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Introduction
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I want to share with you today seven defining
essentials of Anglican Evangelicalism. These essentials
Anglican Evangelicals share with other Evangelicals
irrespective of their denomination or Christian group. |
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There may be those who claim to be Evangelical
but do not endorse all of them. Some who do not call
themselves Evangelicals will subscribe to some or perhaps
even all of them, but will not necessarily give them
central place in their system of belief. This latter
group may emphasize and give a more prominent place to
other beliefs. |
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1. First Essential:
The Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:16, 17). |
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The first Evangelical essential is the absolute
supremacy assigned to the Bible as God's written word and
the only rule of faith and practice, the only test of
truth, and the only judge of controversy. (Ryle, Knots
Untied, p4) The Bible is inspired (God breathed);
inerrant (free of error); infallible (true). |
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The Bible is perspicuous. Its message is clear
and plain to the sincere and humble reader. |
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The Bible is the Church's supreme authority in
all matters of faith and practice. (Article 6 of the
Articles of Religion). It is superior to the Church
Fathers, Catholic tradition, prayer books, contemporary
liturgies, human reason, primates and archbishops, the
conscience of man, modern discovery and learning. |
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Our beliefs, values and practices as Christians
in the church and living in society must be, either
stated in the Bible, deducible from the Bible or in
harmony with the Bible. |
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2. Second Essential:
The Doctrine of Human Sinfulness (Romans 3:9-18). |
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The second Evangelical essential is the
recognition that every human being is sinful from birth
and is naturally inclined to evil. (ibid.p5) |
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Sin has corrupted the whole world, society, the
church and the created order. |
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Starting with the first man and women all have
fallen from original righteousness. A sinful nature has
been transmitted to everyone through natural conception. |
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Every part of our being is affected, intellect,
will, affections, and finds expression in our thought
life and the way we behave. Fortunately due to God's
restraining hand and His grace we perform kind acts in
spite of our natural bent. |
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Left to ourselves we are at enmity with God. We
lack the ability to love and serve God. We resent God and
defy him. We are completely absorbed in ourselves. |
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Humanity apart from Christ stands guilty, in a
state of imminent danger and condemnation before God. |
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We require more than a little bit of
straightening out, reform or improvement. We need a
radical inner change of our nature. We are in need of a
complete transformation. |
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But we do not have the ability to change or save
ourselves from our predicament. In fact we lack the
desire or will to be changed or saved. |
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3. Third Essential:
Jesus Christ Saviour and Lord (Colossians 1:15-20). |
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The third Evangelical essential is belief in the
pre-eminence of Jesus Christ as Lord and humanity's only
Saviour. |
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He is God the Son from all eternity become man.
He is both truly God and truly human. |
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Being one with God the Father, He perfectly
revealed the Father. |
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Through His death as our representative and
substitute he obtained complete salvation for sinners
from the guilt, power and consequences of sin. |
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Because of His death we can be completely
forgiven and justified. |
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Because He is the risen and ascended Lord we can
have eternal life, which consists of a relationship with
Him now, through faith in Him. Further we can certain of
our own resurrection and heaven when He returns at the
close of the present age. |
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4. Fourth Essential
– Inner Work of the Holy Spirit in Christian Living
and Growth – Sanctification (Galatians 5:16-26 and
James 2:14-26).
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The fourth Evangelical essential is belief in
the outward and visible work of the Holy Spirit in the
life of the true believer. |
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Being saved by Jesus Christ involves more than
intellectual belief along with emotional highs and
feelings. |
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A person who has truly put her or his faith in
Jesus Christ is born anew. They have been radically
changed in mind, heart and will by God. The Holy Spirit
begins and continues to change that individual from
within. There is a concern for ones own spiritual growth
and for the eternal wellbeing of others. |
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Far more than outward religious observance is
involved. Where the Spirit is, He will always make His
presence known. The result is a growth in Christ likeness
and a godly lifestyle which will result in changed
tastes, ways, choices and habits. Living carelessly in
sin will be anathema. |
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The person who is truly born anew will desire
more and more to be filled with the Holy Spirit and be
open to His presence. The evidence of the Holy Spirit's
presence is a godly life characterized by the fruit of
the Spirit which is mentioned in Galatians (Chapter
5:22). There will especially be a growth in genuine love
for God and others. |
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5. Fifth Essential
– the Priority Given to Evangelism (Matthew
28:16-20). |
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The fifth Evangelical essential is a belief and
commitment to evangelism. Evangelism consists of
proclaiming and sharing the Gospel concerning Our Lord
Jesus Christ with non-Christians in order that they might
have the opportunity to respond to His claims and become
His followers. |
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Evangelism is the People of God's main mission
agenda. The primary task of every Christian, local
congregation and denomination is to make the Gospel known
so as to give all people an opportunity to respond to the
claims of Christian in order to be saved. |
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The whole of humanity apart from Christ is
without hope in this world or the next. The Bible
contains God's mission plan to save a people starting
with Abraham down through the history of Israel to Moses
and David, on then to Christ, concluding with the People
of God made up of persons from all nations. |
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As the People of God today we are called upon by
God to evangelize all nations and people groups. |
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Evangelically mission minded congregations and
individual Christian should be involved in partnership
together in contacting non Christians, proclaiming and
sharing the Gospel, and helping to establish new
followers of Jesus Christ. |
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Planting and growing churches should be on every
congregations' and denominations' agenda. |
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6. Sixth Essential:
The Local Congregation as the Basic Unit of Church Life
(Acts 2:41-47; 4:32-35; Hebrews 10:23-25). |
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The sixth Evangelical essential is belief in and
a primary commitment to the local congregation as the
basic unit of the worldwide People of God. |
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The local congregation, whatever form it takes,
is a community of believers. In it Christian life is
nurtured. Believers learn, share, care for one another
and hold one another accountable. When the local
congregation gathers it reflects the heavenly church
assembled before the throne of God. |
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The Anglican Church in the Thirty Nine Articles
recognizes in Article 19 the primacy of the local
congregation by defining the church as "a
congregation of faithful (people) in which the pure Word
of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly
administered according to Christ's ordinance." |
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The dynamic activity of the Holy Spirit is
essential to the spiritual vitality of the local church.
His presence is in evidence in the exercise of faith, the
experience of fellowship, and the involvement of members
in ministry. |
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The local congregation is meant to be a
community made up of believers and a base for Christian
mission. If the presence of God is not evident in
evangelism, the planting, establishment and growth of
local congregations God's kingdom is not being
established. |
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The Diocese and the Worldwide Communion are not
without their place and importance. However, in the
Anglican Communion we are in danger of being deceived by
the 'Hollywood movie set syndrome.' If you go to the
typical movie set everything looks real and splendid at
the front. But go behind the set and there is nothing
there. Our Communion has an elaborate worldwide
organization and high profile in the wider community. We
stage impressive services and organize large gatherings
conveying the impression our denomination is strong.
Often by contrast things are very different at the local
level. The local parish is where the life and action
needs to be. If it is no happening in the local
congregation it is not happening. |
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The primary purpose of the Diocese and the
Communion is to support and resource local congregations.
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7. Seventh
Essential: The Need for Continuing Reformation (Mark
2:21-22).
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The seventh Evangelical essential is a belief in
and a commitment to ongoing reformation consistent with
the Word of God. |
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There are a number of reasons why ongoing
reformation is essential. |
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- First, because
there is no such thing as the perfect
Christian era.
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Christians of every age have had their blind
spots. Since the post Apostolic Age each generation has
tended to focus on particular issues and ignored others.
They are not to be condemned because of this. It just
means given their circumstances attention was focussed in
a particular direction. We in our times must address the
issues of our day and revise our thinking in line with
the teaching of Scripture. It goes without saying we are
not at liberty to change anything in a direction contrary
to or in manner inconsistent with Scripture. Of course
proven beliefs and tradition must not be abandoned or
changed lightly. |
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- Second, ongoing
reformation is essential because of human sinfulness
and flawedness.
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Over time heresy and corrupt practices creep
into every church. Church history and present day church
life bears this out. Over a period of time, sometimes
through well meaning as well as evil people, error and
damaging practices are introduced. To begin with these
things appear to be small but incremental change over a
long period erodes Biblical beliefs and values. The end
result is a loss of faith, apostasy and paralysed
churches. |
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- Third, ongoing
reformation is essential because times change.
Christ does not change nor does the Word of God
change. But different issues, situations and
problems arise. Structures and practices become
out moded and irrelevant, even unhelpful. Changes
need to be made in order to minister effectively
to church members and to reach the unreached with
the Gospel.
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Churches must be willing to change in the
present day for the eternal wellbeing of people–
especially children, young people and the unchurched. |
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Traditionally churches are slow to change and
adopt new ways of doing things. We have to be willing to
make changes for the sake of the Gospel. This will
require patience and careful planning on our part. It is
important to bring church members with us and not to ride
roughshod over them. |
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Of course we are never at liberty to change or
adapt the faith to fit in with the philosophies and
practices of the world. Apart from this everything else
can be changed. |
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Conclusion
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Evangelical faith is the purist form of
Christianity since the Apostolic times. Evangelical faith
is the faith of the Scriptures and of the Anglican
Church. |
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Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry was
founded as an Evangelical Anglican Seminary on
Evangelical essentials. |
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