When I was a senior in high school, there was a watch that was all the rage.  Everybody that I knew wanted one.  As I look back and remember, the thing was actually kind of garish, really.  It was had a gold dial and the face of the thing was three vertical colors, red, green and blue, I believe.  I mean, objectively, the thing looked awful but, what can I tell you?  It was all the rage way back in 1989.  That year we also happened to take our Senior Class Trip.  That year, our destination was New York City.  We were looking forward to the city, the shows and the culture of the much larger town.  And while we were there, fortune shined her face upon me, or so I thought.  Walking down a random street in New York City and, lo and behold, what do I happen to find on the wrist of a street vendor but none other than that highly sought-after Gucci watch.  How great is that, right?  Now, part of me at the time felt bad for whoever’s truck this particular watch had fallen off of.  After all, since it was being sold for a paltry $50, I knew that it had to be “hot.”  But I wasn’t going to let a little unethicality keep me from the score of all scores.  I haggled with the guy a bit, my dad taught me to do that so I thought I did him proud.  Purchased that $500 watch for just $40.  It was the steal of the century, right?  Not so much.  That cheap knockoff watch didn’t even last the remainder of our trip to New York City before conking out.  Now look, it was fairly obvious pretty quickly that I hadn’t scored the deal of a lifetime but, rather, was just another small-town rube getting taken in the Big Apple.  Counterfeits stink, that’s what I learned.   Thankfully, I wasn’t the biggest sucker of the trip.  One of my classmates thought they were getting a fantastic deal on a stolen VCR.  When they got it back to the hotel and opened the box what was inside was, no kidding, just an appropriately sized rock.  Both that guy and I can attest to this day, that unless you’re sure you’re getting the genuine article, stay away.

We’ve probably all gotten taken at some point in our lives.  It just seems to be the nature of living on this side of eternity that everyone becomes a con man’s prey at some point no matter how savvy you think you are.  And we all know the bad feelings when the counterfeit products let us down.

But what about the Gospel?  Are there counterfeit versions of it out there in the world?  ABSOLUTELY!  In fact, do a Google search on it and you’ll see just how many false Gospels people think are out there.

And while it was pretty annoying to have gotten fleeced up there in New York City, I recovered from my loss relatively quickly.  False watches can only do so much damage to you, even if your friends remember the incident years after the fact.  False gospels, on the other hand, can exact a far worse toll.  They can dampen your faith life and make what should be a vibrant experience of life into something far less enjoyable.

So, our goal today is to talk about the Gospel.  The real one and it’s false variants.  The aim of course is to make sure that we’re following the Lord as best as we’re able.

So, what is the Gospel?  I rather like this definition of it from John Piper – “The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for our sins and rose again, eternally triumphant over his enemies, so that there is now no condemnation for those who believe, but only everlasting joy. That’s the gospel.”

A few things need to be noted about this true Gospel to being with.  To begin with, the Gospel is only really good news FOR SINNERS.  Yep, this good news is reserved only for the sinners among us.  The Gospel is the Good News of what God the Father has done through the Son Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit to save sinners.  Through Jesus Christ, God has rescued sinful humanity from the snare of sin and the punishment of death by the atoning work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

The Scriptures go on to tell us that this Gospel is received BY FAITH and by Faith alone, which is itself the gift of God.  That’s in Ephesians 2, by the way.  That’s the Gospel.

Notice what’s not such a bit part of it.  You.  Now, on the one sense, you are the recipient.  You receive the Gospel like a gift.  But the work, the activity, the juice?  That’s all God.  Only the thing is, there are a lot of things out there that sound like, or even are reported to be the Gospel, but are NOT.  On top of that, this world offers us a host of things, philosophies and beliefs that are all assumed to be equal with the Gospel.  But these, too, are false paths which can lead to dark outcomes.  This awareness becomes more complicated when you realize that various denominations are frequently promoting one of more different versions of these False Gospels.  It’s the reason that I think it’s so important that you have a base-line knowledge of the Word.  Otherwise, how will you ever know?