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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. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED STATES. Send to Way of Life Literature, Bible Baptist Church, 1219 N. Harns Road, Oak Harbor, Washington 98277. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 Canadian. Send to Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 1V0. 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.