With the growing number of “believers” gravitating away from true and traditional doctrine to churches that tell them “what they want to hear” do you believe that this is adding to the total number of the church or taking away from it?
It’s important to remember that the Church consists of born again believers throughout the Church Age, whether living or dead. Among the living, some regularly attend a church service and some don’t, or can’t. But all believe in their heart that Jesus died for their sins and rose again, and all have asked Him to save them from their sins. Born again believers cannot fall away from the Church (John 10:27-30).
Many of the people who are being drawn from traditional doctrine to “tell you what you want to hear” churches are not born again. They cannot either add to or subtract from the true church’s number (John 3:3).
Those who are drawn to these churches and are born again are like sheep who have wandered away. The Lord, being our shepherd, will track them down and bring them back, because it’s the Father’s will that He should lose none of us (John 6:39). Therefore, the only changes to the total number of the Church happen when new people become born again.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).