89 lines
5.8 KiB
Plaintext
89 lines
5.8 KiB
Plaintext
The following report is from O Timothy magazine, Volume 11, Issue 2, 1994.
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All rights are reserved by the author. O Timothy is a monthly magazine.
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Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to Way of Life
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Literature, Bible Baptist Church, 1219 N. Harns Road, Oak Harbor,
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Washington 98277. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. Send to
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Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 1V0.
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THE FUNDAMENTALISM OF TOMORROW
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by Chester E. Tulga
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1. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must submit to the authority of the Word
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of God. It is not enough to defend its inspiration; we must submit to its
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authority. The authority of the Word of God must not be undermined by loose
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interpretation; it must not be perverted by unscrupulous interpretation; it
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must not be nullified by appealing to a mythical Holy Spirit who sets aside
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the authority of the Word of God. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must
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accept the full inspiration of the Word of God and submit to its authority
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both in faith and practice; both in faith and order; both in faith and
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principles; both in doctrine and policies. Anything short of this will not
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be truly fundamental.
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2. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must preach the full gospel, not the
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irreducible minimum of the gospel, as some evangelicals put it; not the
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limited, streamlined gospel of some evangelists; not the lowest common
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denominator message of evangelical compromisers, but the gospel which
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honors the whole counsel of God; the gospel which refuses to accommodate
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itself to false gospels; the gospel which judges apostasy by refusing to
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associate itself with it; the gospel which refuses all affinity with here
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sy; the gospel that claims the blessing of the Holy Spirit by honoring the
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Word of God and refusing to join the deniers of the Son of God. We say it
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bluntly--a gospel that is careless of its fellowships, a gospel that is
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careless of the ends it serves, a gospel which is willing to compromise its
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own integrity, is a false gospel, however orthodox the words may be. The
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Gospel must be judged by its nature, by its integrity, by the ends it
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serves, rather than by the words it uses. The fundamentalism of tomorrow
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must return to the full Gospel, and proclaim the whole counsel of God,
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shunning the current abbreviations.
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3. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must return to the New Testament
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conception of the local church. There is abroad in the land a perversion of
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the doctrine of the true church, whereby mugwumps, whatnots, nondescript
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religious riffraff, loose jointed antinomians, mushy sentimentalists and
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flashing comets can claim membership in the true church, while refusing to
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face up to their responsibility to be a part of a local New Testament
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church. Belonging to the true church, they say, justifies holding
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membership in false local churches. Claiming membership in the true church,
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they disregard the teachings of the Word of God on the local church. The
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whole doctrine of the true church needs reexamination in the light of the
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Word of God. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must return to the Word of God,
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gather itself in true New Testament local churches, and repudiate that
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doctrine of the true church which has become a refuge for all manner of
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strange birds. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must be a fundamentalism of
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both scriptural faith and scriptural order.
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4. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must return to that uncompromising
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loyalty to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, which is the heart of true
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orthodoxy. It will not compromise with those who, denying His virgin birth,
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cloud His birth and set aside His Deity. It will not compromise with those
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who deny His Deity, thus bringing into question His integrity and
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authority. It will not compromise with those who deny His sinlessness, thus
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destroying His Saviorhood. It will not compromise with those who deny or
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pervert the atonement, for this is indeed the heart of the Gospel. It will
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not compromise with those who deny His bodily resurrection, for if Christ
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be not risen from the dead, we are still in our sins and there is no
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Gospel. It will not compromise with those who deny His personal return, for
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this is the only hope for our world drunken with sin. The fundamentalism of
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tomorrow must repudiate that cheap loyalty to Jesus of our day, that
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loyalty which has no indignation against those who accuse Him and repudiate
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Him. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must repudiate that cheap loyalty to
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Jesus which says "Hosanna to the King" and then warms its hands in
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fellowship at the fires of His enemies. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must
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be loyal to Christ and refuse fellowship with His foes.
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5. The fundamentalism of tomorrow must return again to that expectancy of
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the early church which looks constantly and eagerly for the Lord's return.
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We must repudiate that cheap premillennialism which has lost its
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expectancy. We must repudiate that cheap premillennialism which, in the
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name of denominational loyalty, supports the enemies of the very Lord they
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profess to be looking for. We must repudiate that cheap premillennialism
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which concerns itself more with prophetic details than with prophetic
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living. We must repudiate that cheap premillennialism which looks for the
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Lord tomorrow and refuses to behave itself today. We must return to that
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blessed hope that purifies. We must return to the blessed hope that makes
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us watchful. We must return to that blessed hope which makes us careful
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that the Lord does not return and find us doing things that dishonor Him.
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The premillennial fundamentalism of tomorrow must be a fundamentalism which
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behaves itself today.
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