More Extremes of “Crossless” Gospel Apologists

Following is just one more example of the extremism coming from the GES's “Crossless” Gospel, by way of Antonio da Rosa.

Following comment made by Antonio about the Lord Jesus. Rose of *Rose’s Reasonings wrote an article titled, Is Christ’s Deity Essential? In the thread that followed (6/15/2007 @ 7:08 PM) Antonio wrote,

This is among the most egregious and dangerous statements to date coming from Antonio da Rosa or any advocate of the “Crossless” gospel. The Mormon Jesus is believed to be a spirit (or half) brother of the Devil. To equate the Mormon view of Jesus with the biblical Jesus is as abominable a heresy as can possibly be uttered about Him. For further review of this see Can the Biblical Jesus & Mormon Jesus be "One and the Same?"

Antonio da Rosa and GES men will say this kind of thing about Jesus because they believe the lost do not have to understand or believe that Jesus is the Son of God (Deity). This is whey the Crossless advocates, must also strip the Lord's titles “the Christ” and the “Son of God” of their deity.

For a comprehensive view of the GES (Zane Hodges in particular) assualt on the deity of Christ. See the two part series:

The “Christ” Under Siege

The “Christ” Under Siege: The New Assault from the Grace Evangelical Society

As far as da Rosa and GES are concerned the Mormon can cling to his belief in the half-brother of Satan and a promise of eternal life from that false Christ and still be born again.

The GES/da Rosa tell you that they will deal with his “misconceptions” about Jesus after he believes in the promise as though he has been saved and just needs some crash course discipleship. In the personal evangelism setting, however, if the lost man refuses to accept and/or openly rejects the Lord's deity, da Rosa explain his response,

da Rosa also says,

And he would leave the lost man's rejection of the Lord's deity on the “back-burner.” If the discipleship fails to convince him that Jesus is God, da Rosa says he will separate from him a though he is an erring brother.

These are on-going examples of the egregious errors coming from Zane Hodges, Bob Wilkin as expressed by their (“Crossless” gospel) most vocal apologist, Antonio da Rosa.

The GES, Zane Hodges, Bob Wilkin and their followers have become teachers of a false Gospel and other assorted doctrinal errors. Their assault on the deity of Christ is just one example. They are undermining the Word of God for reductionist views of the Gospel. They are doing all they can to spread their egregious errors into evangelical circles. Thankfully, many have come to recognize this and have followed the biblical mandates to “mark” these men who are the “cause (of) divisions and offences” in the body of Christ and local churches through their “contrary doctrine,” and believers are being warned to “avoid them.” (Romans 16:17)

May I remind our pastors of Paul’s admonition, which should resonate today just as clearly as it did to the Ephesian elders,

LM

*Rose's Reasonings is administered by Rose. She has become dedicated to the promotion and defense of the Zane Hodges Crossless view of the Gospel and especially its most vocal advocate Antonio da Rosa.

 

Note to Readers:

My primary goal is to alert believers across Baptist circles that there is a false Gospel known as the “Crossless” gospel, and name some of its most vocal advocates

Antonio da Rosa has been banned and or reprimanded at various blogs for his doctrinal errors, extreme combativeness, vitriol and generally poor behavior. In less than 5 posts he was banned at Sharper Iron earlier this week.

If da Rosa appears in this thread I want to make clear now that I have no intention responding to any of his tactics. I will, however, add what I feel is needed to shine the light of truth on his egregious doctrinal errors.

Another who rejects the Crossless Gospel and tried to engage da Rosa in a balanced discussion had to drop out with these comments to Antonio,

These comments were directed to Rose, the blog administrator

I have had these same experiences and conclusions with da Rosa. This is why I will not acknowledge him except to protect the unsuspecting from his dangerous theology.


LM

 

I forget to mention earlier that Antonio is also known as the Sock Puppet: fg me.

This he refuses to admit to or even deny, but he is fg me.


LM

 

Mike:

If you'll read these articles you will have the documentaton of this issue with Hodges' assaulting the deity of Christ through the dumbing down of His titles.

See the two part series:

The “Christ” Under Siege

The “Christ” Under Siege: The New Assault from the Grace Evangelical Society


LM

 

Mike:

There is much more, and I mean volumes from Zane Hodges and Bob Wilkin that leave no doubt these men have departed from the faith once delivered. Brief articles and journals are meant to show samples of the extremes.

If you want thorough documentation, and you'll have to do the reading, I suggest you read the multi-part series by Ps. Tom Stegall. It is titled, The Tragedy of the "Crossless" Gospel.

You will find it at the Grace Family Journal and it can be downloaded in PDF form.


LM

 

The Crux of Controversy

Mike:

The controversy is not over what these men personally believe, or what they might tell a lost person in a personal evangelism setting. It s not over what they think made salvation possible.

The crux of debate is that Hodges, Wilkin, GES insist a lost man does not have to understand or believe anything about who Jesus is and what He did to provide salvation, but can still be born again.

These men strip the Lord's title of their deity and that is, therefore, IMO an assault on His Person and Nature.


LM

 

Mike:

Any thoughts on this statement by da Rosa?

LM

 

The reason da Rosa and Hodges tear down the Lord’s titles is partly because of John 20:30-31

Belief in who the Lord is (Deity) is clearly taught in the passage. da Rosa, however, says that the lost do not have to understand or believe, and can even reject the Lord’s deity and still be saved. He, therefore has to neuter this Lord’s titles, “the Christ” and “Son of God” that obviously imply His deity.

This is also how he can make the absurd statement,

In da Rosa's (Hodges) teaching the lost do not have to acknowledge or believe that Jesus is Deity. In their system a Mormon who believes in the Mormon Jesus (the half-brother of Satan) is born again. Antonio da Rosa figures that even that major “misconception” does not hinder him from being born again and should be put on the “back burner” to be addressed later. (Those quotes are from da Rosa)

In addition to reading about what these men say and believe I suggest that you ask one of them yourself.

This is Antonio da Rosa’s blog. Free Grace Theology*

Ask Antonio how he would reply to a lost man who says to him,

LM

*da Rosa’s view of Free Grace theology is the GES view which is the most radical and antithetical to Scripture you will find in most any evangelical circles. The GES view does not represent or speak for many men in the Free Grace camp who reject and have separated from Zane Hodges, Wilkin and GES over their egregious doctrinal errors.

 

D28:

You wrote,

You are mis-stating the issue.

Crossless advocates are fond of citing a "doctrinal quiz" or "checklist." I hope you will not fall into that trap.

The issue is not scoring on a quiz. The issue is that Crossless advocates insist that the lost do not have to understand or believe anything about who Jesus is (deity) and what He did to provide salvation. The lost man can openly reject the deity of Christ and men like da Rosa say this is a "misconception" that in no way hinders him from being born again. That is their position and the crux of the controversy.

This is why they, for instance, strip the Lord's titles, "the Christ" and "Son of God" of their deity.

BTW, are you willing to ask da Rosa the question I suggested. It will reveal to you where the problem lies, if he will answer.

Did you read Stegall's series, The Tragedy of the "Crossless" Gospel?


LM

 

Mike/Men:

The GES position is that while they personally believe the true Jesus Christ, they say a person who only believes "Jesus is the guarantor of everlasting life for all believers" is saved DESPITE any other "blind spots" in their identification of Jesus Christ. They have been very adamant about this.

In fact, they believe a person who flat-out rejects Christ's deity, death, and resurrection but believes "Jesus" guarantees eternal life is saved. Let me ask a question. If you reject that Jesus is God, that He died for our sins, and rose again, what do you have left? A guy that guarantees everlasting life.

When they deny you need to believe Christ's deity and say the true Jesus is believed in is properly identified by believing "Jesus is the one who guarantees my eternal life" DESPITE any other "blind spots or misconceptions," that phrase "despite any other blind spots" is like a blank check. You can reject literally anything about Jesus or believe anything about Jesus as long as you believe GES's "saving proposition."


LM