Wednesday, May 11, 2011

True Faith, Where Is It?

Luke 18: 8 asks "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"  I was reminded of this verse as I was reading a fairly recent Barna report.   In a day when tolerance is embraced most of the statistics weren't all that surprising.  Of the individuals surveyed here are a handful of the results:
  • 43% agreed and 54% disagreed with the statement, “It doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons.” 
  • 40% agree and 50% disagreed with the statement, "All people are eventually saved or accepted by God, no matter what they do, because he loves all people he has created”
  • 48% agreed and 44% disagreed with the statement, "If a person is generally good or does enough good things for others, they will earn a place in heaven.” 
  • 59% of adults believe that “Christians and Muslims worship the same God even though they have different names and beliefs regarding God.”
Barna then asked some questions to those who  are considered born-again.  They specify in this report that the term "born again" was applied to  "those who have made a commitment to Jesus Christ and who believe they are going to heaven because of their confession of sins and accepted Christ as their savior. It is not based upon self-identifying with the label 'born again.'"  Upon surveying the group of born again individuals they discovered that 25% believe all people are eventually saved or accepted by God. 26% believe it doesn’t matter what religious faith you follow because they all teach the same lessons. 40%  indicated that they believe Christians and Muslims worship the same God. 

People easily tolerate false teachings, but it's the truth that wounds and cuts.  Yes, the "Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword . . ."  Hebrews 4:12  Wouldn't it be startling for us to realize how few individuals who consider themselves born again are truly converted?   The gospel has been watered-down or added to in so many churches.   So few are living a life of true faith.

1 comment:

  1. Those are very sad statistics that really show what happens when people go to watered-down seeker-sensitive churches and don't receive the pure milk of the Word; nor do the grow in grace and knowledge of the truth. Sadly, those people appear to believe in "a god" and "a jesus", but from their answers its clear that its not the God of the Bible. My heart breaks for these people who believe they are saved, though they are likely on the road to perdition. May God open their eyes and fill them with His saving grace

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