| Marks of a false gospel | Marks of the true gospel |
| Treats Christ’s death as meaningless (2:21) | Teaches that the source of the gospel is God (1:11, 12) |
| Says people must obey the law in order to be saved (3:12) | Knows that life is obtained through death; we trust in the Son of God who loved us and died for us so that we might die to sin and live for him (2:20) |
| Tries to find favor with God by observing certain rituals (4:10) | Explains that all believers have the Holy Spirit through faith (3:14) |
| Counts on keeping laws to be right with God (5:4) | Declares that we cannot be saved by keeping laws; the only way of salvation is through faith in Christ, which is available to all (3:21, 22) |
| Says that all believers are one in Christ, so there is no basis for discrimination of any kind (3:26-28) | |
| Proclaims that we are free from the grip of sin and that the Holy Spirit’s power fills and guides us (5:24, 25) |