We are not surprised, once Mr. Roberts has denied the very fundamental of the Christian faith, even the deity of the Lord Jesus, that he should be unsound as to the gospel. We have seen how he makes baptism an essential part of salvation, we shall now quote an extract, which shows how he flounders in the mud of his own theories more and more. "To sum up the whole matter, a person instructed in 'the word of the kingdom,' inquiring what must he do to be saved, has only one Scriptural answer to receive: 'Repent and be baptized into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins ' (Acts 2:3838Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38)). When he has yielded 'his obedience of faith,' he is 'born of water' through the inceptive influence of the truth; and having entered The Name,' his sins are covered '; his transgression ' hid '; his whole past life is canceled, and he has commenced a life of probation in which he is a lawful candidate for that birth of the spirit ' from the grave which will finally constitute him a ' son of God, being of the children of the resurrection ' (Luke 20:3636Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:36)).... But his ULTIMATE acceptance will depend upon the character he develops in this new relation " (page 306). Could there be a more terrible perversion of the Gospel than is contained in the above extract? The Lord spoke to Nicodemus of being "born of water and of the Spirit" (John 3:55Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5)). The new birth is clearly by these two agencies, water and the Spirit. Water here, surely refers to the word of God, and not the water of baptism. Christian baptism was not carried out till AFTER the resurrection of Christ. You could not be baptized unto His death, until He had died. Eph. 5:2626That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:26) links up the symbol of " water BY THE WORD "; while the Apostle Peter links up the new birth with the word as the divine agency, " Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, BY THE WORD OF GOD, which liveth and abideth forever " (1 Peter 1:2323Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Peter 1:23)).
These two agencies—the word and the Spirit—bring about the new birth under the sovereign power of God. What right then has Mr. Roberts to make the water to mean baptism? True, he makes it essential that there should be heart belief of the truth to accompany it, but even then denies the Deity of Christ and the atoning character of His death, but granted this, he still makes baptism an essential to salvation. It looks very much like the old fallacy of baptismal regeneration.
Further, what right has Mr. Roberts to put being "born of water" at the beginning of the Christian path, and " born of the Spirit " at the end, linking it up with the resurrection of the body? "Born of water and of the Spirit" is ONE act. The Lord told Nicodemus that to be born again of water and the Spirit was like the wind that no one could tell whence it came nor whither it went. Yet Mr. Roberts will make it a question of attainment. He will allow a man is saved by the grace of God when he believes and is baptized, but after that he must be his own savior, and be blessed by his own efforts in developing character in his new relationship. Was there ever a more terrible mixing up of grace and law, of salvation and works, of gift and merit, to the utter destruction of the gospel.
Note, how in this extract, Mr. Roberts writes of commencing a term of probation, and only by character building is the believer found worthy of resurrection. To be finally constituted a son of God is the goal which Mr. Roberts sets before the believer. How different is the sentence of the Apostle Paul, " Ye ARE [present tense] all the children of God by FAITH in Christ Jesus " (Gal. 3:2626For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)), or that of the Apostle John, " Beloved, NOW [present time] are we the sons of God " (1 John 3:22Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2))—not gaining it by probation and character building, but "NOW."
Where is the chance of any one of us being saved if our ultimate acceptance depends upon our character. We would fling such a false gospel from us with scorn as not being the gospel of the grace of God.
Mr. Roberts then speaks of sowing to the flesh, and sowing to the Spirit. He writes:- "The two classes are differently dealt with by the Father.... The names of the former are blotted out of the Lamb's book of life ' (Rev. 2:55Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. (Revelation 2:5)), in which they had been inscribed at their immersion; while the others become the special objects of divine training, by means of the circumstances around them, providentially arranged" (page 306). According to Mr. Roberts a man can be a true believer, have his name inscribed in the Lamb's book of life, halting his sins " covered," his transgressions " hid," his whole past life " canceled," and then if he fails to produce character, and sows to the flesh, he will be lost after all. That is what Mr. Roberts says. This is what the Lord says, " I give unto them [His sheep, believers] eternal life, and THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH " (John 10:2828And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:28)). Shall we believe Mr. Roberts when he contradicts the very Son of God? The issue is most solemn.
We do not make light of a believer sowing to the flesh. If he does, he will assuredly reap corruption, and come under the chastening hand of the Lord. Perhaps the most striking and serious case on record is that depicted in 1 Corinthians 11. There was gross laxity in the Corinthian assembly, composed, as it was, of Gentiles, saved out of the wicked, voluptuous city of Corinth. They were turning the Lord's supper into an orgy of eating and drinking. They were even "drunken" at the solemn feast of the Lord's supper. What happened?
Mr. Roberts would tell us that they would be lost, their names blotted out of the Lamb's book of life, that "while faith turns a sinner into a saint, obedience only will secure a saint's acceptance at the judgment seat of Christ; and that a disobedient saint will be rejected more decisively than even an unjustified sinner" (page 310). But what saith the Scriptures? We read that those who partake of the Lord's supper unworthily, eat and drink judgment, not discerning the Lord's body. Failing to judge themselves they come under the severe discipline of the Lord. We read, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should NOT be condemned with the world " (1 Corinthians 11:30-3230For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:30‑32)). Mark that! "NOT condemned with the world."
Mr. Roberts says, "A disobedient saint will be rejected more decisively than even an unjustified sinner." The Scriptures say that the disobedient saint may be even removed from this world by the chastening hand of the Lord, in order that he may " NOT be condemned with the world." Again we prefer bowing to Scripture to imbibing the theories of Mr. Roberts, which are subversive of the grace of God in which the believer stands.