Tradition & Error
Much of what passes for Christianity is tradition that departed from Paul's gospel almost as soon as it was given. These articles test common teachings, churches and systems against the Scriptures rightly divided, and answer the objections most often raised against Mid-Acts right division.
Start with these
Prove All Things: Answering the Objections to Mid-Acts
Posted by Edward Cross on
When a believer first hears that the Body of Christ began with Paul, the objections come fast. This study takes the strongest arguments against Mid-Acts right division — Pentecost, one body, two gospels, the Great Commission, novelty, and more — and answers each from the Scriptures rightly divided.
The Church that Kept the Wrong Apostle: Two Departures and What Became of the Remnant
Posted by Edward Cross on
How the post-apostolic church came to keep the wrong apostle — exalting Peter, whom Scripture never made its head, while forsaking Paul. Two departures, the rise of the apostate church, what became of Israel's believing remnant, and the test that still exposes another gospel.
Recognizing Religious Indoctrination
Posted by Edward Cross on
There is a difference between believing a doctrine because you found it in the Book and believing it because a system placed it there and trained you never to question it. This article defines indoctrination, exposes the Bible-study methods that blend Scripture while ignoring right division, and names the marks to recognize it in yourself.
What Is Wrong With Reformed Theology: The Failure to Rightly Divide
Posted by Edward Cross on
The deepest problem with Reformed theology is not any one of its five points but the method beneath them: a Bible read flat, without rightly dividing the word. Sort the texts — Israel's national election from the Body's election in Christ, predestination from selection — and the system dissolves.
All articles on this topic
Until Jerusalem Says It — The House Left Desolate and the Witness They Refused
Posted by Edward R. Cross on September 21, 2026
Matthew 23:39 makes the second advent wait on one sentence Jerusalem has not yet said. Read the whole paragraph and you find what the sentence is about — their treatment of the men God sends them. They killed the prophets, they stoned Stephen, they refused the apostolic witness. The house stands desolate still.
One Means One: The Baptism of Ephesians 4:5
Posted by Edward R. Cross on September 17, 2026
Paul says there is one baptism. The usual answer is that he means one chief baptism among several. This study tests that reading against every place the word one stands in the Bible, and then against the sentence Paul actually wrote.
The Plan No Verse Mentions — God Has Not Scripted Every Detail of Your Life
Posted by Edward R. Cross on September 14, 2026
Believers are taught that God has authored a detailed script for each life and that one wrong turn puts a man outside His will. No verse says it. This study asks for the verse, takes up every passage offered in its place, and shows that the teaching's two halves cannot both be true at once.
Accuracy and Precision Is Not Excess
Posted by Edward R. Cross on September 8, 2026
Make a careful distinction from the text and the answer comes back as a prefix — hyper, ultra, too far. Then a verse arrives to enforce it. But Paul never wrote strive not about words, and the sentence used to forbid precision commands it in the very next breath.
Attack the Man, Avoid the Message
Posted by Edward R. Cross on September 8, 2026
There is an old way to get rid of a doctrine you cannot answer: go after the man who said it. Scripture answers it plainly. God published His own messengers' failures, kept using them, and never once made a man's record the test of his message. Weigh what was said, not who carried it.
The Faith of Whose Fathers — Why an Inheritance Is Never a Credential
Posted by Edward R. Cross on September 8, 2026
A hymn written by a convert to Rome for the Catholic martyrs of England became the anthem of Protestant loyalty to inherited belief, and it travels that easily because it names no doctrine at all. Paul had a faith of his fathers too. He was exceedingly zealous of it, and he counted the whole inheritance loss.
Transformed as the Ministers of Righteousness: The Disguise Is Perfect and the Test Is Doctrine
Posted by Edward R. Cross on September 8, 2026
Paul warned that Satan's ministers appear as ministers of righteousness, not as open enemies. This study examines why the counterfeit stands inside the Christian column rather than beside it, why sincerity, results and personal godliness cannot test a teacher, and what Paul actually gives the Body to test him with.
Redemption Is Not a Covenant Remedy — Answering a Preterist Use of Hebrews 9:15
Posted by Edward R. Cross on September 6, 2026
A graphic circulating online asks how a man never under the first covenant could be redeemed from transgressions under it. The question carries a premise it never states: that the only redemption there is, is redemption from covenant transgressions. Paul says guilt reached men who never had a covenant to break, and so does the remedy.
