Bob Wilkin: “Trust(ing) in the Risen Christ (is) Flawed.”
Dear Guests of IDOTG:
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved,” (Romans 10:9).Many of you are familiar with the Grace Evangelical Society’s Crossless Gospel. This is a reductionist assault on the content of saving faith that was originated by the late Zane Hodges and perpetuated by the Grace Evangelical Society (GES). This teaching is arguably the most extreme reductionist interpretation of the Gospel ever introduced to the New Testament church by one of its own.
When you boil down the Crossless gospel you have a view that insists the unsaved can be born again apart from being aware of, understanding or believing in whom Jesus is (Deity) and what He did to provide salvation by way of His cross and resurrection. Some of Hodges’s younger followers, such as Antonio da Rosa, have gone to alarming lengths to legitimize the GES’s reductionism. For example da Rosa has maintained and reiterated his extreme statements and positions such as:
“If a JW hears me speak of Christ’s deity and asks me about it, I will say, ‘Let us agree to disagree about this subject.’In one discussion a Christian blogger verified that for da Rosa,
At the moment that a JW or a Mormon is convinced that Jesus Christ has given to them unrevokable [sic] eternal life when they believed on Him for it, I would consider such a one saved, REGARDLESS of their varied misconcetions [sic] and beliefs about Jesus.”
“*The Mormon Jesus and Evangelical Jesus are one and the same.”
“Denial of Deity is (in da Rosa’s words) ‘a legitimate nuance’.”Brother **Phillip Evans has reviewed a new article by GES Executive Director Bob Wilkin titled, Believing in the Risen Christ. Wilkin’s article is a reiteration of the Zane Hodges (Crossless Gospel) reductionist assault on the content of saving faith, in this case, the resurrection of Christ.
Brother Evans has prepared a comprehensive response. Following is a sample:
Wilkin wrote his article to apologize for and change the following statement that appeared in one of the pre-pages of his GES Journal under the title “Statement of Faith”:
“Any person who, in simple faith, trusts in the risen Christ as his or her only hope of heaven, refusing to trust in anything else, receives the gift of eternal life which, once granted, can never be lost.”
According to Wilkin, this statement is “flawed for several reasons.” He then goes on to list four reasons, with his fourth being a direct assault on the truth of the Gospel.
Beginning Tuesday morning we will post the first installment of:
LM
*In upcoming days this egregious error from Antonio da Rosa will be the subject of a new article and additional special attention.
**Phillip Evans is author of The Hollow “Gospel” of the Grace Evangelical Society
He also authored the book, Eternal Security Proved.
Christ’s Resurrection: Part of the Saving Message?
LM
*In upcoming days this egregious error from Antonio da Rosa will be the subject of a new article and additional special attention.
**Phillip Evans is author of The Hollow “Gospel” of the Grace Evangelical Society
After reviewing and citing some of the comments above by Antonio da Rosa, one man posted the following statement, which is as applicable today as it was then:
ReplyDelete“Antonio, your preaching is antithetical to that of the apostles who proclaimed the saving message of the Gospel, an integral part of which is the full deity of Christ (Rom. 1:1-5; 1 Cor. 15:1-11; 2 Thess. 1:8-9)…. I will have no part in the false assurances you distribute to unbelievers.
It is a genuine tragedy of the Crossless gospel that the few remaining men and women left in the GES were lead by Hodges and continue to be pushed by Wilkin to the place of such absurd and dangerous extremes.
LM
As I noted in the article Brother Evan's first of two articles will post early tomorrow morning. In it you will see how Wilkin inches closer to a full, unvarnished disclosure of the reductionist assaults, originated by Hodges, against the biblical content of saving faith.
ReplyDeleteThe second installment, scheduled for Thursday is, in all seriousness, one of the most compelling exposures and refutations of Wilkin's (GES) antibiblical teachings against the Gospel message for salvation.
Once the two part series is published- Any remote or lingering doubt that GES has fallen into the most egregious form of reductionist heresy ever introduced to the New Testament church will be permanently erased.
Only those who have fallen into the trap of the Crossless gospel and have had their conscience seared by Hodges's teaching- Or others who prefer ecumenical unity at the expense of doctrine will remain bound to or in denial of this radical reductionist expression of the GES assault on the Gospel message for salvation.
LM
Dear Guests of IDOTG:
ReplyDeleteJust before the new series on Bob Wilkin’s newly published assault on the content of saving faith is posted I want to share the following-
A new series is currently under development to address what is arguably the most extreme and anti-biblical teaching of GES member Antonio da Rosa.
In the article above you can read his statement, The Mormon Jesus and the Evangelical Jesus are One and the Same. This month da Rosa was once again reiterated and attempted to legitimize this view from his own Crossless gospel blog.
Last year this extremist teaching was effectively dealt with in the article, Can the Mormon Jesus and Evangelical Jesus be One and the Same? When you visit that article (through the link) be sure to read Rachel’s comment that appears near the end.
At this moment one of my partners is putting da Rosa’s reiteration of his anti-biblical Mormon & Evangelical Jesus teaching under the theological microscope for another wide spread exposure, rebuke and refutation. Why da Rosa made a new attempt to legitimize and propagate his Mormon Jesus heresy in the blogosphere after he announced it and saw it biblically thwarted last year defies explanation.
One thing for sure is that this anti-biblical teaching of da Rosa is an indelible marker that defines him and is his legacy.
Furthermore, this and other extreme statements by da Rosa demonstrate just how tragically far askew from a balanced biblical theology men can go to after coming under the influence of the Zane Hodges reductionist assault on the content of saving faith.
Pray for their recovery and that the unsuspecting be not be deceived and ruined by exposure to the advocates of the GES Crossless, Deityless and Resurrectionless gospel.
LM