Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience.- THE
liberty which Christ hath 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; [1] and in their being delivered from
this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, [2] from
the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave,
and everlasting damnation; [3] as also in their free access to God, [4] and
their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a
child-like love, and willing mind. [5] All which were common also to
believers under the law; [6] 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, [7] and in
greater boldness of access to the throne of grace, [8] and in fuller
communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law
did ordinarily partake of. [9]
- God
alone is lord of the conscience, [10] and hath left it free from the
doctrines and commandments of men which are in anything contrary to his
word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship. [11] So that to believe
such doctrines, or to obey such commandments out of conscience, is to
betray true liberty of conscience, [12] and the requiring of an implicit
faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of
conscience, and reason also. [13]
- They
who, upon pretense 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. [14]
- And
because the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which
Christ hath 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. [15] And for their publishing of such opinions or
maintaining of such practices as are contrary to the light of nature or
the known principles of Christianity, whether concerning faith,
worship, conversation, or the order which Christ hath established in
his church, they may be lawfully called to account, and proceeded
against by the censures of the church; [16] and in proportion as their
erroneous opinions or practices, either in their own nature or in the
manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the
external peace of the church and of civil society, they may also be
proceeded against by the power of the civil magistrate. [17]
|
