The Highway Forums General Discussion Open Forum I'm considering joining my church, but ...

John,

Let me relay something which I have personally gone through in a similar situation. We had once considered becoming members of a Free Presbyterian Church (Ireland) that has a congregation close to where we lived. When the time came, after attending there for about 8 months, we asked the pastor to come to the house for the purpose of discussing membership in that church. After he had arrived and we went through the normal "small talk", he presented us with a booklet, which set forth the denomination's requirements for membership. That booklet was entitled, Separated Unto the Gospel. It states very clearly that members are to vow to abstain from all alcohol, tobacco, dancing, card playing and any else deemed inappropriate by the Elders. To say the least, I was rather taken back and voiced my objections.

One of my objections was that these requirements were in opposition to the Westminster Confession of Faith, of which the church is allegedly committed. Specifically, I pointed out Chapter XX - "Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience" which states:

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;[1] and, in their being delivered from this present evil world, bondage to Satan, and dominion of sin;[2] from the evil of afflictions, the sting of death, the victory of the grave, and everlasting damnation;[3] as also, in their free access to God,[4] and their yielding obedience unto him, not out of slavish fear, but a childlike love and willing mind.[5] All which were common also to believers under the law.[6] But, under the new testament, the liberty of Christians is further enlarged, in their freedom from the yoke of the ceremonial law, to which the Jewish church was subjected;[7] and in greater boldness of access to the throne of grace,[8] and in fuller communications of the free Spirit of God, than believers under the law did ordinarily partake of.[9]

1. Titus 2:14; I Thess. 1:10; Gal. 3:13
2. Gal. 1:4; Col. 1:13; Acts 26:18; Rom. 6:14
3. Rom. 8:28; Psa. 119:71; II Cor. 4:15-18; I Cor. 15:54-57; Rom. 5:9; 8:1; I Thess. 1:10
4. Rom. 5:1-2
5. Rom. 8:14-15; Gal. 4:6; I John 4:18
6. Gal. 3:8-9, 14; Rom. 4:6-8; I Cor. 10:3-4; Heb. 11:1-40
7. Gal. 4:1-7; 5:1; Acts 15:10-11
8. Heb. 4:14-16; 10:19-22
9. John 7:38-39; Acts 2:17-18; II Cor. 3:8, 13, 17-18; Jer. 31:31-34

II. God alone is Lord of the conscience,[10] and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in anything, contrary to his Word; or beside it, if matters of faith, or worship.[11] So that, to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience:[12] and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience, is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.[13]

10. James 4:12; Rom. 14:4, 10; I Cor. 10:29
11. Acts 4:19, 5:29; I Cor. 7:22-23; Matt. 15:1-6, 9; 23:8-10; II Cor. 1:24
12. Col. 2:20-23; Gal. 1:10; 2:4-5; 4:9-10; 5:1
13. Rom. 10:17; Isa. 8:20; Acts 17:11; John 4:22; Rev. 13:12, 16-17; Jer. 8:9; I Peter 3:15

In short, the framers of the WCF believed that the church has no authority to bind the consciences of men on matters of conscience, aka: Adiaphora (things indifferent). Since there is no prohibition against any of the items listed in their booklet in Scripture, they have no authority to demand of anyone to abstain from them nor to take an oath to do so, but especially to demand obedience to them as qualifications for membership in the Church of Jesus Christ. The pastor was unable to reconcile their requirements with the WCF, which I believe is true to Scripture on this matter.

The clincher came when he responded to a hypothetical situation I presented to him. I asked what the church would do if a long-standing member went out to dinner with his wife to celebrate their wedding anniversary and ordered a glass of wine to drink with their meal and they found out about it. Since the church believes that any consumption of alcohol was a sin, would they seek disciplinary measures against the man and his wife. His response was that if the man and/or wife didn't confess their sin and repent of it, then they would excommunicate him/them.

Biblical Christian Liberty allows a believer a free choice to either partake of everything not prohibited or to abstain from them for various reasons. It is a matter of conscience before the Lord and cannot be a matter of law. For an excellent article on this issue see here: The Weak and the Strong, by John Murray.

See also these articles:

Liberty of Conscience, by Donald MacLeod
Freedom in Christ, by G.I. Williamson
Christian Liberty, by A.W. Pink

In His grace,