Young Christians Beliefs Concerning Salvation
Teleios Research surveyed Christian adolescents and millennials to determine their beliefs about salvation, defined as belief by faith alone in the forgiveness of sins by Christ’s death and resurrection. Of the 228 participants, the majority were: female (55%), <35 year old (64%), from the United States (75%), and evangelical (73%).
In total, 85% of respondents believed that they were saved alone by God’s forgiveness of their sins by faith in Christ. In contrast, 8% were unsure. Further,76% believed that they were forgiven completely of past, present and future sins by Christ’s work at the cross. In addition, about 50% each indicated they were regenerated into a new person and adopted into the family of God at salvation.
The responses were tied at 38% each for those who believed they were eternally secure once saved, or they could forfeit their salvation by not making Jesus Lord of their life. Further, 33% were concerned they could lose their salvation by blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
Approximately 50% indicated that God would never limit a true believer’s access to Him in prayer. In contrast, 26% believed personal sin would cause the Almighty to restrain their petitions to Him; 19% were unsure.
Further, 38% noted that since receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation nothing could cause Him to leave them. In contrast, 34% said blaspheming the Spirit, and 22% not doing what the Bible says, would cause Him to leave.
Regarding the regeneration by the Holy Spirit at salvation, 35% believed it could not be undone. In contrast, 29% said this was possible by blaspheming the Holy Spirit. About 20% each thought sinning too many times or not being obedient to what the Bible says could undo regeneration while 27% were not sure.
This study suggests younger aged evangelicals readily identify that they are saved by faith alone in Christ as the Bible teaches. However, they are often unfamiliar with many of the scriptural benefits occurring at salvation such as regeneration, receiving the Holy Spirit permanently and security. Therefore, they often believe these benefits can be reversed most often through sinful behaviors. These findings offer an opportunity for pastors and teachers to further instruct young believers to the full ramifications of their biblically based salvation.
Complete results of this survey can be found here.
WC Stewart, JA Stewart, LA Nelson
You can find complete survey data here.
There were 228 responses to this survey. Please find below the biblically correct answers with Bible verses next to them. We hope they are informative and a help. For full results of the survey please click here.
- When I die I will go to heaven:
- No, I will not be admitted
- No, there is no heaven
- Yes, my good works outweigh my bad
- Yes, I have tried to live a good life
- Yes, God forgives me by faith through Christ’s death on the cross***Salvation is by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9)
- Yes, God forgives me because of my good works
- What else was accomplished at the time of your salvation:
- The Holy Spirit sealed me until the day of my redemption ***Ephesians 1:13-14
- I was regenerated into a new person ***Romans 6:2-12
- The Holy Spirit placed me into the church***1 Corinthians 12:1
- I was forgiven completely for past, present and future sins through the blood of Christ ***Hebrews 10:5-19
- I was adopted into the family of God ***Ephesians 1:5
- Nothing else happened at salvation except I was saved
- As a born again believer, I can lose my salvation due to:
- Committing the same or different sins too many times
- Nothing; salvation once accepted by faith cannot be lost ***Scripture has no verse that indicates once saved by faith, salvation can be lost and all the benefits described in question 2 reversed
- Blaspheming of the Holy Sprit
- Committing a really bad sin (for example, sexual sin or murder).
- Not asking for forgiveness after committing each sin
- Not asking for forgiveness at least on a regular basis
- Not making Jesus Lord of my life
- Not doing what the Bible says
- God’s random wrath
- As a born again believer, God might limit my access in prayer because:
- Personal sin
- Not praying according to God’s word in the epistles
- Not doing enough good works
- Not praying in my prayer language (i.e., in tongues)
- Not praying hard enough
- Not praying frequently enough
- Not asking enough other people to pray for me
- People praying against me
- Satan’s attacks against me
- Nothing, God will not limit my access to Him in prayer***Scripture has no verse that indicates God limits access to prayer for a Christian saved by grace. Only believers themselves can limit their access to God.
- As a born again believer, what can make me lose the Holy Spirit and His sealing:
- Committing the same or different sins too many times
- Nothing; the Holy Spirit seals me unto the day of my redemption ***Scripture has no verse that indicates that the Spirit can be taken from a Christian saved by faith.
- Committing a really bad sin (for example, sexual sin or murder).
- Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit
- Not asking for forgiveness after committing each sin
- Not asking for forgiveness at least on a regular basis
- Not being obedient to what the Bible says
- I do not possess the Holy Spirit until I receive a second filling
- A Christian does not routinely possess the Holy Spirit
- As a born again believer, what can undo the Spirit’s regeneration of a believer to a new person and reactivate the old depraved person:
- Committing the same or different sins too many times
- Committing a really bad sin (for example, sexual sin or murder)
- Not asking for forgiveness after committing each sin
- Not asking for forgiveness at least on a regular basis
- Not being obedient to what the Bible says
- Nothing; the scripture makes no provision for undoing our regeneration ***Scripture has no verse that indicates once a Christian is regenerated at salvation the new self can be killed and the old dead person resurrected.
- Not making Jesus Lord of my life
- Not doing what the Bible says
- When I die I will go to heaven:
Christian Beliefs Concerning Salvation
CHARLESTON, S.C. – July 16, 2019 – PRLog — Teleios Research surveyed Christians to determine their beliefs about salvation. Of the 201 participants the majority were: female (55%), <35 years old (64%), from the United States (75%), and evangelical (73%). We received 228 responses.
In total, 85% of respondents believed that they were saved alone by God’s forgiveness of their sins by faith in Christ. In contrast, 8% were unsure. Further,76% confirmed that they were forgiven completely of past, present and future sins by Christ’s work at the cross. In addition, about 50% each indicated they were regenerated into a new person and adopted into the family of God at salvation.
Responses were tied at 38% each for those who believed they were eternally secure once saved, or they could forfeit their salvation by not making Jesus Lord of their life. Further, 33% were concerned they could lose their salvation by blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
Approximately 50% noted God would never limit a true believer’s access to Him in prayer. In contrast, 26% believed personal sin would cause the Almighty to restrain their petitions to Him while 19% were unsure.
Further, 38% expressed since receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation nothing could make them lose Him. In contrast, 34% said blaspheming the Spirit, or 22% not doing what the Bible says, would cause Him to leave.
Regarding the regeneration by the Holy Spirit at salvation, 35% believed it could not be undone. In contrast, 29% said this was possible by blaspheming the Holy Spirit. About 20% each thought sinning too many times or not being obedient to what the Bible says could undo regeneration while 27% were not sure.
William C. Stewart, MD, co-founder of Teleios, stated that ‘the findings were quite positive in that self-identified evangelicals recognize generally they are saved by grace alone. However, many might suffer from guilt or fear because they do not completely grasp the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice to purchase and secure their salvation.’
This study suggests evangelicals readily identify that they are saved by faith alone in Christ as the Bible teaches. However, they are often are unfamiliar with many of the scriptural benefits occurring at salvation such as justification, regeneration, access to God in prayer and receiving the seal Holy Spirit; all of which covey a security to their salvation.
These findings offer an opportunity for pastors and teachers to further instruct young believers to the full ramifications of their biblically based salvation.
Complete results of this survey can be found here (https://www.surveymonkey.com/
WC Stewart, JA Stewart, LA Nelson
About Teleios – Teleios is a non-profit foundation that seeks to demonstrate the truth of scripture and the Christian faith through scientific methods by providing evidence for the positive results of a biblically-based lifestyle. Prior studies conducted by Teleios have shown that the practice of the Christian faith (praise, prayer, fellowship, service and Bible study) and security of salvation increases well-being while reducing guilt.
