Singapore Moses Supporter Messenger of God, CEO in IT industry, Astronaut, Scientist

Church history has witnessed many "strange fires" during periods of revival. The early apostles had wanted the Church at every age to be forewarned against these fires. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. For this reason they warned the people of God against "another Jesus" and "a different gospel" and "a different Spirit" (2 Cor 11:4).


"Jesus only" is a false gospel or different gospel. Eventhough the Son and the Holy Spirit are equal in deity to God the Father, they subject themselves to Him in their roles. This solemn truth is ignored these days in the spiritual world. In some circles, they only talk about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and end up with another Jesus. In others, they always talk about Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, and end up with a different spirit. The Father is forgotten!

"We go to a full gospel church." "He is a full gospel preacher." These are statements frequently made by Pentecostal or Charismatic people to denote their denomination or describe their doctrine. Non-Pentecostals are offended by the usage of the words "full gospel" by the other group, and ask, "Do we then preach half gospel?" Let’s examine this issue in the light of the Scriptures.

The words "fullness" and "gospel" come together only twice in the New Testament, and that is when Paul concludes his Epistle to the Romans. "From Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ... When I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ" (Rom 15:19,29). From what Paul has written in the other Epistles, we can understand that what he meant by what he wrote to the believers in Rome was that he did not leave out any part of the "whole counsel of God" in his preaching (Acts 20:27).

The word "gospel" is an anglo-saxon word meaning "good tidings." This is brought out on the first Christmas day in the angelic announcement to the shepherds. The gospel is the "good tidings of great joy to all people" (Lk 2:10). The best definition of the gospel is given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. He claims that he "received" it personally from the Lord (v 3). He writes, "I neither received it from man, not was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal 1:11,12). His definition reads like this: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Cor 15:3,4). This is the gospel in its purest and fullest form. Any deletion or addition corrupts it (Gal 5:4).

Full Gospel Churches, so called, include in their message the need to be baptized in water by immersion, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and exercising the gifts of the Spirit. They point out that the other evangelical Churches stop with repentance and faith. But according to the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, even "baptisms... laying on of hands..." etc., are all simply the "elementary" or the "first" principles of the doctrine of Christ (Heb 6:1,2). In other words water baptism, Spirit anointing, and Gifts of the Spirit are only the A-B-C of Christian life. The foundation is not the building! "Let us go on to perfection!"

Those who call themselves as full gospel preachers preach about healing and pray for the sick in their meetings. Unfortunately the gospel content in their sermons is usually low. They spend too much time telling stories and talking about their experiences. On the other hand the sermons of evangelists like Billy Graham, who do not pray for the sick in public crusades, are consistently rich in gospel content. The gospel is not primarily about how to be healed, rather how to be saved (Mt 1:21; Acts 16:31; Rom 1:16).

July 08 2014 • 4 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

The "Jesus Only" movement, also known as Oneness Pentecostalism or oneness theology, teaches that there is only one God, but denies the tri-unity of God. In other words, oneness theology does not r...

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July 01 2013 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report