The 7 Counterfeits No One Warns You About
The red lines in the sand every believer needs to draw
All Christians and, more importantly, new believers face a constant threat.
The world, religion, and well-meaning people will all push counterfeits your way.
To discern true Christianity, you need to know what it isn’t.
There are seven contrasts here. Seven lines in the sand.
1. Religion vs. The Gospel
This is the most important distinction you can ever make.
Religion is man’s attempt to get to God through moral performance, ritual, and membership.
The Gospel is the truth that God reaches us through the perfect and finished work of Jesus Christ.
MacArthur makes his entire case in The Gospel According to Jesus on this single distinction: religion demands something from you; the Gospel declares something was done for you.
There is an absolute distinction here.
Religion says: “Do better. Try harder. Earn your standing.”
Jesus declared: “It is finished” (John 19:30).
Ephesians 2:8–9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith... not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Your church attendance and moral achievements will never save you. Good deeds may prove salvation. They will never produce it.
2. Intellectual Belief vs. Saving Faith
Many people believe about Jesus. That is not the same as trusting in Jesus.
Belief means acknowledging facts: the historical Jesus, the Resurrection, the existence of a God.
Saving faith is the complete surrender of your mind, will, and affections to Christ as Lord and Savior.
Sproul leaned heavily on the Reformers’ distinction between assensus (intellectual agreement) and fiducia (personal trust) to argue that saving faith is not knowing facts about Christ; it is resting the soul upon Him alone. (Faith Alone)
“Even demons believe and shudder,” according to James 2:19. And yet, they remain condemned.
Romans 10:9: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Have you accepted facts about Jesus, or have you surrendered your life to Him? That is the real issue.
3. Guilt vs. Godly Sorrow
Not every feeling of guilt leads to repentance.
Guilt is the sense of condemnation when someone catches you doing something wrong. Godly sorrow is grief over offending a holy God through your sins.
Washer’s entire case in The Gospel’s Power and Message is that true repentance is not based on sorrow over consequences. It is sorrow over sin as a direct offense against a holy God.
Guilt drove Judas to sorrow and even suicide, yet he was still condemned (Matthew 27:3-5).
Godly sorrow led Peter back to Christ (John 21:15–17).
2 Corinthians 7:10: “Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”
When you sin, the response is not worldly guilt. Mourn that it displeased Him; then repent and turn away from it.
4. Justification vs. Sanctification
These go together, but they are separate realities.
Justification is God’s legal declaration of your righteousness; based on Christ’s perfect righteousness, which you received through faith alone. It happens once. It is complete. It never changes.
Sanctification is the ongoing process by which the Holy Spirit transforms you into Christ’s image. It is a gradual, progressive process that involves struggle, growth, and perseverance over your lifetime.
Sproul consistently argued that justification is the permanent ground of the believer’s standing before God, while sanctification is the ongoing evidence of that standing: the two are inseparable but still totally distinct concepts. (Faith Alone)
1 Corinthians 6:11: “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
You are not justified because you are becoming holy. You are becoming holy because you are justified.
5. Conviction vs. Regeneration
Many experience conviction without ever having saving faith.
Conviction is God using the Spirit to convict someone of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). However, it can be ignored and rejected.
Regeneration is God using the Spirit to give new birth. Only God can regenerate. It is a transformation of the whole person from the inside out.
Lloyd-Jones wrote that “conviction must always precede conversion; the gospel of Christ condemns before it releases.” But conviction is not the same as the new birth. One is the Spirit pressing on the outside of a closed door; the other is the Spirit opening it from within.
John 3:5–6: “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
Having a conviction of sin never saves anyone. You need to seek out the signs of genuine regeneration; namely a new passion for Christ and a hatred for sin, along with a newfound hunger for God’s word.
6. Assurance vs. Presumption
Assurance is a gift. Presumption is a trap.
Assurance is knowing that you are a child of God with a confidence based on Scripture, the internal witness of the Spirit, and the spiritual growth in your life.
Presumption is assuming you are saved based on a past prayer experiences, church membership, or family heritage; without ever examining whether genuine faith is actually present.
Washer stated it plainly: “The greatest heresy in the American Evangelical and Protestant church is that if you pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart, He will definitely come in.” That sermon became a book. The indictment has not changed. (Ten Indictments Against the Modern Church)
Self-examination is even commanded by Paul in the Bible (2 Corinthians 13:5).
2 Peter 1:10: “Be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.”
Don’t presume you have the assurance of salvation; examine yourself to see if anything has changed in light of the Gospel.
7. Fear of Man vs. Fear of God
This contrast will shape every day of your Christian life.
Fear of man is ordering your life around what people think of you.
Fear of God is reverent awe and respect of God’s holy nature, sovereignty, and rights. This awe frees you from needing the approval of man.
MacArthur wrote in his Proverbs introduction that wisdom “is built on the fear of the Lord and the Word of God” not one virtue among many, but the foundation beneath all the others. (MacArthur Study Bible)
Fear of man is a snare (Proverbs 29:25). Fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).
Matthew 10:28: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
People will pressure you. Family, friends, and the culture will all tempt you to live contrary to the Gospel. The cure? Fear God more than you fear man.
These Contrasts Will Cost You Something
Even long-time believers fail to discern all the above contrasts.
They accept whatever the culture hands them, sit in churches that never address them, and build their worldview around false assumptions.
Ignorance is no longer a defense.
You know the difference between religion and the Gospel. True regeneration from mere conviction. Present assurance from past presumption.
That knowledge demands something: now you must act.
Examine yourself. Go deep in Scripture. Refuse to be deceived by counterfeits.
“He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)
He is faithful. Are you?
To His Glory,
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