I remember some years ago a friend told me that Bob Wilkin and the Grace Evangelical Society (GES) would never change their view about "the new crossless gospel"1 (as Tom Stegall has dubbed it) and it would be promoted until Jesus returns at the Rapture.
Ironically the same thing can also be said about the new "groundless gospel" of Tom Stegall and the Duluth Bible Church. Their new no-burial view of the gospel2 will likely be promoted till Jesus comes.
These schisms within the Free Grace Movement remind me of what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11:19: "For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you" (NASB).
The apostle Paul also says in another place to "rejoice in the Lord always" (Phil. 4:4). How can Free Grace Christians rejoice amidst these divisions in the Free Grace Movement over the gospel? One reason we can rejoice is because these contrary views of the Free Grace gospel prompt us to take a close look at the question "What is the gospel?" and also help to clarify the correct interpretation of the gospel. As Scot McKnight, a New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity has well said, gospel orthodoxy is "often in response to threats to that gospel...articulated by those who are most concerned with the gospel."3
So let's keep standing for the gospel till Jesus comes! Praise the Lord!
ENDNOTES:
1 Tom Stegall, "The Tragedy of the Crossless Gospel," The Grace Family Journal (Spring 2007): p. 9.
2 See Tom Stegall's "Proposed Change" to the "SOLE CONDITION FOR SALVATION" section of the Word of Grace Bible Church Doctrinal Statement, Word of Grace Bible Church handout (circa 2007), no page number, emphasis his. Note: Word of Grace Bible Church is a church-plant of Duluth Bible Church.
3 Scot McKnight, “The Gospel and Orthodoxy,” Jesus Creed blog (February 5, 2009), bold his, ellipsis added (http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2009/02/the-gospel-and-orthodoxy.html, also see the link: www.patheos.com/community/jesuscreed/2009/02/05/the-gospel-and-orthodoxy/). A similar statement by Vance Havner is worth noting. Mr. Havner writes: "Well did Gresham Machen say that 'the most important things are not those about which men are agreed but those for which men will fight.'" (Havner, The Best of Vance Havner [Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980], p. 82.)
3 Scot McKnight, “The Gospel and Orthodoxy,” Jesus Creed blog (February 5, 2009), bold his, ellipsis added (http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2009/02/the-gospel-and-orthodoxy.html, also see the link: www.patheos.com/community/jesuscreed/2009/02/05/the-gospel-and-orthodoxy/). A similar statement by Vance Havner is worth noting. Mr. Havner writes: "Well did Gresham Machen say that 'the most important things are not those about which men are agreed but those for which men will fight.'" (Havner, The Best of Vance Havner [Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980], p. 82.)
