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The issue that has separated Baptists from Protestants through the centuries has been the nature of the church. Baptists have held that the church is always local in nature, and a visible body, while Protestants, not able to completely free themselves from the influence of their [[Roman Catholic|Roman]] mother, hold that the true church is universal in nature, and therefore invisible. They are not able to distinguish between the kingdom of God into which all believers are born, and the church of God which Jesus called out as a distinct body to serve as the executive of the kingdom.<br>

The issue that has separated Baptists from Protestants through the centuries has been the nature of the church. Baptists have held that the church is always local in nature, and a visible body, while Protestants, not able to completely free themselves from the influence of their [[Roman Catholic|Roman]] mother, hold that the true church is universal in nature, and therefore invisible. They are not able to distinguish between the kingdom of God into which all believers are born, and the church of God which Jesus called out as a distinct body to serve as the executive of the kingdom.<br>

"The only place to determine the true nature of a [[New Testament]] church is the New Testament itself. Just what did [[Jesus]] declare He was going to build, and what did His apostles and other New Testament writers understand the nature of the churches to whom they ministered and wrote to be? Did Jesus call it together Himself, or did He leave it to the minds of theologians to determine for themselves in later centuries? Does it have distinct teachings set forth in the New Testament, or are men free to make their own? ..."<ref name=bhist%2F></blockquote>

"The only place to determine the true nature of a [[New Testament]] church is the New Testament itself. Just what did [[Jesus]] declare He was going to build, and what did His apostles and other New Testament writers understand the nature of the churches to whom they ministered and wrote to be? Did Jesus call it together Himself, or did He leave it to the minds of theologians to determine for themselves in later centuries? Does it have distinct teachings set forth in the New Testament, or are men free to make their own? ..."<ref name=bhist/></blockquote>

At the time of his death at the age of ninety-one in Texarkana, Texas, Cross had retired from the ministry and was a member of the County Avenue Baptist Church. He had been married since 1939 to the former Johnnie Maxine Sharp (born 1920), who survived him. Cross is interred at East Memorial Gardens in Texarkana, Texas.<ref>''Texarkana Gazette'', December 12, 2008</ref>

At the time of his death at the age of ninety-one in Texarkana, Texas, Cross had retired from the ministry and was a member of the County Avenue Baptist Church. He had been married since 1939 to the former Johnnie Maxine Sharp (born 1920), who survived him. Cross is interred at East Memorial Gardens in Texarkana, Texas.<ref>''Texarkana Gazette'', December 12, 2008</ref>