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."
