textfiles/occult/CHRISTIAN/tomorrow.txt

The following report is from O Timothy magazine, Volume 11, Issue 2, 1994. 
All rights are reserved by the author. O Timothy is a monthly magazine. 
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THE FUNDAMENTALISM OF TOMORROW
by Chester E. Tulga

1. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must submit to the authority of the Word 
of God. It is not enough to defend its inspiration; we must submit to its 
authority. The authority of the Word of God must not be undermined by loose 
interpretation; it must not be perverted by unscrupulous interpretation; it 
must not be nullified by appealing to a mythical Holy Spirit who sets aside 
the authority of the Word of God. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must 
accept the full inspiration of the Word of God and submit to its authority 
both in faith and practice; both in faith and order; both in faith and 
principles; both in doctrine and policies. Anything short of this will not 
be truly fundamental.

2. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must preach the full gospel, not the 
irreducible minimum of the gospel, as some evangelicals put it; not the 
limited, streamlined gospel of some evangelists; not the lowest common 
denominator message of evangelical compromisers, but the gospel which 
honors the whole counsel of God; the gospel which refuses to accommodate 
itself to false gospels; the gospel which judges apostasy by refusing to 
associate itself with it; the gospel which refuses all affinity with here
sy; the gospel that claims the blessing of the Holy Spirit by honoring the 
Word of God and refusing to join the deniers of the Son of God. We say it 
bluntly--a gospel that is careless of its fellowships, a gospel that is 
careless of the ends it serves, a gospel which is willing to compromise its 
own integrity, is a false gospel, however orthodox the words may be. The 
Gospel must be judged by its nature, by its integrity, by the ends it 
serves, rather than by the words it uses. The fundamentalism of tomorrow 
must return to the full Gospel, and proclaim the whole counsel of God, 
shunning the current abbreviations.

3. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must return to the New Testament 
conception of the local church. There is abroad in the land a perversion of 
the doctrine of the true church, whereby mugwumps, whatnots, nondescript 
religious riffraff, loose jointed antinomians, mushy sentimentalists and 
flashing comets can claim membership in the true church, while refusing to 
face up to their responsibility to be a part of a local New Testament 
church. Belonging to the true church, they say, justifies holding 
membership in false local churches. Claiming membership in the true church, 
they disregard the teachings of the Word of God on the local church. The 
whole doctrine of the true church needs reexamination in the light of the 
Word of God. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must return to the Word of God, 
gather itself in true New Testament local churches, and repudiate that 
doctrine of the true church which has become a refuge for all manner of 
strange birds. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must be a fundamentalism of 
both scriptural faith and scriptural order.

4. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must return to that uncompromising 
loyalty to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which is the heart of true  
orthodoxy. It will not compromise with those who, denying His virgin birth, 
cloud His birth and set aside His Deity. It will not compromise with those 
who deny His Deity, thus bringing into question His integrity and 
authority. It will not compromise with those who deny His sinlessness, thus 
destroying His Saviorhood. It will not compromise with those who deny or 
pervert the atonement, for this is indeed the heart of the Gospel. It will 
not compromise with those who deny His bodily resurrection, for if Christ 
be not risen from the dead, we are still in our sins and there is no 
Gospel. It will not compromise with those who deny His personal return, for 
this is the only hope for our world drunken with sin. The fundamentalism of 
tomorrow must repudiate that cheap loyalty to Jesus of our day, that 
loyalty which has no indignation against those who accuse Him and repudiate 
Him. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must repudiate that cheap loyalty to 
Jesus which says "Hosanna to the King" and then warms its hands in 
fellowship at the fires of His enemies. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must 
be loyal to Christ and refuse fellowship with His foes.

5. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must return again to that expectancy of 
the early church which looks constantly and eagerly for the Lord's return. 
We must repudiate that cheap premillennialism which has lost its 
expectancy. We must repudiate that cheap premillennialism which, in the 
name of denominational loyalty, supports the enemies of the very Lord they 
profess to be looking for. We must repudiate that cheap premillennialism 
which concerns itself more with prophetic details than with prophetic 
living. We must repudiate that cheap premillennialism which looks for the 
Lord tomorrow and refuses to behave itself today. We must return to that 
blessed hope that purifies. We must return to the blessed hope that makes 
us watchful. We must return to that blessed hope which makes us careful 
that the Lord does not return and find us doing things that dishonor Him. 
The premillennial fundamentalism of tomorrow must be a fundamentalism which 
behaves itself today.