The Fading Away of Truth

Was Jesus a ‘good teacher’? Janet Parshall will let you know what some evangelicals think, in her commentary for this week.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:01):
In John 1030, we read where Jesus makes the clear
declaratory statement that I and the father are one. His
words remind us that Jesus is God incarnate, but more
and more think that is simply not true.

S2 (00:13):
Here to unpack present day issues from a biblical perspective
is Janet Parshall.

S1 (00:19):
A survey was conducted by LifeWay research for Ligonier Ministries,
who does a biennial State of Theology survey. The results
tell us the church is in big trouble. 52% of
those Americans surveyed say they believe Jesus was a good teacher,
but he wasn't God. That's the general population. And given
that we're witnessing the decline of culture where lawlessness has
replaced the rule of law, that figure's not surprising. Were

(00:41):
the really bad news comes in is where evangelicals stand
on the question of the divinity of Christ. Nearly a
third of evangelicals affirm the statement and believe that Jesus
was a good teacher and nothing more. 66% of evangelicals
disagree with the statement. That's one out of three evangelicals
who don't believe who Jesus says he was. LifeWay defined
evangelicals as those who strongly agree with four statements, the

(01:04):
Bible is the highest authority for what I believe. It's
very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust
Jesus Christ as their Savior. Jesus Christ's death on the
cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty
of my sin. Only those who trust in Jesus Christ
alone as their Savior receive God's free gift of eternal salvation. Additionally, 65%

(01:24):
of evangelicals believe that Jesus is the first and greatest
being created by God. But that's not what the Bible teaches.
In John one one we read in the beginning was
the word, and the word was with God, and the
word was God. In John 858, Jesus says, truly, truly,
I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. There
are multiple passages throughout Scripture where the divinity and the
eternality of Christ is declared, but for some facts just

(01:47):
get in the way. A spokesman for Ligonier Ministries responded
to the survey data by saying, statistics like these from
the State of Theology survey can give us quite a shock,
and they also shed light on the concerns that many
American Christians and churches have expressed for decades. As the
culture around us increasingly abandons its moral compass, professing evangelicals
are sadly drifting away from God's absolute standard. In Scripture,

(02:10):
it's clear that the church doesn't have the luxury of
idly standing by. This is a time for Christians to
study Scripture diligently, engage confidently with people in our culture,
and witness fearlessly to the identity and saving work of
Jesus Christ in the gospel. I couldn't agree more. When
one out of three evangelicals believes Jesus was merely a

(02:31):
good teacher and not God incarnate, it wouldn't take long
for Christianity to fade away into the ash heap of history.
But that will never happen. The grass may fade and
the flowers might wither, but the Word of God will
stand forever, and there will always be a remnant of
believers who will stand on it and for it forever.
Those are my thoughts. I'm Janet Parshall.

S2 (02:51):
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