You have heard a number of times that we are an evangelical and Reformed congregation. But to avoid falling into the use of denominational buzzwords, we should remind ourselves from time to time what the words we commonly use actually mean.
An evangelical preacher is not someone who waves his arms when he talks. An evangelical is not someone with an uber-cool multi-media presentation, torn jeans, and a Brittany mic. An evangelical is not someone who talks a lot about relational theology, whatever that might mean.
There are three things that are essential to a robust and living use of the term evangelical. The first is a clear understanding of the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross. That substitution was penal, meaning that He bore the penalty for our sins when He died on the cross.
The second thing is the absolute necessity of the new birth. If all men are by nature objects of wrath, and if some men are saved from that wrath, then there must be a moment in time when God makes the distinction between them. That distinction is called regeneration.
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The third thing is that because the first two are true, mere assent to them is insufficient, and confusion about one or the other of them is not a deal breaker. There are believers who have been muddled about the need for the new birth who have nevertheless experienced it, and men who are confused about penal substitution who have nevertheless had the penalty for all their sins (that particular confusion included) fully paid for. On the flip side, there are men who have affirmed, in the most orthodox way possible, the truth of those two great doctrines, who have not experienced the reality of them. You must be born again, Jesus said, not talk about it accurately.
This distinction was made by Jesus when He told the story of two sons, one who said he would work in the vineyard but didn’t, and the other who said he wouldn’t but did. We would imitate a third, unmentioned son—the one who said he would go, and went.