Read one article from Christian Post that headlined:
“Over a third of senior pastors believe ‘good people’ can earn their way to Heaven: survey” You can read this article at the Christian Post.
I posted this article on a Christian multimedia platform and received a couple of replies. I was surprised that only two out of over 200,000 participants thought this article was important, or at least concerning. Below are two replies that was received:
Reply 1: I have never heard this from the pulpit of any Christian church I have ever attended, so it’s a bit difficult to believe this False Doctrine is being taught by “over a third of senior pastors”. If this is representative of all pastors and not just those who respond to silly surveys, then we have even more cause for concern than I previously thought. Christian churches Are in peril because they have been infiltrated by progressives with society-driven loyalties and beliefs versus biblical truths.
Unfortunately, Profit-driven mega churches led by prosperity preachers (Show me the blessings!) are dominating modern worship.
Reply 2: thanks for this post, Mike. We have seen similar ideas from Pew and Barna that say that 90% of the congregants do not live out their faith M-Sat.
The church in America is in deep trouble. God has been very patient with us, but that won’t last forever. We think He is restraining Himself for the the sake of the born again and all in remnant. But maybe that’s ending, too.
After all, God destroyed both the righteous and the unrighteous when He used the Babylonians against Jerusalem.
I can empathize with reply 1 because in all the churches I have visited I never heard as pastor say that “good people” could earn their way to heaven. I have heard this from others and even in classes I taught. I was not appreciated for my defense of the Gospel and the faith. What I have learned over the years is that people do not desire to understand the Scriptures or trust that the Bible is God’s word to mankind.
I agree with reply 2 since I have read numerous surveys over the years whereas time went on, those pastors began to come up with strange notions calling parts of the what Jesus said as controversial because of how the translated wording could be understood as harsh, impossible to grasp, and even frightening. What pastors have said in that regard is correct, and pastors have tried to explain how we in the western world should read commentaries or study bibles to understand Jesus’s words with cultural context in mind. Unfortunately, the majority of the people that attend church never read other documents to see what our western translations leave to the imagination.
For those interested I would recommend several books to have in a personal library as companions with the bible. Those recommended books are:
- The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament by John H. Walton, Victor H. Matthews & Mark W. Chavalas.
- The IVP Background Commentary New Testament by Craig S. Keener.
- Eastern Customs and Idioms of the Bible by Bishop K. C. Pillai.
- Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes by Kenneth E. Bailey.
There are other, but these I have found a good helps in understanding difficult passages.
Here are a few difficult passages in the New Testament that has caused a lot problems among believes and unbelievers alike:
- Ephesians 5:22 that in the western translations reads:
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord” The problem with that translation is the word subject is not in the original text, it is an inserted word.
How the original text reads is different: “Wives, to their own husbands, as to the Lord…”
The full context reads as follows: “22 Wives, to their own husbands, as to the Lord, 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church—He Himself Savior of the body. 24 But like as the church is subjected (arranged under) to Christ, wives to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her…”
What these verses reflects is both wife and husband mimicking Jesus.
Another difficult passage is found in John 6:53–55 where we read: “53 Therefore Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you shall have eaten the flesh of the Son of Man, and shall have drunk His blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54 The one eating My flesh and drinking My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.”
Trust me, Christians are not cannibals or vampires and this passage has given many people pause until they understood the idiom. Below is a commentary that gives us the understanding.
Benson Commentary
“John 6:34–35 Then said they, Evermore give us this bread — On which our life depends: let us always live upon this heavenly manna. Thus said the wiser and better part of them, though they did not yet understand his meaning. Jesus said unto them — Proceeding to give them a clear and full explication of the important truth he spoke of; I am the bread of life — Having life in myself, and giving life to all that believe in me: nor is bread necessary to the support of your bodies, as a believing regard to me is to the life of your souls. He that cometh unto me shall never hunger — Shall not be destitute of spiritual nourishment; and he that believes on me shall never thirst — Shall find the most restless desires of his soul satisfied, and being conscious of having received the noblest refreshment and nourishment, shall grow up to a state of complete and everlasting satisfaction and enjoyment. To come to him, and believe on him, are equivalent expressions; or are corresponding terms, explaining each other. Thus our Lord assigned one of the many reasons why he called himself the bread of life.”
There are many passages in both the Old Testament (Covenant) and New Testament (Covenant). I chose these because they are the two that have cause much grief amongst believers.
What the article from the christian post revealed concerning beliefs of senior pastors are as follows:
“The American Worldview Inventory 2022 examined more than three dozen beliefs held by pastors. Researchers found that in addition to believing that people can merit salvation based solely on their good works, one-third or more of senior pastors surveyed believe the Holy Spirit is not a person but “a symbol of God’s power.“ Others said that moral truth is subjective; sexual relations between two unmarried people who love each other is “morally acceptable” and biblical teaching on abortion is ambiguous.”
As you can see, their new beliefs are contrary to the gospel message, and in ways, denigrates what Jesus accomplished with His sacrifice and resurrection. What these beliefs represent is folly, false teaching, anti-Christian, and proof that these pastors are not servants of Jesus and assuredly not saved, and if they were once, they are part of those who have no way back to repentance as specified in Hebrews chapter 6.
It is incumbent upon all believes to find a church with teachers who are familiar with the culture of Jesus’s day, the idioms used in the New and Old testaments, and not to tell the people that these are controversial issues. They are not if understood correctly, and taught correctly. With that said, we today find ourselves in a situation where many senior pastors do not agree that Jesus is the only way to the father, and if you hear this in a church you are attending, leave.
Thank you for reading and I hope you seek a church that is balanced in the word and capable of discussing difficult passages.
God Bless each person who takes the time to read and discover.
Michael.
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