Of Christian Liberty
I. The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers
under the Gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of
God, the curse of the moral law;a and, in their being delivered from this
present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin;b from the evil of
afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation;c
as also, in their free access to God,d and their yielding obedience unto Him,
not out of slavish fear, but a child-like love and willing mind.e All which
were common also to believers under the law.f But, under the new testament, the
liberty of Christians is further enlarged, in their freedom from the yoke of the
ceremonial law, to which the Jewish Church was subjected;g and in greater
boldness of access to the throne of grace,h and in fuller communications of the
free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of.i
a. Tit. 2:14; I Thess. 1:10; Gal. 3:13.
b. Gal. 1:4; Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18; Rom. 6:14.
c. Rom. 8:28; Ps. 119:71; I Cor. 15:54-57; Rom. 8:1.
d. Rom. 5:1-2.
e. Rom. 8:14-15; I John 4:18.
f. Gal. 3:9, 14.
g. Gal. 4:1-3, 6-7; 5:1; Acts 15:10-11.
h. Heb. 4:14, 16; Heb. 10:19-22.
i. I John 7:38-39; II Cor. 3:13, 17-18.
II. God alone is Lord of the conscience,a and
has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in any thing,
contrary to His Word; or beside it, in matters of faith, or worship.b So that,
to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray true
liberty of conscience:c and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute
and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.d
a. James 4:12; Rom. 14:4.
b. Acts 4:19; 5:29; I Cor. 7:23; Matt. 23:8-10; II Cor. 1:24; Matt.
15:9.
c. Col. 2:20, 22-23; Gal. 1:10; 2:4-5; 5:1.
d. Rom. 10:17; 14:23; Is. 8:20; Acts 17:11; John 4:22; Hos. 5:11; Rev.
13:12, 16-17; Jer. 8:9.
III. They who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, do
practice any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty,
which is, that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord
without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life.a
a. Gal. 5:13; I Pet. 2:16; II Pet. 2:19; John 8:34; Luke 1:74-75.
IV. And because the powers which God has ordained, and
the liberty which Christ has purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually
to uphold and preserve one another, they who, upon pretence of Christian liberty, shall
oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or
ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God.a And, for their publishing of such
opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to
the known principles of Christianity (whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation),
or to the power of godliness; or, such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their
own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the
external peace and order which Christ has established in the Church, they may lawfully be
called to account,b and proceeded against, by the censures of the Church, and
by the power of the civil magistrate.c
a. Matt. 12:25; I Pet. 2:13-14, 16; Rom. 13:1-8; Heb. 13:17.
b. Rom. 1:32; I Cor. 5:1, 5, 11, 13; II John 10-11; II Thess. 3:14; I
Tim. 6:3-5; Tit. 1:10-11, 13; 3:10; Matt 18:15-17; I Tim. 1:19-20; Rev. 2:2, 14-15, 20;
Rev. 3:9.
c. Deut 13:6-12; Rom. 13:3-4; II John 10-11; Ezra 7:23, 25-28; Rev.
17:12, 16-17; Neh. 13:15, 17, 21-22, 25, 30; II Ki. 23:5-6, 9, 20-21; II Chron. 34:33;
15;12-13, 16; Dan. 3:29; I Tim. 2:2; Is. 49:23; Zech. 13:2-3.
|
