Teleios: Christian Faith

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Be confident you are saved by grace!

Welcome back to my blog. Thank you for taking time to read it.

We have started a series on discovering exciting research findings from Teleios! Today let’s look at the compelling findings of a recent survey Teleios performed that explored the incidence of tares in the church. A tare is a plant that resembles wheat but cannot be correctly identified until harvest; so, Jesus’ term means those who appear as a Christian, but really are not true believers. Please read last week’s blog which discussed this fascinating topic.

To investigate the incidence of tares in the church, we performed a survey of users of the Instagram app, Instapray, often visited by young adult Christians. In total, 1526 individuals participated and 73% described themselves as evangelicals. Just over half had at least some college education and the average age was 23. The key finding in the survey was that while 94% of participants, when prompted by the correct answer, indicated they were saved by grace, while only 16% (78% difference) had confidence in the knowledge of their salvation to provide a correct answer without a written prompt. Was there a difference in the personal characteristics of this confident group of individuals who indicated without prompting they are saved by grace?

Participants who most confidently identified themselves as saved by grace:

Adhered more closely to the practice of their faith (prayer, praise, fellowship, outreach, Bible study, sharing the gospel)
Had greater confidence in the security of their salvation
Indicated better personal general wellbeing but also specific measures of wellbeing such as: contentment, peace, joy and purpose
Enjoyed reduced guilt levels

The survey reflects wonderfully how knowing and believing God's word can impact a person's wellbeing. Scripture indicates that our great salvation is by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9) and those who understand this well enough to confess it without prompting, as well was believing that it cannot be lost, on average enjoy better wellbeing.

Participants who most confidently identified themselves as saved by grace also indicated they had less feelings of guilt. The reduced guilt levels might have resulted by this group’s better understanding of the complete sufficiency of Christ’s forgiveness and that there is no sin so horrendous for which Christ’s precious sacrifice did not atone. Indeed, what a great Savior we have who provides for us every benefit not only to salvation but also a mentally healthy life!

Summary, this survey suggests that if a young adult who identifies themselves as evangelical can express confidently that they are saved by grace, and actively practice their faith, they may possess higher levels of wellbeing than those who do not. More results from this survey can be found here http://teleiosresearch.com/index.php/gospel-survey/.

Thanks for visiting my blog today. I’ll look for you again next week.

William C. Stewart, MD

Email – info@teleiosresearch.com

Website – http://teleiosresearch.com

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/TeleiosResearch

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/TeleiosResearch

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TeleiosVideos

X - https://x.com/TeleiosTweets

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@teleiostiktok

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/teleiosresearch

Disclaimer – This blog and its content are provided only as information and are intended for visitors 18 and older. No content on the website should be taken as advice or recommendation to any personal or institutional situation. The views expressed are those of the author alone and not necessarily either shared or endorsed by Teleios. Both the blog and the contents are subject to change at any time without notice. Although I endeavor to ensure that the blog and the content are current and accurate, it may contain errors. I do not represent that the blog or the content is current, accurate or complete, or appropriate for your specific requirements. I do not accept any liability from any person for the blog, the content or any other information (or the use of such information) I provide. I do not have a seminary degree, but I have trained myself in the scriptures to teach and provide this information. For any specific question, I suggest you contact experts in that field and/or do your own research into the scriptures.

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

How to help an unbeliever

Welcome back to my blog. I am honored you can visit. We have been discussing that the church is God's plan to implement His purposes for this time before Christ’s return. It should function efficiently with love and act consistently with God's word. In the last few weeks, we covered scriptural methods to recognize true and unbelievers (tares) in the church.

This week, let’s think about how we might help the church-attending unbeliever. It can be a tough sell! How can we bring an unbeliever’s attention to their own unbelief? Next week, we’ll provide a few suggestions about how to share your faith with an unbeliever.

What makes helping an unbeliever difficult is if you ask an unbeliever if they are a Christian, they most always will respond “yes.” Are they being dishonest? Consider that there are several levels of Christianity accepted in our culture.

· Christian Seeker - These are typically new church attendees who may not recognize that they are not true believers because they are interested in learning about Christianity. Generally, they are comfortable in the social setting of the church (which often is designed expressly for that purpose). A seeker may say they are a Christian. However, they may be more willing to admit they do not yet believe, as their motivation for church attendance may be to seek a solution to their needs, which might be spiritual.

· Social Christian - These are individuals, most likely church members or attendees, perhaps longstanding, who would readily indicate they are Christians. However, when asked to explain their Christian beliefs in specific terms, they might be unable to express the gospel, even with prompting. Unfortunately, since they typically are tied to the church and its social structure, they would be embarrassed to admit they are not truly a believing Christian; this would likely affect their self-esteem and social standing. Non-believers would fall into this group.

· Evangelical, born-again Christian - These Christians identify as saved by grace, by faith alone in the forgiveness provided by Jesus Christ‘s death on the cross (Ephesians 2:8-9).

What’s the problem? The first two groups are accepted socially and are comfortable within the typical evangelical church setting. Consequently, to confront them regarding salvation may (almost assuredly) produce a defensive posture and perhaps a damaged friendship.

How then can we bring these important church members to be willing to evaluate their own salvation in an objective way? Good question! We don’t yet know from research how to best approach them. Further, the method will likely differ per the individual. Consequently, we must cling to scripture where God reminds us to try to bring the gospel to all people. How to do this? We will discuss this interesting topic in the next blog!

Thanks for joining me today. I look forward to seeing you again next week!