Infected Beliefs

The Bible tells us who we really are - through the Word of God and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, we discover that we are sinners in need of a Savior. Romans chapter 3, at the beginning of what is called the "Romans road," states:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...

Then, it goes on to say:
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...

There is no scenario under which we can justify our sins - we can try to rationalize, but God calls us to admit our sins and repent, so that His power may be expressed through us. In the flesh, we cannot become better; but in the Spirit, we can become believers - redeemed by Him, saved through our act of faith. We are recipients of the grace of God; undeserved because of our sin, but made available because of His great love.

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The world will feed us the lie that everyone is basically good. But, the Scripture has another take in Romans chapter 3:
10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."

That's the bad news that leads us to the really good news - later in the chapter, we see these words:
20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.

The Holy Spirit enables us to guard against thinking that doesn't line up with the Scriptures.  We must adhere to a Christian worldview perspective, so that we can experience the freedom and joy that comes from knowing and abiding in the truth of God.

The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, which features the work of researcher George Barna has issued an important, thought-provoking list.  According to the Center's website...

...the “Top 10” most prevalent seductive unbiblical ideas embraced by American adults include:

• the spiritually inclusive idea that “having faith matters more than what faith you have”;
• all faiths are of equal value;
• belief in the Eastern religious concept of “karma”;
• the dismissal of absolute truth;
• commitment to personal, subjective morality;
• the idea that people are “basically good”;
• success is determined by happiness, comfort, goodness, or fulfilled potential;
• sexual relations apart from marriage are morally acceptable;
• rejection of the notion that people are inherently sinful;
• the idea the purpose of accumulated personal wealth is unrelated to God’s purposes.

This is from the American Worldview Inventory 2021, and the survey summary includes this bombshell of a statement: "The AWVI 2021 shows that even the 6% of adults who have a biblical worldview harbor many of these counter-biblical ideas as part of their personal philosophy of life."

Here are some of the ideas that have even infected the 6% of American adults who possess a biblical worldview:

• 42% also accept the idea that having some type of faith matters more than which one.
• one third (33%) embrace the concept of “Karma,” the idea rooted in Eastern religions that you ‘get what you give’.
• 14% believe there is no absolute moral truth.
• more than half (52%) believe human beings are basically good.

George Barna, Director of Research at the Cultural Research Center, states: “Whether we are taking charge of our destiny, our spirituality, boundaries dictated by truth, moral behaviors, or wealth management strategies, Americans are largely driven by a need to have control of every aspect of their lives..."  

And, isn't that a central struggle for all of us - who will be in control. And, as Barna points out, “It is clear from the research that most individuals—even a large majority of those who consider themselves to be Christian and participate in Christian activities—are unwilling to surrender the reins of their life to a God whom they do not personally know, understand, or trust.”

Looking over a chart of the percentages of people embracing these seductive ideas in a report at the ACU website, you find that the one with the highest degree of acceptance is this one: "Personal wealth is to be used to achieve outcomes other than advancing God’s purposes," at 81%.

But, the one with high numbers among the general population, as well as the only one that has over 50% of those with a Biblical worldview is the notion that, "People are basically good," embraced by 69% of all adults and 52% of those with a Biblical worldview. 

The report on the survey states:

Worldviews that conflict with the biblical perspective deny or downplay sin. For instance, Marxism teaches that people were originally good but were corrupted by society. Secular humanism posits that people are neither good nor bad, they are who they are. The view of Eastern Mysticism is that everyone is a divine creature engaged in the eternal pursuit of unity and a perfected consciousness, but certainly not inherently sinful.

The biblical narrative tells a different story, describing how Adam and Eve sinned and passed along a heritage of sinfulness to all of humanity (Rom. 5:12, 18; Ps. 51:5). The result is that no one is protected from having a sinful nature (Ps. 14:2-3, Luke 18:19). We cannot overcome the effects of sin without appropriating the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for our personal spiritual, eternal redemption.

One of the concepts that I think we can see based on this information is that we, as human beings, minimize the impact of sin.  By and large, we want to think of ourselves as good people - this affirms our sense of self-esteem and makes us feel worthy and important.  Truth is, we are not worthy of salvation - our sinfulness has separated us from God.  We are not, and never will be "enough" in our flesh - but Jesus is the all-sufficient Savior.  It is quite possible, I think, that our dependence on God is proportional to our lack of self-reliance and admission of our sinfulness.

We have to recognize that we are all sinners in need of a Savior; short of seeing that need, thinking perhaps we can save ourselves or earn favor with God through doing good works, keeps us from experiencing the transformation that Jesus died for and that God wants to bring about.

We have to make sure our views of Scripture are pure and not accommodate streams of thought that are contrary to the teachings of God's Word.  The world is full of philosophies that make people feel good or comfortable, but the centrality of the gospel is that in our discomfort, we can embrace the One who gives us peace.