Sometimes products are rebranded to make them sell better. It seems to me that’s what’s going on with the new label that has recently been given to “the promise-only gospel” of Zane Hodges and the Grace Evangelical Society (GES). It reminds me of how genetically engineered food used to be labeled “GMO,” but since that label has gotten so much bad press, it’s now being called “bioengineered” to make it sound better. But it’s still the same garbage. The same is true with “the promise-only” (aka “crossless”) gospel. Here’s the comment that I wrote for Mike Lii’s video titled “Focused Free Grace Versus Flexible Free Grace: Can Two Walk Together?”[1] In the comment thread I said:
“This is an interesting discussion. I prefer the terms ‘Non-Traditional Free Grace’ (the GES) and ‘Traditional Free Grace’ (the FGA, & others), although I can understand why the GES with its sympathizers and associates don’t especially like those labels since it highlights how many of the key teachings of the GES are not traditional, i.e. not Biblical. Some things are ‘sugar coated’ with an enticing name or label to cover up their true identity and allure a person into something that is dangerous and in the end deadly. ‘Focused Free Grace’ is just the new circus name for the false teaching of the promise-only gospel, aka the ‘crossless gospel’. Beware!”
Reference:
[1] Mike Lii, “Focused Free Grace Versus Flexible Free Grace: Can Two Walk Together?” (July 19, 2023), GES YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcvBwrl63gg
10 comments:
The "focused" Free Grace plan of salvation reminds me of the saying, "Don't miss the forest for the trees." In other words: Zane Hodges, Bob Wilkin, & the Grace Evangelical Society (Mike Lii among them) are so myopically "focused" on their mantra of "Believe in Him for Life" that they miss the further divine revelation of THE GOSPEL itself, consisting of the Person and Work of Christ (1 Cor. 15:1ff). This is the message of life that the apostle John and all the apostles preached (see 1 Cor. 15:9-11; Gal. 2:6-9; Eph. 1:13, Titus 1:1-3, etc.). The Bible says that the gospel IS the message of salvation (Eph. 1:13), whereas Zane Hodges says that the basic facts of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection are merely "the facts surrounding the gospel message". (Hodges, "How to Lead People to Christ, Part 2".) To give his statement more context, Hodges says: "You see, as we noted previously, the facts surrounding the gospel message – such as the death and resurrection of Christ – are important facts for what they tell us about the reasons for trusting Christ." So right there it's clear that Hodges changes the biblical gospel! The apostle Paul clearly includes Christ's death, burial, and resurrection in the gospel (Hodges even admits this!), whereas Hodges excludes them. The apostle Paul only preached one gospel (i.e. the biblical gospel, Gal. 1:6-9) which is therefore true, which means that Hodges' gospel is "another gospel" and is therefore false.
Crazy Zane's sugar-coated gospel is:
-repentance free (no change of mind is necessary),
-sin free (no acknowledgement of sin is necessary),
-content free (no belief in the facts of the gospel is necessary)
-it's even "Christ" free!
All a lost person has to believe is the words of John 6:47 in the Authorized King James Version: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me [whoever that is!] hath everlasting life." Or as the Grace Evangelical Society puts it: "Believe in Him [whoever that is!] for life."
Crazy Zane's sugar-coated gospel is a sweet treat for everyone to enjoy!
But I think of the Bible verse that says, "Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful food" (Prov. 23:3, Webster's Bible Translation).
Here is documentation supporting my contention above that the GES gospel is (amazingly) “Christ” free! Notice how in the following example, proponents of the GES gospel twist Acts 16:31 in order fit it in with their belief that a lost person does not need to believe specifically in “Christ”, but rather needs only "believe in Jesus for eternal life". John Malone points this out from a GES conference that he attended in 2005, in which the keynote speakers were Bob Wilkin and John Niemela. Malone explains as follows:
“Niemela also said that the {Acts 16:31|Acts 16:31} had to do with the Philippian jailor wanting to know what to do to save his physical life. Because, as Zane Hodges and Bob Wilkin frequently state, Jesus never disappoints those who come to Him, apparently anyone who is in danger of physical death can ask Jesus for salvation from it, and they will receive it! This isogesis, of course, was used by Niemela to sustain his (Hodges) argument that one must not simply believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, but must believe that ‘Jesus is the guarantor of eternal life’ whether they believe Him to be Lord or Christ or not!”
(John Malone, “GES’ Bob Wilkin: A Heretic’s Vagaries and Intrigue,” biblestudy.net, brackets his. https://www.biblestudy.net/2007/08/02/ges-bob-wilkin-a-heretics-vagueries-and-intrigue/)
Pastor Sensenig summarizes the truth well when he says, “People need something more to believe than just the promise of eternal life. They must also ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ [Acts 16:31],’ the only One who can give them eternal life.”
(Sensenig, “Grace Evangelical Society and the Content of Saving Faith”, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d63d5eabaa52d0001d2604f/t/623827b92299cb53d64bf53e/1647847354140/Grace+Evangelical+Society+and+the+Content+of+Saving+Faith.pdf)
Pastor Sensenig goes on to highlight the tragic implications of the GES gospel:
"Yes, GES teaches that a person can go to Heaven without knowing there is a God, without knowing they are a sinner before God, without knowing that Jesus is God and their Savior from hell, and without having any change of mind about their sin, the Savior, and need for salvation from hell. In essence, one can go to Heaven without acknowledging they are a sinner, without needing a Savior, and without believing in God.
If these anti-biblical conclusions were true, then serial killers and child molesters would not have to acknowledge their sinfulness before God through repentance, but only believe in a promise about eternal life, and they would go to Heaven. Atheists would not have to admit there is a God, but potentially embrace a promise about eternal life, and to their own surprise enter Heaven upon death. Cultists who reject the deity of Christ would not have to change their thinking about Christ but only believe a promise about eternal life to enter Heaven. Christ rejectors, unrepentant sinners, and atheists could all enter Heaven when they die. If one just believes they have eternal life, without believing on Christ, then you will get into Heaven. Of course, the Bible tells a much different story"!
(Sensenig, "Grace Evangelical Society and the Content of Saving Faith", pp. 19-20. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d63d5eabaa52d0001d2604f/t/623827b92299cb53d64bf53e/1647847354140/Grace+Evangelical+Society+and+the+Content+of+Saving+Faith.pdf)
Just as a side note, Sensenig does teach that repentance is a turning from sin, not just a change of mind. He may not be the best person to quote.
I agree that repentance is a turning from sin in the sense of turning from the sin of unbelief to trust Christ by faith (cf. Jn. 16:8-9). As I've mentioned elsewhere (see in the comments of my blog post titled "Charles Ryrie on Repentance and Faith"), I think at times Sensenig is clear on the meaning of repentance and at other times not so clear. But I agree with the statement of his that I quoted and I thought he was more clear on the meaning of repentance in that article, at least from what I read. If I remember correctly that article of his is titled "Grace Evangelical Society and the Content of Saving Faith". I thought it was quite a good article.
I've always appreciated the following statement by Charles Ryrie in regards to biblical repentance, when he says: "But if repentance means changing your mind about the particular sin of rejecting Christ, then that kind of repentance saves, and of course it is the same as faith in Christ. This is what Peter asked the crowd to do on the day of Pentecost [in Acts chapter 2]. They were to change their minds about Jesus of Nazareth. Formerly they had considered Him to be only a blasphemous human being claiming to be God; now they changed their minds and saw Him as the God-man Saviour whom they would trust for salvation. That kind of repentance saves, and everyone who is saved has repented in that sense." (Ryrie, A Survey of Bible Doctrine [Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1972], p. 139.)
For more information see my blog post article titled "Zane Hodges vs. Paul on the Gospel" (FGFS, Nov. 23, 2023).
The link is: https://freegracefreespeech.blogspot.com/2023/11/zane-hodges-vs-paul.html
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