A “born-again Christian” was defined as “those who
report having made a personal commitment to Christ and expect to get to
heaven because they accepted Jesus.” Sounds Biblical, doesn’t it?
Absolutely. These are the results of the survey.
·
26% believe all religions go to heaven. Check that out!
So much for John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through Me.
·
50% believe if you’re good enough you go to heaven. So much
for Titus 3:5 …not by works of righteousness which we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us…
·
35% don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus. (I wonder
what they do during their Easter service?) So much for Romans 10:9 …if
you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. They seem to be
missing the second part of that verse. They say Jesus is Lord, but they
don’t believe God raised Him from the dead and so according to this verse;
they are not actually saved.
·
52% don’t believe the Holy Spirit is a living entity. So much
for John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all
things that I said to you. (As well as John 15:26 and 16:7)
·
45% don’t believe Satan exists. Unbelievable! Do you see how
he has lulled them to sleep? So much for the 48 times that the Bible
mentions him by name. Jesus was even tempted by this “make-believe”
character. Mark 1:13 And He was there in the wilderness forty days,
tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to
Him.
·
10% believe in reincarnation. So much for Hebrews 9:27 And
as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment
·
33% think its okay to be homosexual. See how the world has
been lulling the church to drift away from God’s Word. So much for 1
Corinthians 6:9-11 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will
inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed,
but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the Name of the Lord
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (Emphasis added)
·
39% believe fornication is acceptable. Read 1 Corinthians
6:9-11 again. This is probably a result of the next statistic.
·
The national average for non-Christians to divorce is 24%,
while 27% of ‘born agains” have been divorced. So much for Matthew 19:3-6
The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, "Is it
lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?" And He answered
and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning
'made them male and female,' "and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave
his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become
one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what
God has joined together, let not man separate."
·
Only 8% of ‘born agains’ actually held to Biblical beliefs.
Why is the church adrift? How has it become so
entangled in the world? Who is at the helm? Who is supposed to be caring
for this flock?
What does it say in Ephesians 4:11-12 And He Himself
(God) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and
some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Is it possible that
our “Equippers” are asleep as well? The following statistics are from
another article entitled Stray pastors by the same Gene Edward Veith,
in World magazine February 7, 2004.
·
49% of Protestant pastors reject one or all of seven core
Biblical truths. What are these tough theological beliefs?
1. There is absolute moral truth based on the
Bible [2
Peter 1:3].
2.
Biblical teaching is accurate [2 Timothy 4:2].
3.
Jesus was sinless [2 Corinthians 5:21].
4.
Satan exists [mentioned 48 times in the
Bible].
5. God has
all power (omnipotent) and all
knowledge
(omniscient) [Luke 1:37 and Psalm 147:5].
6. We are
saved by grace alone [Ephesians 2:8-9].
7. Christians should share the gospel with others
[Matthew 28:19-20].
Any minister in any Protestant denomination that calls
upon Jesus Christ should be able to agree to this. These are questions that
every Sunday School child should be able to quickly and decisively answer.
It doesn’t ask whether you believe in women pastors, or what method of
baptism should be used, or how often communion should be served. So who are
the pastors who will not take such a “firm” position?
·
The denomination with the best results was the Southern
Baptists. 29% of Southern Baptist pastors can’t follow these seven Biblical
truths.
·
The denomination with the worst results was the Methodist
church. 73% of Methodist pastors refuse to accept these as true.
·
There is one other notable group. 85% of female pastors in
Protestant denominations reject these core beliefs. The lowest ranking of
all those who were surveyed.
Are you ready for this?
This has led to 93% of regular church members rejecting
these same truths. Unless you are an “evangelical, born again” then only
91% of them reject these Biblical principles.
What does that tell you? Veith concludes, “merely
preaching good sermons and offering helpful programs does not enable most
believers to develop a practical and Scriptural theological base to shape
their life…if the 51 percent of pastors who have a biblical worldview were
to strategically and relentlessly assist their congregants in adopting such
a way of interpreting and responding to life, the impact at large would be
enormous.”
