II. Defending the Gospel: – What are the Counterfeit “gospels”?

The first order of all believers in Jesus is to love Him with a pure heart. We do this because He first loved us and has given Himself 100% for us – I John 4:7-16. The next priority of the church is to preach the Gospel and instruct and ground new believers in Jesus in their faith in Christ. This is what Jesus commanded us to do in Matthew 28: 19-20 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This is what the early church preachers and witnesses did and it is also our responsibility to obey.When we look at the early church and their proclamation of Christ and the resurrection, they did exactly what Christ taught them to do – they preached the Gospel. However, they also at times, defended the Gospel against those, who for various motives, attempted to change and corrupt the message of the cross of Christ. This is what Jesus Christ warned would take place. With the incredible increase of new believers and new churches coming into existence all across the Roman Empire, the temptation for people with wrong motivations to come into the newly established churches and attempt to exercise their influence was a very present reality.

Jesus said – “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. Not everyone who says to Me , Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he does the will of My Father in heaven” – Matthew 7:15-20. “And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name saying, ‘I am the Christ and will deceive many…. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many… For false christs and false prophets will rise up and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See I have told you beforehand” – Matthew 24:4,5:11;24,25.

The disciples encountered these wolves (deceivers) in the early formation of the church. Jesus taught the disciples that they would encounter spiritual wolves and that they needed to know how to discern and protect the church against them. These wolves distort the Gospel and proclaim a false gospel that will not save because it is not centered in the truth – Jesus Christ. They come from both within the church and from outside the church. The key is to learn how to discern them.

There are two types of fruit. The fruit of deed and the fruit of doctrine.