“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 NKJV).
The 2025 Institutional Workers’ Survey included questions relating to salvation to gauge employees’ attitudes towards the Church’s beliefs on salvation by faith vs. works, perfectionism, and the role of the Church in salvation. One question asked whether they believed that they could “only be saved through the Church.”
Worldwide, 54.1% strongly disagreed; 18.6% disagreed more than agreed; 4.4% did not know; 9.5% agreed more than they disagreed; and 13.2% strongly agreed.
Church Workers’ Belief in Being Only Saved Through the Church
Overall, 73% of respondents indicated that they could not be saved through the Church, 4.4% were unsure, and 22.7% agreed that they could only be saved through the Church.
When compared by Division, the highest percentages of workers who strongly disagreed with the statement came from the Inter-European Division (77.4%), the Trans-European Division (77.3%), and the North American Division (74.5%), and closely followed by the South American Division (70.8%). The Divisions that most strongly agreed with the statement were the Southern Asia Division (31.2%), the East-Central Africa Division (27.5%), and the Northern Asia-Pacific Division (27.1%).
As Seventh-day Adventist Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to receive salvation. As Acts 4:12 above says, His life, death, and resurrection alone secure our salvation. We also believe that our role is to reach out and accept that gift, and that good works are a result of our relationship with Christ, not the foundation.
Mrs. White stated, “The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. The members of the church, those whom He has called out of darkness into His marvelous light, are to show forth His glory. The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to ‘the principalities and powers in heavenly places,’ the final and full display of the love of God. Ephesians 3:10” (The Acts of the Apostles, p. 9). The Church is God’s instrument through which His believers spread the good news of His Salvation, it is not salvation in itself.
Although it is good to see that nearly three-quarters of Church employees around the world understand the Church’s stance on this subject, more than a quarter do not. More work can and should be done to reach these workers with the news that Christ’s salvation is free; they just need to reach out and accept it.
You can access the full report here.
Created in collaboration with the Institute of Church Ministry.
Published by ASTR on 3/10/2026.