A few days ago, my wife found an article that startled both of us. It was posted over a year ago by a pastor/blogger from within the SBC. His post was an
Open Letter to SBC Seminarians. A few things were troubling, but here is one that seems to be the banner of too many Christians today. He speaks of "learning to live out our freedoms and liberties." He decries the fundamentalism/legalism as "poison" and "concerned with power, control, and extra-biblical rules and righteousness." Maybe, this shoe fits some who call themselves fundamentalist, but in general, yes, I think that this fellow is misguided.
I pulled out my copy of
The London Baptist Confession of 1689 edited by Peter Masters (
CBD | Amazon) and was encouraged by a sane, biblical explanation of what Christian Liberty truly is.
From the London Baptist Confession of 1689
1. The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the Gospel, lies in their freedom from the guilt of sin and the condemning wrath of God, from the rigours and curse of the law, and in their deliverance from this present evil world, from bondage to Satan, from dominion of sin, from the harm of afflictions, from the fear and sting of death, from the victory of the grave, and from everlasting damnation.
- This liberty is also seen in their free access to God, and their ability to yield obedience to Him not out of slavish fear, but with childlike love and willing minds.
All these freedoms were also experienced in substance by true believers under the Old Testament law, but for New Testament Christians this liberty is further enlarged, for they have freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law to which the Jewish church was subjected. They also have greater boldness of access to the throne of grace and fuller communications of the free Spirit of God than believers under the law normally experienced.2. God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left it free from all doctrines and commandments of men which are in any respect contrary to His Word, or not contained in it. Thus to believe such doctrines or to obey such commands out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience. The requiring of an implicit faith, an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason also.
[An 'implicit faith' here refers to a kind of general faith. A person may have faith, for example, in all the teachings of a particular church. He may not exercise an independent faith in any particular doctrine. He accepts a 'package' as part of his faith in the church or system.]
3. They who on pretence of Christian liberty practice any sin, or cherish any sinful lust, pervert the main purpose of the grace of the Gospel to their own destruction. They completely destroy the object of Christian liberty, which is that we, being delivered out of the hands of all our [spiritual] enemies, might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our lives. [Some have claimed the doctrine of Christian liberty as a protection against being challenged over sin or disorderly conduct. The object of liberty is to bring us to serve and obey God more, but without spiritual bondage.]
Christian Liberty--What is it anyway?
