How To Spot A Counterfeit and Smell A Rat

When we think of counterfeiting we usually think of money. While it would be bad to have counterfeit money in your pocket it would be infinitely worse to have a counterfeit faith in your heart. When most church going people hear of The great commission they tend to think of a missionary somewhere in a third world country trying to tell people who have never heard of Jesus about the plan of salvation. While that is all fine and well, it is much more important to know the Man of salvation than the plan of salvation. Satan knows the plan of salvation and that is how he is able to twist it to be something it is not. If Satan can not beat the church, he will join it. Satan will infiltrate the church with people who seem to preach a good gospel but it is not a true gospel. Oh it sounds good initially and even sounds legitimate but these people try to pervert the gospel to fit their desires and to deceive the people.

There are going to be several scripture references but I would like to start with 2 Peter 2:1-3
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingers not, and their damnation slumbers not."

Here are some tests we can hold any pastor or bible teacher up to and see if they are a false prophet or a true believer.

I) By their message. I don't care what title a person holds, a title does not automatically legitimize a person's message.

a) The Source Test
Is their primary source the Bible or do they also reference other books as doctrine? On top of that, when they reference the Bible do they tell what the Bible means or do they mix in their own liberal slant and deny obvious truths and say it's all metaphorical? Yes, the Bible will use metaphors to teach us but the Bible at the very least means what it says and says what it means. For instance, I had someone try to tell me Job was not a real person, just a story in the Bible to teach us patience. How ludicrous. This passage in ch 22:18-19 of the Book of The Revelation deals with these type of people.
"For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

b) The Saviour Test
Do they believe that Jesus is God in human flesh, co-equal and co-eternal with God the Father, the Messiah or do they believe Jesus is some prophet. Ask them if they worship Jesus. If they say no, ask them why not? The Bible is full of the worship of Jesus Christ. Now if Jesus is not God, He should not be worshipped because the Bible says to worship the Lord thy God only, but if Jesus is God, he is worthy of our worship. Jesus said in Mark 8:24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I AM , you will die in your sins." Another verse declaring Jesus' diety is in John 8:58 "Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."

I AM is the name God used for Himself when He appeared to Moses in the burning bush. So unless they believe in the Deity of Jesus Christ, they are a counterfeit teacher.

c) The Salvation Test
Do they teach salvation by grace alone or do they mix in works? If they do not teach repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone as the means of salvation, they are a counterfeit teacher. In Galatians 1:8-9 "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 you have received, let him be accursed." To be accursed literally means to be condemned.

Now what Gospel is Paul referring to? It is clearly spoken about in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that 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." That's it!!! If anyone teaches any other gospel, he is a counterfeit teacher. It's that plain; it's that simple.

Here is an example. Suppose some one preaches that baptism is required for salvation. Do you know how many people would be eliminated? Suppose a soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan was mortally shot or gassed and before he dies the chaplain were to come and ask the soldier if he would like to be saved. The chaplain would have to say "I'm sorry, there is no water here to baptize you, nothing here but sand." See how foolish that way of thinking is? I am not saying people should not be baptized, certainly they should. Baptism is an outward testimony of already being saved. A person can go in a dry sinner and come up a wet sinner if they have not made the good confession of faith in Christ alone first. The minute anyone tries to put a stipulation on salvation they take the "whosoever will" out of it. Do you know what whosoever will means in the Greek?... whosoever will. The Bible says whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

D) The Sanctity Test
Do these people live clean, moral lives or do they live like the world and say that Calvary covers everything? Remember what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 6:1-2 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?"

I am not saying these people will not slip up and fall from time to time, we all do. I am talking about people who have a sinful lifestyle yet still profess Christ.

E) The Subject Test
Do they as their primary message talk about Jesus Christ and salvation or do they focus on good works, charities etc in place of salvation of the lost? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2 "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified."
Now don't misunderstand me, I think charities, helping the poor, and doing good works are all important, just not more important that the true Gospel message. The Bible has 1 theme, it is salvation. It has 1 hero, Jesus. It has 1 villain, Satan. The Old Testament says someone is coming, The New Testament says someone has come, and the Book of the Revelation says someone is coming again and that someone is Jesus Christ.. I hope you believe that.

II) By their method
Look back at 2 Peter 2 where is says "there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies." Privily speaks of secretly. These people will try to sneak into a congregation and cause division and confusion with their false teachings. Jude verse 4 mentions this. "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."
Not only do they privily bringing heresies but 2 Peter 2 also says "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words..." Do you know what the word feigned means? The Greek word is plastos and and it is where we get the word plastic from. These are plastic Christians. What does plastic do? It molds to anything to suit a purpose.

III) Their motivation
Do they use as their primary motivation the praise of Jesus or do they seek glory for themselves? Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." There is the key. When people see our good works, it is not for them to glorify us or tell us how great we are. It is through our good works that people will come to glorify Christ.

Go back to 2 Peter 2 where it says "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you." See the word merchandise? How many TV evangelists have we seen who try to make a profit for themselves by using Christ. I call them not only false prophets but false "profits". I have seen some outlandish things. One preacher was saying if people sent him money he would send them this so called "Holy water" or one of those so called "holy cloths" and they are doing this for their own gain and sadly many people are deceived by them.

The Source Test, The Saviour Test, The Salvation Test, The Sanctity Test and The Subject Test. These 5 tests will help us be able to tell the real from the counterfeit.