ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN OR A CHRISTIAN?
85% OF THE AMERICAN POPULATION CLAIMS TO BE CHRISTIAN
According to Barna research: Article is from the John Ankerberg Newsletter
Research shows that 85% of the American population claims to be Christian. Upon examination, within the 85% there are three groups of Christians.
"NOTIONAL" CHRISTIANS - 90 MILLION
The first are called "Notional" (a vaguely assumed opinion) Christians. They make up 44% of the 85% (roughly 90 million adults). These folks claim to be Christians, but are not relying on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to get them to Heaven - only their own good works or something else.
Only one out of ten of these Christians base their moral choices on the Bible, and only one out of six believe in absolute moral truth. The majority of these people say they believe that homosexuality, cohabitation, viewing pornography, or entertaining sexual fantasies are acceptable lifestyles. Only one out of four read the Bible, and only one out of three attend church services.
BORN-AGAIN CHRISTIANS - 70 MILLION
Then, there are Born-again Christians. This second group makes up 33% of the 85% of people calling themselves Christians (roughly 65 to 70 million people). Born-again Christians are not necessarily Evangelical Christians. Evangelicals are born-again, but not all born-again Christians hold to the beliefs of Evangelicals.
Born-again Christians have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ and believe they will go to Heaven when they die because they have confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. But on moral issues, this group is most likely to take its cues from sources other than the Bible - the primary influence being their personal feelings about what is right. Only one out of four of these people believe in absolute moral truth.
Unbelievably, 74% of them believe that Satan is merely a symbol of evil, while 47% of them believe Jesus sinned when He lived here on earth. 70% of these folks believe the Holy Spirit is not real, and only six out of ten people in this category believe the Bible is totally accurate in all it teaches.
EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS - ONLY 8% OF ALL CHRISTIANS
The third group is called Evangelical Christians. They comprise only 8% of the 85% of Americans calling themselves Christians. These folks (roughly 15 to 20 million of them) have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and believe that eternal salvation is possible only through Grace, not by works.
Evangelical Christians differ from other sets of Christians in that 100% of them believe Jesus Christ lived a sinless life. They believe God is all-powerful and all-knowing. 100% of them believe Satan exists. 86% of them believe the Holy Spirit is real. These folks are much less likely to have experienced a divorce than any other faith segment. 80% of Evangelicals attend church regularly. 95% believe homosexuality is wrong, 96% believe abortion is wrong, 90% believe cohabitation is wrong. However, even among Evangelical Christians, only 68% base their moral decisions on the Bible. And only 58% of them believe in absolute moral truth.
DOES IT MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?
Looking at the statistics, it is obvious that there is enormous diversity of practice and belief among those who call themselves Christians. Do you think it makes a difference? Of course it does. The answers suggest that some are not true Christians. But I believe the majority of them are just ignorant and do not know that their beliefs and practices are contrary to what Jesus and the Bible teach.
WHERE DO YOU AND I STAND?
The staff at ProJesus.com has, for some time, been talking about these groupings of Christians. Which group are you in as a Christian? Know one knows the cut off line for each person or for each group to enjoy eternal life with Jesus. That is a job for Jesus. However, we can all be assured of our eternal life with Jesus; IF!!!, we accept Him as our God and Savior. Simply follow His Rule Book. See the ProJesus "Vision Statement" and the "Prayer of Repentance" on the home page.
Note: For further study, see the article titled "Rewards?
Really?"
