What is the “Full” Gospel?
Mr. R. Stanley
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“Gospel” means Good News! Christ is God's
Good News to man. So Christ is the Gospel.
Proclaiming Christ fully with all His blessings is the
FULL GOSPEL Message. Apostle Paul testified, “I
have FULLY preached the GOSPEL of Christ” (Rom
15:19). The Amplified Bible renders this verse as, “I
have fully preached the Gospel of Christ, the
Messiah, in its ENTIRETY.” Paul was a full Gospel
preacher and his message was, “Jesus Christ, and
Him crucified” (1Cor 2:2). In another place he says,
“I did not shrink from telling you anything that was
for your benefit” (Acts 20:20). The Bible commands
us, “Forget not ALL HIS BENEFITS” (Psa 103:2).
Any Gospel preacher who fails to proclaim the full
Gospel - ALL THE BENEFITS OF CHRIST is
robbing people of the blessings due to them through
the Person of Christ. The full Gospel message
presents Jesus Christ as the Saviour, Healer,
Baptizer, Lord, Life Pattern, soon-coming
Bridegroom, King and Judge.
1. Jesus Christ is the Saviour!
While announcing the birth of Jesus, the angel
of the Lord said, “Thou shalt call His Name JESUS :
for He shall Save His people from their sins” (Mt
1:21). 'Jesus' is the earthly name of God's Son in
Greek, meaning 'Saviour' or 'God who is Salvation.'
The cry of every man and woman in the world is,
“What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). All have
sinned and so all need Salvation. All are sinners and
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so all need the Saviour. Turning from 'sin' is the way
of Salvation.
Jesus Christ must be lifted up as the ONLY
SAVIOUR of the world. Dilution has become the
order of the day. Sadly this has affected Christendom
also. The 'popular' Gospel of today presents Christ
merely as a joy-giver and a problem-solver. This is a
diluted Gospel. Christ must be first proclaimed as the
SAVIOUR, the ONLY WAY. Social reformation is
only next to salvation.
What everyone-from the President to the one
who occupies the lowest rank in the country-needs
first is Salvation. Everyone must be called to repent
of his sins. It is deplorable that REPENTANCE is
becoming a missing note in today's preaching. Jesus
Himself was a red-hot repentance preacher (Mk
1:15). The early Church preached repentance without
any compromise. Anyone who hunts only for 'open
doors' and 'wide acceptance' will soon leave out
repentance from his message and will backslide. The
message of the John the Baptist, who was preparing
people for the first coming of Christ, was repentance.
We are preparing for the Second Coming of Christ
and our message also should be the same-even more
intensified. That is why, just before His ascension,
Jesus clearly told His disciples, “REPENTANCE and
REMISSION OF SINS should be preached in His
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Lk
24:47).
2. Jesus Christ is the Healer!
Christ suffered on the Cross not only for our
sins but also for our sicknesses. Matthew writes
about the healing ministry of Christ like this: “When
the evening had come, they brought unto Him many
that were possessed with devils: and He cast out the
spirits with His Word, and healed all that were sick;
that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias
the prophet, saying, “Himself took our infirmities,
and bore our sicknesses” (Mt 8:16,17). The Psalmist
specifically mentions healing of all our diseases
while listing out “all His benefits” (Psa 103:3). Jesus
commissioned His disciples “to preach the Kingdom
of God, AND to heal the sick” (Lk 9:2). Both
salvation from sin and healing from sickness are in
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