Chapter XX: Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience. De Libertate

Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience. De Libertate Christiana deque Libertate Conscientiæ.
I. The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the curse of the moral law; [1630] and in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin, [1631] from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation; [1632] as also in their free access to God, [1633] and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and [1634] willing mind.
[1635] All which were common also to believers under the law; [1636] but under the New Testament the liberty of Christians is further enlarged in I. Libertas quam Christus acquisivit fidelibus sub Evangelio in eo sita est, quod a reatu peccati, ab ira Dei condemnante, a legis Moralis maledictione immunes fiant, [1637] quod a præsenti malo seculo, a dura Satanæ servitute, dominioque peccati: [1638] ab afflictionum malo, ab aculeo mortis, a sepulchri victoria ab æterna denique damnation [1639] liberentur; Quodque libere eis liceat ad Deum accedere: [1640] eique non e metu servile, verum e filiali dilectione, promtoque animo præbere valeant obedientiam. [1641] Atque hæc quidem omnia cum fidelibus sub lege habent communia. [1642] Verum sub Novo Testamento ulterius adhuc se extendit libertas Christiana; in quantum

their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish Church was subjected; [1643] and in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace, [1644] and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of. [1645] nempe Legis ceremonialis jugo, cui subjecta erat Ecclesia Judaica, eximuntur; [1646] majoremque confidentiam ad thronum gratiæ accedendi,
[1647] sed et effusiorem gratuiti Spiritus Dei communicationem sunt consecuti, quam ordinarie sub Lege fideles participarunt. [1648] II. God alone is Lord of the conscience, [1649] and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are in any thing contrary to his Word, or beside it in matters of faith or worship.
[1650] So that to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands
[1651] out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience;
[1652] and the requiring of [1653] an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also. [1654] II. Deus solus Dominus est conscientiæ, [1655] quam certe exemit doctrinis et mandatis hominum, ubi aut verbo ejus adversantur, aut in rebus fidei et cultus quicquam ei superaddunt. [1656] Unde qui ejusmodi aut doctrinas credunt, aut mandatis obtemperant, quasi ad id ex conscientia teneantur, veram ii conscientiæ libertatem produnt.
[1657] Qui autem vel fidem implicitam, vel obedientiam absolutam cæcamque exigunt, næ illi id agunt, ut cum conscientiæ, tum rationis etiam destruant libertatem. [1658] III. They who, upon pretense of Christian liberty, do practice any sin, or cherish any lust, do thereby destroy the end of Christian liberty; which is, that, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life. [1659] III. Qui sub prætextu Christianæ libertatis, cuivis aut cupiditati indulgent aut peccato assuescunt, eo ipso libertatis Christianæ finem corrumpunt; nempe ut e manibus inimicorum nostrorum liberati, Domino in sanctimonia et justitia coram ipso omnibus diebus vitæ nostræ absque metu serviamus. [1660]

IV. And because the power [1661] 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. [1662] 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, [1663] and by the power of the Civil Magistrate. [1664] [1665] IV. Quoniam vero potestates quas Deus ordinavit, et libertas quam acquisivit Christus non in eum finem a Deo destinatæ sunt ut se mutuo perimant, verum ut se sustentent ac conservent invicem; Qui itaque sub libertatis Christianæ prætextu potestati cuivis legitimæ (civilis sit sive Ecclesiastica) aut legitimo ejusdem exercitio contraiverint, ordinationi divinæ resistere censendi sunt, [1666] Quique vel ejusmodi opiniones publicaverint, praxesve defenderint, quæ lumini naturæ, aut religionis Christianæ de fide, de cultu, aut moribus principiis notis, aut pietatis denique vi ac efficaciæ adversantur; vel ejusmodi opiniones praxesve erroneas, quæ aut sua natura aut publicationis defensionisve modo, externæ paci ac eutaxiæ, quas in Ecclesia sua stabilivit Christus, perniciem minitantur; omnino licitum est tum ab iis facti rationem reposcere, tum in eos qua censuris Ecclesiasticis, [1667] qua civilis magistratus potestate animadvertere. [1668]