I think this is a book that is essential reading for every pastor, youth worker, campus ministry leader and indeed every committed Christ follower. We should never take the “gospel” for granted. Our understanding of the gospel, our gospel caricature, should habitually be submitted to the light of Bible’s witness. There are too many examples in the history of the church to take for granted that “we have it right”.

Here’s the central issue Scot is tackling in the book, and its one that has been a perennial discussion since at least the time that I’ve been an adult Christian: Evangelism as a call to decision versus evangelism as a call to a life of discipleship. The former has led to the problem of having “The Decided” in our pews who are yet “The Discipled”. According to Scot, this problem has been created by our “Plan of Salvation” gospel theology. While in no way downplaying the need for a decisive action as a first step, Scot argues that the biblical gospel must be defined such that the end goal is not only or singularly “personal salvation” from sin, but salvation from sin so to participate in God’s epic story of world rescue."