Edward R. Cross

My Testimony

I grew up in a home that was not particularly religious. At fourteen I walked into an independent Baptist church because my older brother had started going, and for the first time I heard a clear presentation of the gospel of the grace of God: salvation by trusting the finished work of Christ, received as a gift, not of works. That day I believed and was saved.

Naturally, I turned to the same Baptist framework for the rest of my Christian life. I married, raised a family, taught Sunday School, preached in nursing homes, filled the pulpit, and was eventually ordained as an independent Baptist minister. I loved the Lord, loved the people, and loved the Bible. But the more I studied the Scriptures, the more tension I felt. The Bible kept saying things that did not line up with the system I had been taught.

Eventually I realized the problem was not with the Bible; it was the framework, one that pressed promises given to Israel and instructions for the little flock onto the Body of Christ. Learning to rightly divide the word of truth, and to follow Paul as he followed Christ, brought clarity, liberty, and joy. I still love the Baptist people I knew over the years, but I am a member of the Body of Christ, saved by the gospel of the grace of God, and that is enough.

I tell the full story in my book, No Longer A Baptist: Breaking Free of Religious Traditions, available on Amazon.