Many Christians may be familiar with the phrase ‘Full Gospel’. What does the ‘Full Gospel’ really mean? We would like to present here an outline of the whole counsel of God (Full Gospel) preached by the Lord Jesus Christ and His disciples for the salvation of mankind.

When the first man Adam disobeyed God by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, sin and death entered man(Romans 5:12). That brought immediate death to his spirit preventing him from fellowshipping with God (Eph.2:1). So he was afraid of facing God’s presence. But God did not leave man to perish immediately, but allowed him to continue living physically and to repent and believe in Him before his first death(separation of the body from soul and spirit). Our first death after our birth is not the end of our life. We will be resurrected after our first death to face the judgment of God who will judge every man according to what he/she has done before the first death. All those who did not believe in God and Christ the Son of God and did not bear good fruits will perish in the lake of fire- the second death (complete destruction of spirit, soul and body). The full gospel offers salvation of the spirit, soul and body of man from this second death. We read in I Thessalonians 5:23 ‘May the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’.

To accomplish the salvation, the Word of God through Whom, in Whom and for Whom God created the whole creation became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the only begotten Son of God. First, man needs to be forgiven and reconciled to God to restore the fellowship with God. The Son of God Jesus Christ lived a human life and was tempted in all respects as we are, but He was without sin, overcame the world with all the negative elements of the devil and became the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins when He died on the cross shedding His holy blood. He has risen again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sat on the right hand of God. As the sinless man, He is the High priest continually interceding for the salvation of those who believe in Him. He also became the life giving Spirit to enter into us to save us from sin and death which are at work in our bodies.

When a person believes that Jesus Christ is God manifested in flesh and that He died on the cross and rose again from the dead for the salvation of mankind and repents, the Spirit of Christ enters him and revives his spirit. This is new birth. This is when a person is forgiven, justified and reconciled to God. Then he is also set free from the power of sin so that he may not live under the influence of the sinful nature.