The Bible teaches us that the New Birth is an absolute necessity, if we are to enter the kingdom of God (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)). It further teaches that it is, and must be, God's sovereign act alone (John 3:88The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)).
How then does this new cult view the new birth? F. B. says, "There is no fact so great in the experience of men, as the fact that a soul on the extreme edge of destruction can be redeemed to LIFE merely by turning round -sincerely turning round " (" Life Changers," p. 109).
Here we have redemption of life merely by turning round, new birth by man's own act, man his own savior. Not a word in this statement as to new birth being God's sovereign act, nor of the necessity of the death of Christ before God can communicate life, for we read, "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him" (1 John 4:99In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)).
This new birth by auto-suggestion runs through the literature of the Movement. We read, "How simply a man can be born again! One act of honesty. Reality!" (" Life Changers," p. 104). "It does not matter, I think, what theological language is used to express the immense miracle of redemption. What matters is making it real to suffering men that directly they are absolutely honest in desiring release from the slavery of sin, God will flood into their lives, and they really will be born again" (" Life Changers," p. 106). So according to the Group theology, man is his own savior. It is his honesty, his turning round, and lo! the miracle occurs, and the man is born again! How far removed is this from the teaching of Scripture! How illogical it is. A man cannot bring about his second birth, any more than his first birth.
Along with this there is the denial that man is hopelessly corrupted in the innermost springs of his sinful nature. In the days of Noah God looked down from heaven upon men, and saw " that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually " (Gen. 6:55And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:5)); and this is as true today as then.
Yet we are told that what gives F. B. "his unique power is the mystical notion that in every man is 'a piece of divinity' hungering and thirsting for expression, a piece of divinity which best makes its presence felt to the soul in periods of silence " (" Life Changers," p. 26). One of F. B.'s converts says, "This is my theology: God has left a part of Himself in each of us, and this divine part of our nature, in every moral crisis, recognizes the historic Jesus and the Christ of experience as its necessary complement" ("Life Changers," p. 156). How different is the teaching of Scripture. " Dead in trespasses and sins " (Eph. 2 I). If dead, where is there room for "a piece of divinity hungering and thirsting "? A man dead towards God does not hunger and thirst for good.
We can only ask what kind of "new birth" do these converts experience under this system of religion by autosuggestion? It certainly cannot be the new birth of the Bible, the being born from above, the being born of water (i.e., by the Word—Eph. 5:2626That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:26)) and of the Spirit. It can only be a simulation of the divine, a deceit of the devil, posing as an angel of light. Such teaching as we have been examining is simply modernism, to call it by its right name. Here and there an orthodox phrase is thrown in, but modernism is the characteristic of the teaching.
Three old women in Bedford were sitting in the sun. Their conversation was overheard by John Bunyan in his unconverted days. He tells us he was astounded and amazed by what he heard. He says,
" They spoke of a new birth, of how God had worked in their hearts to show them their lost state, of how they were once under the curse of God, of God's love in giving His dear Son to die for them, and how they were led to trust Christ, and found in Him rest and peace for their souls."
There is nothing to compare with this beautiful testimony in all the literature of The Oxford Group Movement. How satisfying and intelligent it is! It shows knowledge of the Scriptures, of the experience of new birth opening their eyes to their lost state, of the atoning death of Christ, and their being led to definite trust in the Savior, and the resultant experience of rest and peace in their soul.
When we read that F. B.'s "unique power" rests on a denial of Scripture as to the utter ruin of man, we can only ask, What kind of power is this? It certainly is not of the Spirit of God. If not of God, then of what? The matter is serious beyond words.
This leads us to inquire what position the atonement has in the Movement.