Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter 20 — Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience

I. Introduction ¶1
A. Benefit of Christ
B. Spans Both Dispensations of the Covenant
1. Freedom From …
2. Freedom To …
C. Special to New Testament Believers
1. Additional Freedom From …
2. Fuller Freedom To …
II. The Purpose of Christian Liberty and its Misuses ¶2-3
A. The Lord of Conscience
1. God Alone
2. And Nothing Else
B. Liberty is not Licence
III. Church and State ¶4
A. Different Spheres, but Both Ordained by God
B. Enforcement of the Spheres
 Westminster Confession of Faith
Chapter 20 — Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience

I. Introduction ¶1
What is Christian Liberty?

A. A Benefit of Christ
Christian liberty is purchased by Christ in redemption.

B. Common to OT and NT Believers.

1. Freedom From…
Christ frees us from various aspects related to sin and the curse.

2. Freedom To…
Through Christ we have freedom as sons of God.

C. Special to New Testament Believers

1. Additional Freedom From…

We are free from the ceremonial law of Moses

2. Fuller Freedom To…

We come more boldly to the throne of grace, and have a fuller measure of the Holy Spirit.

II. The Purpose of Christian Liberty and its Misuses ¶2-3

We are freed to love God and our neighbours

A. The Lord of Conscience

1. God Alone
God as revealed in Scripture is the Lord of the conscience and in matters of faith or worship we are to listen
only to him.

2. And Nothing Else

To add our rites to the worship of God is to bring strange fire. To impose our rules is to deny the sufficiency of
Scripture, and to lessen its force.

B. Liberty is not License

Specifically young Reformed men, Christian Liberty is not licence to be an ass. Christian Liberty is not liberty
for liberty’s sake but we are liberated to serve God.

III. Church and State ¶4

Both the Church and State are ordained by God but have different areas of sovereignty, in which they rightly
enforce judgements.
Bibliography

Bavinck, Herman, Gereformeerde Dogmatiek (1904) trans. Vriend, John; Reformed Dogmatics (2008) Baker
Academic
Beeke, Joel and Ferguson, Sinclair, Reformed Confessions Harmonized, (1999) Baker Books
Bucey, Camden, et al. The Masculine Mandate, 11 Sept 09 interview with Richard Philips for his book of the
same name.
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Religion, (1960) Westminster John Knox Press
Hodge, A.A., Commentary on the Confession of Faith, Public Domain
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