What Is the Original Gospel?

2000 years ago, Jesus Christ expounded the way of religion in Israel. His disciples had joyous experiences of walking His path. This is the original gospel.

After Jesus’ death, the disciples continued to pray, believing in His words: “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me…to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Then, on the morning of Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. This was the birth of Christ’s ecclesia (church).

Vested with the power and the love of the Holy Spirit, the disciples bravely preached good tidings to the poor, healed the sick, and comforted the distressed. Signs and miracles accompanied them. Ikuro Teshima aimed at reviving such dynamic faith of Early Christianity. Proclaiming, “Return to the original gospel,” he began his ministry and called his religious movement the Original Gospel movement.

Teshima defined the original gospel as follows:

The original gospel is the spiritual source, from which we receive Jesus Christ’s religious essence. It is a spiritual tradition of directly following and learning from the original Jesus portrayed in the Gospels; through the redeeming blood of Jesus Christ, a soul is reborn and one begins to live and walk with the living Christ.

The original gospel is the essence of Christianity—the manifestation of Christ’s life. It is the alpha and the omega of Christianity. It is sufficient for one to adhere to the original gospel throughout one’s life of faith. If Christianity is deprived of the original gospel, it is as good as dead. The original gospel is not one sect of Christianity, but it is Christ’s religion itself.

An excerpt from If Christianity Lacks the Original Gospel

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