{"id":31203,"date":"2022-09-10T15:21:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/the-biblical-doctrines-many-evangelicals-get-wrong\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:21:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:21:03","slug":"the-biblical-doctrines-many-evangelicals-get-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/the-biblical-doctrines-many-evangelicals-get-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"The Biblical Doctrines Many Evangelicals Get Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">Gregory Hayes photo &#8211; Unsplash<\/div>\n<p><em>By Carol Pipes<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not surprising that most evangelicals in the U.S. believe God is perfect and the Bible is true. What is surprising perhaps is the level of confusion around some basic tenets of the Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>In the&nbsp;2020 State of Theology study sponsored by Ligonier Ministries,&nbsp;Lifeway Research&nbsp;surveyed 3,000 Americans and asked them a number of questions about God, Christian ethics, and religion in general.<\/p>\n<p>The study found around 1 in 5 Americans (19%) are considered an evangelical by belief, according to the Lifeway Research and National Association of Evangelicals definition\u2014a percentage that has remained consistent since the 2016 State of Theology study.<\/p>\n<p>People are classified as such if they strongly agree with each of the following four statements:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Bible is the highest authority for what I believe.<\/li>\n<li>It is very important for me personally to encourage non-Christians to trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.<\/li>\n<li>Jesus Christ&#8217;s death on the cross is the only sacrifice that could remove the penalty of my sin.<\/li>\n<li>Only those who trust in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior receive God&#8217;s free gift of eternal salvation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, many Americans who hold these evangelical beliefs about the Bible, salvation, and Jesus Christ, also hold beliefs that are not keeping with Scripture and core doctrines of the Christian faith.<\/p>\n<div class='code-block code-block-1' style='margin: 8px 0;clear: both'> <\/div>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Confusion over the Trinity<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Almost all evangelicals by belief (96%) say they believe in the classic Christian doctrine of the Trinity\u2014one God in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, nearly two-thirds (65%) say Jesus is the first and greatest being <em>created<\/em> by God (a view championed by the ancient heretic Arius and condemned by both the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople).<\/p>\n<p>Three in 10 evangelicals by belief say Jesus was a great teacher, but he was not God.<\/p>\n<p>There was also some confusion over the nature and work of the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly half (46%) say the Holy Spirit is a force rather than a person. And almost 2 in 10 (18%) believe the Holy Spirit can tell them to do something which is forbidden in the Bible.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Sin, salvation, and the prosperity gospel <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>A majority of evangelicals believe Jesus will one day return to judge all people who ever lived (97%), hell is a real place where certain people will be punished forever (92%), and that righteousness comes not from one\u2019s works but only through faith in Jesus Christ (84%).<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both;margin-top:0em;margin-bottom:1em\">\n<div class=\"centered-text-area\">\n<div class=\"centered-text\" style=\"float: left\">\n<div class=\"u20da584720d23e905cc871352985f4d1-content\">See also&nbsp; 8 Ways to Persevere in Ministry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ctaButton\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>However, 43% disagreed that even the smallest sin deserves eternal damnation. And nearly half (46%) say everyone sins a little, but most people are good by nature.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to blessings, some say God doesn\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n<p>Four in 10 evangelicals believe God will always reward true faith with material blessings in this life, a belief commonly associated with the prosperity gospel.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Gender confusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>While a full 100% of evangelicals believe God created male and female, 22% say gender identity is a matter of choice.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"has-large-font-size\"><strong>Views from the pews (or maybe the couch)<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In the very early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. and the disruption of normal worship practices, more than a third of evangelicals (39%) said worshiping alone or with one\u2019s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church.<\/p>\n<p>And more than a quarter (27%) say worship services should be entertaining if churches want to be effective.<\/p>\n<p>While pastors can be thankful the majority of evangelicals by belief have a good grasp on many major doctrines, they might have some members who are fuzzy on many important details.<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color:#f2f2f2;color:#32373c\" class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-profile-box square gb-has-avatar gb-font-size-18 gb-block-profile gb-profile-columns\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-avatar-wrap\">\n<div class=\"gb-profile-image-wrap\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-column gb-profile-content-wrap\">\n<h2 class=\"gb-profile-name\" style=\"color:#32373c\">Carol Pipes<\/h2>\n<p class=\"gb-profile-title\" style=\"color:#32373c\">@CarolPipes<\/p>\n<div class=\"gb-profile-text\">\n<p>Carol is director of corporate communications for Lifeway Christian Resources.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<ul class=\"gb-social-links\"><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>For more information, visit&nbsp;LifewayResearch.com,&nbsp;TheStateOfTheology.com, view the&nbsp;white paper&nbsp;or the&nbsp;full report.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"su-box su-box-style-default\" id=\"\" style=\"border-color:#000000;border-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"su-box-title\" style=\"background-color:#333333;color:#FFFFFF;border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px\">Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n<div class=\"su-box-content su-u-clearfix su-u-trim\" style=\"border-bottom-left-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px\">\n<div class=\"one-third first\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"two-thirds\">\n<h3>Sound Doctrine: How a Church Grows in the Love and Holiness of God<\/h3>\n<p>Bobby Jamieson<\/p>\n<p>  FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class='yarpp yarpp-related yarpp-related-website yarpp-template-thumbnails'>\n<h3>Related posts:<\/h3>\n<div class=\"yarpp-thumbnails-horizontal\">  Who Are \u2018Evangelicals\u2019 and Why Knowing That Matters for Your Church  What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times?  What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation?  3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gregory Hayes photo &#8211; Unsplash By Carol Pipes It\u2019s not surprising that most evangelicals in the U.S. believe God is perfect and the Bible is true. What is surprising perhaps is the level of confusion around some basic tenets of the Christian faith. In the&nbsp;2020 State of Theology study sponsored by Ligonier Ministries,&nbsp;Lifeway Research&nbsp;surveyed 3,000 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/the-biblical-doctrines-many-evangelicals-get-wrong\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;The Biblical Doctrines Many Evangelicals Get Wrong&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}