What do you believe about Jesus Christ? You might be shocked to know that less than half of those who call themselves Christians believe this statement -- “Jesus Christ did not commit sins during His time on earth.” Wow! This is based on a survey by the Barna Group March 27, 2009. [This group serves the information needs of the church by offering statistics, resources, seminars and custom research on current cultural and spiritual trends. http://www.barna.org/.]
No one should judge another but questions do arise. Have these people who call themselves Christians ever read the Bible? It is clear in the Bible that Christ never sinned. Also Jesus was proved the son of God by His resurrection from the dead. [2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 4:15, 7:26; Romans 1:4; 1 Corinthians 15:14]. Though a core teaching of the Christian faith is the divinity and perfection of Jesus Christ, tens of millions of Christians do not accept this. If we as Christians do not believe these things about Christ, our faith is empty!
Also unfortunately, about 25% do not agree that the Bible is accurate in all of the principles it teaches. Further – over half of American Christians do not believe that Satan or the Holy Spirit exists. They believe that they are mere symbols of evil and good, but are not living beings. They do not realize that these entities are operating in their lives all the time. This to their peril!
If we don’t know the truth about Satan, we do not cast him out of our lives regularly. We blame God for our troubles, or we blame others. Satan is totally evil and will do anything to break up marriages and cause Christians to ignore God. In great contrast, the Holy Spirit is with those who believe and is a tremendous help. Those little urgings you get to choose the right path or to do something truly beneficial for yourself or others are from Him.
Another Barna study discovered that half of all adults now contend that Christianity is just one of many options that Americans can choose. Our country was founded on Christian beliefs, and I believe that God helped our nation to be strong to fight for what is right. Now so many no longer hold these truths dear, and are trying mightily to take Christ out of the schools and all government institutions. How sad for the USA! Some argue that if the government, a university, of other public institution favored Christian teachings, they are excluding consideration of all else. Perhaps this has some validity, but I don’t believe it is a strong enough reason. We need Christ in our laws and in education.
Interestingly, a huge majority of adults pick and choose what they believe rather than adopt a church or denomination’s slate of beliefs. That may be worth thinking about as only one fourth of “Christian” churches truly teach about Christ, even some of those claiming to be Jesus based.
Sadly, almost 25% of Christians surveyed do not believe that God is the “all-powerful, all-knowing Creator of the universe who rules the world today”. These people believe such things as “everyone is god”, god is realizing true human potential, etc.” What does God think about these folks? He likely regards them the same way He mourned over the wayward Jews in the Old Testament. He tolerated it for awhile, but finally punished them. Some astronomers are searching the heavens to find how the universe was formed. Many scientists continue to search for links to prove that humans evolved from apes or even sea creatures.
If those facts don’t bode enough bad news for Christianity, we also know that the vast majority of the world’s population follows other religions, or doesn’t believe in God the maker of Heaven and Earth at all. This is why Jesus said that only a small percentage of people will be a part of His Kingdom. In John 14:6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Today the most severe punishment we could possibly receive is to be separated from God. We need God in our lives and we need Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Otherwise we will end up knocking on Heaven’s door, greeted by Jesus who will say “I don’t know you”. I pray that those who do not have Jesus in their lives will wake up before it is too late.