A second reason for the freedomist portrayal of
the fundamentalist era as dark and dismal has to do with self justification.
Even though legalism goes above and beyond the call of Scripture, making
extra-biblical lists for a believer’s walk with Christ, the fundamentalist era
did a good job establishing in our thinking the real existence of
serious biblical mandates. Those mandates seem to be getting lost in
today’s hue and cry over legalistic injustice and abuse.
For instance, there is the mandate to develop
our salvation to its full potential, with fear and trembling even
though we
enjoy a non-fear relationship with God because of Jesus’ justifying work.
In that same atmosphere of love and acceptance we are still to
maintain a fear
of God which is behind all of the mandates
to absolutely put off certain things and replace them with others.
Those mandates seem difficult to swallow in a freedomist mindset
where the Gospel appears to be about indulging
in things I discovered I can enjoy as
a Christian. Scripture is clear, while God has freed me to eat
pork chops, he has not commissioned me to go into all the world and make pork
connoisseurs of all nations.
Freedomists do not seem to gather that, and interpretation of Scripture by a self-justifying method of accommodation serves their purpose. Since God had to talk down to primitive people, accommodation tells us, he said things according to their perceptions rather than reality. He couldn’t do any better at the time. Today, however, since freedomists have discovered the sun doesn’t “rise,” they conclude they are able to re-accommodate all of Scripture to their enlightened realism. To do so with regard to sunrise is one thing. To do so with regard to moral truth and biblically affirmed and reaffirmed statements is to skydive without a parachute.
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