The church in America is a complete and total mess. A shocking new poll of the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States has revealed that only 39 percent of the members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.
39 percent?
Yes, 39 percent.
This figure comes from the latest “Religious and Demographic Profile of Presbyterians” report which was recently released by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
What is even more stunning is that when you look at only the pastors, the numbers are even lower.
Only 35 percent of the pastors surveyed agreed with the statement that “only followers of Jesus Christ can be saved.”
So almost two-thirds of the pastors in the largest Presbyterian denomination in the United States believe that there are other ways to be saved other than through Jesus Christ.
At this point it would be really east to jump all over the Presbyterians, but the truth is that this type of apostasy is common in many Christian denominations.
For example, USA Today 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.
So not only do a majority of Presbyterians not believe that Jesus is the only path for salvation, a majority of Christians throughout the United States believe this as well.
In fact, a different survey taken last year by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 57 percent of evangelical Christians in the U.S. believe that “many religions can lead to eternal life”.
What in the world?
What is happening in our churches?
How far have we gotten from the basics of the Christian faith?
In John 14:6, Jesus told us the following….
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
There is no other way to salvation.
Just think about it for a minute.
If there was any other way for our sins to be forgiven, then why did Jesus need to die on the cross?
If there were many other ways to salvation, then the death of Jesus on the cross was totally unnecessary.
Jesus could have simply 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 ever having to deal with the cross.
But the truth is that there was no other way for our sins to be paid for.
Jesus Christ, being the sinless Son of God, died on the cross to pay for the sins of all humanity.
All other religions reject this, and most of them involve jumping through “hoops” and doing good works of some kind or another in order to try to obtain the favor of a deity.
But the reality is that without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ there is no path to heaven.
Without Jesus to pay for our sins we are all still guilty.
Why can’t Christians in the United States understand this?
The truth is that the church in America is a complete and total mess. But we knew that these days would come. 2 Timothy 4:3 tells us this…..
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.
There were also other results from the PC(USA) survey that were almost equally as shocking. Just consider these numbers….
*Only one in six members and even fewer ministers believe that the Bible is to be taken literally, word for word.
*Only 44 percent say that they have had a “conversion experience” when they committed themselves to Christ.
So what are we to make of all this?
The reality is that the PC(USA) is not the only denomination out there that is a total mess.
Most churches do not teach Biblical Christianity anymore.
Most churches do not teach the basics of the Christian faith.
Perhaps you attend one of those churches.
If you are confused about what the Bible says about God and about salvation, then we encourage you to check out the new website that we are putting together that answers some of the most basic questions about the Christian faith.
In particular, we would encourage you to read an article that we put together entitled “What Does The Bible Say About Salvation?”
The truth is that the Bible is very clear about God’s plan of salvation, and it is the most important message that any of us will ever hear. If you do not know where you would go if you died tonight, please do not let another day pass without finding out what God has to say about your future destiny.
Nothing could be more important.
