9th November 2023

9th November 2023


Pray (ACts)


Read (Romans 14)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


The Westminster Confession of Faith is not the Bible and should never be treated as such. It is however a time tested summary of Christian belief and, as I'm sure you know, it is the confessed belief of all Presbyterian ministers and elders. What you may not know is that the Confession has a whole chapter on the subject of Christian liberty and liberty of conscience. These are the issues that Paul deals with in Romans 14 and I thought I'd take a few devotions to outline the Confession's summary of Biblical teaching around the issue of the Christian's liberty.


Here is what we read in chapter twenty, paragraph two of the Westminster Confession of Faith "God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in any thing contrary to His Word, or beside it in matters of faith or worship. So that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commandments out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience; and the requiring an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also."


What is the conscience? Here's what I wrote a wee while ago "Have you ever been condemned by your own conscience? What do I mean? As you are lying in bed at night you feel the weight of guilt over something you've done or said. We are moral creatures made in God's image and we have all been given a sense of what is right and wrong. This shows itself by an inner voice whereby we wrestle with our actions. It is a joy when we can say that our conscience is clear but at times we are tormented by our conscience when we know that we have done wrong. The conscience isn't the voice of God, the conscience isn't perfect and not everyone pays heed to their conscience but nevertheless, we willingly submit to the authorities for conscience sake."


God alone is the Lord of your conscience and in matters of what you believe and how you worship, he has left your conscience free from following the teachings of men which cannot be supported Biblically. What does this look like in practice? Imagine a fellowship that insists the preacher wears a clerical collar - this is not commanded by God in His Word. Imagine another church that teaches the only acceptable musical instrument used in worship is the organ - once again this finds no support in the Scriptures. True freedom of conscience is destroyed when we are forced to obey such man-made rules as if they come from the Lord Himself. These teachings might be well intentioned and there might even be some wisdom behind various rules but the Lord has left our conscience free from a blind obedience to such demands. Christ has set us free and we are bound by the teaching of Scripture alone.


Any church which takes Christian liberty seriously should not require you to have an implicit faith. This in simple terms means that you don't need to believe something just because your church demands it and you shouldn't believe something just because a superstar Christian tells you to. Nor should an absolute and blind obedience be required from church members. This would destroy both the liberty of your conscience and your own ability to reason.


Let me be clear, if you deny that Jesus is Lord or if you believe that there are many ways to heaven, then you have gone against the clear teaching of Scripture. However if it is your contention that wearing a suit to church isn't demanded by Scripture or if you believe that your minister has no business in telling you who to vote for, you are well within your rights as a free and reasonable Christian bound only by the Word of God.


The Lord has blessed you with a conscience and He alone is the king of it. Thanks be to God, for in Christ we are free. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q92 What is a Sacrament? A Sacrament is a holy ordinance instituted by Christ; wherein, by sensible signs, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.
​