Evaluation & Response to “Crossless” Theology, Part #6

Dear Guests:

I am nearing completion of the current Evaluation & Response series.

We have been looking at how Antonio da Rosa (aka, fg me), an advocate and apologist for the Zane Hodges’ Crossless interpretation of the Gospel, views presenting the deity of Christ in a personal evangelism setting. This is part of a continuing series of revised and expanded comments I posted in a thread at Rose’s Reasonings.*

This particular view held by Antonio came to the forefront of debate and controversy, even among Crossless advocates, when Antonio wrote, “The Mormon Jesus and Evangelical Jesus are one and the same.” That statement touched off a protracted exchange and debate on the deity of Christ in the evangelistic setting at several blogs including my own. See- Can the Mormon Jesus & Biblical Jesus be “One and the Same?”

The following paragraph by da Rosa, which appeared in a lengthy thread at Rose’s Reasonings, reveals more of this peculiar position.

“When a Mormon believes the saving message of Christ, it will be encumbent upon the discipler of him to lead the individual into the evangelical faith through the convincing testimony of the Scriptures (the King James version will do just fine) in conjunction with the Holy Spirit (who now indwells this Mormon). Serious temporal and eternal consequences may result for the saved Mormon who shuns the faith delivered to the saints.” (2/02/2008 6:34 PM)

Before I address the paragraph above I need to include another statement da Rosa made in the same thread. Antonio wrote,

“I believe Mormonism is a cult which teaches damnable heresies concerning Jesus.” (2/2 @ 4:01PM)

What I would like to do from this point is split up Antonio’s opening paragraph and address it in segments.

In the opening paragraph Antonio verifies and reiterates his view that a Mormon, who believes what Antonio says are“damnable heresies concerning Jesus” can be born again. This is Antonio’s salvation no matter what “misconception,” including conscience denial of the deity of Christ, open rejection or unbelief the lost man has in his heart and mind about the Lord Jesus Christ. Belief in a promise of eternal life from any kind of Jesus the lost man wants to believe in, and according to most Crossless advocates, he has been born into the family of God.

Antonio insists a lost man who believes in a Mormon non-deity, false Christ, half-brother of Satan can be born again in spite of these “damnable heresies” he clings to. Antonio’s position is that a Mormon who believes in a completely different Jesus, a non-biblical Jesus can be saved by faith in a promise from this false-Christ.

Now, I will address Antonio’s statement step-by-step:

“When a Mormon believes the saving message of Christ…”

“When a Mormon believes the saving message of Christ,” he is NOT believing in the saving message of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is because he does not believe there is a Lord Jesus Christ that is identified in the Bible as the only begotten Son of God. Antonio assumes belief in a promise of eternal life from a false, non-deity person named Jesus results in receiving the gift of eternal life. In the first sentence of his paragraph Antonio makes that very clear because he makes it the responsibility of teaching the Mormon as though he has been born again and should be in a discipleship class setting for new believers.

“…it will be encumbent upon the discipler of him to lead the individual into the evangelical faith through the convincing testimony of the Scriptures (the King James version will do just fine) in conjunction with the Holy Spirit (who now indwells this Mormon)…”

You can see why Antonio thinks rejection of the deity of Christ is something to be, “put on the back burner” and left there. He views any “misconception” including open reject of the Lord’s deity as a matter to be addressed in discipleship. In May 2006 Antonio, speaking of the woman at the well, wrote, “When she is convinced she has eternal life by faith in Christ, she will never thirst again, regardless of her blindspots or misconceptions about Christology.” The obvious problem with Antonio's approach to discipleship, in this situation, it that he would be trying to disciple a man who was never saved in the first place. Antonio would view and allow that lost man to go forward under the false impression that his faith in the promise of eternal life, from a false Christ, has resulted in his having been born again.

What does Antonio mean by “evangelical faith?” He can’t mean the faith that saves because he is under the impression the Mormon has been saved already. He must mean that he wants the Mormon to be brought to an evangelical/biblical faith in the deity of Jesus Christ. And what if, after having been discipled, the Mormon still rejects the Lord’s deity? Matthew, for Crossless advocates provides the answer. He wrote,

“If he persisted in that heresy after being taught the truth, there would come a point where I would need to separate from him. But it would first be necessary to treat him as a babe in Christ.” [1]

The latter portion of Antonio’s statement above further substantiates that Antonio believes a Mormon can and has been saved who consciously rejects the deity of Jesus Christ. He believes that man, who consciously denies the deity of Christ, has been indwelt by the Holy Spirit. [2]

Antonio’s remarks concludes with,

“Serious temporal and eternal consequences may result for the saved Mormon who shuns the faith delivered to the saints.”

This final portion of Antonio’s statement takes us to another one of the extremist positions he, and others in the GES faction of the Free Grace community, have adopted that largely originates in the teachings of Zane Hodges.

Antonio believes Christians will appears at a “punitive” Judgment Seat of Christ (JSC). In his statement above da Rosa is suggesting temporary and “eternal” consequences await born again Christians when they appear at the JSC. Having grown up in the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), the first thing that came to my mind when I read Antonio’s statement was the RCC’s heretical teaching on Purgatory.

Some advocates of the punitive JSC believe that there will be some Christians who lose more than just rewards, but will be cast into outer darkness. This article is not the place, nor is this the time to fully develop and address this absurd teaching on the Judgment Seat of Christ, but one day I will.

The teachings of the GES (Hodges, Wilkin, Niemla, Lewis, Johnson and da Rosa) are egregious errors that corrupt and assault the Person and finished work of Jesus Christ.

The Hodges/GES reductionist version of the biblical plan of salvation must be exposed and biblically resisted so that not one more unsuspecting Christian or lost person is drawn into the trap of the Crossless gospel.


LM

[1] Evaluation & Response, Part 4. (See 2/11/08 @ 3:10PM)

[2] At his India Mission Journal 2007 blog Antonio made this statement,

“I beseech you, brethren, to make supplications and requests for this strategic missions endeavor to God our Father. Please pray that the Holy Spirit prepare the hearts of those whom He is directing our ministry to, through dreams, visions, and other circumstances.”

Since the close of the cannon of Scripture when has the Holy Spirit been speaking through, “dreams and visions?” This statement by Antonio suggests a Charismatic leaning in his view of the role of the Holy Sprit in this dispensation.

The next comment by Antonio might explain his Charismatic “dreams and visions” statement,

“I like to consider myself a charismatic in training. I do not ever want to be accused of putting God in a box. I want to see the supernatural, and I believe that God is still in that business.” Eternal Security is Christ’s Guarantee… (See Antonio’s thread comment on Nov. 16, 2005 @ 5:54PM)

*Rose’s Reasonings is a blog that is largely supportive of and sympathetic to the teaching and advocates of the Crossless gospel.