Christian Liberty

Christian liberty is the precious freedom Christ has won for his people—freedom from the guilt and dominion of sin, from the terror of the law, and from the binding of the conscience by human rules. It matters because it shapes how believers live before God and one another: not as slaves, but as joyful children; not as judges, but as servants who use their freedom to build others up. The classic Reformed and Puritan authors gathered here agree that this liberty is real and glorious, yet they also insist it must never become an excuse for licentiousness or for despising weaker brothers.

Freedom from sin's dominion

At the heart of Christian liberty is a decisive break with the reign of sin. Matthew Henry explains that the one who has died to sin is freed from sin's rule and dominion, just as a dead servant is freed from his master (Romans 6:7). This is not a gradual improvement but a change of masters. Henry adds that destroying the body of sin breaks its ruling power, so that believers will no longer serve sin as slaves (Romans 6:6). The old tyrant has been dethroned.

Yet Henry is careful to say that sin may remain and sometimes oppress believers, but it must not reign as a king in their mortal bodies or receive their consenting obedience (Romans 6:12). Christian liberty, then, is not the absence of sin but the end of its lawful authority. Charles Spurgeon captures the emotional side of this freedom: grace liberates the sinner from both despair and bondage, making him a rejoicing child of God and heir of heaven (Romans 5:21). The believer is not merely pardoned; he is adopted and made glad.

Freedom from the law's terror

Christian liberty also means deliverance from the law as a covenant of works. Henry writes that believers are delivered from the bondage and terror of the letter of the law so that they may serve God without fear, in holiness and righteousness (Romans 7:6). The law no longer stands over the believer as a condemning taskmaster. This does not make obedience optional, but it changes its character: service now flows from love, not dread.

Henry also notes that under the gospel, our duty is summed up in much less room than under the law, and though the covenant is contracted, it remains clear, plain, and easier (Romans 9:28). The ceremonial burdens are gone. Spurgeon adds a vital clarification about the ground of this freedom: Christ's death was not primarily an example to follow, because his voluntary self-surrender to death was unique to his office (Romans 5:6). The liberty believers enjoy rests on Christ's finished work, not on their imitation of it.

Freedom from human judgment in disputable matters

A major theme in these authors is liberty in things indifferent—matters neither commanded nor forbidden by God. Henry describes the situation in the Roman church: Jewish believers retained ceremonial distinctions about meats and days, while Gentile believers understood their Christian liberty had abolished them (Romans 14:1–2). The strong Christian believes the ceremonial distinction between clean and unclean meats is abolished, so that every creature of God is good and nothing is unclean of itself (Romans 14:2, 14:14). The weak Christian, not fully persuaded of his liberty, abstains from meat altogether and eats only herbs, showing how powerfully conscience can restrain a person (Romans 14:2).

Henry insists that in disputable matters, each person must act according to the light God has given him, being fully persuaded in his own mind, and must not make his own practice a rule for others or follow theirs (Romans 14:5). This cuts both ways. The strong believer must not despise the weak, and the weak must not judge the strong. Henry warns that those who understand their Christian liberty sin by despising and looking down on weaker believers who have scruples (Romans 14:3). At the same time, a person should not act against the dictates of a doubting conscience; if a weak Christian doubts whether something is lawful, he should refrain until he is fully persuaded (Romans 14:5, 14:14, 14:23).

Paul's own persuasion was firm: he was fully persuaded by the Lord Jesus that no kind of food is ceremonially unclean in itself, because Christ's death removed the curse and restored the right to use the creatures (Romans 14:14). Henry adds that Paul's persuasion that nothing is common or unclean was built on the efficacy of Christ's death, which restored our right to the creature and put an end to the distinguishing food prohibition (Romans 14:14). Yet this clear knowledge did not license Paul to run over tender consciences.

The law of love limits liberty

The central principle governing the use of liberty is love for the brother. Henry states that a stronger Christian who, by example, leads a weaker brother to act against his conscience causes that brother to incur guilt, and the stronger is to blame for giving the occasion (Romans 14:15). The issue is not merely knowledge but charity. Henry observes that when a stronger Christian's use of lawful food grieves a weaker brother, the stronger Christian is walking uncharitably, and the apostle reproves the defect in love more than the defect in knowledge (Romans 14:15).

This leads to a call for self-denial. Christians should deny themselves in lawful but unnecessary things, such as eating meat or drinking wine, rather than cause offense to another (Romans 14:21). Henry assures us that self-denial in indifferent things for the sake of a brother is pleasing to God, profitable to others, and no harm to oneself (Romans 14:21). The principle extends widely: the principle of avoiding offense extends to all indifferent things by which a brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak in grace, comfort, or resolution (Romans 14:21).

Henry grounds this in the gospel itself. Christ's love in dying for souls should make believers very tender of the salvation of others and willing to give up small liberties for them (Romans 14:15). If Christ paid so dearly for his dominion over souls and consciences, believers must not invade that dominion by judging the consciences of their brethren (Romans 14:9). The work of grace and peace in a believer's soul is God's own work, and Christians must not destroy it for the sake of food (Romans 14:20).

If thy weak brother, purely by thy example and influence, without any satisfaction received concerning his Christian liberty, be drawn to act against his conscience and to walk contrary to the light he has, and so to contract guilt upon his soul, though the thing were lawful to thee, yet not being so to him (he having not yet thereto attained), thou art to be blamed for giving the occasion Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments” Secondly, The consideration of the love of Christ in dying for souls should make us very tender of the happiness and salvation of souls, and careful not to do any thing which may obstruct and hinder them. Did Christ quit a life for souls, such a life, and shall not we quit a morsel of meat for them Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments” For meat destroy not the work of God—the work of grace, particularly the work of faith in thy brother's soul." The works of peace and comfort are destroyed by such an offence given; take heed of it therefore; do not undo that which God hath done Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments” He grants that all things indeed are pure. We may lawfully eat flesh, even those meats which were prohibited by the ceremonial law; but, if we abuse this liberty, it turns into sin to us: It is evil to him that eats with offence. Lawful things may be done unlawfully Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”

Liberty and the conscience

Henry is emphatic that liberty must never be used against one's own conscience. If a person sincerely believes something is unclean or sinful, then doing it is sin for that person, even if the thing is not sinful in itself (Romans 14:14). A Christian must not act against a doubting conscience in matters of Christian liberty, because doing what one is not fully persuaded is lawful becomes sin to that person (Romans 14:23). The conscience, even when weak, must be respected.

This does not mean the weak conscience is the final standard for everyone. Henry explains that the one who regards every day alike does so not from contempt of his brother but because he knows God has made no distinction of days, and he intends to honor God by dedicating every day to him (Romans 14:6). The one who eats all foods eats to the Lord, understanding and using his gospel liberty to the glory of God with thanksgiving (Romans 14:6). The one who abstains from certain foods also abstains to the Lord, out of fear of offending God, and he too gives God thanks for the food he may freely eat (Romans 14:6). God accepts honest intentions even when a believer is mistaken about the observance of days, because sincerity of heart is not rejected for weakness of understanding (Romans 14:6).

Henry also notes a distinction between the Romans and the Galatians. The apostle treats the Romans' observance of meats and days as a matter of weakness to be borne with, but condemns the Galatians for making such observances necessary to salvation and public congregational practice (Romans 14:5). The Romans observed these things out of weakness and were following the ceremonial law to an honorable burial, while the Galatians acted out of wilfulness and wickedness by reviving it from its ashes (Romans 14:1–5). Liberty is denied when indifferent things are made terms of communion or conditions of justification.

To him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, though it be his error, yet to him it is unclean. This particular case, thus determined, gives a general rule, That he who does a thing which he verily believes to be unlawful, however the thing be in itself, to him it is a sin Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments” Take heed of acting contrary to the dictates of a doubting conscience. First be persuaded that what you do is lawful, before you venture to do it." In doubtful things, it is good keeping on the sure side of the hedge. If a weak Christian doubts whether it be lawful to eat flesh, while he remains under that doubt he had best forbear, till he be fully persuaded in his own mind Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments” In those indifferent things which we are sure it is no sin not to do, and yet are not clear that it is lawful to do them, we must not do them while we continue under those doubts; for he that doubteth is damned if he eat (v. 23), that is, it turns into sin to him; he is damned, katakekritai—he is condemned of his own conscience, because he eateth not of faith, because he does that which he is not fully persuaded he may lawfully do Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”

Liberty and civil government

Christian liberty also has implications for the believer's relation to civil rulers. Henry addresses the temptation some Christians felt to resist civil magistrates because some were Jews who thought it improper for Abraham's seed to be subject to a foreign ruler, and because Paul had taught them they were made free by Christ (Romans 13:1). But Henry insists that Christian liberty must not be turned into licentiousness or used to justify faction and rebellion, especially since the magistrates at that time were heathen, unbelieving, and even persecuting powers (Romans 13:1).

Submission to civil rulers must be free, voluntary, sincere, and from the heart, including inward honor and outward respect, but it does not require subjecting the conscience to any man's will (Romans 13:1). Christians must obey lawful and honest commands of rulers, and where they cannot obey, they must patiently submit to the penalty without resistance (Romans 13:1). Even when rulers pervert their office and become a terror to those who do well, it is still our duty to submit patiently to persecution rather than attempt redress by disorderly practices (Romans 13:3). Henry adds that Christians in times of persecution needed to be especially careful in their subjection so that no additional occasion would be found against them beyond the matter of their God (Romans 13:4).

Practical wisdom in the use of liberty

The authors offer several practical counsels for living out Christian liberty. Henry says true Christianity consists largely in a sober singularity, yet believers should avoid affected rudeness and follow natural and civil customs where the gospel gives direction rather than contrariety (Romans 12:2). Liberty is not strangeness for its own sake. He also warns that Christians should not be anxiously preoccupied with making provision for the body (Romans 13:14), and that believers are not debtors to the flesh and owe it no service beyond necessary care of the body (Romans 8:12).

Christians are soldiers in a spiritual warfare and must put on the armor of light, which consists of the graces of the Spirit, to defend against Satan's temptations and the assaults of this evil world (Romans 13:12). This warfare requires vigilance. Henry also cautions that a commendable, pliable temperament, while good under proper guidance, can become a snare if not guarded against deceivers (Romans 16:19). Liberty must be paired with discernment.

Finally, Henry urges believers not to make it their business to gratify their own desires, but sometimes to deny themselves, which helps them bear being crossed by others (Romans 15:1). Christians should please their brethren by accommodating their necessities and infirmities as far as conscience allows, not by serving their sinful desires (Romans 15:2). A person's persuasion of Christian liberty in disputed matters should be enjoyed privately before God rather than imposed on others or used to their offense (Romans 14:22). Those who have clearness in disputable things should not impose them on others or make them terms of communion, since this destroys Christian liberty and peace (Romans 14:22). The end of such knowledge is to have a conscience void of offense toward God, and that should content us (Romans 14:22).

True Christianity consists much in a sober singularity. Yet we must take heed of the extreme of affected rudeness and moroseness, which some run into. In civil things, the light of nature and the custom of nations are intended for our guidance; and the rule of the gospel in those cases is a rule of direction, not a rule of contrariety Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments” It is good neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine; these are things lawful indeed and comfortable, but not necessary to the support of human life, and therefore we may, and must, deny ourselves in them, rather than give offence Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments” Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God, v. 22. It is not meant of justifying faith (that must not be hid, but manifested by our works), but of a knowledge and persuasion of our Christian liberty in things disputed. "Hast thou clearness in such a particular? Art thou satisfied that thou mayest eat all meats, and observe all days (except the Lord's day) alike? Have it to thyself, that is, enjoy the comfort of it in thy own bosom, and do not trouble others by the imprudent use of it Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments” How happy were it for the church if those that have a clearness in disputable things would be satisfied to have it to themselves before God, and not impose those things upon others, and make them terms of communions, than which nothing is more opposite to Christian liberty, nor more destructive both to the peace of churches and the peace of consciences Matthew Henry, “Exposition of the Old and New Testaments”

Spurgeon closes with a pastoral word that ties liberty to assurance: believers should continue walking in peace and rejoicing, not doubting God's promises even when they fall into sin or face severe trials (Romans 4:16). Christian liberty is not a fragile thing that collapses under the weight of failure or hardship. It is the stable, joyful standing of those who have been freed by grace, and it is meant to be lived in humble, loving service to God and neighbor.