Fivefold Gospel

Definition and Meaning

The term Fivefold Gospel (Korean: Ojung Bogeum, 五重福音) literally means "the five-layered gospel." It is a summary of faith that describes the salvation Jesus Christ gives under five aspects:

• The gospel of regeneration: the sinner is born again and receives new life
• The gospel of the fullness of the Holy Spirit: the Holy Spirit fills the believer and empowers him or her to live in power
• The gospel of divine healing: sickness is healed through faith (divine healing)
• The gospel of blessing: in Christ, the believer is freed from the curse and enjoys blessing
• The gospel of the Second Coming: the hope that Christ will come again (Second Coming)

In Korea, the term is used mainly in conjunction with the Threefold Blessing, in the combined phrase "the Fivefold Gospel and the Threefold Blessing." The Threefold Blessing derives from 3 John 1:2, "I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth," and refers to blessing of the soul, of daily life, and of the body.

Biblical and Historical Background

Adherents of the Fivefold Gospel cite passages such as John 3:3–5 (regeneration), Acts 2:4 (the fullness of the Holy Spirit), Matthew 8:16–17 and Isaiah 53:5 (divine healing), Galatians 3:10–14 (blessing), and Acts 1:11 (the Second Coming) as the scriptural basis for each element.

In the American Holiness movement of the late nineteenth century, the "Fourfold Gospel," which confessed Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King, became widespread. Later, various summaries of the gospel that added baptism in the Holy Spirit emerged within Pentecostalism. It has been noted that the Korean Fivefold Gospel bears similarities to these developments. David Yonggi Cho is said to have systematized it during his ministry in the years after the Korean War, when poverty and disease were widespread.

Practice in the Korean Church

• Full Gospel churches: The Korea Assemblies of God and Yoido Full Gospel Church adopt the Fivefold Gospel and the Threefold Blessing as the basic framework of their faith. This framework underlies their preaching, teaching, and healing meetings, and it is explained in terms of "holistic salvation," which regards the soul, the body, and the whole of life as the objects of salvation. It has been studied theologically at affiliated institutions such as Hansei University.
• Holiness churches: The Holiness Church maintains the Fourfold Gospel of regeneration, sanctification, divine healing, and the Second Coming as its denominational tradition. Three of its elements overlap with those of the Fivefold Gospel, but the Holiness Church differs in treating sanctification as a distinct core element and in not including blessing as an element.
• Criticism and responses: Some theologians in the Reformed tradition have criticized the gospel of blessing and the Threefold Blessing for placing excessive emphasis on material prosperity, arguing that this emphasis can drift into prosperity theology. Denominations also differ on whether divine healing should be expected today. Full Gospel proponents explain that they do not limit blessing to material things, and they further respond that blessing and divine healing are an aspect of the biblical gospel that has given concrete hope to those who suffer.