Fundamentalism

Possibly one of the greatest stigmas that can be given to anyone in the Christian faith is that they are a fundamentalist.  Fundamentalism is seen as the strict observance of the fundamentals of the faith without a balance between the grace and mercy of God.  And this can happen to people for different reasons.  But the fundamentals of the faith in and of themselves are essential.  That's why they call them the fundamentals, for without these truths, people wouldn't have true faith.  

The fundamentals are the inerrancy of Scripture, the virgin birth of Christ, his divine nature, the bodily resurrection of Christ, and the literal return of Christ.  These are the primary doctrines of Christianity.  And, we need to clarify the atonement of Christ in the Gospel, so that a person must receive Christ as His Savior and Lord to be a true Christian.    

I believe in the fundamentals of the Christian faith.  But, I also believe that these truths are all given by the grace of God in Christ.  And therefore, we must be gracious as we describe the Grace of Christ.  Just as we describe the basic doctrines of the Bible and the Gospel, we must also describe the Grace by which we receive them.  If we truly understand the Grace of forgiveness, it will then change our hearts so that we will seek to become more and more like Christ. 

The "ism" of Fundamentalism describes a worldview, and sometimes an attitude that comes with stressing the fundamentals of the faith.  In our desire to maintain the true doctrines of the faith, we can become defensive and miscommunicate a criticism to others.  We must seek however to be both true to God and gracious to other people.  We are called to be gracious even if we have been misunderstood. 

I believe the 'grace and truth' combination together is essential, or fundamental, for living in the Christian faith, for we absolutely need both.  We need grace to receive truth, and we need truth to understand grace.  Seeking this balance has been my goal as I seek to teach and live out the Christian faith.  We cannot just teach truth without grace, or grace without truth.  Jesus was filled with both grace and truth.  This is our calling as well.  

FAITH TODAY: John 1:14, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

What's your Worldview?

Looking back on my pilgrimage of faith I can say that two of my primary mentors have been Francis Schaeffer and R.C. Sproul.  Both were Reformed in their faith and both had a dedication to the truth of truth, and the truth of Scripture.  

I first discovered Schaeffer as a new Christian when I transferred to Gordon College in 1978.  The college was hosting a film series that year by Schaeffer and C. Everett Koop entitled, "Whatever Happened To The Human Race?" that discussed the abortion holocaust that began in 1973.  Schaeffer also did a film series entitled, "How Shall We Then Live?" that discussed the rise and fall of Western culture based on a Christian worldview.  

Schaeffer taught the importance of worldviews, that they are often shaped by a culture's philosophy instead of the Bible.  Secular culture is shaped by the worldviews of secularism.  He understood the effects of the loss of Truth, and that it is devastating.  And because of the crumbling values of Western culture in the twentieth century, he asked, “How shall we then live?”  How can we live with meaning and purpose without God?

As I discovered more of Reformed theology I came in contact with R.C. Sproul.  He taught that our faith must be shaped by our theology.  And our theology is ‘our’ knowledge of God.  But, the central part of biblical theology is that God is triune, He is sovereign, holy, and true, and He does all things for His own glory.  R.C. also understood the effects of the loss of Truth and the need for a truth-based biblical theology.  

The greatest teaching of course comes from Jesus himself.  And the central part of Jesus’ teaching is the Shema, which he repeated from Deuteronomy 6:5.  “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”  And then Jesus added the second commandment, ‘to love our neighbors as ourselves.’  

Jesus' worldview was that the truth of God is central to all things, and we must put Him first in all of our lives.  Jesus' worldview was his theology, summarized in the Shema, and this should shape the worldviews of all Christians as well.  We should focus on God because He is the Creator, Redeemer, and Comforter.  And then we can love our neighbors with the God of grace.   

 

FAITH TODAY: Mark 12:29-30, "Jesus answered, “The most important is, Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."

What's Your Perspective?

Faith can be very subjective at times, and people come from all different walks of life with all kinds of different experiences.  We all have a different perspective on life, and sometimes a big difference!  But to find unity in the Christian faith we need the perspective of Christ.  

The world is filled with many types of people.  Some are male and female, some old and young, some short and tall, and some are interested in science and some in the arts.  Some are interested in doctrine and some are led by their emotions.  Some are head people, and some are heart people.  

The Apostle Paul gave great counsel to the people in the city of Corinth many years ago about the differences of people, and who to follow.  He described these Christians as being immature in 1 Corinthians 3:1, "But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ."  He explains that they were not "spiritual people" but immature in their Christian faith. 

Our perspectives need to mature from an individual one to that of Christ, as we are called to grow up to maturity in Christ.  He describes in 3:4, "For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?"  To follow men primarily is a mistake as we are called to follow Christ, who is the Savior of our souls.  We act like natural people instead of Spiritual people when we follow personalities and individual perspectives.  

Each of us has gifts, personalities, experiences, and perspectives that we are called to use as servants for Christ.  But let us remember that we need God's perspective for our faith to grow to wisdom in Christ.  Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 3:21, "So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours ..."  In Christ we have all the wisdom of God, and we need to seek the wisdom of Scripture from God's perspective.  

FAITH TODAY: 1 Corinthians 3:22-23, "... whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future - all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's."

Forgiven forever

Recently there was news of a Christian leader that fell into sin and his ministry suffered great loss.  There have been many questions about how this could have happened.  The bad news was shocking to hear and the trust he had built with many people for many decades was lost in a moment.  

Criticism was voiced for how dishonest he had been and how hypocritical he was.  And as much as I agreed that he had fallen into sin, I was disappointed in people's reactions.   We all should be completely humble to remember that we are no different in essence than the most sinful person in the world.  

The great news is that when we, in grace, turn to Christ and repent, God forgives us for all our sins.  There may be visible consequences of our sins, or there may not be manifestations for others to see.  But we can be made Spiritually clean in an instant, and forever.   

It is in Christ we can be forgiven and made clean as the fresh driven snow.  Because of this, let us seek to follow Him faithfully to glorify Him in all our lives.  It is only through repentance to Christ that we can be restored to God.  

FAITH TODAY: Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

What Do You Believe?

This blog seeks to encourage people in the grace and truth of Christ, so as to know what to believe, and then to live out the true historic faith that has come through the ages.  It's been 20 centuries since Jesus lived, taught, died, and rose again from the grave.  Many billions of Christians have come to faith in that time, and there's one Creed that has lasted through the ages and has been more effective than any other.  This confession has been a great encouragement to my faith, and to many others as well.  

The Apostles' Creed was first developed by the Apostles and is a great confession.  It was informal and unofficial at first but it was Trinitarian, as it acknowledged the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and what each has done.  I've been greatly blessed by this creed because of its content, but also because we use to recite it every Lord's day, out loud, in worship, and it revived my drooping faith, it awakened my heart again to the unchanging and necessary focus on God Himself.  I highly recommend memorizing it and reciting it on a regular basis.  And I recommend reciting Scripture too.  

Here is the confession as it was given at Independent Presbyterian Church for many wonderful years.  It really was the bedrock of the sermons and the worship, and the faith we rejoiced in.  

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead; I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  Amen.

We need to confess our faith!  And this begins with "I believe."  And then "in God."  We must confess that we believe in God first and foremost.  He is the object of our faith, in all his glory! 

I also believe the old English helps us to see the historical nature of the confession and our need for the historic biblical faith.  This creed began with the Apostles, and it summarizes our faith in every situation in life.  We can only know God in his grace and truth through Scripture.  And we can confess our faith in a historic creed.  But let's confess our faith, not our fears.  Christ is alive and well and He calls us to Him.  

FAITH TODAY:  Galatians 5:5-6, "For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love."

Got Spirit?

 If you asked me how many times I've seen a commercial or an advertisement that promotes some product or service, I'd say it's way beyond numbering.  Our culture is filled with marketing advertisements.  Each of them has a particular angle they are promoting to have you buy their stuff.  

All the major marketing promotions have an emotional appeal to get you to like what they've got.  And often times marketing turns into emotional manipulation.  Even at sporting events we basically are hearing a similar message, you need to get into the spirit of the game, you need to buy into the wave of what's positive and popular.  We need to catch on to the gig.  

But, do we have the spirit of the world or the Spirit of Christ?  This is a good question I believe because it helps us to know Him, to understand His heart as well as His mind.  What is the Spirit of Christ?  In the sermon on the mount, Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs, is the kingdom of heaven."  Here Jesus described that we need a humble spirit that accepts the truths of God and receives Him to receive eternal life.  We cannot receive the Spirit of Christ with a proud spirit.  

We also see this as Christ taught his disciples in John 3:5, "Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."  We must be born of the Spirit of God to enter the kingdom of God.  This is not the spirit of the world but the Holy Spirit, and He is supernatural, and only He can regenerate our souls and transform our lives.  

Our faith will be inspired and strengthened when we humbly receive the Word of God and the Spirit of Truth.  The Holy Spirit seeks to lead us into all truth.  Do we have this Spirit?  

FAITH TODAY:  John 16:13, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."