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Well, you can turn in your confessions 
to Chapter 21. If you need a copy, you can just 
put your hand up, and the blue basket will find you. Chapter 
21 of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience. I'll read the 
three paragraphs, and then we'll get into a study of the stuff 
of this chapter. So this is 2nd London Baptist 
Confession of Faith, Chapter 21. 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 rigor and curse of the law, and in their being delivered 
from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion 
of sin, from the evil of afflictions, the fear and 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 for 
the substance of them. But under the New Testament, 
the liberty of Christians is further enlarged in their freedom 
from the yoke of a ceremonial law to which the Jewish church 
was subjected. and in greater boldness of spirit, 
excuse me, and in 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. 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 not contained in it. So that to believe such doctrines 
or obey such commands out of conscience is to betray true 
liberty of conscience, and the requiring of an implicit faith 
and absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience 
and reason also. They who upon pretense of Christian 
liberty do practice any sin or cherish any sinful lust, as they 
do thereby pervert the main design of the grace of the gospel to 
their own destruction, so they wholly destroy the end of Christian 
liberty. which is that being delivered 
out of the hands of all our enemies we might serve the Lord without 
fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our 
lives. So there we have chapter 21 of 
Christian liberty and liberty of conscience and hopefully you 
can see a connection there to chapter 19 of the law of God. There is much 
that needs to be seen in the way of a connection there because 
in chapter 19 we have the confession rightly summarizing the law of 
God, what it is, what it consists of, those sorts of things qualified 
by an abrogation of the ceremonial law and various things. But the 
moral law is set before us in chapter 19. And then here in 
chapter 21, after the chapter on the gospel, we have Christian 
liberty and liberty of conscience. There are those things that men 
can add in the tyranny of their oppression. to the law of God 
that, of course, never entered into the mind of God. And we 
see here the liberty defined in paragraph 1, and then the 
stuff of man's imposition upon the consciences in paragraph 
2, or rather, first off, clarifying that God alone is the Lord of 
the conscience. And so this confession or this 
chapter on Christian liberty is a good follow-up to chapter 
19 in stressing that it is only the law of God that binds our 
consciences. It's not the laws of men. It's 
not the manufactured laws of an ecclesiastical body, but rather 
it is only and exclusively the law of God. God is the Lord of 
the conscience. Just some things by way of introduction 
here. Christian liberty is not what 
we get to do. we think of Christian liberty, 
we shouldn't first and foremost think what we are able to do 
as Christians in the realm of practical things. Though, as 
we'll get to, those things no doubt fall under the banner or 
the heading of Christian liberty. But first and foremost, Christian 
liberty is to be seen in what Christ has done for us. And that's 
what we have in the stuff of paragraph one. Christ purchased 
believers under the gospel, or that liberty which Christ hath 
purchased for believers under the gospel, Christian liberty 
is primarily first and foremost seen in what Christ has done 
for us. This chapter comes and it answers 
some problems that were contemporaneous to the 17th century, but as well 
that no doubt exist in our own day. And we could summarize those 
three problems that this chapter answers with these three things. 
Ecclesiastical totalitarianism. Ecclesiastical totalitarianism, 
the tyranny of a body of so-called religious individuals, an institution 
or a governing ecclesiastical body that impresses upon the 
persons under their care laws that never entered the mind of 
the Lord, laws of men, traditions of men, and not those that come 
from God's Holy Word. So ecclesiastical totalitarianism, 
hopefully we could see that what is probably primarily in view, 
though not exclusively, is the Roman Catholic Church and their 
multitudinous impositions upon man's consciences with canon 
laws that find no place in the Holy Scripture. They are contrary 
to his word or not contained in it. That's the stuff of paragraph 
two. Secondly, civil totalitarianism, 
the imposition of the state upon matters of Christian freedom 
and liberty. The imposition of the civil magistrate 
upon the consciences of men to do those things that are contrary 
to the word of the living and true God. And then thirdly, what 
Waldron calls perverse reactionism. That's what paragraph three deals 
with, a perverse reactionism. In other words, What that means 
is in reaction to or we could say in overreaction to ecclesiastical 
totalitarianism and civil totalitarianism is this idea that we are to be 
under the binding of no men or no law. In other words, they 
who upon pretense of Christian liberty do practice any sin or 
cherish any sinful lust. as they do thereby pervert the 
main design of the grace of the gospel to their own destruction, 
so they wholly destroy the end of Christian liberty." So the 
idea with perverse reactionism, which was present at the time 
of the writing of this confession, the idea there is that they're 
reacting in an untoward manner. They're overreacting to the impositions 
of men by casting aside all things lawful and those things that 
ought rightly to bind our conscience. Roman Catholic Church, the Church 
of England, and radicals of the 16th and 17th century are in 
view with this particular chapter. And then lastly, just a good 
outline before we actually look at four things, an outline to 
these three paragraphs. We could say this, and this is 
Waldron, paragraph one, the composition of Christian liberty. What does 
it consist of? Secondly, the corollary of Christian 
liberty, liberty of conscience. So in those things that we are 
able to do, what do we get to do? What can we do as Christians? And what is it that binds our 
consciences in this manner? That's the stuff of paragraph 
two, the corollary of Christian liberty, liberty of conscience. 
And then thirdly, paragraph three, the corruption of Christian liberty. So what we want to look at first 
is freedom from sins bondage. And when we, any discussion on 
Christian liberty ought to land there first. What is Christian 
liberty? It is freedom from sins bondage. That's why we said at the outset, 
first and foremost, Christian liberty isn't what we get to 
do as Christians, but rather what Christ has done for Christians. And so, freedom from sins bondage, 
we want to note, first off, freedom from the guilt of sin. Freedom 
from sin's bondage, we could say, is threefold. If we wanted 
to have a threefold summary of our freedom from sin, the first 
one is freedom from the guilt of sin, the second is freedom 
from the power of sin, and the third is freedom from the punishment 
for sin. So freedom from the guilt of 
sin. Let's go to our Bibles and find out where we see the blessed 
truth that in Christ Jesus we've been freed from the guilt of 
sin. Turn first to the book of Romans. 
Book of Romans, we see this in many places. Freedom from the 
guilt of sin. Now, as you're turning there, 
and turn to Romans 8, as you're turning there, remember what 
guilt is. I think often when we think of 
guilt, we think primarily of the psychological weight of having 
broken God's law. the psychological weight upon 
our consciences for having sin. And while that's legitimate and 
we can use guilt in that sense, when we talk about freedom from 
the guilt of sin, it's seen first and foremost in guilt as being 
legally culpable for violating God's law. So it doesn't first 
consider or have in view the psychological torment that we 
have when we sin, but rather our legal culpability under the 
law of God, we have violated it. And so it's primarily forensic 
in nature, first and foremost. It is legal. It is judicial. Guilt. When someone is guilty 
of a crime, while they might have the psychological weight 
of having violated the laws of the land, when we say someone's 
guilty, we're meaning that they're legally culpable. They're legally 
responsible for having violated the law of the land. That's the 
same as what's in view here. Freedom from the guilt of sin 
is freedom from the judicial wrath of God for having violated 
His holy precepts. Notice in Romans 8 at verse 1. 
Romans 8 verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to those 
who are in Christ Jesus. So we've been freed from the 
condemnation, from the guilt of sin. We're no longer, we're 
not legally culpable for having violated God's law in the sense 
that we've been justified freely by His grace through the redemption 
that is in Christ Jesus. Justification is the opposite 
of condemnation. And so we have been freed from 
the guilt of sin by our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
as well in Romans 8. Notice what we have in verse 
31 and following. What shall we say to these things 
if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare 
his own son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not 
with him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a 
charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies." So 
you see, we are, and to get back to this idea of freedom from 
the guilt of sin, Even though we say that first and foremost 
guilt is not seen in the psychological weight of having violated God's 
law, we are freed from both aspects of guilt. The legal culpability 
for having violated God's law as well as that psychological 
weight that can come from having done so. What I mean by that 
is we are not to be like Protestant monks who go off on long seasons 
of lamentation for sin. We are to have a godly sorrow 
for having sinned. We are to be penitent. We are 
to repent. But you see, we are not to be 
marked by some inordinate response to our sin where we go off on 
seasons of sadness and self-loathing and sorrow. We are to immediately 
fly to the fountain that has been opened up for sin and for 
uncleanness, the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has freed 
us from the guilt of sin that is the legal culpability for 
it, as well as the psychological weight that can haunt us for 
having violated his law. We are no doubt to be pricked 
when we continue to stumble in this lower world by the law of 
God and by the fact that we've broken his law, that we have 
sinned. But again, we are not to be weighed 
down long seasons of self-loathing and lamentation as if we are 
Roman Catholic monks psychologically flagellating ourselves with hooks 
hammered into little balls on the end of a whip. No. We fly 
to Christ Jesus the Lord, the advocate with the Father, Jesus 
Christ the righteous, who is alone the propitiation for our 
sins. John 336 speaks to this very 
reality. John 336, remember what we have 
there is the rehearsal of a twofold reality with respect to the wrath 
of God. In John 336, we have this statement, 
he who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who 
does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of 
God abides on him." That condemning wrath of God for the guilt of 
sin abides on those who do not believe. So those who believe, 
the contrary is true. Having been freed from the guilt 
of sin, we are no longer under the wrath of God. And you could 
also note there Galatians 3.13, Christ has redeemed us from the 
curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, 
cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. What a wonderful verse 
that is, isn't it? Substitutionary atonement. The 
heart of the gospel, if you will, that Christ died for us. That is, in our stead, in our 
place, in our room. He became a curse for us. He 
has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Secondly, freedom 
from sin's bondage is seen in freedom from the power of sin. 
Freedom from the power of sin. We're no longer slaves to sin. 
We're no longer under its mastery. We're no longer sons of our Father 
the Devil doing the desires of the Father, but rather we've 
been freed. We've been made free. You can turn to John 8 to see 
something of this. The blessed words of our Christ 
as it speaks to slavery and freedom under sin and under his glorious 
rule. Notice in John 8 verse 31, then 
Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in 
my word, you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the 
truth and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, 
we are Abraham's descendants and have never been in bondage 
to anyone. How can you say you will be made free? Jesus answered 
them, most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a 
slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in 
the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore, if 
the son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. You see, these 
were under the power of sin and were under the delusion that 
they were free by virtue of their in-the-flesh relationship to 
Abraham. Remember what the Bible testifies 
to. Those are the true sons of Abraham 
who have faith, who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is 
those who are of faith who are sons of who? Believing Abraham. 
And so here, these were under the powerful delusion in their 
slavery to sin that they were free because they were part of 
national Israel. They were the sons in the flesh 
of Abraham. And Jesus comes and he says that 
they are in bondage. A slave, most assuredly I say 
to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. Therefore, if 
the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. Christ frees 
us from the power of sin. Christian liberty is seen in 
that we are freed from the power of sin. Galatians 1.4 speaks 
of the Lord Jesus Christ saying, who gave himself for our sins 
that he might deliver us from this present evil age. according 
to the will of our God and Father. That idea of deliverance, which 
is a part of Christ's package of salvific perfection. He has 
delivered us from this present evil age according to the will 
of our God and Father. Christ is our blessed deliverer. One of those passages that speaks 
clearly to this idea of being freed from the power of sin is 
in Ephesians chapter 2. In Ephesians 2, we have that 
wonderful before and after picture that hopefully you remember well. 
Paul rehearses the Christian prior to conversion and then 
notes the difference maker in the before and after picture 
of that particular individual. We have the blessed reality brought 
forth of God's grace, God's amazing and victorious grace freeing 
us from the power of sin. Notice in Ephesians 2.1. and 
you he made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which 
he once walked according to the course of this world, according 
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works 
and the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted 
ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires 
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of 
wrath, just as the others." Now just for a moment, I know this 
verse is familiar to you, but just think about the state of 
man in his sin and depravity outside of the Lord Jesus Christ 
and the freedom from bondage. It's not a small thing. It's 
a grave and it is a serious condition that man finds himself in. They're 
not just intellectuals who are at a position of moral equality 
before God who just need a little bit of a nudge if they hear a 
good argument about the you know, creation versus evolution or 
something like that. They don't just need a little 
bit of evidence thrown their way so that they can be nudged 
into the kingdom. Their state is one of pure ethical and epistemological 
loss before God. They are at a position where 
they are dead in trespasses and sins. They are slaves to their 
own sinful lusts. They are slaves to the prince 
of the power of the air. and they are slaves to the allure 
of the world. It's strong to be, it is a strong 
place to be in the sense that they are in bondage, slaves to 
sin and to their father the devil. But what a glorious thing it 
is to read what follows. But God, who is rich in mercy, 
because of his great love with which he loved us, even when 
we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. 
By grace you have been saved. See, that ought to be like a 
song that comes to our heart and causes our souls to arise 
in doxology. It did for Paul, right? Freedom from the power of sin. 
What a powerful bondage that was, but we have a more powerful 
Savior. We have a powerful God. We have 
a gloriously powerful Christ. We have a victorious grace that 
comes to us from on high that frees us from that bondage to 
sin. What a blessed passage. As well, 
of course, Romans 6.18, and having been set free from sin, you became 
slaves of righteousness. That whole passage that speaks 
about slavery to sin and slavery then to Christ and righteousness, 
that contrast. Remember, it follows that contrast, 
dead in Adam, alive in Christ. When we're dead in Adam, we're 
slaves to sin. But when we're alive in Christ, 
we're still slaves, but we've been freed from bondage to sin 
and made the bondservants of our blessed King and Redeemer, 
the Lord Jesus Christ. That passage in Romans 6 is wonderful 
to see and rehearse, freedom from the power of sin. Again, 
Christian liberty, true Christian liberty is seen first and foremost 
in freedom from Sin's bondage, that is freedom from the guilt 
of sin, freedom from the power of sin, and now thirdly, freedom 
from the punishment of sin. Freedom from the punishment of 
sin. We already did see that in a sense with some of the stuff 
in freedom from the guilt of sin, Galatians 3.13, and no doubt 
touches upon that as well. But freedom from the punishment 
of sin, that is death and the grave and everlasting damnation. In 1 Corinthians 15, we have 
that wonderful uh... text of victory in Christ Jesus 
for the Saints of Christ first Corinthians 15 beginning in verse 
54 speaking of freedom from the 
punishment of sin notice what we have there so when this corruptible 
has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality 
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death 
is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your sting? 
Oh, Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and 
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives 
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Wonderful passage. You know, this isn't erroneously 
read or recited at at funerals. It's a good place to go, the 
funeral. But this is speaking Christian 
funeral, that is. Someone who has died, but they 
fear not the condemnation and the punishment for sin. Why? 
Because they're found safely in Christ. Not having their own 
righteousness, which is from the law, but that which comes 
from God through faith in Christ Jesus. But you see, this is, 
or this respects, the resurrection. When our corruptible will put 
on incorruption, when we have our glorified bodies This follows 
the rehearsal of that very truth, that when our immaterial souls 
are brought together with a glorious new body, but before us is the 
stuff of freedom from the punishment of sin. They fear not Christians 
and death. They fear not death. They fear 
not Hades, because where is their sting? Where is their victory? 
Christ has removed them by the perfect work that he has wrought 
in obedience to God, his perfect life, His perfect death punctuated 
by that victorious resurrection. We've been freed from the punishment 
of sin. You can turn to 1 Thessalonians 
as well. 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Notice what we have in, let's 
see, 1 Thessalonians 1 verse 9. for they themselves declare 
concerning us what manner of entry we had to you and how you 
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to 
wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead 
even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. He delivers 
us from the wrath to come. What a blessed thing, to rehearse 
Christian liberty at this point. Christ delivers us. And notice 
we have something of that bondage, slavery to the power of sin at 
the end of verse 9 there. And how you turn to God from 
idols to serve the living and true God. Imagine some of those 
in Ephesus, for example, who were who were in bondage to their 
idols, worshiping a three-breasted goddess, Diana or Artemis. You know, crying out with rage, 
great is Diana of the Ephesians, having their magical incantations 
and their sorcery books and all of those things. What a glorious 
day it would have been when they're made alive in Christ Jesus. They're 
made alive to serve the living and true God and they throw their 
magic books in the fire. They leave this Diana worship 
and they say, great is our triune God. Never forget when you read 
that Ephesians 1 doxology that Paul renders to God the Father 
for the work of the triune God, that is a blessed remedy and 
an answer to those who previously were crying, great is Diana of 
the Ephesians. They would have read that Ephesians 
1 doxology, remembering that slavery to a three-breasted goddess 
who is no goddess at all, who is no God at all. They've been 
brought from that madness and darkness to the religion of the 
Triune God. What a blessed thing. Freedom 
from the punishment of sin. Christ Jesus delivers us from 
the wrath to come. So that is freedom from sin's 
bondage. And remember, when we talk about 
Christian liberty, very often the conversation moves immediately 
to, can I have a beer and can I have six Timbits? And whatever 
else you know insert insert You know practical problem or item 
here We must immediately fly to redemption deliverance salvation 
By Jesus Christ when we talk about Christian liberty because 
that's where in our Christian liberty Primarily lies freedom 
from sins bondage now secondly freedom from Old Covenant bondage 
freedom from Old Covenant bondage paragraph 1 in its first half, 
well its first three-quarters or first two-thirds, talks about 
what we just discussed, freedom from sins bondage. But it also 
rehearses freedom from Old Covenant bondage. Notice what we read 
here, about just over half of the way through, all which were 
common also to believers under the law for the substance of 
them, but under the New Testament the liberty of Christians is 
further enlarged in their freedom from the yoke of a ceremonial 
law to which the Jewish Church was subjected and in 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." So, there's three things that we could look at 
there. The first thing is freedom from the ceremonial law. freedom 
from the ceremonial law. And you can turn to Galatians 
for a moment. You see this. Often what is thought in Galatians, and not that this 
isn't the case, but what is thought when Paul rehearses the stuff 
here in Galatians 5.1 and previously in Galatians 4, is primarily 
a legalism. You think that, you know, they're 
being, what he's talking about here is liberation from a legalism 
that was brought by false teachers. And that's not really the case. False teachers were active in 
Galatia. Let's make sure we recall and 
remember that. Because remember, they were those 
perverting the gospel of grace. But in verse 1, when he speaks 
of being freed from the yoke of bondage, he's not talking 
about a legalism. But he's talking about the ceremonial 
law of the Old Covenant. Notice in Galatians 5, stand 
fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, 
and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Prior 
to that, in Galatians 4, he had been rehearsing the stuff of 
that Old Covenant ceremonial law. In verse 1 of Galatians 
4, now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not 
differ at all from a slave. though he is master of all, but 
is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the 
father. Even so, we, when we were children, 
were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness 
of the time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, 
born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. 
This bondage that he speaks of is not bondage to an untoward 
legalism, but rather bondage to the God, a divinely designed 
ceremonial law of Old Covenant religion. The idea here is that 
they've been freed from that because Christ was the glorious 
intended terminus of the ceremonial law. It had a temporary design. It was that the ceremonial articles, 
the places, the people, and the things of Old Covenant religion 
had a trajectory that was temporarily pointing to Christ. When Christ 
comes, the true of those copies, the copies were to be put away. 
And so Paul's argument here is that you've been freed from the 
bondage to the ceremonial law, so no longer slaves to, or no 
longer, or don't entertain these false teachers who are saying 
that you need to be circumcised and that you need to follow after 
the ceremonies of Moses to be justified. You've been freed 
from the yoke of that ceremonial bondage in the Old Testament. And so that's why our confession 
here says, in their freedom from the yoke of a ceremonial law 
to which the Jewish Church was subjected. So, freedom from the 
ceremonial law. Now, we do have the fact, though, 
that the Old Testament truth is substantially the same truth 
as that known by believers in the New Testament. That's what 
the Confession says here, but under... it says, "...all which 
were common also to believers under the law for the substance 
of them." That is, what the Confession is saying is that the Old Testament 
saints were Old Testament saints who enjoyed freedom from the 
guilt of sin, freedom from the power of sin, and freedom from 
the punishment of sin, just the same as New Testament believers. 
But there is, for New Testament believers, this greater freedom 
seen in the freedom from the yoke of a ceremonial law. And 
these positive aspects of greater boldness and access to the throne 
of grace, fuller communications of the Spirit of God than believers 
under the law did ordinarily partake of. There is a fullness 
of the times greatness or betterness to the New Covenant reality. That is the stuff of Hebrews. 
I don't know how many times, somebody's probably counted, 
how many times the book of Hebrews uses the word better to qualify 
certain things in order to demonstrate the greatness of the New Covenant 
over and against the old. Remember, the whole theme of 
Hebrews is the super abounding excellence of Christianity over 
Judaism according to A.W. Penk. And so in the book of Hebrews 
we have a better hope, a better covenant, better covenant established 
on better promises, better sacrifices. That word better is repeatedly 
used in the confession here is highlighting that greater boldness, 
fuller communications of the spirit, excuse me, than believers 
under the law did ordinarily partake of. New Testament believers 
have an enlarged measure of Christian liberty as a result of the fullness 
of revelation they possess and the time in which they now live. Not a greater Christian liberty 
at the point of freedom from sin. It's not a greater soteriological 
or salvific liberty, but it is a greater practical liberty in 
the church because they no longer have the yoke of the ceremonial 
law to which the Jewish church was subjected. So that's freedom 
from old covenant bondage. Now, freedom from man's bondage. So this is, again, freedom from 
sin's bondage, freedom from old covenant bondage, and now freedom 
from man's bondage. That's the stuff of paragraph 
two, freedom from man's bondage. We want to look at two things 
here. Freedom from unbiblical ecclesiastical impositions. and 
freedom from the moral scrupulosity of misguided brethren. So chapter 
21 paragraph 2 again just to remind ourselves God alone is 
the 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 not contained in it. So that to believe such doctrines 
or obey such commands out of conscience is to betray true 
liberty of conscience and the requiring of an implicit faith 
and absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience 
and reason also. So not only is the person sinning 
who imposes a law upon us that is not God's law, but we're sinning 
as well by subjecting our conscience to it and obeying, in quotes, 
that particular law. It is a violation. It is a betrayal 
of true liberty, not only to impose the law, but also to follow 
after it under the rule of the one imposing it. So first off, 
free from unbiblical ecclesiastical impositions. What does that mean? 
It simply means that we are, our Christian liberty is seen 
as well in the fact that we are not bound to church leaders, 
we are not bound to any church polity that would impose things 
that do not come from the Word of God on us. Anything that is 
contrary to His Word or not contained in it If it is imposed by men 
upon us, it falls under that category of unbiblical tradition 
of men that Jesus so often came against in his earthly ministry. 
Turn to Matthew 15, and no doubt you know this passage well. Matthew 
15, thank you. In Matthew 15, we have this, 
freedom from unbiblical ecclesiastical impositions. Notice Matthew 15 verse 1, then 
the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus 
saying, why do your disciples transgress the tradition of the 
elders? For they do not wash their hands 
when they eat bread. He answered and said to them, 
why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of 
your tradition? For God commanded saying, honor 
your father and your mother, and he who curses father or mother, 
let him be put to death. But you say, whoever says to 
his father or mother, whatever profit you might have received 
from me is a gift to God. Then he need not honor his father 
or mother. Thus, you have made the commandment 
of God of no effect by your tradition. Hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy 
about you, saying, these people draw near to me with their mouth 
and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 
And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments 
of men." You see, These were trying to impose, and were already 
imposing, heavy and weighty impositions that were contrary to the word 
or not contained in it upon the religious populace, and Jesus 
called them on it time and time again. Hypocrites, they would 
come with these laws and these traditions that they have added 
to the word of God, that they have misinterpreted from the 
word of God, heaping things upon the consciences of men and women 
that never should be heaped upon them. And Jesus rightly calls 
them on it, calling these things traditions of men, saying that 
they transgress the commandment of God because of their tradition, 
citing Isaiah, saying that they teach as doctrines the commandments 
of men. The rest of the passage as well 
speaks to the hypocrisy and speaks to the madness of this. We are 
free from such things. We are not bound to traditions. 
contrary to the Word, to be sure, but also we're not bound to things 
that are not contained in the Word. I mean, some of the things 
that we could talk about there would be elements of worship 
that are brought into the Church that are not found in the Word 
of God. Remember, our system of worship 
that the Confession brings forth from the biblical witness is 
the regulative principle of worship. We cannot, as Christians, innovate 
in our worship. Yes, we do not do what is explicitly 
commanded against, but we are also only to do that which the 
word of God commands for worship. We are not to add things that 
are not contained in it, in the realm of worship. Other things 
as well, no doubt, that the word does not explicitly say, but 
that men will add to religious Christian practice that never 
entered the mind of God and is not to be imposed upon the consciences 
of men. We can turn to Colossians 2 as 
well to see more of this unbiblical ecclesiastical impositions. Colossians 
2. Colossians 2 verse 20. Therefore, 
if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, 
why, as though living In the world do you subject yourselves 
to regulations, do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, 
which all concern things which perish with the using according 
to the commandments and doctrines of men. These things indeed have 
an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and 
neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence 
of the flesh." You see, These sorts of things can be imposed 
upon the consciences of men. Do not touch, do not taste, do 
not handle. The things that God has been 
given us to eat or drink with thanksgiving, men, leaders, anyone 
can come and say, do not touch, do not eat, do not drink, do 
not handle. Whereas God has said to receive 
these things with thanksgiving. What a horrible crime against 
the God of heaven and earth to deny things to men and women, 
that God has said should be received with thanksgiving. And Galatians 
2.3, you can make a note there as well, Galatians, in Galatians 
2.3 we have more of the same religious impositions being brought 
in that case by errorists upon the people of God and they are 
not to be bound to that but rather and only is God the Lord of the 
conscience. So we're free from the unbiblical 
ecclesiastical impositions of men were also free from the moral 
scrupulosity of misguided brethren. On this, Bridges writes, the 
sin of judgmentalism is one of the most subtle of our respectable 
sins because it is often practiced under the guise of being zealous 
for what is right. It's obvious that within our 
conservative evangelical circles, there are myriads of opinions 
on everything from theology to conduct to lifestyle and politics. Not only are there multiple opinions, 
but we usually assume our opinion is correct. That's where our 
trouble with judgmentalism begins. We equate our opinions with truth. How often can that be done in 
the Church of Christ, in the home, where we elevate our opinions 
to the status of divine law and then judge based upon that? free 
from the moral scrupulosity of misguided brethren. That simply 
means free from the inordinate and improper and ungodly moral 
laws and moral precepts and moral understandings that people can 
bring upon us. We could call this the other 
legalism, the keeping of invented rules and regulations, judging 
and holding in contempt others who do not hold this level of 
holiness, in quotes. Legalism, says Sam Storms, is 
the tendency at this point, is the tendency to regard as divine 
law things which God has neither required nor forbidden in scripture, 
and the corresponding inclination to look with suspicion on others 
for their failure or refusal to conform. It's very important. We need to guard against this. 
We need to guard against elevating tendencies, elevating things 
which God has neither forbidden nor required, elevating those 
things as divine law. And that corresponding inclination 
to look upon those people who don't toe that line, look upon 
them with suspicion as if they're failing or refusing to conform 
to what we deem as right. Spurgeon famously, well maybe 
not famously, but Spurgeon in his debate with another minister 
with regards to the smoking of cigars Spurgeon who smoked them 
said if anybody can show me in the Bible the command thou shalt 
not smoke I'm ready to keep it, but I haven't found it yet I 
find ten commandments And it's as much as I can do to keep them, 
and I have no desire to make them into 11 or 12 You see there 
are things that we can elevate to to the point of divine law, 
whether particularities, things we prefer to avoid, and all of 
those sorts of things. And we heap them up to divine 
law and then look at people disparagingly who do not toe our scrupulous 
line. Romans 14, and you can turn there 
for a moment, because there we have an example of this. Exhortation 
for brothers in the church to get along. And it answers well, 
it speaks well to this very point. Excuse me. Notice in Romans 14 
verse 1. Receive one who is weak in the 
faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes 
he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise 
him who does not eat. And let not him who does not 
eat judge him who eats. For God has received him. Who 
are you to judge another servant? To his own master he stands or 
falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, 
for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above 
another, another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully 
convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes 
it to the Lord, and he who does not observe the day to the Lord, 
he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, 
for he gives God thanks. And he who does not eat to the 
Lord, he does not eat and gives God thanks. For none of us lives 
to him, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the 
Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. Whether we live or 
die, we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ died 
and rose and lived again, that he might be Lord of both the 
dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? 
Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all 
stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, 
as I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every 
tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give 
an account of himself to God. Therefore, let us not judge one 
another anymore. but rather resolve this, not 
to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way." 
It's a wonderful reconciliation that Paul brings, this command 
with regards to brotherly conduct. And perhaps in view, and no doubt 
you've heard it before, we have someone who's eating meat and 
someone who's eating vegetables. It's interesting here what he 
says, he who is weak eats only vegetables. So if there's any 
vegetarians in the room, no, I'm not going to judge you, of 
course. You're free to only eat vegetables. That's fine. But 
you see what's going on here. He's using these two examples. 
One person eats meat and vegetables. The other only eats vegetables. 
Well, the weak brother isn't to somehow elevate his preference 
and his particular practice and choice to the point of divine 
law and judge despairingly the stronger brother who likes a 
good steak. That's wrong. That's ungodly. 
Conversely, the stronger brother who likes the juicy steak is 
not in the presence of the weak brother to look down upon them 
and to flaunt their Christian liberty in their face. If I'm eating with a convinced 
weak vegetarian, I'm not to bring a steak out of the fridge, you 
know, slap him in the face with it, laugh at them, throw it on 
the barbecue and not down in front of them. That's just ungodly 
and it's not right. But you see this weaker person, 
who is a convinced vegetarian but elevating that to the point 
of divine law and disparaging the other brother, they're not 
to do that and they're not to judge because I eat meat. You 
see, this is the stuff of we are free from the moral scrupulosity 
of misguided brethren at points that are indifferent to the divine 
law of our great divine magistrate. We are not to subject our own 
consciences to these unbiblical impositions, and we are not to 
impose unbiblical impositions upon the consciences of others. 
And this stuff is absolutely vital, brethren, because we can 
be annoying jerks in the Christian life and cause people all manner 
of discomforts and to arouse within their hearts thoughts 
that should never arouse in anger against one who's just Morally 
scrupulous individual seeking to bind other people's consciences 
when they never should we have a law given from on high? By 
God and there is a blessed simplicity to it, and I don't mean that 
in our ability to keep it We have the spirit of God given 
to us that we might walk in newness of life that we might walk in 
holiness and righteousness without fear all the days of our lives, 
but you see It's simple in the sense that God gives it to us 
by revelation, those 10 blessed words, and the implications thereof 
drawn from scripture and the applications. There are not 11, 
12, 13, 1,000 canon laws that we are to follow 
after, but rather God's revealed will, his revealed word, summarily 
comprehended in the Decalogue and brought to bear in the pages 
of Holy Scripture. We don't need to go to 1st Corinthians 
7 19 to 24 But I do want to read this verse from Calvin before 
we close with Freedom unto proper slavery because you see our Christian 
Liberty comes with the qualification This is Calvin on free from the 
moral scrupulosity of misguided brethren Regarding outward things 
that are of themselves indifferent. We are not bound before God by 
any religious obligation Preventing us from sometimes using them 
and other times not using them indifferently. And the knowledge 
of this freedom is very necessary for us, for it is lacking. For 
if it is lacking, our consciences will have no repose and there 
will be no end to superstitions. Today we seem to many to be unreasonable 
because we stir up discussion over the unrestricted eating 
of meat. use of holidays and of vestments 
and such things, which seem to them vain frivolities. But these 
matters are more important than is commonly believed. For when 
consciences once ensnare themselves, they enter a long and inextricable 
maze not easy to get out of. If a man begins to doubt whether 
he may use linen for sheets, shirts, handkerchiefs and napkins, 
he will afterward be uncertain also about hemp, Finally, doubt 
will even arise over Tao, for he will turn over in his mind 
whether he can sup without napkins or go without a handkerchief. 
If any man should consider daintier food unlawful, in the end, he 
will not be at peace before God when he eats either black bread 
or common victuals, while it occurs to him that he could sustain 
his body on even coarser foods. If he boggles at sweet wine, 
he will not with clear conscience drink even flat wine, And finally, 
he will not dare touch water if sweeter and cleaner than other 
water. To sum up, he will come to the point of considering it 
wrong to step upon a straw across his path as the saying goes. You see, it's a slippery slope. 
Once we open up our consciences to things that are not the word 
of God, but rather contrary to his word or not contained in 
it, then we can wind up where we're just shut-ins in our house 
and we, you know, We bind our eyes so we can't see and we try 
and collect our thoughts as we're engaged in Protestant monkery, 
solitary from the outside world. We must be captive to the Word 
of God. We must be such as who see that 
God alone is the Lord of the conscience and he has left it 
free from the doctrines and from the commandments of men. Now 
lastly, we have freedom unto proper slavery. freedom unto proper slavery. 
Notice what the confession closes this chapter with in the third 
paragraph. They who upon pretense of Christian 
liberty do practice any sin or cherish any sinful lust, as they 
do thereby pervert the main design of the grace of the gospel to 
their own destruction, so they wholly destroy the end of Christian 
liberty, which is that being delivered out of the hands of 
all our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear in holiness 
and righteousness before him. all the days of our lives. Waldron 
says, liberty is not the right to do as I please, liberty is 
the right to do as God pleases without fear. We need to remember 
that. Lest we pervert the design of 
the gospel of grace to our own destruction, we must hold that 
as a good principle at the point of Christian liberty. Liberty 
is not the right to do as I please, Liberty is the right to do as 
God pleases without fear. That's what the confession is 
saying at the end of paragraph three. We are not given license 
to sin, some sort of diplomatic immunity, exemption from taxation, 
that sort of a thing, by virtue of our liberty in Christ Jesus 
or by his saving crosswork. We are not given any immunity 
by virtue of the grace of Christ by his perfect crosswork to sin 
as we please. Shall we continue in sin, Paul 
writes, that grace may abound? Heaven forbid. You see, having 
been saved by such a glorious God, by such a blessed Christ, 
by such a wonderful gospel, we now live and walk in newness 
of life, endeavoring to, without fear, in holiness and righteousness 
before God, all the days of our lives, walk in a manner worthy 
of that blessed gospel of Christ. We're not given license to sin 
by the doctrine, you see, the doctrine of justification by 
faith alone came under attack and very often in our own day 
comes under attack because people draw the unnecessary and illogical 
conclusion that that necessarily leads to sinning freely and license 
to sin. But of course it doesn't. The 
doctrine leads rightly and necessarily to sanctification to that believer 
who has been justified walking after newness of life endeavoring 
to daily put sin to death and to live unto righteousness. Galatians 
5.12, For you, brethren, have been called to liberty. Only 
do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love 
serve one another. You see, we've been called to 
liberty, but that liberty is not an opportunity for the flesh. 
We are not to see in our liberty an excuse or a motivation to 
thereby seek after all manner of sinful lusts, but rather we 
are by God's grace to keep ourselves in check. Ephesians 2.18, for 
through him we both have access by one spirit to the Father. 
Romans 8.15, for you did not receive the spirit of bondage 
again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption by whom 
we cry out, Abba Father. Gill on that verse touching upon 
this point of Christian liberty says, a filial childlike spirit, 
such a spirit, with regards to Abba Father, such a spirit as 
becomes the children of God is here meant, a spirit of freedom 
with God, of reverence of Him, and of love of Him, and of obedience 
to Him, springing from filial affection and without mercenary 
views, a meek, harmless, and inoffensive spirit. We are by 
God's grace to be such children, who love the law of our Father 
and who do not seek to impose upon others laws contrary to 
his word are not contained in it." This is something that we 
can pray for ourselves for. Pray for ourselves. Go to God 
praying that we will not be such that are marked by this moral 
scrupulosity. Seek to conjure up or to arrive 
at certain laws that never entered the mind of God, never never 
touch the pages of His Holy Word and are not contained in it. 
We are to pray for ourselves that we might be such as who 
love the God of the conscience, who alone is the Lord of that 
conscience, that we would love His law and seek to not add to 
it at all. Well, let us pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank You for Your Holy Word. We do pray that You would help 
us in these things that we've studied this morning. We pray 
first that we would rejoice in our freedom from the bondage 
of sin. We rejoice in Christ and his gospel. We rejoice in 
our Savior, that he has freed us from the guilt of sin, the 
power of sin, and from the punishment of sin. We thank you that he 
has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse 
for us. And we do pray that you would 
help us in light of this to be such as who are governed by the 
word of our God and the word of our God alone. We pray that 
we would never entertain those things that are contrary to your 
word, those laws or scruples that are contrary to your word 
and not contained in it, but rather that we would be governed 
by you, the Lord of our conscience, and that we would seek to live 
by that law of liberty that we have in the holy scriptures, 
your holy word. And we do pray as well in light 
of such a glorious salvation, in light of such a blessed God 
that we would not seek after license to sin by our Christian 
liberty, but rather would seek to walk in holiness and righteousness 
without fear all the days of our lives. We pray that you would 
go with us now. Help us in worship to rightly 
worship you. Help us to rejoice in our Christ 
and be with those who will be arriving that you might watch 
over them. Bring them here that we might with one voice sing 
to our blessed God. And it's in Christ's name that 
we pray. Amen.