The term “Evangelical Church,” understood in its biblical and historical roots, remains a sound and eminently practical theological construct among Reformed churches. The word “Evangelical” should evoke thoughts, remembrances, and affections of unity and peace in the Church of Jesus Christ.

“…if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (2Co 4:3-5 ESV).

Whenever the Lord’s Supper is celebrated at my church, Covenant Presbyterian Church, as the minister I remind the congregation concerning who may and may not receive the sacrament in good faith. In Presbyterian circles, we call this “fencing the Table.” The minister follows the pattern of sound words that the Apostle Paul uses when cautioning against profaning the holy sacrament and harming one’s soul by a careless and unworthy partaking of the elements (1 Cor 11:27-31).

In the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) we invite all persons of good standing in an evangelical church, both members and visitors, to partake of the sacrament. This is because all true believers enjoy a living, spiritual communion with Christ, the exalted Head of his universal Church. As such, all true believers are, by faith, spiritually nourished by Christ in the preaching of his Word and sacraments. Every believer’s union with Christ and with one another establishes and maintains a spiritual communion. It would be unjust to deny a true Christian the holy elements of bread and wine; ours is not a Presbyterian table but a Christian table, which is fitly called The Lord’s Table.

The question must be asked whether the term “Evangelical Church” can be substantiated in Scripture. If so, it is a useful appellation in our theology and worship. What is the original intent of the authors of this term? Does it make for unity or for disunity in the churches of Christ? We must understand what we mean when we use this term at worship, or we risk vain or superstitious worship of our Savior.

What is an Evangelical Church?

In 1845, several prominent church leaders met in Liverpool, England, to promote the union of Christian believers and advance the cause of religious liberty. The group was named the Evangelical Alliance, and in attendance were 800 Christians from various English language and continental churches: Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Independents, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Reformed, Moravians, and others. Although the articles of faith being professed were not intended to be a binding creed or confession, they did express the essentials of the Evangelical faith, as this voluntary group understood them. The following nine doctrinal articles were adopted at that time:

1. The divine inspiration, authority, and sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures.
2. The right and duty of private judgment in the interpretation of the Holy Scripture.
3. The Unity of the Godhead, and the Trinity of the Persons therein.
4. The utter depravity of human nature in consequence of the Fall.
5. The incarnation of the Son of God, his work of atonement for the sins of mankind, and his mediatorial intercession and reign.
6. The justification of the sinner by faith alone.
7. The work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion and sanctification of the sinner.
8. The immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the judgment of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the eternal blessedness of the righteous and the eternal punishment of the wicked.
9. The divine institution of the Christian ministry, and the obligation and perpetuity of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.[1]

The McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia offers the following helpful definition of “Evangelical”:

Evangelical, appertaining to, or characteristic of, the Gospel. (1.) The term “has been applied to a portion of the English Church who either profess, or are supposed to ‘know and inculcate the Gospel’ in an especial manner, and to give peculiar prominence to the doctrine of salvation by faith in the atonement. It is probably true that among this portion of the Church of England many, but not all, maintain the peculiar doctrines of Calvinism; and there may have been a time when (in the opinion of some) lower views of the sacraments and of Church authority prevailed among them than what are generally received among other members of that Church. Very many persons lament the use of this term, and consider that, like all party appellations, it tends to perpetuate division in the Church; accordingly, they desire that it should be disused as a party term, and carefully confined to its original meaning” (Eden). (3.) In England and America the term “evangelical” is frequently used to distinguish those churches which believe in the divinity of Christ and the atonement from those who do not.[2]

The theological term “evangelical theology” receives only a brief and thus necessarily ambiguous definition in McKim’s Dictionary:

Evangelical theology: A trans-denominational movement in American Protestantism that stresses the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the proclamation of the gospel (Gr. euangelion). It is variously defined, emphasizing biblical [sic] authority and Jesus as Savior.[3]

Consistent with the PCA’s terms of communion, it is important to understand that the it is both a Protestant Reformed Church and an Evangelical Church. Conversely, all Evangelical Churches are not Reformed or Presbyterian. This distinction is important to understand because of the ever-changing complexion of theology and religion in America today.

Sadly, the accepted dogma between Evangelical churches and the Reformed Church has wildly drifted over the years. The continental divide to this seismic shift is attributed to a lapse of conviction in the Scriptures being the inerrant Word of God.[4] What was professed as foundational truth in 1845 could no longer be professed by many American Protestant churches. As an example of the deviations that ensued, a poll was taken of the National Council of Churches in 1967. Newsweek Magazine ran an article entitled “The New-Time Religion” and said:

Conservative critics frequently complain that the National Council of Churches is too liberal to represent mainstream American Protestantism. Are they right? Last week, the NCC released a survey of 521 clergy and laymen who attended the council’s 1966 General Assembly in Miami Beach. Based on responses from 37 percent of the voting and alternate delegates, plus 298 consultants and “accredited visitors” at the assembly, the survey does indeed reveal a modest liberal stance [my italics].

To be sure nearly two-thirds firmly believe in God [this means that one-third do not], and more than half – 58 percent – confidently regard Jesus as divine. Thus on at least two fundamental points – together with the 22 percent who temper their beliefs with only occasional doubts – the survey shows that NCC representatives are as traditional as most American churchgoers.

But, in other specific areas, NCC assemblymen seem to have jettisoned much of the old-time religion. Only one in four accepts Biblical miracles – such as the virgin birth of Christ – as literally true. In fact, a third of the respondents believe such miracles can be explained by natural causes. The devil “definitely” does not exist for one in three, and only 15 percent believe that children are born into the world already guilty of sin – a doctrine basic to reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin. Finally, with something less than triumphant optimism, barely 62 percent look forward with “complete certainty” to a life after death.[5]

Some Reformed scholars would like to shed the term “evangelical” to describe the PCA. While the differences are more than semantic and involve disagreements in vital religion, the change in attribution might not be as wise as it first seems. Here is why:

The Scriptures present only one true Church. The Church confesses that there is only one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Baptism, or membership and communion in the visible Church, is achieved by believing the testimony of God’s Divine Son, the Lord Jesus Christ’s victory over Satan, sin, and death. The forth-telling, heralding, or preaching of Christ, and his perfect obedience to God, His Heavenly Father, his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Almighty is a proclamation of good news (1 Cor 15:1-8).

The word “gospel” or “evangel” means good news. The ultimate cosmic war having been fought and won, Jesus stands victorious and leads his triumphal procession, the Church, as his captives of war in his ascent to the heavenly Zion (Ps 24; Ps 68; Lk 4:18,19; Eph 2:1-7; Heb 12:22-24). The wicked who do not flee from his triumphal coming but are subjugated and helped willingly to convert by Christ’s Spirit “fall in.” These become joyful celebrants of his justice and goodness. They receive extraordinary gifts and graces from the victorious Lord Jesus. As they march in the holy procession, they all proclaim the good news of Jesus’ salvation to all who have ears to hear (Ps. 68:11,12).

Thus, the whole Church, from the Head, who is Christ, to the least member and extremity of his anointed Body, joyfully proclaims the good news of Jehovah’s salvation (Ps. 133). Jesus ushers in and maintains an everlasting salvation from humanity’s deadly enemies to all who receive and confess him as Lord of All in the world (Rom 10:1-10).

The Church of Christ is a royal priesthood and a prophetic commonwealth (Num 11:29; Eph 1:17; 1 Pt 2:9). As long as the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is witnessed as the sole message of hope to a sinful world, the title of Evangelical is appropriate.

The Mystery of Evangelism

The entry below from the Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology offers collaborative insights into what is an Evangelical Church. It is included here as a valuable supplement to Psalm 68, which poetically chronicles Jehovah’s triumphal procession of his Church out of captivity, through the Wilderness, and into their inheritance, resting with God and his glorious Ark Throne on Mount Zion:

In family matters, one may “bring news” to a father that a male child is born (Jer. 20:15). In military matters, “to evangelize” is to bring news of the outcome of a military engagement, usually a victory (1 Sam. 31:9; 2 Sam. 18:31; 1 Kings 1:42; but cf. 1 Sam. 4:17). This secular usage serves as the background for the theological usage in Isaiah and the psalms.

Since Israel’s national destiny is in God’s sovereign hands, and he fights the nation’s battles for her, any announcement of military victory necessarily has theological meaning. The victory over the Canaanite kings in the conquest of the land is so complete and certain that it is captured in a juxtaposition of its prelude –“The Lord announced the word”—and aftermath—“and great was the company of those who proclaimed it” (Ps. 68:11; cf. Exod. 15:20–21).

The initial act of bringing the news of military victory can be a religious act for pagan nations as well (1 Sam. 31:9; cf. 2 Sam. 1:20). But for Israel, the “good news” is that the Lord has freed (vindicated) the nation and its divinely anointed ruler from the hands of their enemies. When the lepers discover the abandoned camp of the Syrian siege-makers of Elisha’s and Jehoram’s day, they name it “a day of good news” (2 Kings 7:9). To withhold proclamation of this divinely accomplished victory is not right (7:9). Indeed, they must tell the beneficiaries of the victory immediately.

David appropriates “evangelism” terminology for the worship context as he describes his confession before the God of divine deliverance: “I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly” (Ps. 40:9). Again there is a protestation of moral constraint: “I do not seal my lips.” The message proclaimed is that God has acted in accordance with his character, his righteousness. He explains God’s actions further by referring to God’s reliability: God’s faithfulness, truth, covenant loyalty and love, and salvation (40:10). The audience is the people of God, “the great assembly” (40:9–10).

What is true on a personal level is true for the nation as the people return the ark of the covenant to its rightful place at the center of Israel’s worship (1 Chron. 16:23–25/Ps. 96:2–4). In an act of worship, the whole earth is exhorted to continually proclaim good tidings. The message is an announcement of the salvation, glory, and mighty deeds of the supreme God, who is great and greatly to be praised. The messenger, the message, and the audience all have a universal quality.^[6]

Summary

Given the above considerations, the term “Evangelical Church,” understood in its biblical and historical roots, remains a sound and eminently practical theological construct among Reformed churches. The word “Evangelical” should evoke thoughts, remembrances, and affections of unity and peace in the Church of Jesus Christ. It is therefore to be commended when exhorting believers to partake of the sacramental elements depicting our essential communion at worship.

Lou Veiga is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is Pastor of Covenant PCA in Houston, TX.

[1] The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol 4 (Grand Rapids, MI, Baker Book House, 1950) s.v. ‘Evangelical Alliance.’

[2] John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol III (Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, reprint 1981) s.v. ‘Evangelical.’

[3] Donald K. McKim, The Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms, second edition (Louisville, KY, Westminster John Knox Press, 2014) s.v. ‘evangelical theology.’

[4] Harold Lindsell, The Battle for the Bible: The Book That Rocked the Evangelical World (Grand Rapids, MI, The Zondervan Corporation, 1976) 17ff.

[5] Newsweek, June 26, 1967. Copyright 1967 by Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission. As quoted in ibid., p 145.

^[6] William J. Larkin Jr., “Evangelize, Evangelism,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1996), 216–217.