This is a crucial question for today and in many ways is answered in 1 Corinthians 15.1-4 as Paul writes about things of first importance.
The word 'evangelical' comes from the Greek word translated 'gospel' (verse 1), and is used to label a theological position, a body of truth which evangelicals believe is crucial and without which Christianity is not Christianity at all.
The term 'evangelical' emerged around the time of the Reformation when people like John Wycliffe in England and then Martin Luther in Germany, started to look at their Bibles and discovered how far the Church had drifted from the original teaching of Jesus and the apostles. The result was the divide with Roman Catholicism. Later the same term 'evangelical' was attached to the revival movements of the Holy Spirit in Britain and America in the 18th century as preachers like the Wesleys, Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards and others were powerfully used by God to sweep thousands of people into Christ's kingdom and change the whole moral and spiritual tone of these nations.
Authority
At root, the label 'evangelical' involves one central issue; the issue of authority. By what authority do we know the truth about God and his will? Where do we find the true gospel? The evangelical's answer to all such questions ultimately is 'the Bible.' That phrase which we find repeated in verses 3 and 4 according to the Scriptures, is a key phrase.
Evangelicals hold to the authority of the Bible over against rival human or supernatural sources of knowledge.
Tradition. 'Yes,' said the Counter-Reformation, 'you need the Bible, but the final authority to tell you how to interpret the Bible is the Church and its traditions.' The evangelical rejects this. Human beings, even Christians, are all fallible. Only God's Word is flawless (Psalm 12.6).
Reason. The Enlightenment of the 18th century set aside both the Bible and the Church. Human reason and science would provide all the answers. But according to where they are coming from, different people can reason in different ways and so ultimate authority eludes reason.
Experience. The Quakers of the 17th century looked to the religious experience of 'inner light.' The Romantics of the 19th century and the Existentialists of the 20th held that truth is found through personal human experiences. 'What you feel deeply, that is the truth,' they said. But feelings are shifting sands and we all know that something which feels so right at one time turns out to have been all wrong later.
By contrast, evangelicals take their stand on the Bible and seek to submit to the Bible. We do that not on a mere whimsy. We do it because God's fingerprints are on the Bible, for example in the wonderful fulfilment of its predictive prophecy of Christ's death and resurrection (verses 3,4). We do that because the Holy Spirit within us helps us understand Scripture and underlines to our hearts the Bible's authority. We do that also as the concrete way of responding to the fundamental good news that Jesus Christ is Lord. Scripture is his Word and we submit to it as the Word of our King. Church tradition, reason and experience can be helpful, but only as they are guided by the final authority of the Bible.
Because of that initial position, historically, evangelicals have given prominence to a number truths which are seen as central to the Bible's message. Here are some of the most vital.
Human sin
Christ died for our sins (verse 3). It is not a pleasant place to begin, but the whole Biblical message of salvation is made necessary by one thing - the fact of human sin. Though we were originally made perfect in the image of God, yet mankind has become a collection of treacherous, selfish rebels against God.
Sin is universal. All have sinned and fall short of God's glory (Romans 3.23). Sin is original. Since Adam's rebellion in Eden we are born sinners (Psalm 51.5). Sin is total. We are not as wicked as we possibly could be, but every aspect of our beings, our thinking and our feeling has been infected by it (Ephesians 2.1-3). This is one reason why we cannot look to human reason or experience as reliable authorities. Sin is also fatal. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6.23), it exposes us to the judgement of God. Although, as God's image, each human being is precious to God, yet we are also obnoxious and completely unacceptable to God, because God is holy and we are sinners.
This is not popular teaching. But sin is really the origin of all the other ills of the human race and the Bible tells us that the first need of people is not to feel good about themselves, but to see that they need to get right with God. There-fore, though historically evangelicals have been known for their social concern, the initial tenor of their preaching has not been a concern to be therapeutic, but to bring conviction of sin.
Substitutionary atonement
Of first importance is that Christ died for our sins. Jesus, God's Son, truly died; he died and was buried. When Jesus died, he died in our place, as our substitute, and bore the punishment we deserve for our sins (1 Peter 2.24). He did this, because the true problem is not how sin affects us, but it is God's holiness. When Christ died on the cross he was not doing something primarily to change us, but rather he was satisfying the holy justice and anger of God over human sin. He died so that God could be just and able to forgive our sins (Romans 3.25,26). It was a penal substitution which made full atonement for our sins.
So the cross be-comes the central feature of Christian faith (1 Corinthians 11.26; Galatians 6.14).
The crucifixion, of course, has many facets. It marks the fullest expression of obedience to God. It is the defeat of Satan and the powers of darkness. It is the deepest revelation of the love of God. But though all those things are true, Paul gives prominence to the cross, not first of all as revelation, or as victory over Satan, but as atonement for sin. The evangelical feels instinctively unhappy with any proposed clarification of our theology of the cross which makes atonement somehow secondary. We can face the horrible truth about sin squarely only because we have a strong and thorough doctrine of the atonement.
Justification by faith alone
Not only did Christ die, he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (verse 4). For Paul the consequence of Jesus not being raised would be your faith is futile, you are still in your sins (verse 17). This would mean that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost (verse 18). In Paul's mind, the only doorway to eternal life is through the forgiveness of sins. And if the cross is the payment for sin then the resurrection is the receipt, the evidence of a complete and acceptable atonement.
All religions can be divided into two camps. First there are those religions which can be characterised by the word DO. They stress what a person has to do to reach the salvation on offer. There are different kinds of things to do. There is mysticism, which stresses the necessity of pursuing spiritual experiences. There is ritualism which inculcates submission to rites and ceremonies. There is ethicism which specifies good deeds to earn salvation. The mixes of these three form a vast range of possible religions.
But secondly, there is just one faith which is characterised by the word DONE. New Testament Christianity is on its own. 'God is so holy,' it tells us, 'and we are so fallen, that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. But God has intervened. The good news is that all has been done for us by Christ. He has lived perfectly and died on our behalf and made a complete salvation to which we can add nothing. The resurrection of Christ is living proof of that. Death could not hold him, for he had dealt with sin once and for all.' Salvation is a complete and perfect work of Christ which is offered to us as a free gift. We can do nothing except receive it with thankful faith. Christ is risen! This is what we preach and this is what you believed, writes Paul in verse 11. With an emphasis on a free and perfect salvation in Christ, our evangelical forebears were known for assurance and joy in their faith.
Regeneration by the Spirit
Evangelicals have constantly preached the necessity of the work of the Holy Spirit in a person's life. George White-field was forever preaching on the text from John 3: You must be born again. He was asked by a man: 'Mr. Whitefield, why are you always preaching on that same text, 'You must be born again'?'. To which Whitefield is said to have replied: 'Because you must be born again.'
Christ is the crucified, risen Lord. But that truth is hidden from the darkened minds of lost sinners. It is only by the illuminating and regenerating work of the Holy Spirit that we can come to see it and receive it. No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again, said Jesus to Nicodemus. No one can say, 'Jesus is Lord', except by the Holy Spirit, writes Paul. It is this conviction which undergirds everything that Paul has to say to the Corinthians, for example, in 1 Corinthians 2.8-18; verse 14. It is this conviction which has constantly guided evangelicals.
The return of Christ
This again is a doctrine which has been often ridiculed by the world and the wider church. But in the past all evangelicals have clung to this monumental feature of the Christian hope and have let this truth of Christ's personal return govern their conduct.
Christ has been raised ... according to the Scriptures (verse 4). His resurrection guarantees our resurrection, Paul goes on to argue in the rest of 1 Corinthians 15. When will this be? The answer is when the King comes again his presence will bring all to life. This is the great goal of our salvation.
It is in this hope that Paul exhorts his readers to stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain (verse 58).
Vital truth
It is not just the facts of the cross and resurrection of Jesus which Paul focuses on in 1 Corinthians 15.1-4. Evangelical truths tell us what these basic facts mean. The facts of the cross and resurrection only have significance within the biblical framework of sin, atonement, justification and eternal life. Paul emphasises this. What is of first importance is not just that Christ died and rose, but that he died for our sins, and that he did this and rose again according to the Scriptures.
What is of first importance has always given a wideness of fellowship to evangelicals. All who believe these things, from whatever denomination or non-denomination they come, though they may differ over other matters, are one in heart and purpose for Christ. But it has also given evangelicalism a sturdy concern for the defence of the content of the gospel message.
Yes, we may want to express these evangelical truths with more biblical theological nuance. Yes, we may wish to emphasise them in different ways fitted to our cultural context. But certainly, these evangelical truths cannot be down played or set aside. Take note that Paul tells the church at Corinth: By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain (verse 2).
JEB
I am indebted to a talk given by Jonathan Fletcher of Emmanuel Church, Wimbledon for many of the ideas in this article.
Dr John Benton
