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You can turn in your confessions 
to chapter 21. Chapter 21. This is a chapter of Christian 
liberty and liberty of conscience. This isn't just... an appendix. I'm not sure if you've ever given 
much consideration to this chapter on your own time, but this is 
a doctrine of Holy Scripture that was very important at the 
time of the Reformation. Again, it's not just some sort 
of appendage attached. That's a good thing for confessions 
of faith to include. It is a good thing for confessions 
of faith to include, but it's something that cuts to the heart 
of the matter with respect to the Protestant Reformation. In 
fact, John Owen and John Calvin wrote these words with respect 
to the doctrine. First off, John Owen, the second 
principle of the Reformation, whereon the reformers justified 
their separation from the Church of Rome, was this, that Christian 
people were not tied up unto blind obedience unto church guides, 
but were not only at liberty, but also obliged to judge for 
themselves as unto all things, that they were to believe and 
practice in religion and the worship of God. They knew that 
the whole fabric of the papacy did stand on this basis or dunghill, 
that the mystery of iniquity was cemented by this device, 
namely, that the people were ignorant, and to be kept in ignorance, 
being obliged in all things unto an implicit obedience unto their 
pretended guides. And John Calvin, we are now to 
treat of Christian liberty The explanation of which certainly 
ought not to be omitted by anyone proposing to give a compendious 
summary of gospel doctrine. It forms a proper appendix to 
justification and is of no little service in understanding its 
force. If the subject be not understood, 
neither Christ nor the truth of the gospel nor the inward 
peace of the soul is properly known. very vital doctrine. As Calvin indicates here, a proper 
appendix to justification and no little service in understanding 
its force. What are the implications with 
respect to justification? What are the implications with 
respect to Christ's perfect saving work? Not only with regards to 
what is the substance of Christian liberty, but what are those corollaries? What are those consequences that 
come upon the heels of that perfect salvation and that glorious justification 
that we have solely and alone by virtue of Christ's righteousness. Christian liberty is not to seen 
first and foremost in what we get to do as individual citizens 
and Christians. It's not, you know, what are 
our liberties and freedoms in a nation or in a society and 
those sorts of things. What do I get to eat? What do 
I get to drink? What do I get to shoot? What 
do I get to whatever. It's not our own personal liberties 
that are necessarily first and foremost with a consideration 
of Christian liberty. But rather, first and foremost, 
it is what Christ has secured for us. That is wherein our liberty 
consists. What do we have by virtue of 
the gospel of Jesus Christ? What do we have by virtue of 
the perfection of the saving work of Jesus Christ the Lord? Well, let's read these three 
paragraphs here. I'm going to read chapter 21, paragraphs 1, 
2, and 3, and then we'll We'll dive into a little bit of a consideration 
of the content of the paragraphs and the doctrines contained therein. This is chapter 21, beginning 
with paragraph 1. 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 a 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 the 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. 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 life. So 
hopefully you see there the importance of the doctrine of Christian 
liberty and liberty of conscience. This chapter of the Confession 
is no doubt included in here, A, because of the importance 
of the doctrine of Christian liberty as it comes from the 
free gospel or the gospel of free and saving grace here. You 
see the substance of Christian liberty is seen in the perfection 
of the saving work executed or performed or ratified or rendered 
by Jesus Christ our Lord here for his elect. We see the freedom 
from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the rigor and curse 
of the law, all those penalties and punishments that come by 
virtue of those things, by virtue of men being dead in their trespasses 
and sins and wholly guilty or wholly deserving of God's everlasting 
condemnation. We also see that it's included 
here, well we don't see, but we hopefully understand that 
it's included here because of the contemporaneous things going 
on at the particular time in the 17th century. You had on 
one side the Roman Catholic Church and there are no doubt in the 
crosshairs primarily in paragraph 2. You see them requiring an 
implicit faith by their adherence. You see them putting impositions 
upon the consciences of their congregants because of their 
various doctrines and their various perverse interests in a society. 
You also have on the other end what one man has called a perverse 
reactionism to the Roman Catholic Church. within the context or within 
the mixture of the reformers in the 16th and 17th century, 
you had those that so repudiated Rome that went off the farm on 
the other side of the equation. So they completely repudiated 
anything that remotely smelled of Roman Catholicism. There were 
the Sassinians and the anti-Trinitarians who completely rejected, there's 
three T's that one man has said that they completely rejected, 
tradition, trinity, and transubstantiation. So the Sassinians and the anti-Trinitarians 
completely rejected anything to do with Rome and their impositions 
upon the consciences of men, and so they would repudiate church 
history as a whole, they would repudiate the doctrine of the 
Trinity, thinking it not to be biblical, but a creation of the 
Roman Catholic Church and its tradition, and they rightfully 
completely repudiated transubstantiation, but to that effect, They completely 
repudiated any proper doctrine of the Lord's Supper as a whole. 
All that to say, the time of this, the penning of this confession, 
the Westminster Confession of Faith, perhaps first and foremost, 
it comes in the climate of that Roman Catholicism on the one 
end, pressing upon the consciences an ungodly, unwholesome, pressing 
upon the consciences of Christians, and then to the other degree, 
which is probably paragraph 3 here, no doubt there's biblical warrant 
for paragraph 3, not just contemporaneous social and religious warrant, 
but nevertheless, the flip side of that Roman Catholic equation 
is in the crosshairs as well. But again, first and foremost, 
we have the reality that Christian liberty is seen in these blessed, 
golden, precious things of Christ's perfect saving work. So let's 
have a look first off then at freedom from sin's bondage. Christian 
liberty is seen first in freedom from sin's bondage. Notice here, 
the confession starts out with the champion of our liberty, 
but then getting into the freedom from sin's bondage, 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." It goes on, of course, to say, to speak of those things 
that come as part and parcel of the condemnation for sinners 
the evil of afflictions, the fear and sting of death, the 
victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation. You see, wherein our 
Christian liberty consists, I think first and foremost, not that 
these aren't things to think about and consider at the point 
of Christian liberty, but very often, someone says Christian 
liberty to someone else, that person thinks, okay, what do 
I get to eat? What do I get to drink? How many 
guns can I own? How many things can I ensure 
the government doesn't impress and impose upon me? What protest 
sign can I write? And where can I walk to demand 
my rights as someone who has Christian liberty and those sorts 
of things? That's not the way to think. As a Christian, whenever 
somebody says Christian liberty to us, we should immediately 
fall on our knees, literally or figuratively, and bless the 
triune God for what we just read in paragraph one. Freedom from 
the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, rigor and curse 
of the law, all of those horrible things that come by virtue of 
being found dead in our trespasses and in our sins. If anyone ever 
tells you what Christian liberty is and they don't say that it's 
this, just gently remind them, no, your Christian liberty is 
found in the perfect saving work of Jesus Christ and the fact 
that you're no longer sons of disobedience and wickedness, 
following the lusts of your heart, and the prince of the power of 
the air, and those sorts of things, but you've been made alive in 
Christ Jesus, who is the champion of our freedom and our liberty. 
Freedom from sin's bondage. We notice, first off, we have 
freedom from the guilt of sin. And you can turn in your Bibles 
with me to the book of Romans, in chapter 8. Romans chapter 
8. First under freedom from sin's 
bondage is that it's freedom from the guilt of sin. Now as 
you're turning to Romans 8, it's good for us to remember what 
we mean when we say freedom from the guilt of sin. That is not 
first and foremost, or guilt is not first and foremost, the 
psychological weight of our transgressions that weigh down upon our minds 
and our souls. You know very often. We think 
that way or you know. I'm feeling so guilty or the 
guilt of sin I oh Wow that just joking that's fine That's fine. I I happily receive any amount 
of coffee that I that's poured in front of me That's my liberty to do so that's 
right. That's right. Thank you Rebecca. I was just 
joking I Okay, so freedom from the guilt of sin. Now remember 
guilt, yes, is that a proper understanding or a proper meaning 
of guilt, the psychological weight of our, hopefully when we sin, 
we have this weight upon us because we've broken God's law, we've 
violated the sovereign precepts of our divine magistrate, we've 
sinned against someone else, there ought to be a weight upon 
us, we ought to feel bad, if I can use that language, but 
the guilt of sin here, pertains to the moral culpability or the 
legal liability. It's like courtroom language. 
We have broken God's law and are therefore guilty. That is 
what we mean when we say freedom from the guilt of sin. That's 
not to say that we are not also free from, you know, that an 
undue self-imposition of, you know, self-loathing and all of 
those things that we can, as Christians, inordinately press 
upon our own minds. We ought to feel bad when we 
sin, but we ought to immediately flee to Christ and find the joy 
of our salvation and the fact that He has freed us from the 
guilt of our sin. But again, guilt is that legal 
liability, the moral culpability for having violated the law of 
God. Notice in Romans 8, with respect 
to freedom from the guilt of sin, Romans 8 and verse 1. There 
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, 
who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the 
Spirit. Isn't that wonderful? There is 
therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. 
This is the language here of justification, except it's in 
the negative. The opposite of justification 
is condemnation. Here, the language is a negative 
with regards to our, not negative as bad, but negative as in the 
use here of no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. 
You see, this would have been, in the context of the Roman Catholics 
pressing upon the consciences of men, Protestants, or those 
who are brought out of the bondage of Roman Catholicism, come to 
a verse like this and say, praise God. There is, therefore, now 
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. You see, 
condemnation is taken away by Christ. We are all justly condemned 
because of our violation of the law of God. Because we have sinned, 
because we have broken God's law, we all justly receive divine 
condemnation. Think about it in the microcosm 
of an earthly court. Someone is justly condemned for 
having violated the law of the civil magistrate, the law of 
their particular society that's hopefully governed righteously. 
They've broken the law of the land and they justly receive 
condemnation for having broken the law of the land. Well, in 
God's universe, we have that reality. All have sinned and 
have fallen short of the glory of God. We all stand justly condemned 
before the thrice holy magistrate of heaven and earth. And so we 
justly receive condemnation for having violated His law. But 
because of Christ, because of the liberty which Christ hath 
purchased for believers, all those who believe in Him have 
this blessed reality. There is therefore now no condemnation 
to those who are in Christ Jesus. That's where we have our liberty. 
in the perfect work of Christ for us. Notice as well, in fact, 
in Romans 8.33, the language of condemnation doesn't stop 
at 8.1, but we have that whole complex 
of language beginning in verse 31, where we read this, what then 
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. See 
that language there? Who shall bring a charge against 
God's elect? This follows upon the heels of 
Paul stating or writing concerning the perfect work of Christ, the 
Father delivering the Son up to execute those glorious terms 
of the covenant of redemption. 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. Beautiful. Our Bibles speak with a glorious 
clarity to the fact that all who believe in Christ are free 
from sin's bondage. And that is seen first in freedom 
from the guilt of sin. As well, of course, we could 
turn to John 3, 36. He who believes in the Son has 
everlasting life. but he who does not believe the 
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." 
You see, the wrath of God isn't just some, you know, ambiguous 
black cloud that is, you know, just divine wrath, just this, 
you know, something that rests upon someone. It does rest upon, 
it does abide on those who are not in Christ Jesus, but wrath 
pertains to God's holiness, God's justice. God's condemnation for 
sin. And so, those who believe in 
the Son do not have that wrath of God abiding on them. Why? Because Christ has taken that 
wrath. Christ has endured the curse 
of the law for us. Christ has bore our wrath, as 
Peter writes in 1 Peter 2. Christ bore our sins in His own 
body on the tree that we, having died to sin, might live unto 
righteousness. In 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 language of for us? Well, I mean, the whole verse 
is glorious. Christ has redeemed us from the 
curse of the law. There's a curse that abided on 
us, that abides on us outside of Christ Jesus the Lord. A curse, 
a divine curse. Not some sort of weird fairytale 
witch's curse, if you've ever struggled with that language. 
It's the curse of the law that is condemnation for having violated 
the law of God. And that abides on all who do 
not believe in the Son, but Christ has redeemed us from that curse. And notice the means by which 
He has redeemed us from that curse is that He's become a curse 
for us. absolutely glorious. That language 
of for us isn't just Christ handing us a gift, though salvation is 
most certainly a gift from God. It's not the language just of 
giving or just the language of giving a gift, but the language 
of substitutionary curse bearing. He became a curse for us that 
is in our stead, in our place. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is 
a beautiful and amazing thing. He's become a curse for us. Brethren, 
we have freedom from the guilt of sin. We have, secondly, under 
freedom from sin's bondage, freedom from the power of sin. freedom 
from the power of sin. You can turn to the book of Galatians 
for a moment. Language that the Confession 
in paragraph 1 pulls for its articulation of the doctrine 
of Christian liberty is also from Galatians 1. And there we 
have this wonderful language by the Apostle Paul. where he's quickly getting to 
indicting the Galatians. He doesn't really spend much 
time commending them because he doesn't have a whole lot really 
to commend them about, though there are things still true with 
respect to the Galatians and the rest of the book, he wants 
to try to ensure that they continue in those glorious things. of 
what he brings out in the first few verses, but notice in verse 
3. This is Galatians 1 verse 3. Grace to you and peace from God 
the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ 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 to whom be glory forever and 
ever. Amen. Notice that language. The purpose 
of Christ's giving Himself for our sins is that, verse 4, He 
might deliver us from this present evil age. The framers of the 
Confession use that language to describe what Christian liberty 
consists of. It's being delivered from this 
present evil age. We're delivered from the power 
of sin. You can turn to Ephesians 2. Beautiful language by the same 
apostle here in Ephesians 2. Language that speaks to the situation 
for sinners outside of Christ Jesus who are caught up in, who 
are in bondage to the slavery, the power of sin. Notice in Ephesians 
2. beginning in verse 1, and this 
is the Apostle Paul delivering a contrast. Who they were and 
then who they now are. And you he made alive who were 
dead in trespasses and sins in which you 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." You 
see how it is the case that we we completely minimize and diminish 
the glory of salvation if we do not first see the power, the 
true power that sin has over people who are outside of Christ. 
You see the situation? This is why the Arminian or the 
Pelagian or the semi-Pelagian scheme of salvation just completely 
flies in the face of the biblical clarity with respect to the power 
of sin, and conversely, and gloriously, the power of salvation that Christ 
in His amazing grace, God in His amazing grace, pours out 
upon His people. The situation Paul says here 
is grave. that we all walked according 
to the course of this world, according to the prince of the 
power of the air. We were sons of disobedience. 
We all conducted ourselves among those sons of disobedience 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." You see the buildup here to the contrast. the build-up 
to the power of God in verse four, 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, this freedom from the power of sin is absolutely glorious. 
It's the very same power, and perhaps we don't appreciate this 
as often as we should, the power that God employed, or that's 
probably not the best line, the power that is in view with respect 
to our triune God bringing and speaking the world into existence 
and raising Christ from the dead. is the same power by which he 
brings forth dead sinners to life in Christ. It's what the 
apostle's argument is in 2 Corinthians 4 with regards to the power that 
God employs in bringing forth dead sinners to life in Christ. 
It's nothing short of the very power by which God created the 
heavens and the earth. It's nothing short of the divine 
power exercised in bringing forth Christ from the grave. That is 
the power that frees us from the bondage and the power of 
sin. And of course, the explicit language with respect to bondage 
and slavery in Romans 6. You can turn there for a moment 
just before we move on. In Romans 6, we have that language 
of slavery to sin and slavery to righteousness. Notice what 
we have in Romans 6. beginning in verse 6. Well, beginning 
in verse 5. For if we have been united together 
in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in 
the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man 
was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done 
away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For 
he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with 
Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that 
Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion 
over him. For the death that he died, he 
died to sin once for all, but the life that he lives, he lives 
to God. Likewise, you also Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed 
to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And notice verse 
18, and having been set free from sin, you became slaves of 
righteousness. You see, when we were under the 
sway and the power, being in bondage to sin, that was the 
reality. We were in bondage to sin. We 
were slaves to sin. We obeyed our master. In fact, Christ uses the language, 
you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father 
you want to do. It's not that we're somehow fighting 
as unbelievers against this power of sin. We really just want to 
be freed from the power of sin. We love our master. We love our 
father, the devil, and we love our master. We love our slave 
master. Not only do we happily work for 
him, but we wake up in the morning devising ways in which we can 
satisfy our master. The power of sin is grave. It 
is sobering. It is strong, but much greater 
is the power of our triune God who frees us from that and has 
put us into the place where we can worship him. We are slaves 
no longer to sin, but slaves to righteousness. Beautiful fact 
of the gospel is that we have been freed from the power of 
sin. And thirdly, we have freedom 
from the punishment of sin. So the guilt of sin, we're freed 
from that. The power of sin, we are freed 
from that. And the punishment then of sin, 
we are freed from that. In fact, the language of the 
Confession speaks to that when it says that we're freed from 
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. Those things which are the punishments 
for sin, the punishment of sin, we have been freed of that by 
Christ Jesus the Lord. The same Lord who has freed us 
from the guilt of sin and the power of sin has, of course, 
then freed us from the punishment of sin. You can turn to 1 Corinthians 
for a moment, 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 contains a lot 
of glorious theology centered around the fact that Christ, 
our hope, has most certainly risen from the dead, therefore 
those who are in Him will rise also. And notice in the language 
in 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 54, with respect to 
this freedom from the punishment of sin, this beautiful language, 
you perhaps recognize this language very often read at a funeral, 
one in the Lord who has died and gone on before us. Notice, 
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. O 
death, where is your sting? O 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. Isn't that beautiful, 
that language? You know, the language is speaking 
with respect to that future reality, that eschatological reality when 
our bodies are united with the spirits of believers and that 
sort of a thing. But if this is read at a funeral, 
let's know there's no problem doing that because it is the 
certain hope. Those who have gone on before 
us, it is a certain hope of those still with us in this lower world. 
that we have this future reality, that corruption will put on incorruption, 
mortal will put on immortality, and then this is most certainly 
true now by virtue of the certainty of salvation, but there will 
be even more so the glorious singing of this truth in Emmanuel's 
land, that death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where 
is your sting? O Hades, Where is your victory? We have been freed, brethren, 
from the punishment of sin. Often think about in reading 
the account of the dying thief on the cross. He woke up that 
day, son of disobedience, son of Adam. He was the inheritor 
of death and condemnation. He was the inheritor of the punishment 
of sin. And yet in that final hour, in 
those final minutes, having believed on the Lord Jesus Christ by the 
power of amazing and victorious grace, rehearsed the reality 
that he was free from the guilt of sin. He was free from the 
power of sin. And he was no longer an inheritor 
of the punishment of sin. Condemnation. Because Christ 
spoke those beautiful words to him. Beautiful words. Today you 
will be with me in paradise. A blessed truth. What a glorious 
reality. We've been freed from the guilt, 
the power, and the punishment of sin. 1 Thessalonians 1.10 
It reads, and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised 
from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to 
come. That is a trumpet song of our Savior. He delivers us. 
from the wrath to come. Well secondly we have in this 
freedom from uh... in in or with christian liberty 
that's freedom from sins bondage which we could probably rehearse 
till christ comes but moving on in the content of the confession 
we have secondly freedom unto an enlarged reality in the Christian 
life. We have the second paragraph 
or the second section of chapter one in paragraph 21. Notice here, excuse me, that 
whole chapter in paragraph three. and it's very hard to navigate 
sometimes. So chapter 21, paragraph one, 
the second section there that begins with the language, all 
which were common. So all of these realities we 
see here were common to believers in the Old Testament, but there's 
something that attends the New Testament reality that is an 
enlarged freedom when compared with the Old Testament reality. 
Not anything with respect to salvation, but only with respect 
to the time, if you will, or the epoch, covenantal epoch, 
that believers find themselves in. Epoch, epoch. Notice the 
language. All which were common, that is, 
all of these blessings of being free from the guilt, power, and 
punishment of sin, 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 the 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. The Old Testament, 
the believers in the Old, well, let's just say this. There has 
never been anyone who has been saved who has not been saved 
by the perfect work of Jesus Christ. There is one way of salvation 
throughout the entirety of redemptive history. There's one way of salvation 
throughout the history of humankind, and that from Adam to the last 
breathing human being is salvation by Christ alone. by grace alone, 
through faith alone, in Christ Jesus alone. However, in the 
New Testament, there are certain things that the Confession is 
speaking here that reflect an enlarged freedom for the people 
of God. No longer are we, no longer are 
believers, living in the time of types and shadows and copies 
of the true. In the Old Testament people were 
saved solely and alone by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ But 
because Christ had not come they were still living in a time in 
that Old Covenant era that had the ceremonial law and all of 
those washings and ceremonies that pointed forward to Christ. 
They had the yoke, or the bondage, of the law that God had imposed 
upon the people for them to joyfully obey until such time as Christ 
was to come to put away those things. See the book of Hebrews. 
In fact, you can turn to the book of Galatians for a moment 
where we see something of what the confession is speaking to 
here. And notice that the language 
contains language of liberty and bondage. what's going on 
in the book of Galatians is that people are being tempted to go 
back to, or people are being tempted to observe Jewish ceremony, 
specifically circumcision, but they're being taught to obey 
the Mosaic institutions in order to be justified. Yes, faith in 
Christ, but you must also be circumcised, you must also adhere 
to all of those articles of old covenant religion in order to 
be truly justified before God. And Paul, upon the integrity 
of amazing grace and the glory of the gospel, upon the importance 
and the joy and the monumental nature of free and saving grace, 
is pleading with them to stand fast in the liberty. that they 
have in Christ Jesus. And that's the language that 
he uses. Notice Galatians 5, beginning in verse 1. Indeed, 
I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will 
profit you nothing. You see, they are not to be, 
now, and this is, not that in the old covenant, the ceremonial 
law was a covenant of works whereby they were to be justified, but 
these were abusing, they were abusing circumcision and obedience 
to Mosaic law as a covenant of works to impose upon the consciences 
of these people an extra thing that they needed to do in order 
to be justified before God. And so Paul wants to remind them, 
Paul wants to press upon them this reality, that they are to 
stand fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ had made 
us free. And do not be entangled again 
with the yoke of bondage. That's why the confession here 
uses the language that Christians in the New Testament, we have 
this further enlarged freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial 
law to which the Jewish church was subjected. I can't remember 
the exact quote or the exact language, but Spurgeon argues 
this in a sermon from Galatians 6.14, where he, you know, God 
forbid that we should boast save in the cross of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. He talks about the fact that, you know, the Jews could 
not endure a crucified Messiah. The idea was in the book of Hebrews, 
the book of Galatians, even Philippians has some, you know, some inklings 
of this reality. Hebrews is the whole book. But, 
you know, Spurgeon goes on to say, you know, are all of these, 
you know, as if arguing from a Jewish standpoint, who is a 
Jew who has just come from the Old Testament reality. Christ 
has come. He's now believing in this Christ. and that sort 
of a thing. Are all these washings and all 
these ceremonies to be put away and nothing remain but a bleeding 
Savior? You see, that would have been 
the stumbling block for the Jews, certainly for the unbelieving 
Jews. You know, these washings and ceremonies aren't to be put 
away for this, you know, this bleeding one, this bleeding Messiah. 
It's a stumbling block. It's a rock of offense. But for 
the believing Jew who had all their lives been subject to this 
yoke of the ceremonial law, they grew up with these washings. 
They grew up with these ceremonies. They grew up with these sacrifices, 
all of these washings of old covenant religion. Are all of 
these things to be put away and nothing remain but a bleeding 
Savior? Yes, they are to be put away and nothing remain but a 
bleeding Savior. Why? Because all of those shadows, 
all of those types, all of those copies of the true were just 
that. Once the real came, once the 
true has come, once the substance has come, Once the anti-type 
has come, these things are to put away, and nothing is to remain 
but a bleeding Savior. And in the New Testament, we 
have, as Christians, our freedom further enlarged by that fact, 
that we're no longer subjected to the yoke of the ceremonial 
law, but rather, and also, we have bolder access to the throne 
of grace. It's a wonderful language in 
the book of Hebrews, that by virtue of the saving work of 
Christ, we have this bold access to the throne of grace. As Pastor 
Barcelos preached a number of, or last year, That's the boldness 
by which we approach the throne of grace isn't some neo-Christian 
lion-hearted courage that we just rampage and push everyone 
out of the way and approach the throne of grace as if we have 
this big superhero logo on our chest. No, the boldness by which 
we access the throne of grace is not our own boldness natively, 
but rather the boldness afforded by the fact that Christ has given 
his life for guilty sinners. And that is what we have here 
in this freedom in the New Testament. Not that Old Testament believers 
couldn't approach the throne of grace, but they had the yokes, 
they had these things part and parcel to their cult, their religion, 
the aspects of their religion that were to be eventually done 
away with when the Christ has come. But once again, salvation 
has always been by grace through faith in Christ Jesus alone. Moving on then, we have thirdly, 
freedom from man's bondage. Notice what the paragraph goes 
on to say in paragraph two, freedom from man's bondage. That whole stuff of that second 
paragraph, or the second portion of the first paragraph that we 
just briefly alluded to, perhaps more discussion could be had 
on that in a future study or even in a study on covenant theology 
and that sort of thing. Suffice it to say, salvation 
has always been by Christ, but there are things that attend 
the New Testament reality that are different from the Old Covenant 
reality, and those shadows, copies, and types giving way to the substance, 
to the real, and to the anti-type. Okay, so freedom from man's bondage. 
Notice in paragraph two, paragraph two here, God alone is Lord of 
the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and 
commandments of men." Two things that we probably have in view 
here. Primarily in view is probably 
freedom from unbiblical ecclesiastical impositions. And that simply 
means unbiblical church law, church canon, unbiblical church 
weights that are cast upon congregants in the context, the Roman Catholic 
Church, in the context of the the 17th century there. The Roman 
Catholic Church imposed multitudinous unbiblical laws and observations 
upon its people for them to be in bondage to. The Confession 
here clearly countering that, but perhaps, and maybe even we 
might say more importantly, just bringing forth the biblical witness 
to the reality of the liberty that Christians have in the face 
of ungodly religious impositions. We can think of the life of Christ 
and his ministry with his disciples as he constantly comes in contact 
with the Sadducees and the Pharisees and the Jewish leaders of the 
day. In fact, you can turn to Matthew 15 for a moment. And as you're turning there, 
remember the language that we just read in the confession, 
God alone is Lord of the conscience and hath left it free from the 
doctrines and commandments of men. The confession goes on to 
say, which are in anything contrary to his word or not contained 
in it. And notice what we have in Matthew 
15. You'll remember this occasion where Christ and his disciples 
on the Sabbath come, excuse me, Christ and his disciples come 
and these scribes and Pharisees oppose them with regards to what 
they are doing, or what they aren't doing, rather, prior to 
eating bread. Notice in Matthew 15 at 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. That's what the confession is 
getting here. This teaching as doctrines the commandments of 
men is what's in the crosshairs of the confession. Passing off 
manufactured tradition, manufactured law, manufactured canon statutes 
to people and under the guise of biblical doctrine and that 
sort of thing. He goes on to say, and this cuts 
to the matter here as well in verse 10, when he had called 
the multitude to himself, he said to them, hear and understand, 
not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes 
out of the mouth, this defiles a man. Then his disciples came 
and said to him, do you know, that the Pharisees were offended 
when they heard this saying, but he answered and said, every 
plant which my Heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 
Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the 
blind, and if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into 
a ditch. So you see, he goes on to see 
there just the silliness of the law there and the external superficiality 
of the law. A law that doesn't even really 
cut to the heart of the matter. It's unbiblical at the outset, 
but it doesn't even cut to the heart of the matter. In verse 
16, are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet 
understand? that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach 
and is eliminated. But those things which proceed 
out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 
For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things 
which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not 
defile a man." See the folly of this. As Pastor Butler's been 
preaching through the book of Matthew, we see that time and 
again, and even right now as he's preaching through the account 
of the crucifixion, the trial leading up to it. These Jews 
are fastidious about things like this, the washing of hands before 
eating bread, but they're filled with evil thoughts and murders. 
It's absolutely hypocritical and astonishing, but not astonishing 
because we know the sinfulness of man. We know that the heart 
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can 
know it? But it's just, this cuts to the madness of imposing 
our own or imposing ecclesiastical things upon a body of people 
that never entered into the heart of God, if I can use that language. 
And that's his own language in Jeremiah 7, actually. You know, 
nothing that ever entered into the heart of God is imposed by 
God's people upon God's people and propped up as doctrine and 
propped up as law. But this illustrates the stupidity, 
the hypocrisy, and just the the wickedness of commanding that 
people, you know, washing hands is a good thing before eating 
bread, but propping this up as a doctrine of God to be obeyed 
unto the end of your justification, propping up this washing of hands 
before eating bread and being blind to the fact that at this 
moment they had evil thoughts and murders against, and thoughts 
of murder against the Son of God is absolutely Ridiculous. Unfortunately, I deleted a quote 
from John Calvin that was really good to this point. I don't know 
why I just told you. Now you're disappointed that I don't have 
the quote, but there's a quote by John Calvin where he speaks 
to this very thing, how people will start out you know, with 
something that might be, you know, really helpful to them. 
You know, man, I'm struggling with my health. You know, maybe 
I'm going to try cutting out, you know, cutting out red meat. 
And then they see how wonderful cutting out red meat has worked 
for them. And, you know, and then eventually 
that develops into, you know, a doctrine where they're wearing 
hemp vests and anathematizing anyone who wants to barbecue 
some flank steak. There's a progression with regards 
to this that might start out innocently as a personal preference 
to eliminate something from their lives, but it becomes a doctrine 
imposed as a commandment upon people, and that's ungodly. But 
we're talking about ecclesiastical impositions, and in the context 
here, that's what these religious Jewish leaders were engaging 
in, ecclesiastical impositions upon the people of God. You can 
also make a note there, Colossians 2, 20-23, Galatians 2, 3, and no doubt 
there are other passages as well. But we are free, as the Confession 
says, or rather, not we are free, but yes, but the language is 
God alone is Lord of the conscience. The ecclesiastical body is not 
the Lord of the conscience. Now the church is, there's a 
flip side to this, there's a reactionism to this, is you're not to be 
rogue Christians who repudiate anything that the church says. 
While God alone is the Lord of the conscience, Peculiarly, it 
is the church, the officers, the elders preaching the word 
of God, the pastors proclaiming the law, the word, the will of 
God from the pulpit and through counsel and those sorts of things 
where it isn't the case that we're imposing ourselves upon 
your conscience, but we're bringing to bear the God who alone is 
Lord of the conscience upon you through his word and through 
the proclamation of it. So while we are not to be caught 
up or under the bondage of ecclesiastical impositions as if the church 
and not God is the Lord of the conscience, we aren't on the 
other side to repudiate anything church and anything authority. 
and anything with respect to a proper and godly structure 
to what God has gifted his people with, that is, the Church of 
the Living Christ. Not only is this freedom from 
man's bondage, freedom from unbiblical ecclesiastical impositions, but 
it's also freedom from the moral scrupulosity of misguided brethren. the moral scruples of misguided 
brethren. Sam Storms wrote this, the other 
legalism, the keeping of invented rules and regulations, judging 
and holding in contempt others who do not hold this level of 
quote-unquote holiness, Legalism 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. We have to constantly 
guard ourselves against this kind of legalism, not to mention, 
of course, guarding ourselves against the other kind of legalism, 
propping up wholesome laws that God has given as means whereby 
we are justified, but we also have to constantly guard against 
this, propping up as divine law things which God is neither required 
nor forbidden in Scripture, and the inclination to look with 
suspicion on others for their failure or refusal to conform. Our little proclivities and our 
fancies are not to be elevated to the point of divine law and 
then, you know, seen as a filter through which we castigate and 
judge and cast others into hell because, you know, because they 
wear green shoes. We are to exercise love, a proper 
doctrine, a proper heart of understanding the Word of God, realizing that 
He's given ten commandments and we are not to add our 11th's 
and our 12th's and our 13th's and our 14th's and our 15th's 
and our 16th's, etc. Lastly then, before we close 
here, we have freedom unto a proper slavery. One thing that we didn't 
notice, and deliberately for this reason, is, or that we didn't 
touch on, is the language that ends paragraph one. And then, 
of course, we're going to have a look for a moment at paragraph 
three. But notice at the end of paragraph one in that first 
section, after it talks about our deliverance from the power 
the punishment of sin, the guilt of sin, we have this language, 
as also in their free access to God and their yielding obedience 
unto Him, not out of a slavish fear, but a childlike love and 
a willing mind. So not only have we been delivered 
from these negative and weighty and grave things, but we've been 
delivered from that and unto a proper bondage, a proper slavery, 
seen in our free access to God, yielding obedience, not out of 
a slavish fear, but a childlike love and a willing mind. We have 
that as an aspect of our freedom. Yes, freed from the guilt, the 
power and the condemnation of sin, but also freed and liberated 
unto a proper service unto our master, the living and true God. And we get to cheerfully obey 
his commandments rather than being slaves to our own sin. We cheerfully obey with a childlike 
hearts and a willing mind. We willfully obey. The law of 
our master not in order to be saved but having been saved out 
of love thankfulness and glory to God. Waldron writes, liberty 
is not the right to do as I please, liberty is the right to do as 
God pleases without fear. You see, that's what, this is 
what paragraph three is, in a sense, all about. First off, not using 
our salvation as an excuse for licentiousness, not using our 
salvation as an excuse for sin, not using grace as an excuse 
to sin so that that grace might abound, Notice what paragraph 
3 says, "...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 and holiness and righteousness 
before Him all the days of our life." We have this freedom unto 
a proper slavery. What shall we say then, Paul 
writes in Romans 6, 1, shall we continue in sin that grace 
may abound? Certainly not. How shall we who 
died to sin live any longer in it? We have this blessed reality 
as part of our liberty, brethren, that we've been liberated from 
the guilt of sin. We've been liberated from the 
power of sin. We've been liberated from the punishment of sin. And 
now we've been liberated, and also we've been liberated, that 
we might cheerfully obey the law of our God, yielding obedience 
to him out of not a slavish fear, but a childlike fear and a willing 
mind. So going into worship now. are 
to go in and worship our triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, 
and perhaps reflect upon this. As your hearts, as you're hopefully 
seeking to prepare your hearts and your minds for the worship 
of this God, reflect upon the freedom that we have as Christians. 
Not first and foremost the freedom to eat red meat, though we do 
have that freedom, thankfully, to eat red meat, but first and 
foremost the freedom from the power of sin, the guilt of sin, 
the punishment of sin, and the freedom to now worship with joyful 
hearts the triune God of heaven and earth. Well, let us pray. 
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your time in studying the 
Word of God. We thank you for your doctrine, 
specifically this morning, God, we rejoice in this doctrine of 
Christian liberty. We thank you for what we have 
in it. We thank you that the substance of it is the victory 
of Christ over sin, death, the devil, the grave. We thank you 
for the glorious victory of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and securing salvation for his people. And we pray that we would 
rejoice in this freedom, that we would not use this freedom 
as an excuse for sin, but rather knowing we've been saved from 
sin, we pray that you would, by your Spirit, just convict 
us to daily conduct ourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel 
of Christ. And help us now to go into worship, help us to rejoice 
in you, to sing your praises, reflecting upon so great a liberty 
that we have in Christ Jesus the Lord. And we pray in His 
precious name. Amen.