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With this message we begin an open-ended series; your critical reading is earnestly requested.

The love of the truth is a fundamental. If it is missed, there are no substitutes. One cannot “make up for” the love of the truth by doubling up on prayers, or sacrifices or fasts or penances or by doing any other duty or by performing any other privilege. A skillful artisan of wood can cover his errors and make it such that none could ever detect the small flaws in his work; after so long a time the artisan himself may even forget the improperly aimed blow of the hammer or the stroke of the saw that was just ever so slightly astray, but the error is still there; it just isn't remembered. So it is with spiritual fundamentals. Our effort to cover our lapses in these can be so skillful that others cannot detect them; we may even forget they exist! But, they are there and God will not forget. It is toward this type of error of humankind that we direct this series.

First, it is non-biblical and anti-biblical to believe that the God of the Old Testament was different in character from the God of the New Testament. To say that it is non-biblical is to affirm that such cannot be found in the Bible. The fact that Babe Ruth was a great baseball player is true, but it is non-biblical. To say that something is anti-biblical affirms that it conflicts with what the Bible reveals. The lie that the serpent told Eve is in the Bible, but it is anti-biblical; it conflicts with truth that had previously been revealed. Having set out my definitions of these two terms, I repeat: It is non-biblical and anti-biblical to believe that the God of the Old Testament was different in character from the God of the New Testament.

Secondly, if we miss the God of the Old Testament (because of a reason other than pure obstinance), we can still see Him revealed in the Messiah in the New Testament. The character of the Christ was the character of the Father. Consider the following excerpt from the night of His betrayal: “Jesus said to him [Thomas], 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.' Philip said to Him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, “Show us the Father”?'” (John 14.6-9). The God of the Old Testament is not a different face of God; it is the same face revealed in the New Testament. For this reason, as we learn the character of Jesus in the New Testament, we must be aware that those same characteristics were present and active in the God revealed in the Old Testament. The need for such interpretation will become obvious as we continue the series, but I feel compelled to set out this truth at the very outset of these lessons.

Spiritual fundamentals are not fundamental because I say so; they are fundamental because God says so. I beg your continued attention to these lessons; not because I am writing them, but because they reflect biblical facts which must be known, believed, and appropriated for any accountable person to please God!

Questions:

1. Define a “spiritual fundamental.”

2. List some spiritual fundamentals?

3. Do you think Jesus believed in spiritual fundamentals (consider Matthew 22.35-40)?

4. According to the text just mentioned in question #3, what could one do to “make up for” not loving God with all his heart, soul, and mind? Doesn't this make unexcelled love for God a spiritual fundamental?

"Refreshment in Refuge" from Gina Burgess

3 steps to peace...