this, but before we proceed with their history, and their teachings and techniques, let me say, first, that a fatal weakness in their set-up is: Lack of a Strong Scriptural Foundation The Word of God cannot be ignored by those who would be kept from error. You cannot substitute anything for the Gospel, for Paul plainly states in Romans 1:16: “ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believ- eth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” He is the only power! What is the Gospel? Paul defines it unmistakably in 1 Corinthians 15: 1-4: “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preach unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; “ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; “ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures.” I mentioned to those Group leaders the four great absolutes that they in early days imposed upon their followers: absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute love and absolute unselfishness, and agreed with them that all of these things are fruits of the Spirit in the life of a Christian. But I asked them how they thought it would be possible for anyone to live a single one of these laws of morality without the regenerating, transforming and keeping power of the Holy Spirit. Who could judge whether he was completely fulfilling these laws? Cer tainly our consciences are not sufficiently reliable. Our lives must be constantly checked up with the Word of God. When the law of Moses was enforced upon the Israelites, what happened? The law only revealed their sinfulness, their inability to keep it. It was a ministry of death, not of life, to them. Paul said plainly to the Galatians: “ If there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law” (Gal. 3:21). But salvation is not by the law —not even by the four absolutes! Salvation is by faith. “No man is justified by the law in the sight of God . . . The just shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:11). “ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9-10). Therefore in the second place, I con clude that Moral Re-Armament Reverses Faith and Works A minister-friend asked an Oxford Grouper why they put works before faith and how he thought a person could live a Christian life before he became a born-again Christian. He said, “ Oh, well, when people see that they cannot live an absolutely honest, pure, unselfish and lov ing life, they will turn to Christ.” “ But,” persisted my friend, “ if the man has had no instruction from the Word of God, and does not know how to trust Christ for his salvation, will not all this striving in the flesh simply lead to despair—and perhaps even to suicide? Have not such things occurred where men were without God and without hope?” He admitted that it was so. I do not find clear teaching in the vast body of Moral Re-Armament literature that men must first come to God for eternal life through His Son. After receiving Him as Saviour, we come to an understanding that it is “ the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” which makes us “ free from the law of sin and death.” We can overcome Satan only “by the blood of the Lamb” and “ the word of our testimony.” One reads much of testimony, of shar ing with others, in the Oxford Group, but one does not find many references to the power of the blood to cleanse and to keep.
Christ taught, but that it was an impossibility. I said that so far as “ changed lives” were concerned, I was deeply disturbed by such terms in their writings, as “Frank (for that is the name by which they call their founder) changed me” ; “ the Group changed my life,” etc. Terms which Christians were accustomed to use were “ Christ saved me” ; “ I was bom again” ; “When I was regenerated by the Spirit of God,” etc. I got the impres sion that they believed that reforming one’s life was tantamount to being transformed by the Lord, through personal acceptance of the Son of God as Saviour. These are as wide apart as the poles. At this point in my conversation with the Oxford Group leaders, I was reminded of an experience in my ministry and I related it to them. When I was a pastor in the Middle West, I had in my church a fine Christian woman whose husband was not saved. He was a heavy drinker and very abusive to her. She asked me to pray for him and to call at their home and talk to him about the Lord. I did so but he would not listen to what I had to say about the Saviour, and I was no longer welcome in the house. I lost track of them for many years. Then one day unexpectedly I ran into him in another city. He recognized me and at once came up with outstretched hand and a genial smile upon his face. He said he was glad to see me for he wanted to apologize for his rude ness to me in the past. Of course, I was only too happy to overlook it, and said joyfully, “Well, my friend, evidently along life’s way somewhere you have found the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour and have aban doned the ways of sin.” He laughed, and replied: “ Oh, no, preacher. I still have no use for those old-fashioned ideas of yours.” He drew himself up proudly and de clared, “ It is true I have given up drinking. But it is all due to Christian Science. It is to them I owe it all.” My heart sank. I could see he was no more open to the truth about himself and about Christ’s saving power than he was in his old intemperate, wife-beating days. He had acquired a “ do-it-yourself” righteousness that was just as unacceptable to God as was his past sinful life. Well, I asked the Oxford Group leaders how they would appraise this man’s reformation. At once one of them answered, “We think he has taken his first step to ward God.” I did not agree with them. I pointed out that Christian Science emphatically denies the necessity for the shed blood of Christ as an offering for sin. I even quoted the well-known statement from Mrs. Eddy’s “ Science and Health” : “The material blood of Jesus was no more efficacious to cleanse from sin, when it was shed on the accursed tree’ than when it was flowing in his veins, as he went daily about his Father’s business.” I reminded them that a denial of the reality of sin, sick ness, death and hell was the basic tenet of Christian Science and so how could a righteousness gained that way be a “ step toward God” ? I affirmed that my understand ing from the Bible was that the first step toward God was to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour, thereby acknowledging that one was a sinner, who needed to be saved and cleansed and forgiven. I said I thought this man whom I had known was farther from God than ever, having wrapped himself in the almost impenetrable cloak of the filthy rags of his own righteousness. I am not implying that the Oxford Group believe in the Chris tian Science teachings. I only repeat their own comment on the incident. Well, we continued our conversation, and as we talked, I was more confirmed than ever in my views of What’s Wrong w i t h Moral Re-armament ( Oxford Group)? It will take some time to get to the bottom of
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TH E KING'S BUSINESS
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