Book Blogging: Gospel in the Gospels

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Darrell Buchanan

We are at the half-way point of our blogging review of Scot McKnight’s The King Jesus Gospel and the sixth chapter poses this question: Why are the first four books of the New Testament called “the Gospel”?

McKnight says that the reason the earliest Christians prefixed Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John with “The Gospel according to” is because they told the same story that Paul’s “gospel” told: the story of Israel coming to completion in the story of Jesus. In other words, “The Four Gospels and the gospel are one” (81).

The attention given by the Gospels to Jesus’ death and resurrection demonstrate how they understand the story of Jesus just as Paul does in 1 Corinthians 15. In other words, the Gospels also understand that the story of Jesus unfolded “according to the Scriptures” i.e., the Old Testament.

Specifically, Paul says that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3) and so the Gospels identify Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jo. 1:29) who will “save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21), and pours out his life on the cross “for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28). McKnight adds that Christ’s death effected forgiveness of sin “because of the resurrection of Jesus himself from among the dead. . .. The cross gospel requires a resurrection gospel.” (89). It is through Christ’s death and resurrection that a new creation and world order are possible.

So, McKnight’s point in this chapter is summarized best in his observation that the apostolic preaching is encapsulated in 1 Cor. 15:3-5 which, in turn, is expanded and expounded upon in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (90). This is because “the Gospels” and “the gospel” are identical.

But did Jesus himself preach the gospel? That question is taken up in the next chapter of The King Jesus Gospel.

Previous Posts in this Series:
The King Jesus Gospel – Introduction
The King Jesus Gospel–The Big Question
King Jesus Gospel – Gospel Culture
Story to Salvation
Paul’s Apostolic Gospel
The Great Gospel Takeover

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Book Blogging: The Great Gospel Takeover

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Darrell Buchanan

Blame it on the Reformation! In the fifth chapter of The King Jesus Gospel, Scot McKnight contends that it was during this period of church history that the shift from “gospel culture” to “salvation culture” started (71).

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The Philemon Files: Onesimus

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Darrell Buchanan

Onesimus was a common name in antiquity (especially for slaves). It means “useful, profitable, beneficial.”

In Paul’s letter to Philemon, Onesimus is first introduced almost half-way through the letter as the apostle’s “son” (Phm. 10) – someone Paul has led to faith in the gospel. But his conversion has complicated Onesimus’ status as Philemon’s slave; now, he is also Philemon’s brother in Christ (Phm. 16). He has also been of comfort and service (“useful”) to Paul in prison (Phm. 11-13).

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Book Blogging: Paul’s Apostolic Gospel

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Darrell Buchanan

1 Corinthians 15 is where the best definition of the word gospel can be found in the New Testament and, according to Scot McKnight in The King Jesus Gospel, looking anywhere else is a big mistake (46).

McKnight divides 1 Corinthians 15 into three parts: 15:1-2 is the introduction, 15:3-5 is the definition, and 15:20-28 is additional gospel statements” (47-48) and spends the rest of the fourth chapter of The King Jesus Gospel drawing out eight observations about Paul’s gospel from the three sections (48-56).

According to McKnight, the “authentic apostolic gospel” is “the story of the crucial events in the life of Jesus Christ” (49), namely, his death, burial, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances (1 Cor. 15:3-5). But he highlights Paul’s point that these events were “according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3, 4) to make the point that the story of Jesus Christ follows and completes the story of ancient Israel (50).

Salvation, McKnight points out, is the “intended result” of the story of Jesus Christ who, Paul notes in 1 Cor. 15:3,  died “for our sins.” His death effected forgiveness of sins as well as reconciliation with and justification before God (52).

But the story of Jesus also includes his burial, resurrection, and post-resurrection appearances which speak to the promise of a final general resurrection and final consummation of the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:20-28).

McKnight closes his fourth chapter with a warning that emphasizing the Plan of Salvation (upper case his) apart from the story of Jesus turns it into an account of one’s personal salvation rather than God’s salvation.

So, how did the Plan of Salvation subsume the gospel? That’s the question McKnight takes up in the next chapter.

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The Philemon Files: Witnesses

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Darrell Buchanan

Also serving as witnesses-from-a-distance to whatever Philemon’s response to Paul’s request will be are five individuals who are or have been with Paul and who greet Philemon and his church (Phm. 23-24). They are Epaphras (also imprisoned), Mark, Aristarchus (later imprisoned with Paul, according to Col. 4:10), Demas, and Luke.

The same five greet the Colossian church at the end of that letter (Col. 4:10-14). Epaphras, mentioned first, is especially important because he is a native Colossian and the “minister of Christ” (Col. 1:7) who established the church at Colossae (Col. 1:7-8; 4:12).

It is a bit of a surprise that the individual who is the apparent focus of Paul’s letter to Philemon isn’t introduced until almost half-way through the letter. Nevertheless, as the next post in this series will show, both the character Onesimus and the name Onesimus play important roles in the letter.

The Philemon Files — Related Posts:
The Philemon Files: Introduction
The Philemon Files: From Paul
The Philemon Files: Co-Senders
The Philemon Files: Co-Recipients

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