Statement of the Doctrine

Introduction and Review of Previous Sermon

0:03 In fulfillment of a promise made a long time ago to a number of you, we have finally begun a series of studies in the broad area of biblical truth commonly called Christian liberty.

0:21 And several weeks ago, we engaged in the first of a series of studies that I will imagine will encompass at least probably eight or ten Lord's Day evenings. And if that estimation is true to past history, it will be longer than that.

0:39 Now, in the previous study, I attempted to accomplish several things. Number one, I introduced the subject by showing the tremendous importance of any consideration of the nature of the liberty bequeathed to a believer in Jesus Christ. And I referred you to a number of passages in the Old and the New Testaments

1:04 in which the note of liberty forms one of the dominant notes in the chord of the gospel. The gospel is not a simple message. It is a message comprised of several fundamental elements. We should liken it to a major chord.

1:23 And one of the dominant notes in that chord of God's truth called the gospel is this whole matter of liberty. Our Lord Himself said, If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. And one of the reformers rightly said that no summary of the gospel is complete unless it contains an adequate statement concerning the precise nature of the liberty that is purchased for us by Jesus Christ. Then in the second place, I attempted to give a brief historical background to the whole subject of Christian liberty.

2:05 And we looked into the apostolic history, that is, the history of the church recorded in the scriptures, and I sought to bring your attention to four factors which forced into prominence the subject of Christian liberty. There was the factor of transition from the Old Covenant to the New, the factor of expansion of the church from a predominantly Jewish church into the Gentile world, there was the problem of inclusion, bringing these Jews and Gentiles together in one functioning, worshipping, serving body of Christ. And then, fourthly, there was the problem of defection, that is, the ever-present threat of heresy, which on the one hand would rob believers of their liberty in Christ, and on the other hand would seek to drive them into the abuse of those liberties. And the New Testament documents are full of indications, and the New Testament documents are full of indications, and the New Testament documents are full of indications, that that tendency to defection from the norms of God was very active. And then we just briefly touched on the centrality of this doctrine in Reformation history. Why were the Reformers so adamant in pronouncing such strong things concerning the doctrine of Christian liberty?

3:28 Well, it's because most of them came out of Rome. And if there's one thing that characterizes classic Romanism it is the word bondage. And so these men who felt the terrible bondage of Rome had been brought into the liberty of the gospel and were jealous to preserve that liberty in all of its biblical dimensions. And then I concluded the study trying to demonstrate that there was a contemporary necessity laid upon us.

3:57 For many of us have, in our religious background, been subjected to influences that have greatly misled us. We've misunderstood, if even been aware of, the doctrine of Christian liberty. And so on the one hand, many of us have some barnacles on our hull that we picked up when we were floating through those choppy seas of our past religious experience. And on the other hand, we see some people who claim for generations to have believed this doctrine, and there seems to be a rather indifferent attitude toward personal godliness, and we're scared to death at the thought that perhaps, believing and appropriating the biblical doctrine of Christian liberty might lead us into such a lifestyle.

4:41 And so there is a very pressing necessity for us to grapple with the doctrine. Well, that's what I attempted to do in an hour's time, and I've covered it in about four to five minutes. Now tonight, my purpose is this. I wish to set before you a broad biblical and theological statement of the doctrine of Christian liberty.

Purpose for the Evening: A Broad Biblical and Theological Statement

5:04 A broad biblical and theological statement of the doctrine of Christian liberty. We want to get the main pivots of biblical truth before we descend to particulars. For most of our problems arise from trying to grapple with specifics until we've grappled with our principles. Now there are several ways that this could be done.

5:28 I have chosen a way that I trust is the wisest for our purposes, and that way is this. We're going to use the Westminster Confession as our guide, as our framework, for a consideration of the biblical and theological statement of this doctrine. Now recognizing that there are some of you that wouldn't know the Westminster Confession from a blind cat if they both met you at the same time in the same place, I should perhaps mention just a word about the Westminster Confession. In the years...

6:02 In 1644 to 1648 an assembly of theologians, most of them were pastor theologians, they were men engaged in the work of the ministry, met at the direction of their ecclesiastical and primarily their civil authorities to draw up a confession of faith and a declaration of church order. And for the most part there were anywhere from 60 to 80 men meeting at any given time over that period, every three to four years, drawing up what has come down to us as the Westminster Standards. And since these things were thrashed out in that place that is called Westminster Abbey, the center of the government of... near the center of the government of Britain, they have come to us under the title the Westminster Standards, the Westminster Confession and Catechisms.

7:01 And many feel that this is perhaps the richest of all the confessional statements that came out of the Reformation, and I share in that conviction, and one of the reasons is this. The Augsburg Confession, which was the official confessional statement of Lutheranism, was basically the work of two men, Luther, Melanchthon, and the other confessions of some of the other Continental Reformed churches were the work primarily of several men, except the canons of the Synod of Dort, that had a broader base. But what gives such richness to the Westminster Confession is that you had at any given time 60 to 80 pastor-theologians, well versed in church history, conversant in the original languages, aware of all the various heresies that had plagued the church, far enough away from the Reformation to have sorted out some of the imbalances, and they were able to give to us the cream of the new insights to the Word of God that came to the church during the Reformation period, which was but a rediscovery of the Apostolic and Biblical Gospel. Well, it's for that reason that we're using the Westminster Confession, because we then enter into the fruit of all of the pastoral wisdom and insights of the men who framed that confession. All of their theological sensitivity,

8:30 all of their historical perspective. And it's a cop-out for people to say, well, I didn't come to church to hear a confession, I came to hear the Bible. Yes, but the Bible through whose eyes? Just this one preacher who brings to the Bible 20-some-odd years of study of the Bible?

8:47 No, no, we're going to bring to it tonight literally hundreds of years. When you add up all the years in grace that those 60 to 80 men had, and all the years of ministerial experience, and all of the knowledge of church history, and the knowledge of theology, why, we're just glutted with gift tonight, you see? So, I would not impoverish you by handling the subject simply on the basis of my own, quote, independent insights, but we shall, together I trust, enter into the richness of the statement of the Westminster Standards, following the standards only so far as they lead us into the Word of God written. All right?

The Nature of Christian Liberty: Westminster Confession, Paragraph 1

9:29 So, what I propose to do, and why I propose to do it, now let's address ourselves to the thing in hand. If you have your hymn book in front of you, or a Westminster Confession, and we do have the Confession in the back of the hymnal, will you turn, please, to page 682. 682. And will you please follow as I read, sorry, 683, chapter 20 of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience.

10:10 And essentially what we have in these four paragraphs are three things. The nature of Christian Liberty is stated in paragraph one, the fruits of Christian Liberty in paragraph two, and the qualifications of Christian Liberty in paragraphs three and four. So you have the nature, the fruits, and the qualifications of Christian Liberty. First of all, then, the nature of Christian Liberty, what is it?

10:46 I read now from the Confession. 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, and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, as also, I'm sorry, from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation, as also in their free access to God and their yielding obedience unto Him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing mind, all which were common also to believers under the law. 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, and in a greater boldness of access to the throne of grace, and in fuller communications of the free spirit of God than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of. How in the world can we sort out all the ingredients of that paragraph? What is the nature of Christian Liberty?

12:01 Well, there is a very logical progression of thought in this paragraph. If you didn't see it, it is there. And in this first paragraph in which the nature of Christian Liberty is stated, we first of all have a negative aspect of Christian Liberty, a positive statement, and then a comparative statement. The nature of Christian Liberty is negatively stated, freedom from.

Negative Aspect: Freedom From

12:31 There are certain things from which we are delivered, and then they're all listed. Positively, there are certain things unto which we are brought, this free access to God and this delightful obedience, and then there is a comparative statement between believers under the Old and the New Testament, and in what sense did they enjoy the same kind or the same or dissimilar degrees of Christian Liberty. Well, let's look at a number of scriptures, and I have sought to select only one or two key scriptures which set forth these truths rather than running from passage to passage, because if your mind is at all familiar with the content of the Bible, just the reading of this paragraph is brought to mind many, many references from the Word of God. First of all, then, the nature of Christian Liberty, negatively stated, is freedom from the guilt of sin. And here we can bring before us such passages as those in Hebrews 8 and in Hebrews 10, in which the blessing of the New Covenant is stated in these words, Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Not that God has a lapse of memory and could not bring to mind every sin we had ever committed.

13:54 That would be to deny His omniscience and the perfection of His mind. But what God is saying is this, I will never bring them to remembrance so as to call them into an account for the guilt which those sins deserve. For God to forget our sins, or in the language of the prophet, to cast them behind His back, is for God to free us from the guilt which our sins deserve. And then we are told, secondly, that we are delivered from the condemning wrath of God.

14:33 And immediately I hope your mind finds itself going to Romans 8 and verse 1. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. We are free from the condemning wrath of God, where once we were in a state of guilt, and that guilt deserved and called forth condemnation. Being freed from the guilt, we are blessedly freed from the condemnation that follows upon guilt.

15:08 And then thirdly, we are told that we are delivered from the curse of the moral law. And I hope immediately your mind went to Galatians 3 and verse 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree.

15:32 Delivered from the curse of the moral law. Not the standard of the moral law for this very chapter on Christian liberty follows chapter 19 in which evangelical law keeping is clearly asserted in paragraph 5. So whatever the Westminster divines are teaching about Christian liberty and freedom from the law, it is not freedom from the law as a valid standard of conduct for the believer, binding upon his conscience. No, no.

16:04 But freedom from the curse of that broken law. And then fourthly, we are told that we are freed from bondage to the world, delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin. Freed from bondage to the world, to sin and to the devil. Galatians 1 and verse 4.

16:31 In which we are told that by the redemption of Christ we are delivered from this present evil world. Acts 26 and verse 18. In which a man who is converted is delivered from the power of darkness. He is delivered from Satan himself and brought into the realm of God's gracious liberty.

16:57 We are delivered from bondage to sin. Romans 6, 14. Sin shall not dab dominion. Sin shall not lord it over you.

17:06 And now furthermore, having been delivered from what we would call our objective legal problems, the entanglements of our sin, objectively and subjectively, guilt, condemnation and curse, bondage, subjective to the world, to Satan and to sin. Now the framers go on to say we are also delivered from the evils of this present life in terms of the evil that the world experiences in the midst of them. So they go on to say we are delivered from the evil of afflictions. Not from afflictions but from the evil of afflictions.

17:49 How do we know that? We know that all things work together for good to them that love God to those who are called according to His plan. To His purpose. We are not delivered from death but from the sting of death and the victory of the grave.

18:06 1 Corinthians 15. I will not weary you with reading the verses. Verses 54 and 5 from which this very language is taken. And then we are delivered from everlasting damnation.

18:19 2 Thessalonians 1.10 Who delivereth us from the wrath to come. Now if you ask yourself why did they begin a statement of Christian liberty? With these various things from which we are delivered.

18:34 Now follow closely. Unless you understand what it means to be delivered from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law, bondage to the world, to Satan and sin, the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave and everlasting damnation, you have no basis to understand and appreciate or rightly to handle the doctrine of Christian liberty. This forms the broad base what we are delivered from so that when any man says in the perpetual and slavish indulgence of any lust oh I'm just exercising my liberty. I have every right to say sir until you are delivered from bondage to you have no right to talk about your liberty in Jesus Christ. You see the foundation of the exercise of liberty is the reality of our liberation from these things that are listed in the confession. Alright? The nature of Christian liberty negatively we are delivered from.

Positive Aspect: Freedom Unto

19:46 Now positively look at the wording as also in their free access to God and their yielding obedience unto Him not out of slavish fear but a childlike love and willing mind. Two things. This is what we are brought into. We are brought into a relationship in which we have free access to God as His sons.

20:14 Romans 5.1 Having therefore been justified by faith we have peace with God and then he goes on to tell us not only do we have this peace but we have this access access. Galatians 4 and verse 6 And because ye are sons he hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts whereby we cry Abba that is Father. The liberty purchased for us is not the liberty of one form of slavery to another.

20:50 Now there is a doctrine of Christian servitude. We are the bondservants of Christ and that doctrine is frequently enunciated here. But if we stop in our conception of our position and relationship to God with the concept of loving bondservice to Christ we stop short of the New Testament standard. We are told that we are sons that we are brought into a relationship where God is our Father and we have the run of the house in grace.

21:20 Not to go around kicking people in the shins like little brats. No, no. But we have freedom of access. Freedom of access to God and to all of His gifts.

21:32 For no creature of God is to be refused, Paul said. You see when these ascetics came along and said religion consists in not doing this and not touching this and not doing this Paul says they are all left. No creature of God is to be refused if it is sanctified by the word and prayer. It is the gift of the Father to His Son who has lavished the gifts of His creation upon His creatures.

21:57 So if you don't understand the free access to God as sons that is part and parcel of redemptive heritage you cannot understand the doctrine of Christian liberty. And then he says secondly or they say in a positive sense we have free and delightful obedience to God as sons. Not only free access but notice the wording yielding obedience unto Him not out of slavish fear but a childlike love and willing mind. Now when you hear people talk about Puritanism was a doleful dreary drab religious mentality that made everyone go around trembling for fear that God would jump out of the clouds and pierce Him through with thunderbolts of anger. These were Puritan theologians. The cream of Puritanism has been skinned off and deposited in the Westminster standards. And they talk in this kind of language childlike love and willing mind.

23:02 That's what's been purchased for us in Jesus Christ. Not only free access to God as sons but a free and delightful obedience. And remember this obedience is the foundation of our liberty. We delight to obey.

23:21 We say with the psalmist I delight to do thy will O my God, yea, thy Lord. Yea, thy law is within my heart. And when the scripture says His commandments are not grievous we say Lord, your commandments are not grievous. And when the Savior says in the language of Matthew 11 my yoke is easy, my burden is light we say Lord, it is true.

Comparative Aspect: Old vs. New Testament Believers

23:49 So there's Christian liberty stated negatively, positively, now comparatively. Look at the confession. All which, in other words everything that is preceded this freedom from guilt, condemnation, curse, bondage, evil of afflictions this freedom unto free access, delightful obedience all of these things were common to believers under the law. So that what we have under the gospel is not qualitatively different from what Moses and David had under the law.

24:29 There is no qualitatively different difference. But there is a difference. Having asserted it is not a qualitative difference they then go on to say but under the New Testament the liberty of Christians is further enlarged quantitative and specifically in three ways in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law in which the Jewish church was subjected to which the Jewish church was subjected secondly and in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace. Thirdly and in fuller communications of the free spirit of God than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of.

25:11 And that word ordinarily is also a very wise word. So here we have Christian liberty stated comparatively and the assertion of the framers of the confession is that all saints in all ages have had all of the privileges that have been enunciated and all you need to do is read the book of the Psalms to know that it's true. The idea that an Old Testament believer never, never had any sense of forgiveness. Who wrote Psalm 32?

25:43 Paul or David? Whose iniquity is forgiven whose sin is pardoned and the word blessed means perfectly happy. Who wrote Psalm 103? Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me bless His holy name bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all His benefits who forgiveth all iniquities.

26:05 thy diseases who redeemeth thy life from destruction so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle like as a father pitieth his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him he knoweth our frame. We talk about free access to God that seems pretty plain to me. Doesn't it? This idea that Old Testament saints are to be pitied I read the lives of many of them and I tell you I drool with jealousy.

26:39 I think they were the ones some of the framers of the confession had in mind when they said than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of. When I read the life of a man like Isaac and I read the life of a man like Moses and I read the life of Elijah and I read the life of Jonathan and some of these great men and those listed in Hebrews 11 I think they ought to be pitying me that I live at so low a rate with such great privileges. No. The framers of the confession have told us wisely because the scriptures teach it.

27:17 All believers in all ages have had these blessings. David under the law said thy law is within my heart. Psalm 119 he talks about running in the way of God's commandments. He so delights.

27:30 He says thy word is more precious to me than silver and gold and honey to my taste and all of this rich poetic imagery showing the liberty that he knew as a true believer under the old economy. But there are distinct advantages assisting us in the appreciation and expression of our liberty under the New Testament and what are they? Number one we are free from the yoke of the ceremonial law and the Bible calls it a burden which neither we nor our fathers could bear in the language of Peter. It is called in Hebrews 9 and verse 10.

28:12 Hebrews 9 and verse 10. Ordinances imposed until a time of reformation. You see if you were a true Jew who was indwelt by the spirit and had a circumcised heart and you loved God and loved his law and you approached him in the filial freedom of a son in the presence of his father you still had to keep all the trappings of the ceremonial law. You're just getting real blessed in a time of worship and you were reminded uh-oh here's this ceremonial washing and that ceremonial requirement and this thing and that thing and the other thing and there was a sense in which that liberty could not break out into its fullest expression because of the yoke of the ceremonial law and bless God we're free from that. And when the Judaizers tried to impose that back upon believers under the New Covenant Paul said stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free and be not entangled again with a yoke of bondage. That's the language of the Holy Ghost to describe it yoke of bondage. Also we have this greater boldness of access to the throne of grace.

29:37 And why do we have greater boldness of access? Because we have the full revelation of the Redeemer who has gone into the presence of God on our behalf. Where there was type and shadow we now have the substance and the book of Hebrews states this. We have a high priest who has passed through the heavens Jesus the Son of God let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.

30:04 And so we may look back upon the historical events of an accomplished redemption and come with greater boldness for we have something more than type and shadow to instruct us. We have the substance that has come in Jesus Christ. And then on the basis of this we enjoy fuller communications of the free Spirit of God than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of. For we remember on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit of God was sent forth in power Peter said He being by the right hand of God exalted and having obtained the promise of the Spirit and shed forth this which ye now see and hear.

30:46 And in the book of John chapter 7 the Spirit was not yet given given in plenitude because that Jesus was not yet glorified and the sending forth of the Spirit in copious measures upon all flesh awaited the accomplishment of the redemptive acts of Jesus Christ. And when He had been crucified and raised and exalted the Spirit was given not on the basis that they waited for ten days and earned a gift from God but the Spirit was given as the crowning gift of new covenant blessing based upon the redemption of Christ. So then the nature of Christian liberty is stated in this first paragraph negatively, positively, comparatively. Now my brothers and sisters I affirm again what was said earlier until this broad base of gospel truth is grasped by you you are not prepared to lay hold of the doctrine of Christian liberty in a balanced and edifying way. That's why it's foolishness to try to impose upon people who are not instructed in the rudimentary elements of the gospel this whole doctrine of Christian liberty. You must start where the framers of the confession started for they were wise pastor theologians who saw the necessity of so doing. All right paragraph two

The Fruits of Christian Liberty: Westminster Confession, Paragraph 2

32:15 and this brings us now closer home to the subject that is in most people's minds when we talk about Christian liberty. What are the fruits of the liberty described in paragraph one? I read the paragraph God alone is Lord of the conscience and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in anything contrary to his word or beside it if matters of faith or worship so that to believe such doctrines or to obey such commands out of conscience is to betray true liberty of conscience and the requiring of an implicit faith and an absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also. Now in this paragraph we are given two premises and then two conclusions. Two premises two conclusions or deductions from those premises. Premise number one God alone is Lord of the conscience of his people.

33:23 In the light of that from which he has delivered us in the light of that unto which he has brought us God has reserved to himself an exclusive claim over the consciences of his people. Now we must define conscience if we are to understand this premise. Conscience is that moral monitor within that says in the light of what it knows to be a valid standard yes or no right or wrong I shall or I shall not do this or that. Conscience is part of that remains of the image of God in man. Man wishes many times that he had no conscience. Every unregenerate man while he is in his sins wishes he could exterminate conscience. Conscience is the one party pooper in his fun.

34:25 While he is sinning with abandonment and filling his ears as it were with the echoes of his own sin all is well but the moment he is quiet conscience pundits and begins to suck off and bleed off all the temporary joys of his sin. That's what it's doing for some of you right here tonight. Conscience. And conscience originally answered to one thing in the Garden of Eden the law of God.

34:54 Written on Adam's heart the law of God expressed through the lips of Jehovah to his creature. But now because sin has affected the whole of man conscience is affected. So it is not an accurate guide in all things. It accuses where it ought not to accuse.

35:11 It excuses at times where it ought not to. It answers to wrong authorities. Now in redemption God has delivered us from all of these things that we studied in paragraph one in order to bring us back to that place of original intention where as his creatures our consciences will be bound to no other authority but the authority of the God who made us in his image. Now there are two texts of scripture which assert unequivocally that God alone is Lord of the conscience of his people.

35:46 The first is in Romans chapter 14 and it is in a context of Christian liberty. Dealing with those things that we will discuss in subsequent studies the adiaphora the things indifferent things not evil or sinful in themselves but concerning which some believers have scruples of conscience in this very setting the apostle Paul says in Romans 14 for who art thou that judgeth the servant of another to his own Lord he standeth or falleth yea he shall be made to stand for the Lord hath power to make him stand. The key phrase is this to his own Lord he standeth or he falleth. That believer Paul says is answerable to his God and to his God alone for the things which he does or does not do that fall into the realm of things indifferent. The second text is James chapter 4 in a context where believers were speaking evil of one another based upon wrong judgments of one another he says

37:13 I will read verse 11 speak not one against another brethren he that speaketh against a brother or judgeth his brother speaketh against the law and judgeth the law but if thou judgeth the law thou art not a doer but a judge one only is the lawgiver and judge even he who is able to save and to destroy but who other that you judge your neighbor there is one lawgiver and judge God alone is Lord of the consciences of his people. That's the first fruit of our liberty in Jesus Christ. Premise number one God alone Lord of the conscious. Premise two God governs his people by his written word and his word alone. Notice he hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in anything contrary to his word or beside it that is in addition to it if matters of faith or of worship so that to believe such doctrines or obey such commands out of conscience is to betray liberty of conscience.

38:39 The assertion they are making is this as God alone is Lord of the conscience of his people God God governs that conscience and administers that Lordship by the scriptures Now here we come to our fundamental view of the word of God Do we believe what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3 16 and 17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine that is teaching for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto every good sufficient to give a whole that is pleasing to God or do we need something in addition to the Bible The assertion of the framers of the confession is we need nothing in addition to the word of God and if we allow anything in addition to the word of God to bind our consciences we are forfeiting the liberty that is purchased for us in Jesus Christ and allowing intrusion of the word of God allowing intrusions into the domain that God himself reserves for his own authority

40:09 Now you see coming out of Rome this was a very real issue because you see the teaching of the church of Rome is that the consciences of the faithful are to be bound not alone by the scriptures but by every pronouncement that the apostolic succession makes upon the scriptures So the conscience of a good Romanist is bound to all of the decrees that come out of the councils of the bishops and from the popes and from the papal see and the poor conscience is bound to every single thing Why? Because the authority is in the church and therefore the church can continue to pronounce what is truth and what is right and what is wrong and you see these dear men took much of that seriously when God brought them out they reared up on their hind legs as it were and said never again shall we be subject to the dictates of man You see the cults are the same way Almost all of them have their own structure of legalism that's based upon the peculiar revelations of the founder of that cult The Mormons with their regulations against coffee and tea to which they bind the consciences of their people Now it's one thing for me as a brother to say to another man look I think you're pumping down too much coffee and the xanthines and the rest are bad for your heart and bad for your cardiovascular system and will eat holes in your stomach

41:38 Now that's one thing for me to exhort him It's another thing for me as an elder to say you drink more than three cups of coffee a day and you're on the carpet You see there's a difference Now the cults often bind the consciences of their followers with regulations to which they must submit upon pain of excommunication of discipline Does it sound very familiar What about churches You can't become a part of us unless you agree that And then they give you the list of their membership covenant It has nothing to do with biblical norms It has to do with you will never do this do this go here go there taste this touch My friends Where Oh but the Bible says worldliness Ah yes it does say worldliness But I can't for the life of me see that worldliness spells M-O-V-I-E-S You see He's got a switch He made a switch This is the thing that they're crying out against is anything that would intrude upon the conscience of a believer but the authority of the word of God Now that authority rightly understood in the case of many believers will with reference to most that is paraded as film art cause a believer on good conscience to say no to it

43:07 Not only no to it on Bloomfield Avenue But no to it in his living room You see whereas those who simply submit to a list wouldn't be caught dead going to the theater on the avenue but they'll spend ten hours a week watching the same garbage in their own living room and it never bothers their conscience why? because they've not grappled with the principles and all they've done is look at their checklist that's the mentality that the confession and the biblical concept of Christian liberty goes after hammer and thumb alright? so we have two premises God alone is Lord of the conscience of His people God governs His people by His written word and His written word alone now in the light of that we have two conclusions in this paragraph conclusion number one is this to believe doctrines or obey commands which men have made concerning which the word is silent is to relinquish the liberty of conscience purchased by the Lord purchased by Christ so that to believe such doctrines or obey such commands that go beyond the word out of conscience you see to do it with a sense that I'm morally obligated is to betray true liberty of conscience

44:31 you know the apostolic writers were just as careful to fight this tendency as they were to fight the tendency to license and liberty look at two key texts of scripture Colossians chapter 2 Colossians chapter 2 these false teachers commonly believed to be what we would call Gnostics those who did not like the simplicity of the gospel in the sense that Christ alone was preached as mediator and an adequate mediator but they came with their many intermediaries and with it they had a very rigid rules a rigid set of rules of ascetic way of life now notice how Paul comes at this thing Colossians 2.16 let no man therefore judge you in meat or in drink it's a conclusion drawn from his doctrine of the cross he's expounded our fullness in Christ based upon the redemptive work of Christ in the preceding verses 8 to 15 he says therefore in the light of the liberty procured in the agony and blood of the Son of God let no man judge you in respect of meat or drink or respect of a feast day or new moon or a Sabbath day

45:58 and I believe in this setting he's speaking of not the weekly Sabbath but he's speaking of the special feast days and Sabbath days which are a shadow of the things to come but the body is Christ's let no man rob you of your prize see what he considers it he says you have a prize that's been purchased by the blood of Christ and that's what you're going to get from it and that's what you're going to get from it and that's what you're going to get from it and that's what you're going to get from it and that prize is freedom from all the ceremonial trappings let no one come along and snatch that prize from your hand by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels dwelling on things which he hath seen vainly puffed up by his fleshy mind and not holding fast the head from whom all the body being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands increaseth with the increase of God if ye died with Christ you see he's back to the nature of the redemption purchased if ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world why as though living in the world do you subject yourselves to ordinances handle not, nor taste, nor touch all which things are to perish with the using after the precepts and doctrines of men you see what he's telling them he says you people are all made up with rules and regulations that have nothing to do with the word of God when you subject yourself to those things this is a practical denial

47:28 of the redemption purchased for you in Jesus Christ and that stirs his soul he gets disturbed with it and then he goes on to say yes these things outwardly make people think you're a very pious individual indeed a show of wisdom and will worship and humility and severity to the body but see they have nothing to do with real sanctification they're not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh then he goes on in chapter 3 and says the only way to conquer flesh is not by rules and regulations it's to lay hold of your liberty in Christ where Christ is seated at the right hand of God for ye died and your life is hid with Christ in God oh dear people you see some of you may be sitting there even now very nervous saying what in the world is a preacher trying to do is he trying to get Christians to go on out and live like the devil no no Matthew you won't get away with that around here if you live like the devil as a professing Christian and a member of this assembly then you'll have to be given the right to live given over to the devil 1st Corinthians 5 no no now don't you go out and say that my friend that would hurt because that would be a lie and a breach of the 9th commandment we're simply trying to underscore the biblical principle so beautifully stated in the confession the fruit of the liberty purchased

48:57 God alone is Lord of the conscience he exercises that lordship through the scriptures alone therefore to believe any doctrine or obey any command of men in areas where the word is given to them is to be silent is to give up what is to be robbed do I suffer but my savior is insulted 2nd passage Galatians chapter 2 and this passage coupled with another incident in the life of the apostle is a wonderful example of the proper use of the doctrine of Christian liberty you remember when he's going to go out on a missionary journey with Timothy Timothy uncircumcised knowing they'd go to many areas where Jews the minute they found out Paul had a Gentile companion he was the product of a mixed marriage remember his father was a Greek his mother was a Jewish he said well Timothy let's go down to the local rabbi and get you taken care of before we go out so that anybody asks the question we can say oh no he's a kosher companion he's one of us he's circumcised we're just going to take away any problems of conscience but now here's a different situation in that situation circumcision was a matter of the adiaphora things indifferent because no one was binding the conscience of Timothy to be circumcised in order to be a full-blown Christian

50:24 but now in Galatians 2 we have a different situation verse 1 then after the space of 14 years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas taking Titus also with me and I went up by revelation and I laid before them the gospel which I preached among the Gentiles but privately before them who were of repute lest by any means I should be running or had run in vain but not even Titus who was with me being a Greek now think of it in Jerusalem not out there in the boondocks in some Gentile town where they just had a few Jews of the dispersion in a synagogue I mean you were right there I mean this was the New York of Jewry I mean that's your Jerusalem there this was the this was it he says but not even Titus who was a Greek was compelled to be circumcised and that here's why he said because of the false brethren privily brought in who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus that they might bring us into bondage to whom we gave place in the way of subjection no not for an hour that the truth of the gospel might continue with you oh I love that language I think Luther would have written something like that we gave place no matter how long it takes to have a man circumcised few minutes he says he said if I did that I would have relinquished the truth of the gospel

51:53 these men were coming with man-made commandments saying circumcision is essential to full standing in Christ and Paul says if I yielded for a moment I would have relinquished the truth of the gospel that the freedom Christ has purchased has set us loose from the yoke of the ceremonial law the ceremonial law was originally given by man and if anyone tried to bring anyone back under that and Paul was horrified what would he say about rules that came from God and not only gave Paul has set aside and says we will not give place what would he say to rules he never made I tell you the apostle Paul would get in trouble in the evangelical churches in our day he had the nerve to write Romans 9 and to teach the doctrine of Christian liberty and that's bad to say that God's on his throne in the salvation of sinners and God's on his throne in the government of the lives of his people that's why he goes on in chapter 5 to say in vigorous language step on the cross man for freedom did Christ set us free stand fast therefore and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage vigorous language well that's the first conclusion

The Qualifications of Christian Liberty: Westminster Confession, Paragraphs 3 & 4

53:22 or deduction to believe doctrines or obey commands which men have made concerning which the word is silent is to relinquish the liberty of conscience purchased by Christ second deduction is to force such doctrines and commands upon us and men not taught in the word is to destroy the liberty purchased by Christ and to violate the sanctified functions of reason itself look at the language of the confession and the requiring of an implicit faith you see on the one hand you have the believer who is obeying commands or doctrines out of conscience not taught in the word of God now in the second instance he's turned around you see there's a pope in the middle of the room in every one of us and now he's requiring implicit faith in another concerning things that God has not spoken about and he says to do this and to demand it is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also there's a sort of a standing joke among some of the men around young men around here when fuzz on the chin and on the lip and almost anywhere else it sprouts out began to be the fashion and it was at the time when you know in some places you were looked upon as suspect as a Christian if you just let nature

54:50 take its course and I had a young man and I'm serious I had a young man call me a couple of years ago on a Saturday night and he said Mr. Martin he said I've heard about the church and heard a tape or something I forgot what the context was and he said I'd like to come out tomorrow can you give me directions I gave him directions and just as I was about to hang up he said oh by the way sir he said I have a rather full beard will that be any problem I said well I'll answer you this way when you come through the back door at that time Hartmut still had his full beard and was playing the piano Sunday nights I said when you come through the back door if the man who plays the piano is sitting there playing a prelude you'll see that his beard is probably as full as yours I said does that answer your question he said oh it's so good to hear that he said I've gone to several evangelical churches recently and I found I've been given the cold shoulder and it's been made evident that I wasn't too welcome because I had a beard now that's a tragedy that's a tragedy and so when beards began to be the custom we made it very plain when some of the fellows began to sprout one and you express your aesthetic response to it I'd say well I think you look rotten but I'm talking as your brother and as a private citizen not as an elder you see and I made that plain every time what I say I simply say as a person who has aesthetic aesthetic sensitivity and I think you look rotten with a beard but if you think you look nice and your mother

56:20 and your girlfriend thinks you look nice or you just want to be nasty to the world and grow it anyway why you're perfectly free to grow your beard that's your liberty that's your liberty in Christ you see now we laugh and legitimately so but you see this is a precious principle I as an elder we as a body of elders we have no right to require implicit faith and absolute obedience for the word of God is silent and even when we've laid before the people the truth of the scriptures we appeal to their conscience to have the spirit of the Bereans to search the scriptures to see whether these things be so now let me say by way of application before we move on to the third aspect and we'll touch on that just briefly and then we'll be done for the night it should be clear that in this area much of the practical problem is found with respect to Christian liberty do men have the right to make rules concerning things not condemned in the word of God to force practices upon us not taught in the word of God well the answer of the scriptures and the confession is beautiful no men have no such right and we sin against God if we submit to their pressures to obey them where God is silent

57:47 we've experienced this as a church we've had many pressures to conform to the existing patterns of evangelical worship why don't you have special music I've just simply said will you show me from the word of God that special music in terms of even sanctified performance is part of apostolic New Testament church worship that's all my answers did that's all now do we judge those who have special music to my knowledge some of you have been coming here for what eight ten years eight ten years I don't think you've ever heard a condemnation from this pulpit about special music being an unscriptural practice that ought to be condemned have you have you ever heard that some of you have been here a while anyone heard no no we give a man his liberty of conscience but you see the problem is many will not give us that liberty why don't you call people down the aisle I've just turned the Bible and said will you show me where that is part of apostolic preaching and inviting and urging men to Christ to force upon them some kind of an external response other than commitment to be baptized which is the apostolic external response now we don't stand here and throw stones at others but you see here's the principle

59:16 that we as an assembly as a body of God's people must allow no one to bring us into subjection to anything that is not explicitly taught in the world we must not do it with reference to our children we who are parents and this is where it becomes so difficult so difficult you need wisdom from God but as parents you have no right to bind the consciences of your children now there are certain things which are matters of indifference which you as a parent have a right to dictate because of your God-given authority and you may have to say to your children well look we can't be two places at the same time on the same day and I as the father and head of the household in conjunction with discussing things with your mother we have decided that now the child is just being cheeky if he says give me chapter and verse well you tell him there's no chapter and verse to say you ought to go to that place at that time but there is one that says children obey your parents and you stick that under his nose and remind him so again these things I trust you realize are said with due qualification which now moves us into the third aspect of the confessional statement we have the nature of Christian liberty paragraph one paragraph two we have the fruits of Christian liberty and then paragraphs three and four the qualifications of Christian liberty and basically

60:44 there are two qualifications the first one in paragraph three they who under pretense of Christian liberty do practice any sin or cherish any lust do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty which is this is a direct quotation now from the gospel of Luke that being delivered out of the hand of our enemies we might serve the Lord without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life qualification number one of Christian liberty is what we might call the qualification of personal abuse with reference to personal abuse this liberty is no license to sin that's why the framers of the confession wisely said they who under the pretense of Christian liberty and what's pretense well that's fakery that's sham they who under the pretense of Christian liberty practice any sin that is something that is a violation of the moral law of God or cherish any lust do thereby destroy the very end of liberty and what was the end of liberty we are delivered from guilt from bondage from sin from the world and all of this why that in free access to God we might render loving obedience as his sons and daughters so when anyone says oh well I'm free in Christ

62:12 and begins to conduct himself not like a free son of God but like a wild son of the devil he's abused the doctrine he's resting the scriptures to his own destruction and God will condemn him out of his own mouth so with wise pastoral insight they qualified Christian liberty on the one hand with reference to personal abuse this liberty is no license to sin and we'll see we'll look at a number of passages in the subsequent studies which emphasize this I had a number I wanted to share tonight but time has gotten away from us the second qualification is with reference to civil and ecclesiastical authority this liberty is not a license to anarchy and the summary of paragraph four and because the powers which God has ordained and the liberty which Christ has purchased are not intended to destroy but mutually uphold and preserve one another then I'll paraphrase those who under the pretense of Christian liberty fund their nose at the authority of the state and fund their nose at the authority of the church the framers of the confession say such ought to receive the censures of the church of Jesus Christ no the authority structures of the church and the state are ordained of God Romans 13 and Hebrews 13 remember the two thirteens with reference to constituted authority the authority of the state Romans 13 the authority of the church

Homework Assignment and Concluding Prayer

63:40 Hebrews 13 7 and 17 and therefore any resistance of duly constituted properly functioning authority is resistance to God and must be punished now if the civil authority and if the ecclesiastical authority runs contrary to the clear testimony of the scriptures then we must say with Peter in the apostles Acts 5 29 we must obey God rather than men but those times are rare for many of us some of us will never encounter such a conflict of authority structures well basically that's the biblical and theological statement of the doctrine of Christian liberty as framed for us in the Westminster standards aren't you grateful to God for the sanctified labors of these men bringing together so many strands of biblical truth with such great pastoral wisdom now let me give you a homework assignment again I don't know if you did your last one so if not you have a chance to catch up please re-read if you already did the previous assignment Romans chapter 14 chapters 14 and 15 1 Corinthians chapter 8 beginning with verse 13 reading right through to the end of 1 Corinthians 10

65:10 never read 1 Corinthians 8 apart from chapters 9 and 10 that's Paul's full treatment of the subject of Christian liberty and then ask yourself a couple of very knotty questions that Paul raises in Romans chapter 14 what does it mean when he says if thy brother is offended or grieved at your action you're not to do it what does it mean if he's grieved you wrestle with that for a bit will you what should my attitude be when I just don't understand how my brother sister can do what they do and still walk with the Lord I just don't understand how a Christian can do that and grow in grace what should my attitude be well that's your homework assignment I hope some of you will take it seriously so that when we come together again God willing next week your mind will be moving in the direction of these things and we'll address ourselves now to some of the more specific areas of concern having laid this broad base I hope you found this profitable and will find it profitable in the days ahead as you come back to these things again and again may I say to any who may be visiting among us to whom some of these things perhaps have

66:39 sounded strange on your ear there's one thing I ask of you have the Berean spirit will you what do I mean by that Acts 17 verse 11 these were more noble than they at Thessalonica you see you had a bunch of hotheads at Thessalonica Paul started preaching things they hadn't heard before and they said let's get this guy out of here he isn't parroting the party line but it says these were more noble than they at Thessalonica in that they received the word with readiness and searched the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so my friend in love to your soul I plead with you allow your conscience to be bound by no other authority but the word of God written but I solemnly warn you don't resist the authority of the word of God written for in doing so you resist the God who gave that word and he'll call you into judgment for it may the Lord bring upon us a holy solemnity as we continue to pursue our studies in this vital area of practical Christian concern let us pray oh Lord how we thank you for the liberty that has been purchased for us in Jesus Christ to think that we who are in Christ are this very moment

68:08 free from the guilt of our sins free from the condemning wrath against our sins free from the curse of the law free oh Lord from the threat of damnation and punishment in the world to come free from the evil of present afflictions and even death itself and even death no longer has any penal overtones but is but a discipline to release us into your presence oh Lord we thank you for that liberty that is ours and we bless you tonight for the work of our Savior who purchased this liberty for us who endured your wrath against him who in his own death fully satisfied all the demands of your righteous life fulfilled every type and shadow of the Levitical system that having fulfilled all that they typified they no longer bind the consciences of your people Lord we thank you for this liberty oh help us by your grace to stand fast in a liberty purchased at so dear a price we therefore plead that you will help us as we further study this broad and delicate subject that you will be able to keep us from those abuses

69:38 of this liberty into which men and women have run through the centuries and through which they've destroyed themselves oh God keep us we pray from abusing that truth which has been given for our profit and for your glory seal to our hearts then the word studied together and our Father we pray for those who may sit among us who are not free from the condemning law of God who are not free from the world from their sins and from Satan oh God having heard proclaim tonight the liberty that is the portion of every believer may they be filled with holy jealousy until they themselves know that liberty through union with Christ oh bring them to repentance and faith and may they seek you while you may be found and call upon you while you're near now may it please you oh Lord to take us safely to our homes to bless the remaining moments of fellowship that many of us will have with each other in this building and in various homes crown this your day with the further sense of your presence and the fragrance of the nearness of Christ receive our thanks for this day oh Lord you've been good to us oh how we thank you that we've known something of your felt presence in our midst

71:06 oh God we confess that many of us are reluctant to see another Monday come back into that godless environment in the shop in the office in the school on the subway in the bus in the neighborhood back to the mundane in the routine but oh Lord we thank you that it is precisely there that you manifest the sufficiency of your grace help us then to manifest to others the reality of our meeting with you today may men take note that we have been with Jesus hear us Lord we pray for your praise through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen