Many things have counterfeits:

coun·ter·feit
/ˈkoun(t)ərˌfit/

adjective: made in exact imitation of something valuable or important with the intention to deceive or defraud.

Christianity is no exception. What Satan cannot destroy he copies, like the Pied Piper first leading away the rats and then the children with an attractive tune.

If you’re still reading, please stay with me to the end.

Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 7:13-14 NIV

Some counterfeits are obvious, but they are so alluring that they don’t need to be disguised. The attraction is all in the lure and it’s appeal to the carnal nature of man.

Others are not, these are the counterfeits that look, smell and feel like the real thing but are only obvious to those who choose to live by God’s Spirit and to know His Word well.

Most will have stopped reading by here. The taste left in their mouth by scripture from the gospel of Matthew or the mention of “God’s Word” and “God’s Spirit” might cross a line that they don’t believe in. Right there is a counterfeit that most are led to the wide gate by: “There is no God” or “I don’t want to know a God who does or allows…”.

If you do fall into the above category and are still reading, can I ask you something? Have you ever had a disagreement or bad experience with someone that has split your lives into separate directions? Now, years later, do you ever find yourself wondering what could have been if you had been able to sit down with that person and, humbly, talk about it? If you still have breath in your lungs, God is waiting to do just that and will never turn you away.

In reconciliation, someone has to make the first move. God already did approximately 2,000 years ago.

On the Roman governor’s steps, Pilate offered a choice between “Jesus, who is called the Messiah” and “Barabbas”. We chose Barabbas, another counterfeit. In the Greek, his full name was “iēsous barabbas”, which translated means “Jesus, son of a father or master”. One was the promised Messiah, who would reconcile all creatures to God, the other a murderer whose name sounded like a description of the real Jesus.

Satan thought he had won, but he was masterfully outplayed. Jesus was crucified, evil cheered and celebrated, but the spotless lamb was sacrificed and the whole wrath of God laid on Him so we could stand before the Father, as spotless as Jesus Himself when He rose from the dead.

The Apostle Paul stated it plainly:

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Romans 10:9-10 NIV

Satan will throw many counterfeits in your path:

Being a “good person” without realizing you can never be:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 3:23 NIV

Jesus without surrender:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

Matthew 16:24-25 NIV

Self-centered “Christianity”:

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?

1 John 3:17 NIV

Sold out “Christianity”:

Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient.

Ephesians 5:6 NIV

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!

Galatians 1:8 NIV

Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

Deuteronomy 4:2 NIV

The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?

Jeremiah 8:9 NIV

Jesus plus “something else”:

“You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:3 NIV

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21 NIV

Idols aren’t necessarily a figure that sits on a shelf that you worship, it can also be anything that “owns” you as well as or instead of God. God doesn’t mind us having things, but He does mind things having us.

None of us are perfect, nor are we able to be. It’s only by accepting Jesus’ atonement for us that we can be reconciled to God. This brings up another counterfeit:

“Clean yourself up so you can come to God.”

The truth:

“Come to God and let Him clean you up.”

But what about the Christians that don’t seem very Christ like? Why should I want to be that?

There is another counterfeit. They aren’t Christ-like at all. Truth is, the Spirit of God likely does not live in them.

If someone claiming to be from the IRS came to your door, wanting to “see your files”, would you just accept them at their word and let them in? You shouldn’t… “Let me see some ID please”.

Truth is, the Bible teaches us how to spot the counterfeit Christians too. “You shall know them by their fruit”, Jesus said. In other words, somethings authenticity is proven by what it produces.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Matthew 13:44-46 NIV

You’d better believe that the merchant knew a real, quality pearl when he saw one.

Read the Bible, spot the counterfeits.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17-20 NIV