Please turn in your Bibles again to Romans chapter 5. Just a word or two of explanation. This is not the same sermon I preached how many years ago when I preached through Romans. In fact, I'm not sure at some level it's even a sermon at all. I think much of what I'm about to say could come from Romans chapter five, verses one through 11 and a whole host of other texts as well. It's occurred to me that infrequently do I bring the fruit of my research here to you, that that is the research I do for Cuba, more often than not, they're lectures. And some of the sermons I preach are the same sermons that I've already preached here, and so I tend not to repeat them. But I've been asked to do something on this particular trip that I think commends itself to us as a church and commends itself to preaching in reality from a number of texts on this particular subject. And the subject is of Christian liberty and liberty of conscience. There is in reality, no doctrine more central to the gospel than Christian liberty and liberty of conscience, and I'll explain why in just a moment. But I want to do that, I want to use our confession as a kind of outline or a template or something to say along the way with regard to this doctrine. There are three sections to chapter 21 of the confession, and I'll come back to that in just a moment. But there are a number of things that could be said by way of some introduction, especially as it relates to liberty of conscience, which we'll come to, which is sadly a misunderstood concept. Actually, both of them are, and they're related. Dr. Renahan in his magnum opus, his commentary on the Second London Confession of Faith, I think it runs to some 800 pages or something like that, says on this chapter, he says, since it is incorporated, meaning this doctrine and the description of it, definition of it, since it is incorporated, it must be of consequence. In other words, if it were not here, or if it's here and it's of no consequence, then our forebears erred. And if it's not here, then it ought to be here. It is incorporated, therefore it is of some consequence. The Puritan Richard Sibbes, and interesting enough, the Puritans wrote considerably on this doctrine. More about that, I'm sure, as we explore this. But Richard Sibbes wrote one time, and it has to do with liberty of conscience, to which we'll eventually come. He says, we can do nothing well without joy, and a good conscience, which is the ground. of joy. More on that in a minute. Joel Beakey writes, Protestant theology is known for its focus on conscience. And then, of course, there's probably the best quotation or at least the one most frequently cited It has to do with Martin Luther on trial for his views of justification. And he said this, he says, my conscience is captive to the word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I hope by the end of this mini series, you'll be able, if you can't now, at least be able then to say Luther was right. Then I want you to know several things about this doctrine or these two doctrines, which are related to each other. First of all, notice the chapter and its placement, its residence, where it is to be found. It's the very first chapter after the confession has put on display the doctrines of our salvation. So the very first thing that comes to the mind of the writer is liberty of conscience and Christian liberty, the point. I'm trying to make and what the confession does is that this is a doctrine that is absolutely essential and central to the gospel. After the gospel and its gracious extent, which is chapter 20, and just before religious worship, this chapter is found. And so it's necessary and it's essential to the Christian life. Secondly, notice the chapter and its relevance. It's related, there are these two doctrines that are interrelated, liberty of conscience and Christian liberty, and we'll come to see what those things are over the next total of three weeks. Thirdly, notice what we might call the chapter and its hindrance. That is that it has detractors on two sides, and both of them are wrong. Both of them are unbiblical. On the one hand, there's the error of legalism, adding to standards, rules, adding to the word of God, the law of God, and the gospel of God. can't add to anything that God has said and turn it into a righteous deed or a righteous act or a righteous command. But the other side of the coin is antinomianism or libertinism, meaning a libertine sort of attitude. You'll hear people say, on the one hand, well, I'm doing this because I think it's the right thing to do, as if their independent decision-making makes something right. On the other hand, the same kind of argument is used by the antinomian who says, you can't tell me this is wrong because my conscience is clear. What does that mean? I mean, seriously, what does it mean unless the conscience is ruled and overruled by the word of God? And we'll come to see how important that is next week. But both legalism and libertinism or antinomianism are faulty views with regard to Christian liberty. Now, fourthly, I want you to notice The chapter, chapter 21, we won't read all of it this afternoon, but I want you to notice three things because there are three different parts or three different pieces to the doctrine. First of all, the confession gives to us a definition or definitions, or another way of putting it is the foundation of Christian liberty. What's the basis? What's the foundation of Christian liberty? And then secondly, we have not only a definition, but in the second part, the second section, there's the framework which has to do with liberty of conscience. How does this work itself out? That which we find the foundation in section one, how does that work itself out in terms of conscience? And then thirdly, we want to notice the focus of these two interrelated documents. the destination or the focus, the reason, if you will, for these, or how they work themselves out in our interpersonal relationship. So that's where we're going in these three parts. There are three sections and we'll develop each one, one at a time. Now, in order to do that, I want to read the first section which is made up of two paragraphs and you'll find it in the bulletin and I did that on purpose so that you would have something in front of you by way of what the confession teaches on this doctrine. And again, it's chapter 21 and the doctrine is entitled of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience. Remember as we're doing this, it's placement in the confession with regard to gospel truths. And before we move on to something else. Now, notice these two paragraphs. First of all, the liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the severity and curse of the law, and in their being delivered from the 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 to 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 freeding 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 full or fuller communication of the free spirit of God than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of. And so that's the first part. And notice that it's rooted. Christian liberty is rooted in the gospel and it's referred to as the purchase, the purchase of Christ. I should also mention that the Savoy Declaration, which is the confessional doctrine of independence, men like John Owen and Thomas Goodwin, they were neither Baptist nor Presbyterian. It's not to say that they were enemies any more than we're enemies, but rather that they had a different confession of faith. The other thing I should say, secondly, is that the chapter reads almost identically in all three cases, with the exception of the Westminster Confession, which adds a paragraph at the end, and it has to do with Christian liberty and what it cannot be for Presbyterian in the 17th century. Because if you remember Presbyterianism was begun as an act of the civil magistrate of the government and parliament. And it was intended to replace Anglicanism as the state church. And no harm, no foul and without sounding critical of all of my good Presbyterian friends, the Westminster Confession is the only confession of the Protestant confessions that had to be changed when it came to America because our form of government is vastly different than that in England. That's not a big thing, but it just says, that's just, if you read these three confessions, you'll find that there was an added element at the end of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and that's because its purpose was different than the other two. Nevertheless, there was a lot of crossover with these three movements. Now, what I want to do here this afternoon for the short time that we have is to look at the foundation of Christian liberty, the principle of Christian liberty, or the purchase of Christian liberty. Christian liberty is costly. It was costly to Christ. And this first section draws attention to that cost and what it cost Christ. The cost to purchase our liberty. Don't let that get lost, okay? Christian liberty is costly because of what it costs Christ to provide it for us. And there are, in these two paragraphs, 10 effects of sin that are overruled by Christ, that is he purchased liberty, he purchased freedom, thoroughly Christian liberty, he purchased it with regard to these 10 areas. So there's no way I can give a full development to each one of them, but I can certainly mention all 10 of them and make a comment or two. The first thing that this paragraph or these two paragraphs describe The first thing that is to be found here is culpability. In other words, guilt. The guilt of sin is something that Christ removed. Now we need to be careful or need to be certain about what guilt is. Guilt is not a feeling. We often will say, I feel guilty. I feel terrible about what I did. And we call that guilt, but that's not guilt. Feeling of guilt is not necessarily guilt. You may feel as if you're culpable for something and you're not. And you may not feel that you're culpable or guilty of something and you really are. Guilt, the definition of guilt is liability to punishment. guilt makes a person liable to the punishment of God. In other words, guilt is objective, not subjective. And it's important to keep that in mind because we're guilty because of sin, of transgression, and to falling short of the glory of God. And there are all sorts of verses that would remind us that Romans 3.23, for all the sin that comes short of the glory of God. Romans chapter five and verse 12, that we share in Adam's guilt for sin. And as I've said on so many occasions, we don't sin and then become guilty. We don't sin and then become a sinner. We're sinners as we come into the world, and that's why we sin. There's a difference. There's a big difference between those two perspectives. And so Christ purchased for us liberty or freedom, freedom from the liability to punishment because of our sin. That's a purchase. That's something Christ purchased for us, freedom in that area. Secondly, Christ purchased for us freedom from or liberty from condemnation. Justification is the free gift of God bestowing righteousness in the place of unrighteousness, freedom in the place of condemnation. And there are a number of passages, paragraph or chapter three in paragraph three, chapter six in paragraph three, and chapter 32 in paragraph two, where it speaks of the coming judgment of God for sin. And so we're free from guilt and we're free from condemnation. Those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer under a sentence of condemnation. Romans chapter five says that. And then thirdly, we are free from the curse. That is the curse of the law. Remember when Adam was placed under a covenant of works and Adam was charged with obedience and without obedience, he would be cursed. So what was that obedience like? Or what was it to be like? Well, the law required obedience that was personal, not from someone else, but personal. perfect and perpetual. Those are three words and I like them because they're alliterated, but the point is that they're three important words. Obedience is personal, perfect, and perpetual. Anything less than that is an obedience that God will not accept. And here are demands that no one could fulfill after the fall. William Ames from, along with William Perkins, came out of what's called the high orthodox period of reform theology in the late 1500s, early 1600s, said that the first fruit of adoption is liberty. is freedom, manumission, the freeing of a slave. Freedom from the world, the flesh, and the devil. Fourthly, there is liberty from corruption. That our whole personality is marked by corruption, the corruption of sin. Again, we sin because we are sinners. And Paul makes much of this throughout his epistles. I'm thinking especially Galatians chapter one in verse four, where he says, 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 out of this present evil world according to the will of our God and Father. So he delivers us out of this present evil age. He's delivered us from the corruption that is stamped and marked upon us. Again, we're sinners. And fifthly, Christ frees us from that bondage, that slavery, that service to Satan, living under the lordship of the evil one. Satan is no longer a master. We're no longer living under the dominion of sin. We sin, but we don't live under the dominion of sin, the lordship of sin and Satan. Paul goes on, or rather the confession goes on, and speaks of liberty or freedom from the cruelty of afflictions. I think this has importance, relevance far beyond the few words that are given here to describe it. Now we suffer, and we suffer from a variety of afflictions. And there are times when we feel like we're just all beat down because of the afflictions of living in a fallen world. And so we're not delivered from affliction, but from what we might call the cruelty of afflictions. Let me illustrate. When we suffer something, We're not suffering for the same reason that an unbeliever suffers. Remember when Joseph met up with his brothers, and they're not sure what's going to happen to them. And Joseph says to them, you know, what you did to me, what you did to me was cruel, all of the rest of that. You meant it for evil. You remember the text? But God meant it for good. So there's a difference between your suffering for something and an unbeliever suffering the same thing, but the purpose behind it is different. One is feeling the effects of living in a fallen world and the cruelty of those sufferings because he's unbelieving. The other one is suffering because God has brought that suffering into his life. We often quote Romans 8.28. And it's as true now as it was when it was written. All things. Work together for good. How many things? All things. Just some things? All things. Work together. How? I don't know. And you may never know either. But the point is God is in them and the purpose of them is not to strike you with evil and to make you suffer and endure pain. There's an altogether different reason. And it's interesting that that point is embedded here in a confessional statement, that the evil of afflictions don't fall upon us. And then that overwhelming concern that we might have, the fear of death and of dying. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 54 and 57. And he speaks also in Hebrews 2, where the writer speaks in Hebrews 2 15 of the fear of death and the sting of death. Death has a scorpion's tail attached to it. It stings, it's painful and some people suffer terribly before they die. And the rest of us who've had loved ones die, there is this sting of death. And yet death is not intended anymore to push us off or push us away or in any way to derail us. And then ninthly, The writer of the confession speaks of our free access to God, the contact, the connection we have with God himself. And then 10thly and finally, a joyful compliance in the service of God. Now, all of those things are there and they're proof texts. I didn't list them in the citation or quotation, but they're there and you can look them up. And presumably you have a copy of the confession. If not, we'll see that you get one and read through that and look at those references. That's what Christ did. He purchased that kind of liberty for us. And then there's an additional statement which I think is helpful for us as we wrestle with what it means to be adherents of covenant theology. And I think the confession is helpful here as it is in a number of other places. And it mentions that, or it speaks of the entitlement of the believer. And in substance, notice this, in substance, it's the same, as Old Testament believers possess. So you can read the Old Testament and you see the blessings of the covenant and you can say, yep, those are my blessings and I have inherited them as well. But it goes on to speak not only of entitlement, but also enlargement. That is what they have, we have, but we have it in a superior fashion. And you'll notice that from this text, all of which in that second paragraph 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. And so Old Testament believers lived under the substance of the same freedom. The difference is enlargement, addition, improvement. And three areas are mentioned. And all three of them I think are of great significance. First of all, freedom from the ceremonial law. Now, it's not freedom from the law. The law still speaks, but it's freedom from the ceremonial law. We have no interest in making bloody sacrifices because the sacrifice that we trust in was a bloody sacrifice and the best of all sacrifices. worship through rites and ceremonies that were imposed under the old covenant. So we're free from the ceremonial law, not free from the holy standards of God, but from the ceremonial law. And then secondly, we have enlargement in terms of what we might call our friendship with God, greater access to the presence of God. Old Testament believers had access through the forms and rituals and ceremonies that were imposed upon them. But what we have is greater access. And then thirdly, there's a fuller communication of the spirit of God. Did Old Testament believers have the spirit? Yes, they did. but we have a fuller communication, a fuller endowment. In John chapter seven, Jesus speaks of the coming of the spirit. And Joel chapter two speaks of the coming of the spirit. And then we have on the day of Pentecost, it's the very thing that took place. And so it's a fuller communication of God's spirit. So we have all of these things that Christ purchased for us, and they're all gospel blessings. And we could spend the rest of the day and days afterwards exploring a whole number of texts that reinforce the very things that I sought to introduce in this sermon or this lecture. And then the confession reminds us that what we have is purchased by Christ and now under the new covenant is of greater blessing, fuller blessing, far greater, given our freedom, given the fellowship we have through greater access and we have a fuller display of the spirit of God. So don't let anyone tell you that Christian liberty is unimportant. Christian liberty is at the very essence of the blessings of the gospel. It doesn't mean everybody understands it, but it's what the confession teaches us and I think the Bible teaches as well. We rejoice, do we not? In that which Christ has purchased for us. his people. Can't appreciate those things too much. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for this passage and our confession. Above all, we thank you for the proof texts, which take us to a number of places, 10 things which are included in gospel liberty. May we reflect upon these things often and think kindly and wonderfully of the grace of God to us in Jesus Christ. Pray that you might go with us as we return to our homes and that these kinds of things might be on our minds. For we pray in Christ's name, amen.