Fundamentals of the Faith –or—
A Smokescreen to Hide Rebellion
and Unbelief?
Pastors,
religious leaders and theologians argue vehemently over what they call “the
fundamentals of the faith.” The list of fundamentals varies from one “defender”
of the faith to another; but every list I have seen always includes the verbal,
plenary inspiration of the Bible, the Bible’s account of creation, the eternal
deity and virgin birth of Christ, and the vicarious death and resurrection of
Christ as the sinner’s Substitute. I frankly and openly confess, without
apology that I fully believe and delight to preach these facts of divine
Revelation. There is no such thing as a saved sinner who denies them. Yet, I
have a few questions.
Inspiration
Most of
those I hear and read after who defend the Book, the blood, and the blessed
hope, who would never dream of denying that the Bible is, indeed and in its
entirety, the inspired, inerrant Word of God refuse to belief and confess the
doctrine most plainly revealed in it, and even oppose it.
I refer not to deep, mysterious things, but to vital
gospel doctrine. Divine sovereignty, eternal election, sovereign
predestination, effectual redemption, and irresistible grace are matters so
plainly revealed in the Word of God that they cannot be missed by any who read
the Book of God (Rom. 8:28-39; 9:11-24; 11:33-36; Eph. 1:3-22; 2 Thess.
2:13-14; Isa. 53:4-12; Heb. 9:12; 10:11-14).
So I ask such—“Is your defense of inspiration really
a fundamental point of faith, or just a smokescreen to hide your rebellion and
unbelief?” Why argue about the inspiration of the Scriptures if we do not believe and preach those truths revealed in
the Scriptures? If the Bible is not our only rule of faith and practice, it
really does not matter whether it is inspired or not, does it?
Creation
Why
argue about the Bible account of creation if
we refuse to accept the Bible account of the new creation? Why fight over
Darwinian evolution if we embrace the far more evil Arminian theory of
evolution? Multitudes of will worshippers, who would disown their own parents
before disowning the divine creation of the universe, openly assert that the
new creation is an evolutionary process with which God has little to do. Their
theory of spiritual evolution is that “God gets salvation started and man
completes the work.” Knowing that the Word of God plainly teaches otherwise
(Rom. 9:16; Eph. 2:1-10; 2 Tim. 1:9-10), I ask such— “Is your doctrine of creation really a fundamental point of faith, or
just a smokescreen to hide your rebellion and unbelief?”
Deity and Virgin Birth
Without
question the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal God, one with and in all things
equal with the Father and the Spirit. He who is our Savior is that One who was
conceived in the womb of Mary, without the aid of a man, by God the Holy
Spirit. He is the holy God and the holy man, the God-man Mediator, by whom we
are saved. He who is the sinner’s Substitute must be both God of infinite merit
and a man without sin in one glorious person.
Still, I must ask, “Why argue with men over the
Deity of Christ and his virgin birth, if we are
willing to embrace any doctrine that makes Christ a failure, robs him of his
glory, and frustrates the purpose of his incarnation.” That is exactly what is
done by all who deny that the Lord Jesus Christ, by his death at Calvary,
effectually accomplished the eternal redemption of his people, satisfied the
justice of God as our Substitute, and actually secured the everlasting
salvation of all for whom he died. The Scriptures assert these things with
absolute clarity (Isa. 53:10-12; Rom. 5:10-11; Heb. 9:12). To suggest that
there are some in hell suffering the wrath of God, or that there might be, for
whom the Lord Jesus Christ has already suffered the wrath of God is to assert,
as many openly do, that “Christ died in vain for them, that he did all he could
to save them, and failed.” What horrid blasphemy! To declare that Christ is a
failure is to declare that he is not God. So I ask those who deny our Lord’s
accomplishments at Calvary—“Is your
doctrine of the deity and virgin birth of Christ really a fundamental point of
faith, or just a smokescreen to hide your rebellion and unbelief?”
Resurrection
How often I hear men proclaim, “I
believe in blood atonement.” Almost every confession of faith adhered to by
even minimally conservative “Christian” groups assert belief in the vicarious
death and resurrection of Christ as the sinner’s Substitute. I know of none
that do not make that assertion.
I
must ask all who profess such faith, “Why argue and debate about the vicarious
death and resurrection of Christ, if we deny the efficacy of his death and the
message of his resurrection?”
The
Word of God declares the glorious good news of redemption accomplished,
justification finished, righteousness brought in, and sin put away by Christ.
Yes, he actually did something at Calvary, and did it vicariously in the room
and stead of his people. The proof that he has accomplished what he came here
to accomplish is his resurrection from the dead (Rom. 4:25). God delivered his
Son to death because the sins of his people were imputed to him. He raised him
from the dead when he had by himself purged our sins and put them away.
The long
and short of that is this—If any sin can ever be charged to any sinner for whom
Christ died, then the resurrection is a myth, we have no Savior, and we are
forever without hope because Christ is still in the tomb. As Paul puts it, “If
Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain, and your faith is also vain.
Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God
that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up.”
In
the light of these things, I ask all will worshippers, those who deny that all
shall be saved at last for whom Christ died—“Is your defense of Christ’s vicarious death and resurrection really a
fundamental point of faith, or just a smokescreen to hide your rebellion and
unbelief?” No, I do not ask the question. I assert plainly, your religion is
nothing but a smoke screen by which you attempt to hide your rebellion against
God, your enmity of heart toward him, and your willful, obstinate unbelief.