A Question to Ponder

If a person believes in a counterfeit gospel, will that gospel save them if they believe it sincerely?  For example, if a person believes in a Jesus Christ that is very different than the Jesus Christ presented in the pages of the Bible, will they be saved?

A person can have money that is counterfeit and not know it.  They may believe sincerely that that money is real and will try to purchase stuff with it or save it in their savings account.  But when it is found out that it not legal tender, they lose it. It has no value.

There are many who believe in a counterfeit savior, one who is not in the pages of the Bible.  Or maybe one who has the same name as the Jesus in the Bible and maybe some similar stories as the one in the Bible but there are key things about him that are not anything like the Jesus of the Bible.  But they feel that if they are sincere about their belief in him then that is what counts.  It's like the old adage,  "it's the thought that count".

Sadly, on judgement day, they will find to their dismay that they believed a counterfeit gospel, a different Jesus than the one in the Bible.  Sadly they will find that this counterfeit Jesus can not buy their redemption or save them from eternal damnation.

This is why it is so vitally important that people who say they believe in Jesus study the pages of the Bible to be sure the Jesus they are being taught about and believing in is the REAL Jesus and not a counterfeit Jesus or a Jesus of their imagination....one that they have made in their own image instead the one in the Bible.

The real Jesus = real salvation....a soul that is saved.
The counterfeit Jesus=a false salvation and a soul that is lost for eternity

Be sure of what Jesus you have believed in.  Read and study your Bible!  Get to know the REAL Jesus like bank tellers get to know real money.  Then you will know when someone comes peddling a false Jesus.

Marsha's Musings: A Warning About Those Who Pervert the Gospel of Christ

Galatians 1:6 ¶ I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,

 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.

 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.

 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

The message of these verses are much like the message in the ones below:





2Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted--you may well put up with it!


How many religions are out there today that claim an angel appeared to their leader and told them to start this religion or that religion.  The Bible says that even if an angel preaches some other gospel than that which has been taught by Paul and the other early church apostles that they are to be accursed.  Pretty strong language. 


It talks about some who want to pervert the Gospel.  These are people and religions that take the Gospel as it is in the Bible and they add or subtract from it.  It sounds "Christian" and to the one who has not studied their Bible well, they may fool them into believing it is true.  


These who would pervert the Gospel often try to get people to go on their feelings about what they are teaching instead of checking things out to see how they compare to Biblical teaching and doctrine.  Instead of encouraging people to look to the Bible and compare what they are being taught to the Bible to see if it is right and true, they divert their attention away from the Bible and substitute other books and writings and ask people to just pray about it to see if it is true.  This is perverting  the Gospel of Jesus Christ as it is found in the Bible.




The Bible has something to say about these people:

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2Co 11:13-15

Discontentment & the Source of True Contentment

I have a friend whom I thought was happy with his lot in life. It came as a surprise to me to learn that he was not very happy. Well, it shouldn't have been a surprise given a lack of real relationship with Jesus Christ in his life. That's not to say he is not religious. He is very religious.

Many of the reasons he gave me for his sudden change in job and plans to move to another city sound good on the surface, but when one really contemplates them, they ring hollow. This is a man who on the outside appears poised, pleasant and happy, but who on the inside is full of turmoil and discontentment. I just never realized it until the day he told me he was moving and why.

It is truly sad. His church teaches a works salvation. You must always be working to perfect yourself to be accepted by the church leaders and God. Contentment in God Himself and what He has provided in Christ Jesus is absent. Even the sacrifice of Christ on the cross to secure our salvation is looked at as not enough. They must work themselves up the ladder and hope that when they can't get any higher Jesus will reach down and pull them up the rest of the way. There is no real peace or contentment in knowing one's sins are forgiven, under the blood of Jesus Christ and one has been made righteous before God through Jesus' work in one's behalf. It's religion---man working his way to God, instead of a relationship with God. Jesus is God with us. God came down to bring us up to Him.

This kind of religion naturally causes one to look for contentment in other places besides God Himself. No one can be good enough to work their way up to God. Even if one has the belief that when they get to the last rung of the ladder and can't get further, Jesus will reach down and pull them up the rest of the way, there is little comfort in that, for how are they to know when they have done enough? What if they die and find that they came up short and Jesus won't reach down and pull them up the rest of the way because they didn't do enough good works to get high enough? And so, in an effort to block out those nagging questions in their minds, they make themselves super busy so there is not time to think and they look to things, people, places, recreation, entertainment and church activities to make them content. It's a hollow existence.

When one tries to find contentment in their children, spouses, extended family, religion, church, their home, job, schools or community, they will always end up disappointed and discontented. Children may make bad choices in friends and don't get good grades. Spouses may not do what we expect of them. Extended family may put expectations on us we don't want. Parents change as they get older and that makes us sad. Religion puts expectations on us that God never intended us to have. The church may not offer enough activities for the kids to keep them away from bad friends or it may keep us so busy we can't keep up. There may be people issues in the church. Our homes require work to keep them up & maybe we aren't happy with the amount of work it takes. Maybe it's too much house/property for our liking or maybe it's not enough. In a down economy, maybe there's not enough work to keep us busy and the budget is tight. Perhaps we don't care for the school district and think they are not doing right by our children.

There is nothing inherantly wrong with trying better ourselves, but when we try to find our contentment in anything but Jesus Christ, it won't work. All of these things are subject to change. When circumstances or people change in a way we don't like, then we become discontented. That is why we must find our contentment in God alone. He does not change. That's not to say He will always act in accordance to what we want or think best. Sometimes He does quite the opposite, but our contentment is in knowing that whatever He does in our lives is done in wisdom with our spiritual good in mind. In this we can be content.

My heart cries for my friend and his family, that God might save them out of that religious trap so that they can find true contentment that is only found in God and what He has provided in Jesus Christ.

Marsha's Musings: A Sobering Message

I've been reading from a small devotional guide called "Joy Every Morning". A strange thing happened yesterday. Somehow I misread the scripture reference for the day and thought it had said to read the scripture I have quoted below. It left me scratching my head, wondering what on earth this had to do with joy? Obviously, it didn't have anything to do with joy because I was in the wrong place! However, it still spoke to me. Read it and then below I will tell what I learned.

Jeremiah 8:1-11

1 At that time, saith the LORD, they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves:

2 And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped: they shall not be gathered, nor be buried; they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth.

3 And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all the places whither I have driven them, saith the LORD of hosts.

4 ¶ Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

5 Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

6 I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.

8 How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.

9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?

10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

After I had read this, still scratching my head, yet very sobered at what I had read, I knew I was supposed to do something with the scriptures I had read. It was such a sobering message, I knew I had to pass it along, but how? What could I say? Then I read what I was supposed to read for the day. What a comfort I found there!

Jeremiah 1:4-9
4Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
9 Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

So, here is what I learn from these Scriptures....

The Lord is talking about His people Israel, but I think this also applies to us today. Listen.

• Why then is this people ... slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return.

As I read this, I was reminded of many religions out there that match what this is saying. They teach deceit and their people hold fast to deceit. When truth is presented they put up a wall and refuse to hear it.

• they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

Their repentance consists of guilt and trying to atone for their own sins through works imposed on them by religious leaders or themselves instead of coming to Christ Jesus in faith and repentance and accepting His atonement on their behalf as payment in full. Christ's atonement is not sufficient for them. They feel they must do all they can to atone for their own sins and Christ only makes up what they couldn't do.

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast."

It never occurs to them that their righteousness is as filthy rags to a Holy God and their only hope is in the blood of Jesus' perfect sacrifice for sin. Isaiah 64:6 ¶ "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

• my people know not the judgment of the LORD.

The NIV says "My people do not know the requirements of the LORD." The KJV says "judgements". The Hebrew indicates that the word judgement here can be interchanged with the words requirements, law, ordinances etc.

This is a day when religious leaders are watering down God's Word. They don't want to offend anyone with the Truth. The people are starved for the Truth but they are not getting it. They do not know the requirements of the LORD.

False religions teach that the Bible can not be trusted so their people are not encouraged to read it and learn it and know what God's requirements are for themselves. They are told to listen to their church leaders instead who will tell them what God says.

• How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain.

Many religions have their own set of scriptures that are revered above the revealed Word of God, the Bible. But Jeremiah says the pen of their scribes is in vain, dealing falsehood.

• The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them?

Their wise men have rejected the Word of God. Psalm 119:9 " Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word." John 17:17 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

Their priests and prophets deal falsely. The NIV says they are all greedy for gain. Deuteronomy 18:22 "When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him."

• they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

They give their people a false sense of peace that all is right when in fact they are being led to the very depths of Hell.

The following verses tell what will happen to them and the last verse tells what we need to do:

Jeremiah 8:12-14
12 Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.
13 ¶ I will surely consume them, saith the LORD: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

What We Need to Do

14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there: for the LORD our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of gall to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

Ecclesiastes 5:2 "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few."

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.(KJV)