Are we witnessing the decline of Christianity in America? When you examine all of the most recent poll numbers, the answer is inescapable. Christian churches in America are losing members rapidly, and this trend is especially dramatic among young Americans.
According to a stunning new survey by America's Research Group, 95 percent of 20 to 29 year old evangelicals attended church regularly during their elementary and middle school years. However, only 55 percent of them attended church regularly during high school, and only 11 percent of them were still regularly attending church when in college.
Those numbers have got to be incredibly sobering to the evangelical Christian leadership in the United States.
The reality is that young Americans are deserting the Church in America in droves.
The other day we came across an article in Advertising Age that blew us away. The article was discussing marketing and religion, but what impacted us so profoundly were some figures from the American Religious Identification Survey by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture at Trinity College.
According to that survey, 15% of Americans now say they have "no religion" which is up from 8% in 1990.
That would be bad enough news for evangelical Christianity.
But there is some more news from that survey that is much worse.
In that same survey, 46% of Americans between the ages of 18 to 34 indicated that they had no religion.
Forty. Six. Percent.
It is important to realize that not all of those 46 percent are unbelievers. According to a survey by Bohan Advertising/Marketing, the Barna Group and the United Methodist Church, 62 percent of Americans in that age group consider themselves to be "spiritual", and 43 percent of them have prayed to some higher power in the last 2 months.
But what it does mean is that almost half of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 do not identify themselves with any particular religion.
And when you look at more recent poll numbers for Christianity in particular, the numbers become even more staggering.
Another new survey by the Barna group reveals that less than 1 percent of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 23 hold a Biblical worldview. This new poll data clearly demonstrates that the youngest adults in America are clearly rejecting traditional evangelical Christian teaching.
The Barna survey defined "a Biblical worldview" as holding all of the following six key beliefs:
1) Believing that absolute moral truth exists.
2) Believing that the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches.
3) Believing that Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic.
4) Believing that a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or by doing good works.
5) Believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth.
6) Believing that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.
So what do all of these poll numbers mean?
They mean that evangelical Christianity has totally lost almost an entire generation of American young people.
Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor recently published an article about the "coming evangelical collapse" that they believe is coming. They openly predict that "within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants."
Ouch!
The reality is that nearly all Christian denominations are rapidly losing members at this point.
The most recent American Religious Identification Survey demonstrates this fact very clearly. According to that survey, the percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has dropped more than 11% since 1990. The survey also reports that Catholics, Baptists and other mainline Protestant churches have seen very large drops in numbers.
However, Islam, Wicca and eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism showed large gains in the survey.
The long-term trends look even more frightening for the churches in America. According to LifeWay Research, membership in Southern Baptist churches will fall nearly 50 percent to around 8.7 million Americans by the year 2050 if current trends continue.
But even more bad news for evangelical Christianity in America is that those who still call themselves Christians do not necessarily hold to traditional Christian beliefs any longer. Two other recent surveys reveal that the majority of American Christians believe that accepting Jesus Christ as savior is NOT the only way to eternal life.
USAToday recently reported on an almost unbelievable new survey that found that 52 percent of American Christians believe that eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Jesus Christ as their savior.
A different survey that was taken last year by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 57 percent of evangelical Christians in America believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life".
That shocking study revealed what many evangelical leaders have known for a long time - large number of "Christians" in the United States are throwing traditional Christian doctrines into the dumpster.
Evangelical Christians have traditionally been those who follow the teachings of the Bible most literally. But these new surveys indicate that even a majority of them do not believe in the most fundamental precepts of the Christians faith any longer.
For example, in John 14:6 Jesus says the following:
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
If there was another way for our sins to be forgiven, then why did Jesus need to die on the cross? If there were other ways to salvation, then Jesus could have come down to earth, pointed out a bunch of other ways to get to heaven, and then could have gone back up to heaven without having to deal with the cross.
But the reality is that there was no other way for our sins to be paid for.
And yet these new surveys reveal that a majority of American Christians now believe that there are plenty of other ways to get to heaven.
The Pew survey referenced above also revealed that 45% of Americans say that they seldom or never read their religion's holy books.
Perhaps if more American Christians were actually reading the Bible they would know what is truth and what is error. Instead, American Christians have surrounded themselves with preachers and self-help coaches and "feel-good" ministers who tell them what they want to hear, who always make them feel comfortable and who never, ever tell them about sin, holiness or the judgment of God.
The current situation in the churches of America reminds us of 2 Timothy 4:3.....
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
The reality is that past generations of America faithfully filled up churches across the nation that were preaching the Word of God, but today the vast majority of Americans stay home from church each week, and many of the churches that are still drawing crowds are watering down their messages as much as they can in a desperate attempt to hold on to the people who are still there.
Dave Olson, the director of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church, has done some really interesting research into the church attendance patterns of Americans.
Olson's research found that the percentage of Americans that regularly attend church is only 18.7%.
In addition, his research shows that if current trends continue, the percentage of the U.S. population that attends church each week in 2050 will be about half of what it is today.
All of these polls and surveys tell us the same thing:
Christianity in America is in a serious state of decline - especially among young people.
Many Christian leaders who read this article will try to deny it or will try to make excuses.
But all of these polls are not lying.
The truth is that we need to examine ourselves.
Is God moving where you worship? Do our churches look like the authentic Christian movement that we read about in the book of Acts? Are our lives significantly different from what we see in the world? Are our services lifeless, joyless exercises in futility? Do we truly have great love for one another and a passion to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ?
If we want any chance to win back the next generation, then we are going to have to get back to the real thing. If you do not have "the real thing" in your church, then it is time to start asking yourself some really hard questions.
While I agree that apostasy is rampant, it is important to remember that the decline in church numbers is also due to the false teachings that have invaded the pulpit. Many of us have turned to home meeting simply out of necessity because we could not go along with the ‘vision’ many churches have caught recently. The falling numbers are indicative of more than just a lack of conviction by the laity.
Your days are numbered (thank Darwin for that!).
G
Excellent news! Perhaps a second Age of Enlightenment has arrived. And this time we can finally put religion behind us
Although much of what you are saying can be disheartening it also lets us know that in these last days we have tremendous opportunity to reach the lost and it starts with defining a biblical worldview in the next generation. http://worldviewyouthevangelism.com/
Today,tragically, truth is like a vending machine, with choices available according to one’s mood or personal need. If you want power, you press A4 and the dispenser produces “The Secret.” If you want wealth, press A5 and the dispenser produce Scientology. If Discipleship is too difficult, press A6, and Nichiren Buddhism will show how good karma can insure successful reincarnation. If Christianity is your choice, choose from the menu to select the worship-style or denomination that will satisfy your personal needs. If you are not hungry, press the black button marked “nihilism.” There is only one Way,one Truth, one Life. Consumer Christianity is NOT the answer.
lol. Religion = fail. There’s more to life than pretending there’s something out there that’s so above us we let life fall by the way-side. Your children and grandchildren will most likely not care for your religion or religion for that matter. Gear up. Because what you fear is coming, and it’s not the end of the world. It’s the end of religion. The world will be a better place without it.
Some of you need to open up your eyes, Jesus is the only way to heaven, if you read the bible it says that these times will come and they are here, it’s not about religion it’s about a personal relationship with Christ.It’s your chioce, choose life(Jesus) and live.
I agree with Johnny above. In addition, Jesus is not “religious”….men are and organized churchianity for the most part is a false representation and teaches the world about a false Christ, not the the true Word of God (John 1:1) who is the REAL Jesus. The only way to get to know Him is to seek Him with all your heart, ask Him to show you the truth and READ His Word FOR YOURSELF. You can’t have a relationship with Him through some “pastor”, most of whom teach false doctrine. Again, I’ll repeat for those of you who lump Jesus Christ in with worldly religion, Religion is MAN made and MAN controlled. Jesus Christ is NOT relgious, He is TRUTH (John 14:6) and the TRUTH will set you FREE. Get to know Him before it’s too late. We are living in the last few days before God’s wrath is about to be unleashed on an unsuspecting, media downloaded and brainwashed world.
Wow, some of these comments are pretty interesting. I would say that the first comment is probably right, our churches have been infiltrated by leftist liberal wolves in sheeps clothing, preaching that Jesus is NOT the only way to heaven (Rob Bell, Brian McClaren, etc) through the Emergent Church movement. Its a cult that looks so much like the real church that people are flocking to it, and I think these Christians who are growing up under that false teaching are skewing these numbers. I think they are real Christians, but have been fooled. Rob Bell and Brian McClaren are the biggest apostates of our time. WAKE UP AMERICA!
You lament the decline of Christianity like it’s a bad thing, when it’s actually a sign that civilization might be beginning to outgrow the superstition and evil that is religion. There is nothing good about religion, except that those who adopt its delusions find comfort in them. We grown-ups prefer the world of reality, uninhabited by ghosts (“holy” or otherwise). We get along fine without having to pretend there are such things as virgin births, talking snakes, magical gardens, vicarious human sacrifice and zombies coming out of their graves. Such fastastical tales are for children. Actually, they are not. No child should be taught these stories as anything other than the fairy tales they read in the brothers Grimm. GOt a problem with that? I am mizlee AT aol DOT Com.
Trouble is, Lee Picton, there is nothing of substance worthy to replace Christianity. Islam is filling the vacuum. So is immorality. But I’m fairly certain those rooting for “the fall of religion” don’t accept the idea of morality to begin with. Get ready for anarchy and chaos in the coming decades. You’ll discover that our culture will come to miss the so-called “superstition and evil that is religion” that has served this nation well. Oh, I forgot. The anti-religionists probably don’t believe that our nation, our culture, our legal system, our success was well-served by religion. Oh well, I’m blowin’ in the wind again.
The wicked have taken over America, while nominal wimpy Christians are too preoccupied with their feelings, worshiping the trinity of self, composed of “ME, MYSELF, and I” and in search for a Jesus that is more in touch with their feelings, and for a Jesus that is more harmonious with their own perversions. They don’t see Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords; they see Jesus as Wimp of Wimps and Dumb of Dumbs. These so-called wimpy Christians talk the talk but they do not walk the walk. They know all the songs, and the Christian lingo, but they wobble and fall down when they are supposed to stand up against the wicked, therefore they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked, and separated from Christ. The proof is all around you, we live in a nation technologically advanced in the midst of religious freaks gone wild, who in reality are like spiritually undeveloped babbling baboons, easily manipulated by the vultures of Washington DC, and the buffoons of the mainstream News Media. In Matthew 10: 16, Jesus said, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” But today’s typical so-called Christian is as gullible as a toddler, and as dumb as a house.
I understand that this decline is a sign of the times, but it’s the attitude from nonbelievers that angers me. When I was a child, it was strange for someone to say they “didn’t believe in God”, but we accepted the belief and went on as if it never happened. Nowadays, I feel like I have to bite my tongue around most people. Like, my belief in Jesus Christ and our eternal Father in Heaven is something to be ashamed of.
I can’t say one word about my religious beliefs without a bunch of trolls biting my head off and trying to correct me. I believe in God, and I will continue to do so for the rest of my days. No matter how advanced science progresses, I will always know that our discoveries are the unraveling of God’s work.
I don’t mind the non-believers thinking what they want to, I just hate when they shove their anti-God propaganda down my throat. It makes me sick. You have your belief and I have mine. So, with that being said, bring on the trolls.
The thing I don’t understand is why our sins must be paid for. I mean, it sounds like a Walmart. WHY can’t God forgive our sins without a lot of earthly churchy stuff? I mean, isn’t He all-powerful? Who are WE to tell him what he can and can’t do? WHY is accepting Jesus more important than being good and doing good things? I have a neighbor who lies, cheats and steals, but is going to heaven because he has accepted Jesus into his heart. I, on the other hand, am going to hell because I haven’t, even if I am a good person. Something is wrong here.
And WHY did God have to send his son to live on earth in order to atone for original sin and reopen the gates of heaven? Did He make rules He can’t violate? He certainly changed His mind LOTS of times, and violated His own rules – in the Old Testament, it is absolutely CLEAR that Jews are the chosen people, not Christians (or Mormons, etc), yet when the Jews didn’t accept Jesus as savior, they became the UNCHOSEN. Didn’t God KNOW they would do this? WHY did he make such a mistake, and if He could just ‘fix’ that one, why couldn’t he just change his mind and open the gates?
And, finally, why did the gates get closed in the first place? Adam and Eve were immortal, unless they ate the apple. So, they couldn’t go to heaven (couldn’t DIE!) so there was no reason to have gates to keep anyone out or in. The whole Bible thing sounds like something made up by people to modify other peoples’ behavior. And not very well made up at that – there are LOTS of DIRECT CONTRADICTIONS in the bible – Genesis Ch 1 and 2 claim respectively that animals were created before and after man. Both CANNOT be right. One is definitely WRONG!
And don’t answer these with the usual I got in church: “God works in mysterious ways.” Yes, mysterious and pretty much random ways.
The church in this country is weak and ineffective, it has no influence on the culture whatsoever. These modern evangelical churches are the worst. They have these nice big buildings and they all play this modern contemporary Christian music. Many of them even have coffee shops and book stores, it’s more like a business than a church. I like to call it “Jesus Incorporated.” All this jumping up and down and shouting halelujah business is a bunch of nonsense! And most of the people that attend these things have absolutuely no clue as to the founding of this country, they have no clue as to how government and economics works, they believe that it is an unrelated issue. They don’t teach that the Bible applies to all areas of life, nor do they seem to care. Where are the preachers blasting our corrupt politicians from the pulpit? They are nowhere to be found! And the reason for that is because they are a 501c3, a government registered church, they have sold out. They are too scared to speak the truth about what’s going on in this country because the IRS might come and shut them down, and they’d lose their tax-exempt status. In other words, they fear man instead of God. I have been involved with a church like this. I have tried to reach out and help others by getting involved in church groups only to be shunned at every turn. I have repeatedly tried to contact people in charge of these activities, but they don’t bother to even acknowledge my messages, it’s like I don’t exist! They’re just like the rest of the world, I’d rather hang around athiests and pagans, at least they make no pretense about things! The preachers back in the 17 and 1800s had a better understanding of the Bible than most preachers today do, the modern day ones don’t have a clue! I believe in God and the Bible, but this modern day religion crap sucks!
See even after reading why their religion is failing they STILL don’t get it. Let me make it very clear to you Christians out there. People gravitate away from your religion because it so invasive. We don’t want you to bother us! Leave us alone and let us believe what we want to believe. It’s our god given right to have free will and we don’t need your help or your religion.
Dear Justin Case,
Your accusations against God, the Bible, and Christians are very serious and should be answered. I pray to the Lord that I can shed some light. Please bear with me.
You ask in the 1st paragraph “why our sins must be paid for” and why accepting Jesus as our payment is “more important” than good deeds; then pointing to some Christians’ hypocritical lives, you ask how it is fair that these people go to heaven while “better ones” don’t.
First, not all who claim to be Christians are true Christians, especially in latter days, in which the Bible predicted that many claiming acceptance of Christ are really wicked wolves who will fall away from Him when persecution comes. Yet second, true Christians still sin (the Bible says we have 2 natures warring within us – evil & good). So just considering our mixed deeds, do we deserve heaven while others don’t? NO! In fact, none deserve heaven – none are good, for all sin is rooted in rebellion against God, to live life as we want and not how our Maker wants and knows we should live.
You see, no matter how many times a driver obeys the law, if he speeds just once, he deserves a ticket. But our sins are worse than that. Why is it that killing a person is given a worse punishment than killing a flower? Because the person is much more valuable than a plant – he can think and make and love. But isn’t God infinitely more valuable than anything else – the Being and Source of infinite thought, creativity, love – eternally existing and ever-present across the universe? If shooting a person carries the price of death, then wouldn’t punishment for “shaking our fist” at God have a price of infinity?
How can God forgive a sin worse than murder? Not that He lacks power – but He is holy, just. To turn away His eyes from any sin would make Him like an all-powerful, corrupt sheriff – trashing justice. And we can’t tip the scales with good deeds, for who can equal an infinite price?
Only God. Because God is infinite in value, He alone can pay the infinite price. Yet He owes us nothing – He could have given all of us justice, eternal punishment to pay an infinite price. But NO! Our Creator of the galaxies and atoms and flowers humbled Himself and came down to earth embodying a human body. He is Jesus Christ, man and God united, without sin. And even before time’s beginning, He knew that He would die on the cross in our place, to pay in 1 day what we could never in an eternity of days.
For us who’ve believed and loved His unthinkable sacrifice, He already has wiped away our infinite debt, giving us His perfect goodness. Now His forgiveness won’t contradict justice. For on the cross, His mercy and justice are wedded forever. Praise His wisdom!
Dear Justin Case,
Sorry for long responses, but I want to thoroughly answer your questions. Please bear with me.
You ask in the 2nd paragraph why God had to send His son to “atone for original sin and reopen the gates of heaven,” as if He can’t change His rules; when in fact, you point out, He “changed” His rules many times, like making the Jews His chosen people, then when they rejected Christ, “unchoosing” them (like He didn’t foresee this rejection beforehand) and replacing them with the Christians. If He could change like this, can’t He just as easily “forget” original sin and let men into heaven?
This change, this forgetting of sin, would involve more than changing rules; God would have to violate His inner value of justice – His holiness. Sin is too terrible for that. But to save space, please refer to the above post for why sin is too serious for God to just forget.
Regarding original sin, Adam was man’s chosen representative before God, our best “marksman at the contest,” and when he missed the mark, sinning that original sin by aspiring to be a god by eating the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, the rest of mankind was doomed, cursed, because surely we can’t be better than our best shot. That’s why original sin looms terribly on us.
And no, God did not “violate” His rules in the Bible. His inner core of values remains changeless; only His plans are different for different eras and His responses differ, depending on whether people reject or repent.
Actually, Israel exemplifies these principles – if only some groups of Christians interpreted His Word right! For the Jews are NOT “unchosen” – they are still God’s chosen people! Christians haven’t replaced them, but have joined them as children of God. In fact, the Apostle Paul in Romans 11 defends their chosen status despite unbelief – “God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew” (Romans 11:2).
And yes, God foresaw that the Jews would disbelieve in Christ! Isaiah actually prophesies Israel’s rejection of Christ: “He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (Isaiah 53:3b). God knew before the beginning of time that they would hate Him and kill Him on a cross. For the payment of sin on the cross is the axis of God’s plan of salvation, a glorious, unthinkable plan of bringing infinite good out of infinite evil.
Without Israel’s rejection, there’d be no salvation, no revelation of the mercy of God.
Yet today, God still has a plan for Israel – to which we are witnesses. For Israel, after 2,000 years, has miraculously been brought back to their land. NO OTHER destroyed nation has resurrected like this after thousands of years! In His Scriptures He had predicted, even before their official nationhood, that they would sin and be scattered as exiles, but then brought back by merciful God to His Promised Land. And just as He brought them back, so He will destroy their enemies when they repent, ushering in the Age of Peace and the Reign of Christ, our holy King.
So to God be the glory, for He works an abundance of good out of evil.
Dear Justin Case,
Last night I hoped I answered your first two questions, and now I hope I can answer your third. Please bear with me.
In the 3rd paragraph, you say that the Bible is full of contradictions and was written to regulate the masses and you also ask why the “gates of heaven” had to exist in the first place if Adam and Eve were immortal, so they wouldn’t ever come to heaven’s gates because they wouldn’t die.
I’m not sure what you mean by heaven’s gates existing before Adam sinned. Heaven doesn’t have literal gates – despite the popular (non-biblical) image of Peter holding the keys to this gate. If you mean that these gates represent the barrier keeping man from heaven, then they came into “existence” when Adam sinned, as God can’t forget justice by rewarding sinners with heaven. But God always knew that Adam and Eve would sin, for this was part of His plan to bring in Christ and the cross, a gift of infinite worth.
Then you claim that men, without inspiration from God, wrote the Bible to control others. Maybe the religious elite wanted to be self-righteous. But no! All over the Bible, all men are shown to have faults, to be weak & in need of God. In fact, those most likely to want to control others – kings, prophets, pharisees – often are recorded with the most warts. Even Biblical authors like Paul & Jonah recorded examples of their sins. Man’s snobbery would not write this – only God could be the ultimate Author of this Handbook for living.
And regarding Biblical “contradictions,” they’re resolved when men read the Bible in its narrative and historical context. Like Genesis 1 & 2. They’re complementary, not contradictory. 1 refers to the chronological creation of the universe, while 2 focuses on man’s creation. 2 can’t be a separate account, for it doesn’t explain the creation of the sun, moon, & stars, 3 things every Near Eastern creation account tried to explain.
Regarding the “different” chronology of animal creation, Genesis 2 just didn’t mention the animals until after they were relevant to man. Wayne Jackson in “Are There Two Creation Accounts in Genesis?” also notes this: “William Green pointed out that when noted scholar Franz Delitzsch (1813-1890), an advocate of the Documentary Hypothesis, first authored his famous commentary on Genesis, he employed this argument as a proof of a discrepancy between Genesis 1 and 2. However, in the last edition of his work, after his knowledge had matured, he repudiated this quibble and argued for the harmony of 2:19 with chapter 1 (Green, 1979, p. 26).”
Actually, the Bible is the BEST-evidenced ancient book. Time and again archeology has proven its events, places, and peoples accurate. And the evidence for Christ’s resurrection is skeptics’ worst hurdle – some, when they studied the evidence to disprove the resurrection, actually became believers and wrote whole books defending it (like Case for Christ & Resurrection Factor).
Because modern scholarship now must admit that the New Testament was written within the lifetime of Jesus’ & the Apostles’ generation, legends COULDN’T form, for all Christ’s still-living enemies would’ve shot Christianity dead for fabrication. Yet this tiny religion spread faster than fire even as thousands of converts were martyred. And the Apostles, though they had abandoned Jesus at His death, were the most transformed & fearless of all martyred preachers.
Why did they preach Christ risen to their deaths, without any gain in this world? Because they SAW Him risen with their own eyes. Unlike every other religious martyr in history, they didn’t die on faith, but SIGHT!
And because they knew and died on the certainty of Christ risen, so we in faith can live and die KNOWING we have the truth. And as more of God’s prophesies are fulfilled, revealing the coming of Antichrist’s persecution (before God’s righteous judgment), I pray He gives me & other Christians the strength to suffer and die for His name.
For yes, Christianity is declining. Not because it lacks evidence, for that evidence is multiplying; but because the pride of man has grown so great. With all our technology & knowledge, men ask, “Why must God tell us what to do? We are our own Masters!” We are like rebel children, running to the fire & mocking our Father’s warning, “It is bad! It will hurt you!” But we say, “No, it is pretty. I want the fire.” Can we blame Him then, when mankind has burnt itself?
Yet though God has foretold Christianity’s fall, yet He has promised to save a remnant. He will give us strength to endure war, famine, & martyrdom until He Himself comes in the clouds, saving us & battling the wicked until His kingdom of peace is established.
Please, Justin Case and all who’ve read this far, check out the evidence yourselves. Here are just a few places to start: In the Beginning by Brown, Resurrection Factor by McDowell, & 4truth.net. Absolutely nothing is more important than your relationship with the living God, who is Jesus Christ. I pray that He opens your heart to Him, to love Him as He first loved us.
Hello Justin Case! Your post contains a lot of questions that I think we all should have answered. You ask “why our sins must be paid for” with “earthly churchy stuff.” And you’re right. Our sins cannot be undone by our feeble attempts at goodness. Like RY said above, one sin ruins a “perfect” record, and nothing but perfection enters presence with God (because if God accepted things less than perfect, He would undermine His own holiness). So “earthly churchy stuff” cannot get us into Heaven. Bottom line: We all should never even get close to God. But the paradox is that God wants to bring a people to Himself. But He cannot just close His eyes and let dirty sinners enter His presence. So what does He do? He needs to satisfy the moral demands of justice and the moral desires of love. So He takes it upon Himself to pay the penalty for our sin against Him. The anger that should result from a sin against God can only be appeased by God Himself, since we are too trapped in our own sinful subconscious to do any worthy good for Him. God’s plan is actually quite simple: He pays our ransom so we don’t have to. Thus, the scales of justice are satisfied and His love for us is possible. That is why doing good works is not the defining factor in being a Christian. Good works by us DO NOT get us into Heaven; it’s the work of Christ that does. All we need to do is recognize that Christ paid for our personal sin and gives us the gift of Heaven. Good works result from our intense gratitude and love for what Christ has done for us.
Regarding your neighbor, it is quite possible that he is not truly saved. Receiving Christ is not like signing an impersonal paper; it is something that changes a person deep inside. Someone can say that he is a movie buff, but if his house is not filled with DVDs or if he cannot name the stars of a new film, clearly he is just giving lip-service. He might think he’s what he says he is, but his actions prove otherwise.
About the “rules He can’t violate” – it’s true there are rules, primarily His standards of justice, love, holiness, and truth. And the chosen Israelites are still chosen. Those who believe otherwise (like many Christian denominations and sects) are misguided about what God intends with His people. God never “unchose” Israel; He simply is allowing Gentiles a chance to enter His kingdom, too. Israel is still God’s people; Paul the apostle makes special note of this: “God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! (Romans 11:1).” Thus, we Gentiles are “grafted” into the olive tree of Israel (Romans 11:17); we did not become the tree. God knew exactly what was going to happen – that Israel would reject Him; Israel had to reject their Messiah if Christ was to be crucified (and mankind was to be saved). “But by their [Israel’s] transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles (Romans 11:11).” God so loved the world that He allowed the people He already saved to deny Him so that He could bring salvation to people who never knew Him. God works out even these “errors in our eyes” for His purpose.
Adam and Eve. Heaven is where God is, and before the Fall, God did dwell in the Garden. So technically they were in Heaven. When they sinned, they could not keep company with God anymore, so He moved His presence form earth to His primary abode (what we call Heaven). Only when people sinned did the separation between God and man appear. Sin needed to be dealt with before harmony with God could be achieved.
Contradiction may seem profuse, but, as RY said above, the best proof is that the critics changed their minds (in this case, Franz Delitzsch first argued against, then for, the Genesis harmony). Many “contradictions” are simply paradoxes – things that seem contradictory, but are explainable by careful reading of the text, the context, and the historical or theological emphasis of the passage(s). Another critic, Sir William Ramsay, also changed his mind: He assumed the book of Luke was unhistorical, filled with errors, until he realized it was the most accurate roadmap for his Middle Eastern investigations.
The Bible is no ordinary book, and true Christians are no ordinary people. Persecution through the centuries have tried to eradicate both, but always they have revived again. Even at this time, when maybe it is declining here, it is rising in another region of the world, where missionaries are always at work.
Feel the greatness of God and let His love touch your heart – and you will know a joy only God can give. Life wasn’t meant for living for yourself. I pray that soon you’ll find fulfillment in living for eternity – living for God.