Ed Stetzer interviews Scot McKnight about his recent book, The King Jesus Gospel. A key thought for me comes near the end:
I also contend that a gospel that is first Christology and then soteriology is more biblical and differs from the gospels that are through and through soteriology. I ask this: Does your gospel tell me about Jesus (Messiah, Lord, Savior) or does your gospel tell me how to get saved (and Jesus is the one who does it)? That’s the difference.
The gospel of Jesus and Peter and Paul is a gospel that is first Christology and second soteriology.
Having just finished a teaching series called “The Gospel according to Ephesians,” in which I used the “Romans Road” gospel presentation to contrast what Scot calls the “soterian gospel” with the “King Jesus” gospel, I found it quite enlightening. Maybe you will, too.
(H/T: Koinonia)
Dr. Platypus 
Could you elaborate a bit on “in which I used the “Romans Road” gospel presentation to contrast what Scot calls the “soterian gospel” with the “King Jesus” gospel”
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Hi Michael,
I just used the idea of the “Romans Road” as a kind of shorthand to talk about how a lot of Christians—myself included—grew up with the idea (or the assumption) that the gospel is mainly about how to “get saved.” As McKnight says, that’s part of the whole picture, but God was up to more through Jesus than merely assuring individuals of salvation when they die.
For my purposes, I wanted to urge the audience to think about what an “Ephesians Road” sort of gospel summary might include, which I argued would make Christ far more central to the Story (if the “Romans Road” has a story, it is a story about me: my problems and how to solve them) and show how what God has done in Christ has implications not only for individual believers but for the mission of the church in the world, not least including the incorporation of both Jews and Gentiles in one new humanity.
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Thanks Darryl,
So how would summarize your Ephesians Road gospel?
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I didn’t flesh it out; it was more about getting a good discussion started about what OUGHT to be in an “Ephesians Road” gospel summary. Some other bloggers put the idea in my head (see https://pursiful.com/2010/02/the-ephesians-road/), and it just seemed like a good starting point.
The three major themes in the three-week study were (1) the centrality of Christ, (2) the business of the Body, and (3) the reality of resistance. Beyond that, there are probably many directions one could go.
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