Heresy Accelerating Through Evangelical Americans
According to a report in Christianity Today online, “American evangelicals’ grasp on theology is slipping… .” The trend is deeply disturbing, but God hasn’t abandoned us. He’s given us insight to truth that continues to inform His children. The following growing trends in false beliefs have been tracked in the survey cited above:
That the Bible is not literally true.
That God accepts faiths outside of Christianity.
That Jesus is a created being.
That Jesus was only a teacher, but not God.
That the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being.
That People are good by nature.
A response to the rising tide of heresy demonstrated by the results of the survey:
Is the Bible literally true?
The Bible is literally true. It isn’t just a collection of myths or stories. It is literally the Word of God, developed as His love letter to His children. If you’d like to know why I’m so certain that this is the case, please consider reading my book here. I’m not speaking from blind faith, but from lived experience. None of the rest of these answers matter if you do not agree with the basic premise that the Bible is the Word of God.
My book provides evidence, which I hope will sway your understanding and faith. If you find yourself agreeing with the things I’ve written therein, you may then profit from the rest I’ve written here.
Does God accept faiths outside of Christianity?
Religion that God accepts as pure and faultless is to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27). How does one understand what God means by this? To know, one must approach the matter from an understanding of God’s values. To gain an understanding of God’s values, one must study God’s Word.
Everything God desires can be rightly summed up in the two commands uttered by Christ in Matthew 22:37-40 and Mark 12:29-31: (essentially) Love God with all that you are, feel, think, and do, and love your neighbor as yourself. What does God require of you? To act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8).
Having said that, I will say this: Job, Abraham, and Noah found favor in God’s sight without the Holy Bible or understanding of Jesus as Lord and Savior. It is God’s job to judge the world, not mine. Those who know the will of the Father and do not get ready or do it, will be beaten with many blows; those who do not know and do something worthy of punishment will be beaten with few blows (Luke 12:47-48).
Did God create Jesus?
No. Jesus is eternally co-existent along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. (John 1:1-3) Furthermore, He is the Alpha and Omega, the First and Last, the Beginning and the End, the Root and Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star. He was and is and is to come. He is the Ever-Existent One, the Great I AM. (Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13, 22:16, & Matthew 22:41-45)
Was Jesus just a teacher?
No. Jesus told others who He was every time He said, “Ego eimi.” I AM. The Ever-Existent One, the Great I AM. He was and is and is to come. There is never a moment in eternity when He cannot speak the truth in His Name: “I AM.” It is for this reason that when they came for Him in Gethsemane they fell over backward at the sound of those words in John 18:6. The word “He” gets inserted for clarity, but the sound that caused them to fall over was the most holy utterance spoken by God, the Name given to Moses, the Name the Jews fear to speak (and for good reason).
Is the Holy Spirit the third person of the Trinity?
The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity, eternally co-existent with the Father and Son. From the far future, the Spirit calls out to you, “Come!” (Revelation 22:17)
Do people really have a sinful nature?
Consider this: Do you love God with your entire being from the time you awaken until the time you sleep? No? Then you have a sin nature. Have you always treated others exactly the way you’d want to be treated if you had their abilities, needs, and interests? No? Then you have a sin nature. Our idea of what makes us sinners and God’s idea of sinfulness are not necessarily the same. To sin (an archery term) is to miss the mark. Do you know anyone who has never EVER missed the mark? No? Then you don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a sin nature.