Vigilance Regarding the Truth of the Gospel: Reengaging the Heresy of the GES “Crossless” Gospel

Dear Guests of IDOTG:

After approximately three years of exposing the reductionist soteriology of the Grace Evangelical Society (GES) Crossless gospel it (GES) has been widely recognized as a shrinking cell of theological extremists. Dozens of articles contributed to the exposure and refutation of the late Zane Hodges inspired reductionist attack on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Examples include:

GES Reductionist Affirmation of Belief

The “Christ” Under Siege

Is the “Crossless” Label the Right Label?

Zane Hodges: Drifting Far Off the Marker

The Gospel of the Christ: Preach the Maximum, Require the Minimum

The Crossless gospel can be summarized as follows: The lost man simply needs to believe a man named Jesus guarantees eternal life, and by believing in nothing more than the promise of eternal life he (the lost man) is born again. According to GES the lost man does not need to know, understand or believe that he is a sinner under the wrath of God. The lost man does not need to know, understand or believe in the Person (deity) of Jesus and what He did to provide salvation. The GES insists the Lord’s titles; “the Christ” and “Son of God” do not mean or infer His deity. The GES defines “the Christ” in purely functional terms, such as “the Guarantor of everlasting life.” Furthermore, Crossless gospel advocates believe a lost man can openly reject the Lord’s deity, but still be born again. They consider any one can be saved including the Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon and Hindu “no matter what misconceptions” and heretical beliefs they hold about the Lord Jesus Christ. In an evangelistic setting any misconception the lost man has about Jesus, including open rejection of His deity, is to be “put on the back burner” and left there. (In Defense of the Gospel, Revised & Expanded Edition, pp. 32-33)

We are grateful that many of the Crossless gospel advocates and their apologists have been exposed. Their errors have been refuted from the Scriptures. From the pictorial images from the April 2010 GES national conference it appears there were less than 100 in attendance including its speakers. In most cases GES Crossless advocates and their defenders have fallen silent, their blogs are essentially defunct. If, however, they should reappear on the Internet we will make certain they are exposed so that the unsuspecting do not fall prey to their insidious errors.

The Crossless gospel is the most egregious reductionist assault on the Gospel of Jesus Christ ever introduced to the New Testament church by one of its own, namely Zane Hodges and Bob Wilkin. No other group in Christian circles, other than the GES or its sympathizers, propagates this reductionist heresy. Because the GES still exists, although in shrinking numbers, the unsuspecting might be exposed to and come under its corruptive influence and possibly fall into the trap of its Crossless, Promise- ONLY heresy. For this reason we continue to alert and inform believers of this dangerous teaching.

Pastor Tom Stegall, author of The Gospel of the Christ has written a new two-part series to address the ongoing propagation of the Crossless gospel heresy. Part one of Vigilance Regarding the Truth of the Gospel: Reengaging the Heresy of the GES “Crossless” Gospel will be posted tomorrow morning for your consideration.


LM