The 20th Chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith reads in part, “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.” This principle of freedom of conscience means that no Christian can be bound to do anything that is contrary to the Word of God, not can there be any action permitted by the church for a Christian to do that is specifically forbidden by the Word of God. The freedom of the believer lies in those things which are not forbidden by principle or specific in the Word of God, and it allows Christians to refuse to be bound by the rules and regulations of men, where freedom has been given to them by God. A Christian is free to obey Christ; a Christian is free from any of the commandments of men.

Today freedom is assaulted when people require of us what God does not require. When well-meaning Christians obligate us to do those things which the Word of God does not speak about, and they do so for the loftiest of reasons.

An example would be teetotalism in reference to alcoholic beverages. The Bible forbids drunkenness and is clear about the dangers of strong drink, but it doesn’t require that all Christians abstain completely. It is silent regarding abstinence. Some church leaders would forbid drinking for any who wish to join their church, but such a prohibition is not contained in Scripture and should not be a Law for Christian people to obey. Christian freedom may allow drinking wine, but it would still forbid drunkenness. There are also rules about causing others to stumble (people who struggle with drunkenness should not be taunted by your freedom, but the law of love would require that you set aside your freedom for the good of your brother or sister, see Romans 14:20; 1 Corinthians 8:11). And a Christian is free to abstain if they wish. But where we get into trouble is requiring others to live like we want to live (usually forbidding something like drinking or playing cards, or dancing, or requiring actions that the Word of God doesn’t say anything about, like requiring people to serve in some specific project, or directing people to take some pledge that isn’t required in the Word of God).

Christian freedom was the central and most important element of Reformed theology. The Puritans were willing to die over the principle of the “freedom of the conscience of the individual,” and many did. Freedom is very important in the Christian life. Without it, we are going to be compelled to obey whatever our leaders dream up for us to do. But with freedom of conscience, we just politely ask them to defend their request from the Word of God and if they are creating some fiction for us, we politely refuse to do it. And that refusal is protected by our freedom in Christ.

The glorious church celebrates the freedom of conscience. We hold that we must never bind the conscience, require behaviors, or demand actions that the Word of God doesn’t assert and clearly set forth for believers to do. If God’s Word leaves freedom, we affirm that freedom and are willing to live with the consequences. If the Word of God is silent we, too, are silent. If the Word of God addresses a matter (fidelity in marriage, prohibitions of theft, forbidding lying, directing us to faithfulness in prayer, and the like) we will bind Christians to live as the Word of God instructs us to live.

The principle is this: The Church must never bind people to do things (even good things done for good purposes) that are not specifically commanded by God in his Holy Word. Christians are free from all the commands and rules of men. Our freedom in Christ is precious and it is worth defending.

The glorious church has freedom in Christ.