26 May 2024
The Word of God tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “Prove all things…” And that is exactly what we must do. Especially in today’s world with so many counterfeits and churches claiming to be Christian when in reality they are not.
Counterfeits seem to be on the increase. Many Claim to be Christian, but in reality, are not. Some of their beliefs and practices are so far away from Biblical teaching that it makes you wonder why they even call themselves Christian? Many of them are so good at covering up and hiding these non-Biblical practices that you do not even learn them until you are so far into their grasp that you do not even care.
It seems that no matter where you look or go there is at least one counterfeit. Over the past several years, counterfeits seem to have gotten much cleverer and even trickier than ever before.
Many of them have adapted Christian terminology and teachings and twisted them around so the meanings go along with that of their false doctrines. A good example of this is found in the doctrinal statement of one of these counterfeits. It says, “We believe the Bible to be the Word of God insofar as it is translated correctly.” Now at first this may seem like an innocent and harmless statement. But if you understand what they really mean by it, you will understand their deception. They believe that the Bibles used by most people and most churches are completely wrong and were translated incorrectly. They believe that only their version of the Bible is the correct one. Just because it may sound Christian does not necessarily mean it is Christian.
Many of these counterfeits will have their own version of the Bible, that has been completly changed and altered to support their false doctrines and teachings. They will tell you that these Bibles are corrected “Translations” of the Bible. When the truth is, they are not a real translation because of the number of erroneous translations they have intentionally made in it and the things they just changed around to fit their needs.
The Bible clearly warns us that “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8-9).
Some of these counterfeits will claim that what they have is not “another gospel”, but that it is “another testament” of Jesus, in an attempt to get around the above passage from the Bible. It doesn’t matter, for they are the same thing. This is just one of the tricks the counterfeits just love to do, play word games and apply words that have double or secret meanings to them so they can mislead others away from the truth.
Another Characteristic of a counterfeit is they will deny the Holy Trinity and deny the Deity of Christ. The Deity of Christ is one of the main focal points in the Gospels and throughout the New Testament. The Bible clearly spells out the Deity of Christ and make it so clear that anyone can see and understand it:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1)
And
“For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” (1 John 5:7)
They will further tell you that more than just faith is required for salvation. They will tell you that salvation is earned by works, or by both faith and works. The Bible tells us the exact opposite:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Now., there may be any numerous of other signs pointing to something being counterfeit, but nearly all counterfeits will have these three things in common:
If you keep these things in mind then you will overcome the counterfeits. But if you listen to them and their lies and false teaching, then they may take you from the Light and take you down the dark path that leads straight to Hell and everlasting punishment.