The Church’s Process against Misusers of Christian Liberty

And because the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but mutually to uphold and preserve one another, they who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God. And, for their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity (whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation), or to the power of godliness; or, such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath established in the church, they may lawfully be called to account, and proceeded against, by the censures of the church. —Westminster Confession of Faith 20.4

One of the greatest challenges that the contemporary church faces lies within its own doors. In the past few years, differences of opinion over political and cultural issues have polarized once-peaceful congregations. Like wildfires, these controversies have begun with a spark and have rapidly spread, ravaging whole churches. Pastors and elders have found themselves targets, and they have felt helpless and immobilized. These controversies have simply layered themselves on top of perennial sins that constantly threaten the local church from within—false teaching, slander, misuse of power, and sexual immorality.

Scripture reminds us that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9). What we are experiencing today was not unfamiliar to our spiritual ancestors. One benefit of the church’s confessions is the way that they speak from the past to provide biblical insight into contemporary problems in the church.

The principles set forth in Westminster Confession of Faith 20.4 help the church navigate the wide spaces of Christian liberty in ways that promote both the purity and peace of the church and the reputation of Christ among the nations. This paragraph concludes the confession’s chapter on the nature and exercise of Christian freedom. The chapter’s first paragraph reminds us that this freedom is a precious purchase and gift of Jesus Christ to each of His people. The second paragraph helps us see that true Christian freedom finds definition from God alone. The third paragraph warns us that Christian freedom may never be used for what God hates (that is, sin) and must always be used for what God loves (that is, holiness).

The teaching of Westminster Confession 20.4 extends the point drawn in the third paragraph to the ways that individuals should carry themselves in the church and in civil society. This paragraph has had a storied literary history—it has been both excised and revised by later generations. The (Congregationalist) Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order (1658) and the Second London Baptist Confession (1689) excised this paragraph from their respective confessions. Likely expressing some of the same concerns, American Presbyterians took a more targeted approach. When American Presbyterians adopted the Westminster Standards in 1789, they modestly revised this paragraph (among others). It is this revised paragraph that appears in the Westminster Standards as adopted by many Presbyterian denominations today. The American Presbyterians deleted the final words of the original 20.4, “and by the power of the civil magistrate.” They did so to clarify that the totality of the matters discussed in this paragraph are the concern of the church and not of the state. The state, for instance, does not have the right to punish someone because of a doctrinal difference that he has with his church. In all other respects, American Presbyterians have preserved the teaching of the original Westminster Confession 20.4.

What, then, is this paragraph teaching about the biblical exercise of Christian liberty within the church and within civil society? Westminster Confession 20.4 advances four claims. The first, in order and in importance, is that “the powers which God hath ordained, and the liberty which Christ hath purchased, are not intended by God to destroy, but to mutually uphold and preserve one another.” The “powers which God hath ordained” refers to the authorities that God has established in this world, especially the church and the state (see, for instance, Rom. 13:1–7; Heb. 13:17; 1 Peter 2:13–17). These social structures did not come into being because people thought that they might be useful. God appointed them for the good of human beings. These authorities’ lawful directions, therefore, demand our obedience. “The liberty which Christ hath purchased” reminds us that our freedom as Christians has come at great cost—the sacrificial death of Christ for sinners. Our freedom is not properly our own. It is the free and unmerited gift of God in Christ. Because both the “powers” and our “liberty” come from God, the confession reasons, they do not “destroy” but “uphold and preserve one another.” Our freedom in Christ was never intended for self-indulgence or for sinful license. “Christian liberty,” A.A. Hodge writes, “is not an absolute liberty to do as we choose, but a regulated liberty to obey God without hindrance from man. It is a freedom from usurped authority, in order that we may be more perfectly subject to the only legitimate authority.” If God has commanded us to be subject to the lawful commands of the authorities whom He has appointed, then the Christian liberty that He has granted us could never exempt us from those obligations. Christian freedom is a radical and countercultural call to serve those around us in obedience to the law of God. Christians who best know their freedom in Christ will strive to be the very best citizens and the very best church members. Does your life show that you truly understand Christian freedom?

The second claim found in Westminster Confession 20.4 is, “They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, shall oppose any lawful power, or the lawful exercise of it, whether it be civil or ecclesiastical, resist the ordinance of God.” The important word in this sentence is “lawful”—“lawful power,” “lawful exercise.” Both the church and state are ordained by God and therefore accountable to God. Neither may step outside the boundaries that God has set for them. If either authority requires us to do what God has forbidden or prevents us from doing what God has required, the informed Christian says, with the Apostle Peter, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29; compare 4:19–20). In such an instance, obedience to God requires disobedience to man.

But that is not the situation that Westminster Confession 20.4 is directly addressing. This paragraph is addressing the lawful authorities and the lawful exercise of those powers, “whether it be civil or ecclesiastical.” When a person resists these authorities or their proper functioning and does so in the name of Christian freedom, that person is “resist[ing] the ordinance of God.” He is sinning against God. If we as Christians take this principle seriously, we must commit to a lifetime of growing in our understanding of the Word of God. It is the Word of God that tells us—with clarity and fullness—those things that are pleasing to God. How else would we know whether something required or forbidden by the state is off-limits to us except that God’s Word tells us so? How else would we know whether the church’s officers have overstepped their biblical bounds except that God’s Word tells us so? Christian freedom and biblical ignorance cannot long dwell together. Either ignorance will end up misusing freedom or ignorance will yield to knowledge and the godly exercise of Christian liberty. Are you committed to being a lifelong learner of the Bible?

The third claim in Westminster Confession 20.4 addresses the kinds of destructive activities in which people sometimes engage in the name of Christian freedom:

For their publishing of such opinions, or maintaining of such practices, as are contrary to the light of nature, or to the known principles of Christianity (whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation), or to the power of godliness; or, such erroneous opinions or practices, as either in their own nature, or in the manner of publishing or maintaining them, are destructive to the external peace and order which Christ hath established in the church.

The harmful activities in view here are of two kinds. The first is the “publishing of . . . opinions”—making known one’s beliefs in some public forum. The second is the “maintaining . . . practices”—engaging in a particular form of behavior. These forbidden opinions and practices fall into three categories. The first is “contrary to the light of nature.” The “light of nature” describes the self-revelation of God in creation. Examples of beliefs and practices that are contrary to the light of nature are idolatry and same-sex relations (see Rom. 1:18–32). A second category is “the known principles of Christianity (whether concerning faith, worship, or conversation), or . . . the power of godliness.” In view here is the teaching of the Bible as it touches on what we are to believe (“faith”), on the true “worship” of God, and on our lifestyles as disciples of Christ (“conversation,” “power of godliness”). It is this teaching that the Westminster Standards—in company with other biblically faithful confessions—summarize for the benefit of the Christian church. The third and final category involves “erroneous opinions or practices” that impair the “peace and order” of the church. The harm done may stem simply from the fact that it becomes known that a person holds a particular view or is practicing a particular behavior. It may also stem from the way that those views are being advocated or those behaviors are being carried out in the church. The concern of this category is the scandal or the offense that is given to the church because of a person’s sinful belief or action.

Sadly, the New Testament testifies to such disruptive activities in the church in the days of the Apostles. Paul writes to Titus of persons in the church in Crete “who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers” and “are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach” (Titus 1:10–11). Paul warns Timothy, who is serving the church in Ephesus, of people who teach “a different doctrine and [do] not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness.” Such persons generate “controversy” and “quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth” (1 Tim. 6:3–5). The words of Jesus, through the Apostle John, to the seven churches in Revelation testify to doctrines and practices that were upsetting congregations and bringing scandal and reproach on the name of Christ.

Three points merit further reflection. First, this section of Westminster Confession 20.4 reinforces a principle stressed throughout the chapter—the Word of God is the church’s authoritative norm for discerning which beliefs and practices are acceptable to God and which beliefs and practices are offensive to Him. The church is not at the mercy of polls, pundits, or politicians. The church is not even subject to the dictates and whims of its own leadership. We receive our direction from what God has revealed in Scripture alone. Second, this section of the confession impresses on us that sin is never a private matter. Often Satan tempts us to think that it is (“No one will ever know!”). The reality is that sin, whether of doctrine or life, negatively affects the fellowship of believers. Our sin is never merely our own sin. Third, we are reminded that peace and order are things that God prizes in His church and has established for His church. God is “not a God of confusion but of peace” (1 Cor. 14:33). Thus, Paul continues, “all things should be done decently and in order” (v. 40). We should always be asking ourselves, “Am I promoting peace or discord within the church, order or disorder?” The confession notes here how sinful beliefs and practices can disrupt peace and order in the church. But sometimes even beliefs and practices that are neither required nor forbidden in Scripture can be advocated in a way that disrupts the fellowship of the church. No matter how strongly I may feel about my view, I must always carry myself in a way that promotes the peace, order, unity, and edification of the body of Christ. Am I willing to do the Christlike thing and put the needs of my brothers and sisters before my own?

The fourth and final claim in Westminster Confession 20.4 concerns the biblically mandated consequences for sinful beliefs and practices, including those that are disruptive of the church’s fellowship—such persons “may lawfully be called to account, and proceeded against, by the censures of the church.” The word “lawfully” reminds us that the church must always deal with the sins of its members in a biblical way. God has, thankfully, not left these matters to our wisdom or devices. He has provided in Scripture an orderly way to deal with disorderly sin. Although another chapter of the confession (WCF 30) addresses church discipline in detail, two points are stressed here. The first is that discipline is so designed that offenders may be “called to account.” It is good and wholesome for people who commit sin, particularly sin disruptive of the church’s peace and order, to be called to account for their actions. It is profoundly unloving—toward the offender and toward the whole church—for the church’s elders to remain silent in the face of such sin. The second is that the church may inflict spiritual “censures” on persons who are found guilty of some sin. Paul charges Timothy and Titus to do just this in the churches that they serve (see Titus 1:11, 13; 3:10), just as he charged his other churches (see 1 Cor. 5:1–13; 2 Thess. 3:14). This system of discipline, delivered by the Apostles to the church, originates in the teaching of Jesus Himself (Matt. 18:15–17). Church discipline is designed to accomplish a number of purposes. Among them are the reclamation of the sinner (Matt. 18:15), the promotion of the church’s holiness (1 Tim. 5:20), and, preeminently, the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31). Church discipline was never designed to be harsh and punitive. Sadly, it is sometimes carried out that way. But when the church carries out biblical discipline in a biblical spirit (gently, patiently, lovingly, and with reverent fear) and when the Holy Spirit lends His blessing, it is spiritual medicine for the offender and for the whole body of Christ.

Christian freedom is a precious gift from Jesus Christ to His people. It is important that we use this gift in a way that honors the Giver. Sadly, that is not always the case in the church. The misuse of this gift can lead to great harm within the fellowship of believers. But such is God’s mercy that He helps His people even here. The Word of God gives us clear direction as to what God approves and disapproves in our thoughts and in our lives. He has put in place within the church a system of discipline that is designed to draw sinners to repentance and to promote holiness among the people of God. As we take up the sometimes difficult work of living together in the body of Christ, let us always keep a grateful eye on the Head of the church.