“Researchers found that the percentage of Americans who
claim they never pray reached an all-time high in 2014, up five-fold since the
1980s. Over the same time period, belief in God and interest in spirituality
appears to have similarly declined, especially among young adults.
“The findings suggest that, ‘millennials are the least
religious generation in memory, and possibly in American history,’ ” says Jean
M. Twenge, psychology professor at San Diego State University and coauthor on
the study.
“As of 2014, nearly
one third of thirty-somethings who matured in the 2000s said they were
‘secular’ and one fifth reported that they were not even ‘spiritual’,
suggesting a decline not only in religious affiliated but also in the core
beliefs of Generation Y. The next generation, often referred to as iGen, is
even more secular. By 2014, the number of 18 to 22-year-olds who reported
no religious affiliation rose from 11 percent in the 1970s to 36 percent;
the percentage who said they never pray rose from 4 percent to 28 percent.
Belief in God and attendance at religious serviced declined by half while
self-reported spirituality declined five-fold . . .
“One odd quirk,
however—Americans have become slightly more likely to believe in an afterlife, even as they are abandoning prayer,
belief in God and rituals. This, too, is perhaps a telling sign
of America’s newfound relationship with old-time religion. ‘It might
be part of a growing entitlement mentality,’ Twenge said. ‘Thinking you can get
something for nothing.’
*****
In his book on
dying, the world’s most famous Indian
guru, Deepak Chopra, dishes out the core satanic counterfeit of God's truth that says “who you meet in the afterlife and what you experience there
reflect your present beliefs, expectations and level of awareness. In the here
and now you can shape what happens after you die . . . Ultimately there is no
division between life and death—there is only one
continuous creative project.”*****
Obviously if you wind up in hell from unbelief in God's salvation plan through Jesus Christ there will be no creative anything; just sorrow and suffering,
*****
When
Paul wrote to the Corinthians he was dealing with a Greek culture that placed a
tremendous emphasis on the human wisdom of its philosophers—Socrates, Plato,
etc.
Their
whole worldly approach led the Corinthian Believers to begin to question
whether Paul really was sent from God.
“Their
thinking was, ‘Surely only a polished orator would be sent from God,’ and Paul
was deliberately rude in speech because the issue was the gospel message, not
his person,” explains Alex Kurz, associate pastor at Chicago’s Shorewood Bible
Church (shorewoodbiblechurch.org).
“What’s
going on at Corinth is there were a bunch of religious people (from the nation
Israel) who possessed credentials and reputation, and went in among the
Corinthians, casting doubt on Paul’s legitimacy. In turn, by using the law
system, they established a religious institution and the Corinthians fell for
it.
“Paul’s
response was, ‘I’d rather die than be a part of this duping.’ The Corinthians
were doubting whether Paul was even an apostle, and he wasn’t going to sit
there and allow the religious system to hold captive the saints at Corinth . .
.
“Paul
didn’t want to be viewed as one of the money-grubbing, money-hungry paid
professionals out there operating. That’s why he says, ‘I’m not going to take a
penny from you people. I’m going to sacrifice a liberty to collect money for
the purpose of opposing the religious system that’s taking root at Corinth.’
“In
II Corinthians 11: 22-23, Paul argues, ‘Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they
Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. Are they ministers
of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.’
“What
is it that Paul says is his boast and brag? Paul, when he rehearses his past
and lists his resume, had more religious credibility than anybody
else in Israel.
“As
we know from what he writes in Philippians 3:5 alone, Paul was ‘circumcised the
eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the
Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee.’
“Eighth-day
circumcision (means) he was raised by a family of dedicated and faithful
law-abiding Jews. The tribe of Benjamin was the most respected tribe in Israel.
His father was a Pharisee. Paul was of the conservative party; he was a
conservative within the ranks of the Jewish system.
“He
trained at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the most prominent Pharisees and teachers
of the law in Israel. We know from verse 6 Paul had bragged about his
prominence within the religious system and the rank of prestige he held . . .
“Paul
was not going to mimic this religious system anymore and that’s why he says,
‘I’d rather die if you think I’m going back to that system again! I’d rather
die than place a system of bondage there at Corinth!’
“He
wasn’t going to promote a denominational system; he did everything he could to
stay away from the institutionalization of a church ministry.
“The
Corinthians had a problem with that and Paul says, ‘You don’t understand why I
do what I do; I stand apart from religion.’ Paul writes to the Corinthians,
‘Touch not the unclean thing,’ and the unclean thing was the religious system.
The Corinthians misunerstood all that.”
*****
Southern California preacher John Verstegen, in going over the Apostle Paul’s admonition in I Corinthians 9 about a Believer’s “prize” and striving for an incorruptible heavenly crown, said, “It’s all going to be glory for us (out there), but it has to do with the ability to take God’s Word and function with it here, and hence when we get there we’ll be put into a position that is parallel to that capacity and functioning in grace developed here.
“By the way, I should say as well, that even when we’re there in the heavenly places we will continue to grow and develop in our capacity to serve. We’ll be studying and learning forever. Learning will never end. The Word of God is eternal in nature. Your soul and my soul—you and I will be learning forever.”
*****
Because of this reality that the Believer’s heavenly reward is dependent on their understanding and standing in grace, Satan seeks most of all to deceive Christians away from even grasping the concept of true grace, thereby preventing it from operating in any meaningful way in their lives.
As Jordan once outlined grace in a sermon, “Grace exalts the Lord Jesus Christ as nothing else can because it holds up His work at Calvary and says, ‘That’s the answer! That’s it!’
“God’s grace enables the Believer to recognize that sin has been successfully dealt with, and totally conquered and vanquished, and you don’t have to be under its control. Rather, you can walk as a son. You can live and be who you are in Christ, not who you are in yourself.
“People say, ‘Well, what you need to do is know yourself.’ Really?! I mean, I know me too well! What I want to know is who God has made me in Christ. The answer isn’t to get to know me better!
“Human wisdom says, ‘If you just understood your personality better and your temperament better.’ If, for example, you’ve got a phlegmatic temperament, understand the strengths and weaknesses of it and then you’ll know how to deal with things.
“Listen, the way to get victory isn’t focusing on you; it’s focusing on what God’s given you in Christ. That’s the path of victory.
“If I’ve got a sin in my life, I’m not threatened by it, thinking, ‘Oh no, I got to bring this thing in before the Lord and make Him understand.’ He’s already taken care of it.
*****
“Grace puts you on the spot. Grace demonstrates who you love; it manifests your heart. It shows who you love. He said, ‘By love serve one another.’ Not because you have to. Old man Bob Jones used to say that what you do in the dark is what you are. You know what he meant by that? He meant that whatever you would do—what would you do today if you knew you could do anything you wanted to do, bar nothing and never have to give account of it?
“I’m saying nobody would ever know it, nobody would ever hold you in account of it, nobody would ever punish you for it in any way? You could do anything you wanted to do and never face a judgment, never face an accounting, never have anybody call you on the carpet about it?
“Instinctively when you think about that, you think about that bad thing you’d do that you don’t do because if you did, it would get you in trouble.
“You know what grace does? It says, ‘Okay, no judgment. Judgment’s gone; it’s passed. I want you to do this because you love me.’
“You say, ‘What can I do?’ The answer is, ‘By love serve one another.’ And you go around singing, ‘Oh, how I love Jesus.’ Well, if you loved Him, what would you do? Didn’t He tell His disciples, ‘If you love me keep my commandments’?
“That’s the sonship position you have in grace. Walk under grace and serve God out of love and gratitude, doing it motivated by what He’s given you in Christ.”
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