James 1:25, "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed."
Think how many times in the New Testament Jesus and the apostles speak of "our liberty in Christ" and "the perfect law of liberty."
What do Catholics and the EO think this means, if not the fact that each person is directed to read the Scriptures in order for God to reach his heart and mind personally through the word of God and the power of God?
Christian liberty is an under-examined topic. And these discussions illustrate that the RCC and EO seem to deny Christian liberty as presumption and folly, when it is the exact result of our having been purchased with such a great price. They doubt the very presupposition of Christian liberty. They ask how do we know the Holy Spirit is the true motivator of our consciences if not via the material application of all their many sacraments and rituals?
1) We know because our lives and actions line up with Scripture, the pure word of God.
2) We know by the good fruits of the Spirit in our lives.
3) Finally, we know because our very faith presupposes Christ's perfectly-accomplished redemption of His sheep which now shows itself through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Just because we may differ in some small areas, we must never doubt the fact of this correct presupposition -- that our liberty has been by God's grace alone who determined that "these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31).
"Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." -- 2 Corinthians 3:17
The Westminster Confession of Faith says the following...
I. The liberty which Christ has purchased for believers under the Gospel consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, and 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 grace, 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 child-like 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] II. God alone is Lord of the conscience,[10] and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are, in any thing, 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]...
Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience
Our Christian liberty is not just freedom from the old ceremonial laws or from the doctrines of men which require, as the WCF says, "an absolute and blind obedience."
Instead, Christian liberty is a ready knowledge and thorough understanding that Christ has set us free from the condemnation of sin and that our renewed conscience is now able to proclaim this truth in "liberty and reason" because it is God alone who is the "Lord of our conscience."
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." -- Luke 4:17-21"And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
“Christian liberty is an under-examined topic.”
In doing some work on the sin offering and the tresspass offering in Leviticus I was impressed with God’s justice for the poor. He had commanded a blood sacrifice for both iniquities, a bullock for one and a lamb or goat for the other. However, for the poor who could not afford them, instead of giving them a pass He said a dove or pigeon would do; blood must be shed for the atonement.
Jesus says “Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of heaven”. The word tranlated “forbid” means “to hinder, prevent, to withhold a thing from anyone”. If Jesus is telling the disciples and those around Him not to put hinderances in the way of the childrens’ salvation, why would He not make His scriptures, His word of salvation, perspicuous to children, just as He did for the poor in Leviticus?
Praise God!!!