The Liberty of
the Conscience
COPYRIGHT ©2017 -
James M. Frye
All scripture
quotations are taken from the Authorized King James Bible. Any deviations are
not intentional. All underlines, bold and words within brackets are the
author's.
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The Commandments of
Men
Most professing Christians in our day know and
understand that the Bible is the sole and final authority in all matters of
faith (what we believe) and practice (what we do). Although most understand
this, sadly many who profess this Biblical truth throw it out the window in
actual practice. How so? They do so by making their own INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL
CONSCIENCE the standard (final authority) by which they judge right and wrong
for OTHERS instead of the word of God (the Bible). Let me explain what I mean.
God’s word is the source of all spiritual
truth.
·
John
17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
·
2
Timothy 3:16 All scripture
is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof,
for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
How do we know if something someone says is
true or not? We check it out by the word of God (the Bible).
·
Acts
17:11 ... (they) searched
the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.
·
Isaiah
8:20 To
the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word,
it is because there is no light in them.
Things are only true spiritually if God says
so in the Bible, otherwise, such teachings are just the doctrines and
commandments of men.
·
Mark
7:7 Howbeit
in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
So when SOMEONE SAYS that we ought not to do a
certain thing because IT IS A SIN they must PROVE where God’s word says that it
is a sin, otherwise, what they are saying is just a commandment of men and we
should reject it. After all, we are to obey God rather than men.
Acts 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it
be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Romans 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar;
as it is written ...
The Bible warns us not to allow ourselves to
become subject to such ordinances, doctrines, and commandments of men.
Colossians 2:20-23 Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the
rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye
subject to ordinances, (Touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to
perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and
neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the
satisfying of the flesh.
Playing God
As we saw in the last section, when a person
states that something is sinful and shouldn’t be done, when in fact the Bible doesn’t
say that it is sinful, what they are saying is a commandment of men. The Bible
speaks very negatively about the doctrines and commandments of men as well as
those who teach them. This is a very serious matter because, although they may
not be consciously aware of what they are doing, the individual who makes such
judgments is actually putting themself in the place
of God who ALONE is the judge of all such matters. Scripture teaches us that
God alone is the Lord of the conscience and that no man has the right to judge
in such matters.
James 4:11-12 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh
evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou
judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one
lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
In other words, only God has the right to
judge in such matters and who is any man to play God? If God has not stated
that something is sinful in His word (law) we have no right to add to it. To do
so is to sit in judgment on God’s law (His word) judging it to be insufficient
and lacking for having left something out. But God is the only lawgiver. Who
are we to put ourselves in the place of God (playing God) by judging others in
such matters?
Romans 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to
his own master he standeth or falleth.
Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make
him stand.
Believers are the servants of God and it is God
ALONE to whom they must answer. The context of Romans 14 deals with matters of
conscience where a believer feels guilty for doing something even though
scripture doesn’t teach that thing is a sin. The strong brother is the one who
knows that thing is not sinful and can do it freely with a clear conscience.
The weaker brother is the one who can’t do that thing (even though it is NOT a
sin) because it would violate/offend their weak conscience.
Paul makes it clear that even though something
is not stated to be a sin in scripture, if a persons
conscience is offended by doing it, it would be a sin for them (verse 20). All of 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and the later portion of 1
Corinthians chapter 10 deal with this same matter regarding the conscience.
In chapter 10, Paul says the following.
·
1
Corinthians 10:29 Conscience, I say,
not thine own, but of the other: for why is my liberty judged of another
man's conscience?
What is Paul’s point here? His point is each
person’s conscience is his own, and one believer is not to be judged, nor is
his freedom/liberty restricted by another man’s conscience. As we saw before,
only God can judge a man’s conscience. One believer who feels guilty doing
something for fear that it is sinful (even though scripture doesn’t specifically
say it is) CAN’T USE HIS CONSCIENCE TO JUDGE OTHER MEN. Do you see it?
In the beginning of this article, I spoke of
those who make their own INDIVIDUAL PERSONAL CONSCIENCE the standard (final
authority) by which they judge right and wrong for OTHERS instead of the word
of God (the Bible). This is exactly what I was talking about and SCRIPTURE
FORBIDS IT!
If it can’t be shown that the Bible
specifically says that something is sinful, you may NOT use the fact that you
feel guilty doing it (and that it would be sinful for you because it would
violate your own conscience) to judge and condemn all others for doing it. To
do so is to put yourself in place of God as judge which He forbids you to do.
If you are guilty of this, please realize how offensive what you are doing is
to God and stop doing these things. Please look at your own life and get your
own life in order. Focus only on those matters which are clearly proclaimed to
be sinful in the scriptures and keep all of the disputable matters between yourself
and God.
·
Romans
14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth
not himself in that thing which he alloweth.
Before I end this article, I would like to
point out that this matter has been understood by Christians for years. As a
matter of fact, statements to this effect have often made it into believers statements of faith. The following is taken from
the Baptist Confession of Faith 1689, Chapter 21: Of Christian Liberty and
Liberty of Conscience, Section 2
“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 not contained in it. So
that to believe such doctrines, or obey such commands out of conscience, is to
betray true liberty of conscience; and the requiring of an implicit faith, an
absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience and reason
also.”
The Westminster confession of 1646 reads very much
the same. May believers once again realize this vital scriptural truth.