Barna Survey<\/b><\/p>\n
In a survey conducted by the Barna Research Group in 1992, nearly 1\/3 of all born-again Christians stated that all good people will go to heaven, whether they have embraced Jesus Christ or not.<\/p>\n
While 88% in a recent Barna poll believe Jesus Christ was a real person, what they believe about him differs sharply from scriptural teaching. 42% (even 1\/4th of the \u201cborn again\u201d Christians) believe that while on earth Jesus sinned just like other people. 61% believe the devil is just a symbol of evil, not a living being. And 54% think that if people are good enough, they will earn a place in heaven regardless of their religious beliefs. <\/p>\n
Barna Research Group, Nov. 2, 1994<\/p>\n
Resources<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 Universalism and the Logic of Revelation, N.M. de S. Cameron, The Best in Theology, Vol. 3, pp. 153ff<\/p>\n
\u2022 Immortality, the Other Side of Death, G. R. Habermas, J. P. Moreland, Nelson, 1992, pp. 166ff.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Matthew 18:21\u201335 How long would it take the slave to repay a billion dollars??<\/p>\n
\u2022 Walvoord: A Tribute, Donald Campbell, ed., Moody, 1982, p. 169.<\/p>\n
Which One Is the Right One?<\/b><\/p>\n
Several cotton farmers were whiling away a winter afternoon around the potbellied stove. They soon became entangled in a heated discussion on the merits of their respective religions. The eldest of the farmers had been sitting quietly, just listening, when the group turned to him and demanded, \u201cWho\u2019s right, old Jim? Which one of these religions is the right one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell,\u201d said Jim thoughtfully, \u201cyou know there are three ways to get from here to the cotton gin. You can go right over the big hill. That\u2019s shorter but it\u2019s a powerful climb. You can go around the east side of the hill. That\u2019s not too far, but the road is rougher\u2019n tarnation. Or you can go around the west side of the hill, which is the longest way, but the easiest.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know,\u201d he said, looking them squarely in the eye, \u201cwhen you get there, the gin man don\u2019t ask you how you come. He just asks, \u2018Man, how good is your cotton?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Times Syndicate<\/p>\n
Those Who Haven\u2019t Heard <\/b><\/p>\n
At a recent missions conference attended by thousands of evangelical students, only one third of the participants indicated their belief that \u201ca person who does not hear the Gospel is eternally lost.\u201d <\/p>\n
Timothy George, in TableTalk, 1992<\/p>\n
What Are You Asking God To Do<\/b><\/p>\n
In the long run, the answer…is itself a question: \u201cWhat are you asking God to do?\u201d To wipe out their past sins, and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? But He has done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They will not be forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does.\u201d <\/p>\n
C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain<\/p>\n
The Heathen Being Saved<\/b><\/p>\n
Since Christ is the Word of God and the Truth of God, he may be received even by those who have not heard of his manifestation in the flesh. A proud and self-righteous morality is inconsistent with saving faith; but a humble and penitent reliance upon God, as a Savior from sin and a guide of conduct, is an implicit faith in Christ; for such reliance casts itself upon God, so far as God has revealed himself,\u2014and the only Revealer of God in Christ. We have, therefore, the hope that even among the heathen there may be some, like Socrates, who under the guidance of the Holy Spirit working through the truth of nature and conscience, have found the way to life and salvation. <\/p>\n
A. H. Strong, Systematic Theology, 1909, p. 843, quoted in Christian Apologetics in a World Community, W. Dyrness, IVP, 1983, p. 106.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Barna Survey In a survey conducted by the Barna Research Group in 1992, nearly 1\/3 of all born-again Christians stated that all good people will go to heaven, whether they have embraced Jesus Christ or not. While 88% in a recent Barna poll believe Jesus Christ was a real person, what they believe about him … Continue reading “Universalism”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}