Do You Follow the Jesus of the Bible?

Are You in the Right Gospel?

How do you know if you are following the right Jesus? How do you know you are in the right gospel? How do you know if you are following the right spirit? This may sound like a crazy question to ask, and you may want to stop reading this, but Paul talks about this in two of the letters he wrote. I personally never would have thought to ask this myself years ago. As I read the scripture, I have come to realize what I was taught growing up was not in the Bible; it was a different Jesus, being taught by a different spirit, and it was not the gospel.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul is talking to the church of Corinth when he expresses his concern for people following a different Jesus, accepting a different spirit, and listening to a different type of preaching.

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.
2 Corinthians 11:2-4 NASB® 1995

In Galatians 1, Paul is talking to these people about following some other teaching rather than what he said to them. He calls it a different gospel.

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
Galatians 1:6-9 NASB® 1995

Paul states that these people preaching a different gospel are accursed.
“accursed”: Lexicon in Biblehub: The Greek word “accursed” is anathema (331); Accursed, devoted to destruction, offering;
HELPS Word-studies: 331 anáthema (from 303 /aná, "up" concluding a process, which intensifies 5087 /títhēmi, "to place") – properly, place up, referring to something pledged (given up) to destruction; a divine curse/ban ("accursed"); an "oath-curse."

We need to check for ourselves to see if we are following the true gospel. We can do this by examining our lives and the people we follow to see if we and the people we follow are imitators of Jesus in the Bible. Paul, Peter, and John are just a few of the many examples to look at in scripture to see if our lives line up with theirs.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7.

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:15-23 NASB® 1995

I grew up in a different gospel; it was not the one of the Bible, and as Paul states, not that there is another gospel, but people present other messages and claim it is the gospel. The problem is that what they are presenting is not found in scripture, or sometimes the message is given in partiality, or it is twisted and taken out of context. It could also be completely made up from something else—a different spirit. In 1 Timothy 4:1, Paul tells Timothy this.

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
1 Timothy 4:1 NASB® 1995

I personally never thought I was following a doctrine of demons because I believed and was taught Jesus died on the cross and rose again, but I never heard to repent and bear fruit in keeping with repentance. I was never taught to test the spirits to see if what I was listening to was true. It seemed to me that there was truth in it, so it must be the truth. It turns out, though, that after reading scripture, I couldn't find most of what I learned in scripture.

1 John 4 tells us to test the spirits we hear so that we don't become false prophets.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4:1-6 NASB® 1995

“confesses”: Lexicon in Biblehub: The word “confesses” is the Greek word homologeō (3670); it means to confess, to acknowledge, to agree
HELPS Word-studies: 3670 homologéō (from 3674 /homoú, "together" and 3004 /légō, "speak to a conclusion") – properly, to voice the same conclusion, i.e. agree ("confess"); to profess (confess) because in full agreement; to align with (endorse). homologéō ("confess") means to speak the same thing, i.e. "assent, agree with, confess, declare, admit"

This is another way we know if we are in the correct gospel and listening to the right spirit. We need to make sure the person or spirits we are listening to speak the same language as the Jesus that is in the Bible.

We shouldn't assume, because we like our pastors or teachers, that they won't lie to us. They may not think they are lying. They may believe in what they are telling you, but it could be completely wrong. Scripture tells us this in 1 Corinthians 11:13–15 about Satan and his workers.

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NASB® 1995

This is why it is so important to look at our own deeds and the deeds of the people we listen to and the people we follow because Jesus says this.

For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.
Matthew 16:27 NASB® 1995

Revelation says this about how we will be judged on judgment day.

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.
Revelation 20:11-13 NASB® 1995

If you find yourself in a different gospel following people who do not teach the scriptures in context or leave things out completely, this is what the scripture says to do.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.
2 John 7-11 NASB® 1995

This word “acknowledge” is the same Greek word as “confesses” above in 1 John 4.
It means to speak the same language. So if the person does not speak the same language, beware. John is telling us that we are not to receive people into our homes if they do not bring the teaching from scripture. John says, "Do not give him a greeting." Please examine the scripture to see if you and the people you are following are speaking the same language as the Bible. Also, examine your deeds to see if your deeds line up with the people in scripture.

As humans, we spend a lot of time doing "things," but are those things going to be pleasing to God on the day of judgment? I don't want to be shocked on judgment day, so I comb through the scriptures and do not depend on others to tell me what the Bible says. I encourage everyone reading this to do the same. I had to throw out what I grew up in and read the Bible and learn what it ACTUALLY says, not what I was told it said. I started realizing that I had been lied to. This drove me to dig deep into scripture and to examine the Hebrew and Greek words for myself. I encourage everyone to do the same.

References:

Lexicon: Biblehub.com

Preaching The Gospel1 Heart 1 MindApril 23, 2025