Zane Hodges has passed and recieved his rewards...

[Alive in Christ]

Brother Zane Hodges has passed on into his heavenly reward. Apparently his homecoming was last weekend.

I have a couple of his books and they were excellant. In the midst of so much legalism and oppresive and unbiblical hiearachial bondage, Brother Hodges steadfastly proclaimed the liberating truth of Gods unfathonable grace.

He has discovered that the labor was worth it. :thumbs:


http://www.dailyscroll.net/archives/2961

http://www.faithalone.org/index.html



From Bob Wilkin...

"Zane has been like a father to me. He taught me how to exegete the Scriptures. He taught me so much about ministry and life. I am in shock.

Zane didn’t show up Sunday night at the Lord’s Supper meeting held in his office. Robert Calhoun and Mike Lii went to his apartment and found him. They think he died on Saturday night or Sunday morning. He was 76.

The funeral is set for Tuesday December 2nd at 11AM at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Dr. Tony Evans, Pastor. I’ve already heard from people from as far as California, Oregon, and Colorado who plan to fly in so that they can be there to honor Zane.

Zane was born on June 15th, 1932. He graduated from Wheaton College and then Dallas Theological Seminary. After graduating he was hired to teach Greek at DTS where he taught for 27 years until 1986. Over the last 22 years Zane devoted himself to writing and speaking. He taught for over 45 years at Victor Street Bible Chapel in Dallas. He wrote more than 10 books including The Hungry Inherit, The Gospel Under Siege, Grace in Eclipse, Six Secrets of the Christian Life, Harmony with God, Power to Make War, and stand-alone commentaries on James and 1-3 John. He and Dr. Art Farstad co-edited The Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text.

Zane influenced thousands of pastors and missionaries directly and hundreds of thousands by means of his writings.

Grace Evangelical Society would never have come into existence but for the influence of Zane Hodges on my life. He was on the original GES board and remained on the board for nearly 10 years. The entire 22 years of GES’s existence he has always been there for me and for GES.

Anyone who knew him would say that he was a very godly and gracious man.

Zane never married. His parents, Z.C. and Virginia Hodges, went to be with the Lord in the past decade. His brother David died of a heart attack around 1981.

While we will miss him greatly, we rejoice that he is now with the Lord and with his mom and dad and brother."

:godisgood:

 

[Martin]

Brother Zane Hodges has passed on into his heavenly reward. Apparently his homecoming was last weekend.

I have a couple of his books and they were excellant. In the midst of so much legalism and oppresive and unbiblical hiearachial bondage, Brother Hodges steadfastly proclaimed the liberating truth of Gods unfathonable grace.

He has discovered that the labor was worth it.

==This news brings mixed feelings to my heart. On one hand I am sad to see his family and friends have to deal with his departure during this time of the year.

On the other hand, I blame Mr. Hodges for spreading an easy believism that has done much damage to the modern church. The no-Lordship "gospel" is dangerous because it leads people to the false conclusion that they can have Jesus as their Savior but not as their Lord. Whether Hodges is in heaven or hell I can't say because I don't know if he personally fell under the curse of Gal 1:8-9. I do pray that he is in heaven with the Lord and that he will have eternal peace with his Savior. I also pray for the thousands who have been mislead by his false teachings.

 

[Alive in Christ]

Martin,

"I blame Mr. Hodges for spreading an easy believism that has done much damage to the modern church."

Its not easy believism, its justification by faith alone.

Thats the gospel, friend.

"The no-Lordship "gospel" is dangerous because it leads people to the false conclusion that they can have Jesus as their Savior but not as their Lord."

You cant have one without the other. When one is justified through faith alone, Christ becomes your Lord at that point. You dont "make" Him Lord by "doing, doing, doing" good deeds for Him, or "promising, pomising, promising" that you will do good deeds for Him.

You do not "make" Him your Lord...He simply is.

Most of the time when I hear teachers emphasising "making Jesus your Lord" it is in the midst of hard core legalism.

I am aware of the criticisms of the Grace Evangelical Society by folks on this board and others. Because I am a "scripture guy" those criticisms ring utterly hollow and devoid of merit.

I have heard people on this board refer to them as teaching a "crossless" gospel.

How utterly and ridiculously wrong that criticsm is.

Whether Hodges is in heaven or hell I can't say because I don't know if he personally fell under the curse of Gal 1:8-9."

How can one be under the curse you refer to by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ?

The primary point of the book of Galatians is the condemnation of the false gospel of faith + works/doing/submitting/earning.

"knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law..."

Doing...trying....making Jesus your Lord, working, etc.

but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Any and all attempts to add ANYTHING to faith alone is condemned here as well as so many other places.

From Ephesians...

"For it is by grace that you are saved, through faith. And that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast."

The "new life" will flow through the believer as naturally as water through a hose after the spigot has been opened.

"I do pray that he is in heaven with the Lord and that he will have eternal peace with his Savior."

You can rest assured of that.

"I also pray for the thousands who have been mislead by his false teachings."

I give thanks for the millions who have been blessed with the liberating truths that Zane Hodges has allowed His Lord to proclaim though him.


:godisgood:

 

[Jarthur001]

You can rest assured of that.



I give thanks for the millions who have been blessed with the liberating truths that Zane Hodges has allowed His Lord to proclaim though him.


:godisgood:

Hodges mislead millions. It is ironic that you say he let his lord proclaim truths, when he spent so much time teaching that one not need a Lord for salvation.

 

[Alive in Christ]

Jarthur,

"Hodges mislead millions."

Nonsense.

"It is ironic that you say he let his lord proclaim truths, when he spent so much time teaching that one not need a Lord for salvation."

Nonsense.

For you to say that he taught that one does "not need a Lord" for salvation is the equivalent of saying the Zane Hodges teaches that one does not need Jesus Christ for salvation.

When he in fact devoted his life to proclaiming Jesus Christ...who is Lord and always will be...as our hope for salvation.

You guys are slandering a man just days after he passed away.

A very sad thing.


:godisgood:

 

[Pastor Larry]

Nonsense.

Hodges taught that a person can stop believing in Christ and even repudiate Christ and still be saved. That means that Zane Hodges believed that God would save unbelievers. That is unbiblical. It is misleading. It was not the gospel.

Hodges was a great Greek scholar. He did not understand the gospel very well.

 

[Martin]

I am only responded to Alive in Christ to clearify certain points of confusion.

Its not easy believism, its justification by faith alone. Thats the gospel, friend.

==Your right, the Gospel is justification by faith alone. However Mr. Hodges twisted that truth. He took it to mean that "faith alone" meant no need for repentance, and that a person could deny the Lordship of Christ and still claim to have true faith. What Mr. Hodges preached was not the Gospel that Jesus and Paul preached, it was not the Gospel preached by men like Luther and Calvin, what Hodges preached was a watered down "gospel" that lacked true power.

You cant have one without the other. When one is justified through faith alone, Christ becomes your Lord at that point. You dont "make" Him Lord by "doing, doing, doing" good deeds for Him, or "promising, pomising, promising" that you will do good deeds for Him.

==Nobody is teaching salvation/justification by "doing, doing, doing, good deeds". The idea that Lordship salvation proponents teach that is a misleading strawman. One that Mr. Hodges constantly made. We believe that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone (Rom 4:4-5, Eph 2:8-9). We believe that people who have true faith in Christ confess Him as their "Lord" (Rom 10:9). A person who wants salvation without relationship is not coming in true faith. A person who wants salvation without submission is not coming in true faith. A person who wants salvation on their terms is not coming in true faith. After salvation the "doing, doing, doing" is not to be saved or to saved, but it is evidence of true salvation. It is evidence of a changed heart (1Jn 3:4-10).

You do not "make" Him your Lord...He simply is.

==Jesus Christ is Lord, correct. However to be saved you must confess Him as your Lord (Master: Rom 10:9). A person who refuses to confess Christ as their Lord is not coming to Christ in true faith.

Most of the time when I hear teachers emphasising "making Jesus your Lord" it is in the midst of hard core legalism.

==Are you saying that the teaching that salvation results in a changed life is legalism? Are you saying that the teaching that true faith is a submissive faith is legalism?

I am aware of the criticisms of the Grace Evangelical Society by folks on this board and others. Because I am a "scripture guy" those criticisms ring utterly hollow and devoid of merit.

==Does it ring "utterly hollow" when free-grace proponents on this board point out the dangers of the "cross-less gospel" promoted by men like Zane Hodges? How can that ring hollow? Those are people who deny Lordship Salvation, like yourself, yet who have realized that something is terribly wrong with GES.

As for Scripture, Scripture never allows for the idea that a person can be saved and not experience a true change of heart that results in a new life. Scripture never allows for the idea that a person who's heart is set on rebellion can at the same time express true faith. True faith is a product of the Holy Spirit and with true faith comes a surrendered heart.

I have heard people on this board refer to them as teaching a "crossless" gospel. How utterly and ridiculously wrong that criticsm is.

==GES has promoted the idea that a person can be saved without believing in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For a tragic example of the GES error see Bob Wilkin's article "Scavenger Hunt Salvation Without A List" published in the May/June 2008 edition of Grace In Focus. Zane Hodges agreed with the idea expressed by Wilkin. The criticism is not "utterly and ridiculously wrong", it is based on GES documentation. And again I would point out that there are freegrace (non-Lordship) folks who have taken up the charge against GES on this point.

How can one be under the curse you refer to by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ?

==Because the message of GES is not the Biblical Gospel according to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[Alive in Christ]

Pastor Larry,

"Hodges taught that a person can stop believing in Christ and even repudiate Christ and still be saved."

You mean like the prodigal son? Who, in effect "repudiated" his Father and went to live with the pigs?

The prodigal never stopped being his fathers son, and he came back.

Same with us. If we have a devastating set of circumstances in our life that rocks us to the core, some people have turned their back on God for a time.

But they come back in due time, and they NEVER lost their saved status and never will. After being born of the Spirit, we are eternally secure.

Loss of rewards in heaven? Sure. But not salvation.

"That means that Zane Hodges believed that God would save unbelievers."

Doesnt mean that in the least.

God will NEVER forsake His own. NEVER. A person may *appear* to repudiate God, but we cant see their heart. God can. Once you are a son, you are eternally a son. And no matter how far a brother or sister may *appear* to have "fallen", there will always be a part of their heart than is still clinging to Christ and still loves Christ.

We cant see that. God can.

from the scriptures...

Though we are faithless, yet God is faithful"

God will even call someone home prematurely in cases such as this.

Again from the scriptures...

"There is a sin unto death. I do not say one should pray about that"

:godisgood:

 

[Martin]

You mean like the prodigal son? Who, in effect "repudiated" his Father and went to live with the pigs? The prodigal never stopped being his fathers son, and he came back.

==If you take the time to examine the context of Luke 15 you would see that the prodigal son parable does not have anything to do with eternal security (pro or con). It is a parable about salvation. More directly it is a parable about salvation of the repentant son (Lk 15:17-24) who represents sinners who come to Christ (Lk 15:1-2, 7,10,22-24) and the hardened heart of the older brother who represents the Pharisees and scribes (15:1-2, 25-32).

So the very idea that the prodigal son parable justifies the heresy that a person can be saved and "stop believing in Christ and even repudiate Christ and still be saved" is refuted easily by simply examining the text.

God will NEVER forsake His own. NEVER. A person may *appear* to repudiate God, but we cant see their heart. God can. Once you are a son, you are eternally a son. And no matter how far a brother or sister may *appear* to have "fallen", there will always be a part of their heart than is still clinging to Christ and still loves Christ.

==I wonder how that fits with Matthew 10:32-33?

A believer may fall, and fall badly, but a true believer will never lose his/her faith. Why not? Because the Lord Jesus is the author and finisher of true saving faith (Heb 12:2, Lk 22:31-32). The only way a true believer could lose his/her faith was if they lost Christ. Since that cannot and will not happen, a true believer cannot lose his/her faith. Also the Scriptures clearly teach the perseverance in the faith is a sign of true salvation (Jn 8:31, Col 1:21-23, etc).

Again, however, you need to acknowledge that this is a point of disagreement within the freegrace camp. It is not just a point of disagreement between the Lordship camp and the freegrace camp.

 

[Pastor Larry]

You mean like the prodigal son? Who, in effect "repudiated" his Father and went to live with the pigs?

No I don't mean like that at all. As you say, he never stopped being his father's son and he came back. Hodges was talking about people who do not come back.

But the prodigal son is not a story about believers backsliding, but about Jews not repenting and believing to begin with. Jesus told that parable to rebuke the Jews.

But they come back in due time, and they NEVER lost their saved status and never will. After being born of the Spirit, we are eternally secure.

This is the biblical doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, that true believers never finally fall away. Hodges denied that.

Doesnt mean that in the least.

That's exactly what it means.

God will NEVER forsake His own.

True, and God's own will never finally forsake him.

Hodges apparently did not believe that.

 

[Jarthur001]

Nonsense.

For you to say that he taught that one does "not need a Lord" for salvation is the equivalent of saying the Zane Hodges teaches that one does not need Jesus Christ for salvation.

When he in fact devoted his life to proclaiming Jesus Christ...who is Lord and always will be...as our hope for salvation.

You guys are slandering a man just days after he passed away.

A very sad thing.


:godisgood:

Hodges....

John certainly does not preach repentance in his Gospel!

From...
http://chafer.edu/journal/back_issues/v8n3_1.pdf

John...

John 3:19–21
And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.

John 10:26–28
But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them (emphasis added).

John 12:24–26
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

I rest my case

 

[Alive in Christ]

Martin,

I cant find the May/June 2008 Grace in Focus "scavenger hunt" issue on the web-site.

But in reading articles that ARE up on the website I find much evidence that you guys are very much off base. I find much that contradicts what you guys are saying about them.

They simply do not teach what you guys are saying that they teach. I have no idea what is going on. You say these derogatory things about what they believe and teach...then I go over and check them out and discover that they believe and teach the very things you say they DONT believe and teach.

I am a baptist, and much of what I read on their website is almost exactly what I have heard in church or on baptist radio/tv broadcasts for years.

Maybe you guys who are posting are in fact legalists, I dont know. I'm not accusing you...just speculating out loud I guess. I'm just amazed that these brothers are being accused of such things, with no evidence provided.

Rather than make accusations, could you quote from their writings, with links provided, that show the supposed heresy that they teach?


:godisgood:

 

[TCGreek]

I find it sad that we have mixed feelings about his passing. Perhaps, for good reasons.

 

[Martin]

I cant find the May/June 2008 Grace in Focus "scavenger hunt" issue on the web-site. But in reading articles that ARE up on the website I find much evidence that you guys are very much off base. I find much that contradicts what you guys are saying about them. They simply do not teach what you guys are saying that they teach.

==I know what they teach. I use to belong to their organization before the Lord convicted me through Scripture about the errors of GES. We have no reason to place teachings on GES that they do not hold to. I checked and GES has not placed the article "Scavenger Hunt Salvation Without A List" on their website yet. In the article Bob Wilkin says the following:

"What about the virgin birth, the Trinity, Jesus' bodily resurrection, Jesus' post-resurrection appearances, Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross, Jesus' sinless life, Jesus' miracles, the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit, the convicting work of the Spirit, the hypostatic union, and so on? Knowing these things certainly makes it easier to believe in Jesus for eternal life. But does it follow that we must believe these things to be saved? No."

According to Bob Wilkins, founder of GES, a person does not need to believe in the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross or the resurrection of Christ in order to be saved. That is unBiblical in the extreme. In fact it is direct denial of the Gospel.

"Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures..." -1Cor 15:1-4

Compare what the Apostle Paul said with what Bob Wilkin said. They are worlds apart (see also Rom 10:9, Lk 24:44-49). You can deny the obvious problems with Wilkins, Hodges, and the rest of GES all you want. However at the end of the day their teachings are in error because what they teach does not match the Word of God.

I'm sure they will post that article in the future. Keep looking for it. Hopefully you will be shocked.

You say these derogatory things about what they believe and teach...then I go over and check them out and discover that they believe and teach the very things you say they DONT believe and teach.

==Nothing I have said is derogatory. All I am doing is taking their actual teachings and measuring them by the Word of God. The thing about GES is that they are tricky. On the surface it sounds like they are in the mainstream. However it is when one goes deeper than the surface, when one gets into the meat of what they are teaching, then the problems appear. I have read most of their books and I once agreed with almost everything they said. Now I tremble at the very idea that I, for a season, agreed with some of their errors. I thank God that He is gracious and forgiving, even to those of us who strayed for a season. However I must admit that I never went so far as to teach a "crossless gospel" or deny the need of repentance like Wilkins/Hodges have done. I have to wonder about those, like Hodges and Wilkin, who camp out in error. Have they simply strayed or are they wolves in sheeps clothing? When they started teaching a crossless gospel I had to start thinking it might be the latter.

I admire several men in the freegrace movement (Charles Stanley, Charles Ryrie, etc). However they have not gone to the dangerous extremes of GES (Wilkin, Hodges, Bing, etc). The freegrace movement can be divided up into two camps: the extreme freegrace and the moderate freegrace. I fell into the moderate group for a period of time.

I am a baptist, and much of what I read on their website is almost exactly what I have heard in church or on baptist radio/tv broadcasts for years.

==On the surface it sounds the same. Yes. However it is when one gets into their actual teachings that problems show up. How many of Hodges or Wilkins books have you read? Which ones?

Maybe you guys who are posting are in fact legalists, I dont know.

==Legalists? Because we believe that salvation results in a changed life (1Jn 3:4-10, Eph 2:8-10, Gal 5:19-26)? I know that is not what you mean. However it certainly seems like you are overlooking that aspect of GES. It is a tragic sign of the "downgrade" in our own day that holiness is equaled to legalism in the much of the church. This confusion I blame, in part, on men like Zane Hodges, Tony Evans, and Bob Wilkin. They have confused too many people. It is a tragedy.

 

[pinoybaptist]

I find it sad that we have mixed feelings about his passing. Perhaps, for good reasons.

And I find it sad that one has to be a believer in order to be a redeemed child of God.
A believer is one who has come to a belief on account of hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Was Paul saying he will get Jews redeemed by having them hear, or was he saying that they need to hear in order to believe ? Apparently it is the latter, yet this is not in connection with the redemption of those in Israel, the nation, who are of the Israel of God.

Jesus Christ went to the cross and redeemed His people by taking upon Himself all their sins, all their guilt, and tasting death in their behalf that they may be free of their sins, of their guilt, and have life where they had death.

His Lordship is unquestionable, whether His child obeys Him or not, whether or not His child proclaims Jesus is my Lord is beside the point. He is Lord.

This truth is akin to the truth that in this fallen world many peoples call on the names of many God, but the unchallengeable, undeniable, fact is that "there is no other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved".

The eternal redemption of His people is not predicated on their assent to His Lordship, or to their knowledge of His Name. Their eternal redemption is 100% grace.

The term "salvation by faith in Jesus Christ" is more properly understood in the context of gospel salvation, where a heathen is reached by, and hears, the gospel, is regenerated before or after the fact, and professes Christ as a result of his conversion, then is he saved from his heathen way of life, "by faith" in Jesus Christ.

 

[Pastor Larry]

And I find it sad that one has to be a believer in order to be a redeemed child of God.

Yet this is unequivocally taught in Scripture. If one does not believe, he is not a child of God.

 

[Revmitchell]

Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

 

[TCGreek]

And I find it sad that one has to be a believer in order to be a redeemed child of God.

Is your statement based on Scripture?

 

[Havensdad]

And I find it sad that one has to be a believer in order to be a redeemed child of God.
A believer is one who has come to a belief on account of hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Was Paul saying he will get Jews redeemed by having them hear, or was he saying that they need to hear in order to believe ? Apparently it is the latter, yet this is not in connection with the redemption of those in Israel, the nation, who are of the Israel of God.

Jesus Christ went to the cross and redeemed His people by taking upon Himself all their sins, all their guilt, and tasting death in their behalf that they may be free of their sins, of their guilt, and have life where they had death.

His Lordship is unquestionable, whether His child obeys Him or not, whether or not His child proclaims Jesus is my Lord is beside the point. He is Lord.

This truth is akin to the truth that in this fallen world many peoples call on the names of many God, but the unchallengeable, undeniable, fact is that "there is no other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved".

The eternal redemption of His people is not predicated on their assent to His Lordship, or to their knowledge of His Name. Their eternal redemption is 100% grace.

The term "salvation by faith in Jesus Christ" is more properly understood in the context of gospel salvation, where a heathen is reached by, and hears, the gospel, is regenerated before or after the fact, and professes Christ as a result of his conversion, then is he saved from his heathen way of life, "by faith" in Jesus Christ.

Um, How can you post in the "Baptist only" section? There has never, to my knowledge, been a Baptist Faith and Message, statement of faith, etc., that would not vehemently deny what you just stated.

Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, in terms of a submissive trust, and have not repented, are not only not a "redeemed child of God", according to Jesus, they will spend an eternity in the tormenting fires of Hell, where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth"

 

[pinoybaptist]

Um, How can you post in the "Baptist only" section?

Because I am a Baptist. The Baptist order I belong to most likely predates the order you belong to. :BangHead:

There has never, to my knowledge, been a Baptist Faith and Message, statement of faith, etc., that would not vehemently deny what you just stated.

Well then your knowledge is suspect, and is very narrow. Try to broaden your knowledge, kind sir. :laugh: The Baptist people being of an independent and individualistic streak, I am sure you're likely to find some Baptist faith or message that will make your hair fall out. But then what will you do ? Un-baptist them ?

Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, in terms of a submissive trust, and have not repented, are not only not a "redeemed child of God",

Well, then, pray tell this "non-Baptist", with this qualification you insist a redeemed child of God must possess, how will you reconcile the following Scripture to all having believed in Jesus Christ in terms of a submissive trust ?

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands

All means all, at least in this context, it does, I presume ? And if all means all, then this. "all" would include those who lived before Jesus' time, and all people and all tongues mean to include all those who lived outside of the area of the earth which God chose to make Himself known, namely the isles and islands and other continents of the world regardless of chronology, right ?

according to Jesus, they will spend an eternity in the tormenting fires of Hell, where there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth"

There are approximately 7 or 8 such passages that use the phrase "weeping and gnashing" of teeth, choose one, and let's discuss it, in relation to eternal redemption and your requirement that those whom Christ redeemed must ALL have submissive trust before they qualify for redemption.