Christians denying Christ?

(a reposting of a piece I contributed to the Antipelagian blog in 2009)

An article published last December in USA Today entitled, “Many beliefs, many paths to heaven?” described the surprising results of a Pew Survey on Religion in America. The survey found that the majority of professed Christians in America do not believe in the exclusivity of salvation through Christ. A shocking 52% of the Christians surveyed answered that “eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Christ as their savior”.

Before we are quick to assume this must only affect the more liberal Christian denominations, the article breaks down the numbers even further, revealing that 34% of white evangelical Christians named at least one non-Christian faith that could lead to salvation. So, even if you attend a conservative, Bible-believing, evangelical church, you may be surprised to discover that potentially one out of every three of your fellow parishioners believes that Christ is only one way out of many.

When asked about the results of this Pew Survey, Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, called the findings “a theological crisis for American evangelicals.” According to Dr. Mohler, “They represent at best a misunderstanding of the Gospel and at worst a repudiation of the Gospel.” This sobering assessment is in no way an understatement. If the Pew survey is to be believed, it raises serious questions about the faith of most American ‘Christians’. Can a person rightly even call themselves a Christian if they deny the explicit and transparent teachings of Jesus Christ?

Of course, Christ left little room for ambiguity in this matter:

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

“I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9a)

“He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18)

We also know that the doctrine of Solus Christus (by Christ Alone) was an essential element of the Gospel as preached by the apostles themselves. The Acts of the Apostles record Peter’s proclamation of this truth to the people of Jerusalem, saying, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

For one to believe that there can be salvation apart from Christ is to utterly divorce oneself from an essential teaching of the Faith. Even worse, it is to make a complete mockery of the atoning sacrifice Christ made for us on the cross and to inadvertently accuse the Lord Himself of being a common liar. There’s no doubt that many in America who call themselves ‘Christian’ really are not, and that the true and invisible Church is much smaller than the broad, but infinitely shallow, visible one. However, churches in America are also simply not doing a good enough job of discipling new converts or guiding their members into greater degrees of Christian maturity. We must remember Paul’s exhortation to “Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” (2 Timothy 2:4b)

If you know of someone in your congregation who believes that Christ is ‘option A’ for salvation, but that there is an equally effectual ‘option B’ for the man in the Temple or Mosque down the street, you should take some time and kindly show him the plain teachings of Christ on this subject. If he persists in his error, he should be made to explain how it is that he can openly deny the teachings of Christ and still rightly be called a Christian. No matter what, it is inexcusable for us to allow this problem to go unaddressed, because a Christ-denying ‘Christian’ is truly no Christian at all.

-CP

References
The Pew Survey
USA Today: Is heaven's gate wide or narrow?
USA Today: Many beliefs, many paths to heaven?