Liberty of Conscience (WCF Ch. XX)

 Liberty of Conscience (WCF Ch. XX)

• Christian liberty is a gift purchased by Christ. Believers are freed from the guilt of sin, God’s condemning wrath, the curse of the moral law, bondage to Satan, and the dominion of sin. This liberty includes free access to God and willing obedience rooted in love rather than fear. While such liberty was known under the Old Covenant, it is expanded under the New in freedom from the ceremonial law, greater boldness before God, and fuller experience of the Spirit.

• God alone is Lord of the conscience. No human authority may bind the conscience with doctrines or commands that are contrary to, or beyond, God’s Word in matters of faith and worship. To require blind submission or implicit faith in human teaching is to undermine true Christian freedom and the proper exercise of reason.

• Liberty of conscience does not authorize error or coercion. To believe or obey man-made rules as though they were divine commands is a betrayal of Christian liberty. Genuine freedom is preserved only when conscience remains subject to Scripture alone.

• Christian liberty is never a license for sin. Those who appeal to liberty in order to practice sin or indulge sinful desires contradict its very purpose, which is that believers, having been delivered by Christ, might serve God in holiness and righteousness throughout their lives.

• Liberty and lawful authority are meant to uphold one another. Christian freedom does not justify resistance to lawful civil or ecclesiastical authority. Teachings or practices that oppose God’s order, undermine godliness, or disrupt the peace and unity of the Church may rightly be addressed through church discipline and, where appropriate, civil authority.