Here are some shocking results of a devastating report from a June 2008 Pew Forum poll on the condition of the modern day church:
Members in Agreement with the Position Statement: "Many religions (other than Christianity) can lead to eternal life."
Mainline churches: 83%Members in Agreement with the Position Statement: "Scripture (the Bible) is the Word of God, literally true, word for word."
Evangelical churches: 57%
Catholics: 79%
Jews: 82%
Mainline churches: 22%Members Reporting Their "Frequency of prayer: daily."
Evangelical churches: 59%
Catholics: 23%
Jews: 10%
Mainline churches: 53%Member Reporting They "Attend religious service once or more each week."
Evangelical churches: 78%
Catholics: 58%
Jews: 26%
Mainline churches: 34%
Evangelical churches: 58%
Catholics: 42%
Jews: 16%
"Mainline churches" consists of:
- The Episcopal Church USA
- The American Baptist Church (ABC)
- The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
- The Presbyterian Church (PCUSA)
- The United Church of Christ (UCC)
- The United Methodist Church (UMC)
If there is a newer poll of these
questions, no doubt these numbers would be increased today. What this
poll reveals is that the majority of people in these churches and
synagogues are false converts headed to Hell on a greased pole, and yet
they have a false assurance of no salvation because certain individuals have pope-ishly declared them to be saved.
Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6), and yet over 50% of individuals in each category does not believe Him? Do they think that Jesus was lying? According to Numbers 23:19, God is incapable of lying.
In John 1:1, Jesus is identified as the "living Word," God incarnate. The Apostle Paul had said that "All Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Tim. 3:16). In other words, the written Word as originally given by God through the Holy Spirit is perfect and without error, and yet over 50% of those who identify as Evangelicals doubt God's Word to be true? Do they believe God to be a liar?
Jesus said there is only one way to God, and that is through Him. If you do not agree with Him, then you are not a Christian! The Bible is God's word to man, His instructions on how to get right and stay right with Him. If you doubt it and/or deny it, then you are not a Christian! Prayer, fellowship, and hearing of the Word of God were regular practices of the early church. If you never pray or attend services, or you dislike doing so, then you are not a Christian!
If you claim to be a Christian, yet you believe that there are many ways to eternal life and you doubt that the Bible is the true Word of God, and you never pray or attended services for fellowship and the hearing of the Word of God, then you are practicing a dangerous religion. You are religious, but you are not a Christian! You have not been regenerated. You have not been born again. You have not been saved. You are still dead in your trespasses and sins, holding on to a false assurance of a salvation that you do not possess!
You have more than likely been manipulated and lied to, fed a false Gospel, or you came under false pretenses (whether yours or the person who led you). A genuine born-again believer in Christ Jesus knows that He is the only way to salvation and eternal life. All other ways lead to eternity in Hell. A genuine born-again believer in Christ Jesus believes the entire Word of God, the Bible, to be literally true from cover to cover. Books outside of the canon of Scripture are not God-breathed, inspired, immutable, infallible, or inerrant. The 66 books of the Bible are all sufficient, authoritative for life and faith.
These results are indeed shocking. For a nation that claims to be 80% Christian, the majority of these professions are false. The Jesus they are worshiping is not the Jesus of the Bible, but one of their own making to suit their own agendas.