POSTED JANUARY 05, 2011

Many evangelical Christians struggle to find unity between the gospel of the kingdom of God (one bringing wide-spread transformative social improvements) proclaimed by Jesus and the gospel of personal salvation (one bringing spiritual renewal and right-standing with God) proclaimed by Paul.  At times, the contrast can seem as stark as oil and water.  Scot McKnight claimed in a recent Christianity Today cover story that “Evangelicalism is facing a crisis about the relationship of Jesus to Paul, and many today are choosing sides.”  However, the reality is that Jesus' and Paul's proclamations of the gospel are one in the same.  Further, the common misunderstanding which results in pitting Jesus against Paul and choosing one over the other is very dangerous for the Christian.  In a recent blog entry on the matter, Michael Horton warns us that misunderstanding the gospel as these two unified yet distinct representations is actually the same "mistake of Jesus' contemporaries: namely, collapsing the kingdom of glory, manifested on the last day, into the kingdom of grace, which is present now."  To learn more about the continuity of Jesus' and Paul's gospel proclamations, read Michael Horton's blog, "Jesus vs Paul?".