Religious Liberty

Introduction

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it. Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work. The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XVII

Starting Point Intro

Whenever someone goes through our Starting Point Class, they go through a section in the booklet called, “Baptist Distinctives.”

What is it that makes us Baptist?

What is it that makes us different from a Presbyterian or a Methodist?

If you look at the booklet it goes like this:

Biblical Authority

Priesthood of All Believers

Church Autonomy

Regenerative Church Membership (the people on the church roll should be baptized born-again believers)

Our view of baptism and how it relates to the Lord’s Supper

And then—last but not least:

Religious Liberty.

Church and State should be separate.

The state owes the church protection and freedom.

The church should render obedience to the state, as long as it doesn’t cause them to disobey God

And as the Faith and Message says:

A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal...

Here we stand in Yorktown, VA.

We could walk to where the country began.

We are just days away from our 250th celebration as a nation.

What an appropriate night to see how our Baptist convictions have been influential and impactful in the history of our nation.

Outline

We will learn about this subject and this Article of our Confession in three teaching points tonight:

1. We believe that God alone is Lord of the conscience.

2. We believe in a free church in a free state.

3. We believe in loyal obedience to Christ and then to the state.

1. We believe that God alone is the Lord of the conscience.

Foundational Baptist Conviction

God alone is Lord of the conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it.

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XVIII

The opening statement of Article XVII captures the heart of our Baptist conviction.

It is not a political statement because religious liberty is not primarily a political issue for us.

It is a theological issue.

We believe the theology of the Bible—therefore, we believe:

God alone has authority over each individual conscience

You cannot impose saving faith through the means of government—or any other authority

You cannot MAKE someone a Christian by human force

Genuine faith must be voluntary

Every person will stand before God and give an account for their lives—not for their government’s religious choice for them

From Scripture

We do not believe these things because of political theory developed out of the European Enlightenment movement.

We believe them because of Scripture.

Not because of John Locke, but because the Apostles.

Let me show you a couple of key places where we see this idea of “God alone” being “Lord of the conscience.”

Romans 14:11–12 ESV

for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

If the Magistrate will not answer for my life before God on Judgment Day, then the Magistrate should not rule over my conscience on ANY DAY.

Matthew 22:15–21 ESV

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

There are things that belong to Caesar:

My taxes

My civil obedience in society

The roads I use to drive

But there are other things that do not belong to Caesar:

The conscience of a man in religion is one of those

For the conscience is not something the government provides.

It is something God has given us as those He created in His image

It is rooted in the natural order of things in Creation

It transcends a government’s reach

Baptists and the Conscience in History

Historically, these Scriptural convictions have been held by Baptist people from the very start.

Thomas Helwys

As the Baptist movement is born out of the Protestant Reformation in Europe—and England in particular—the very first leaders on the scene stand for this theological truth regarding the conscience.

Thomas Helwys was born in England in 1575.

Important figure who planted one of the first Baptist churches in England.

He only lived for 41 years.

His life was cut short by persecution and mistreatment.

Part of the reason he was persecuted is because he argued that the King had no authority over a man’s soul or a man’s conscience.

He even argued that Jews and Muslims and heretics should not be ruled over and mistreated because of their religious beliefs.

Not because he thought they were right—but because the King did not have authority over their conscience.

They had the RIGHT to be WRONG.

Obadiah Holmes

Coming over the colonies, we see the same convictions.

In July 1651—35 years after Thomas Helwys died in a prison, Obadiah Holmes, John Clarke and a man whose name we do not know, traveled to Lynn, MA.

They were visiting an blind man who held Baptist convictions who needed to be ministered to in his home.

Others gathered as well and they held a worship service.

While conducting the service, authorities came in and arrested them.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony’s state church was a system of Congregational Churches.

They all practiced infant baptism according to the beliefs you would find in the Savoy Declaration “Confession of Faith.”

So these three Baptist men are arrested for holding worship services where the doctrine of the Colony was rejected.

They were given a choice—pay a fine or take a severe whipping.

Friends of Clarke and the unnamed man paid their fines.

But Obadiah Holmes said, “No—do not pay my fine. That would be admitting a crime.”

Holmes believe that the conviction of his conscience regarding baptism was not the business of the state, so he would not pay their fine.

Ultimately, the magistrate took Holmes into Boston Common and tied him to a whipping post. (SHOW PICTURE OF HOLMES HERE)

On September 5th, 1651, after two months in prison, they tried to whip the proper theology out of Obadiah Holmes.

But he would not stand down.

With no shirt on, he received 30 heavy strokes of a three-cord whip from the hands of the colony’s executioner.

Reports are that his back was bloodied.

For weeks afterward, he slept on his elbows and knees because he could not lay down.

Holmes was unmoved though.

When his Baptist friends across the Atlantic wrote to him with concern, he wrote back and said, “It was like I was being whipped with the stems of roses, because God’s presence was so manifest around me.”

But the news of Holmes’ stand spread throughout the Massachusetts Colony and etched itself into history.

The witness of his suffering makes a statement—one you can find in Article 17:

The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. 

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XVII

Virginia Baptists

In our own state, Baptists in Virginia suffered similar brutalities.

Virginia was an Anglican stronghold.

You can still go down to Williamsburg today and see Bruton Parish—which was THE state mother church for the whole colony of Virginia.

In Chesterfield, VA—not far from where I grew up, there were a group of Baptist church planters:

John Weatherford

William Webber

Joseph Anthony

John Tanner

Augustine Eastin

David Tinsley

Jeremiah Walker

One hundred years after Holmes, these men were all imprisoned at Chesterfield County jail for their Baptist convictions.

Webber and Anthony started Old Powhatan Baptist Church—the first church I worked at in ministry.

It was planted in 1771 and the lighthouse still shines in Powhatan today.

The most famous of these preachers was Weatherford.

Though they put his body in prison, his conscience could not be stopped.

His congregants would come to the prison and listen to his sermons through the windows.

Making Sure We Don’t Misunderstand

And so here we are in 2026 and nothing has changed in terms of our convictions.

We still declare that the conscience is free from the state’s imposition and that it belongs to God to rule over.

No one else.

We still stand with Helwys, Holmes, Weatherford and others.

We still say that, “The conscience does not belong to Caesar.”

But before we move on, I want to make sure that we do not misunderstand the conviction.

All religions are not equally true.

This is not what Baptists have believed in history.

This is not what we believe Scripturally and theologically.

We do not believe what we believe because we think the truth is uncertain, therefore the state shouldn’t take a stance.

Instead, we are saying that the truth is fixed by God, but the conscience cannot be coerced by human forces.

The state cannot and should not make you take a stance on spiritual matters that belong to the individual’s conscience.

Baptists just borrowed from the worldview of the times.

Some will say, “Aren’t you Baptists just parroting the views of the Western world around you?”

In other words, did Helwys believe what he believed because he was convictionally Baptist or was he just marrying his faith to the political movements of the time?

I think it is pretty clear that it is the former.

Take the early Baptists at their word.

They did not make their argument from the pages of Voltaire, but from the pages of the Bible.

The Baptists were not regurgitating the Enlightenment.

It just so happened that, in God’s common grace, thinkers from the Enlightenment, like Voltaire and John Locke, stumbled upon these things as unbelieving men.

They came to some conclusions about the conscience supported by Scripture, even if they weren’t lovers of the Bible.

The Baptists, on the other hand, came to their conclusions THROUGH the Scriptures.

It just so happens that there is overlap.

All truth is God’s truth.

Sometimes God allows the blind squirrels to find the same acorns as the ones who can see.

Review and Transition

But that is our first point tonight: We believe that God alone is Lord over the conscience—not the state.

Every soul will answer to Him

And no government can determine your relationship to Him for you

2. We believe in a free church in a free state.

Church and state should be separate. The state owes to every church protection and full freedom in the pursuit of its spiritual ends. In providing for such freedom no ecclesiastical group or denomination should be favored by the state more than others. 

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XVII

A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power.

The Baptist Faith and Messager, Article XVII

What We Learn From Our Confession

Here is what we learn from our Confession in these quotations from Article 17...

The Church and State Have Distinct Roles

Why is the government in place?

Romans 13:3–4 ESV

For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.

God has put government in place to be a sword of justice against evil and servant of what is good.

Ideally, this is how it works.

But notice—God does not say anything about the government making disciples with that sword.

You simply find nothing like that in the New Testament.

And yet, if we ask why God has instituted the Church in the world, we will find out that it is not here to do the job of the government.

It is not here to bear the physical Sword of Justice, but the spiritual Sword of Truth—the Word of God.

Kingdom citizens are won by conversion of the heart and not the threat of punishment or mistreatment.

It is the proclamation of the Word that hearts will be made new and the Kingdom grows.

1 Timothy 3:15 ESV

if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

The Church upholds and displays the truth to the world.

We could summarize the different purposes and roles of Government and Church like this:

Government: Instituted by God to maintain justice, restrain evil and promote peace.

Church: Instituted by God to advance the Kingdom through Gospel proclamation, disciple-making and the shepherding of souls.

Understanding these things, we would say that there must be separation for these institutions.

We reject a state-controlled church because the state is drifting into an area where they have not been given jurisdiction by God.

We reject a church-controlled state because the church would then be seeking to advance the Kingdom through the physical means of the Sword, as opposed to the power of the Spirit.

Throughout much of history, Christians have struggled to grasp this.

The early church had it figured out

But then Constantine baptized the Roman Empire without converting them

Suddenly you have a State-Endorsed Church and things grow in a mutated way from there

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who ironically spent his life ministering in a state-run church in England, said this:

There, then, are...very real reasons for saying that the church and the state are not one, but different in their very essence. This was the truth rediscovered and recaptured at the time of the Protestant Reformation. It had become lost, as we saw, at the time of Constantine, and it was given to the Protestant Reformers to realize and, in a measure, to restore this vital and essential distinction.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

And yet if you read Lloyd-Jones’ commentary on Romans 13, he spends a considerable amount of time showing how hard it was for the Reformers to institute this teaching of Scripture.

From Luther to Zwingli to Calvin to Knox to the Puritans, they never got it exactly right.

While there was separation from any notion of a Holy Roman Empire, they would still at times be found engaging with the means of the state to accomplish the mission of the church.

Or they would be found entangling the church with the state.

Lloyd-Jones points out that it led to the same problems it always does:

Bloodshed

Wars

Persecutions

He says humility should cause us to look at history and LEARN that the church and state must be separate.

And as Lloyd-Jones talks about those born out of the Reformation who eventually figured this out—he points to Baptists!

(Even though he is an Anglican!)

History of Baptists and Free Church/Free State

Roger Williams

In that same Romans 13 commentary, Lloyd-Jones points to Roger Williams as a “remarkable man.”

Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636, so he sets off to establish Providence, Rhode Island as a place where religious freedom can abound.

His argument was that the involvement of the state always corrupts the church because the state is mainly concerned with money and power, while the church should have different interests.

He wasn’t fearful about protecting the government from religion.

That is so often how the separation of church and state is talked about now—we must protect the sacred government from the religious people!

But that was not Williams’ fear.

He was protecting the church from the state—just like Helwys before him.

Two years after arriving in Providence, Williams planted the first Baptist church in America.

It still exists today, but sadly no longer preaches the Gospel.

It is basically a Unitarian building.

The Danbury Baptists and Thomas Jefferson

Over a century after Roger Williams, another landmark event happened surrounding Baptists, America and religious liberty.

In Danbury, Connecticut, the Baptists were still feeling the heat of a Congregationalist Northeast.

The Connecticut government taxed citizens in order to support the state Congregationalist church.

And the government gave special favors to the Congregationalists.

The Baptists wrote to their new President, Thomas Jefferson, and said, “Hey—it is great that there is no federal churches, but there are state churches and this doesn’t seem right.”

They tolerated, but they felt they were still standing on unequal ground.

Jefferson wrote back with these famous words:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State. 

Thomas Jefferson to Danbury Baptists

Many people misunderstand Jefferson’s words.

First of all, these words are not in the Constitution.

Many people quote them as “Constitutional,” but they are actually just words in a letter to some Baptists.

Here is what the Constitution does say:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...

The Constitution of the United States of America

Secondly, Jefferson says nothing about:

Religion staying private

Christians not being able to influence public life

Many people lay that on Jefferson’s words because they don’t like the influence of the church in our nation.

They are imposing their godless worldview on Jefferson.

Thirdly, Jefferson writes with much more concern for Baptists than he does government.

His point is not that religion should be removed from society.

Though Jefferson himself was not a Christian, he had a pew box at the VA state church in Williamsburg.

The man was no hater of religion.

Jefferson was concerned about protecting the Danbury Baptists as they exercised their religion.

He believed that THEY and EVERYONE ELSE in the country had the right to do that without government interference.

Free Church in a Free State

Ultimately, Jefferson is envisioning what our Confession of faith is outlining—a free church in a free state.

Let’s define those two things.

What is a free state?

A free state does not establish a church.

A free state does not coerce worship from its citizens.

A free state does not punish people for religious convictions.

A free state protects the liberty of all her citizens

What is a free church?

A free church chooses its own leaders.

A free church determines its own doctrine.

A free church administers its own ordinances through those leaders with their doctrine.

A free church carries out its mission under the authority of Christ

When those two things come together, and the free church exists in the free state, a Baptist smiles.

We have never been after a a separation of God and government.

We have never been after a government that does not answer to God.

We have never argued for a public square free from religious talk.

We simply say that these two institutions of government and church should be able to co-exist without one seeking to control the other.

The state should actually labor to make sure this is the case.

To make sure the church is protected.

To make sure the state is not overstepping its jurisdiction.

How It Practically Works

The Faith and Message even give us some idea of how this works practically:

The gospel of Christ contemplates spiritual means alone for the pursuit of its ends. The state has no right to impose penalties for religious opinions of any kind. The state has no right to impose taxes for the support of any form of religion. 

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XVII

On one hand, the free church doesn’t seek to use the state to get things done.

Instead, the Gospel compels us to seek to use spiritual means to do the spiritual work.

We do not come to the FREE STATE asking them to accomplish the work of the FREE CHURCH.

During COVID a lot of churches were faced with a decision—do we take government stipends to help us pay our staff during this time of societal shutdown?

At the time, we did take advantage of what the government offered out of legitimate concerns about making ends meet.

Six years later—having thought a lot more deeply about these issues—I would lead the church to not to that again.

I don’t think we sinned. But I think it would have been more prudent to say, “In the name of being a free church, we politely decline this money from the state.”

In God’s grace, we have moved on and there have not been negative ramifications. But lessons are learned as well!

On the other hand, the free state should have some handcuffs on when it comes to the free church.

They do not govern us.

They may govern civil affairs, but the state has no authority over the church's doctrine, worship, mission, or conscience.

That doesn’t mean the church is above the law.

The church exists within a civil society that has a government and enforceable laws.

The government may regulate in matters affecting everyone and those impact the church...

...but it may not single out churches, mistreat churches based on their Scriptural convictions, or assume authority over the church's worship and ministry.

This brings us to our final point tonight.

3. We believe in loyal obedience to Christ and then to the state.

Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God. The church should not resort to the civil power to carry on its work.

The Baptist Faith and Message, Article XVII

There may be some who think that because we emphasize religious liberty, we are naturally prone to dislike the state.

That is not true.

Historically, Baptists—like most true believers—have been advocates for a just and lawful government.

This comes from our biblical beliefs about government.

Biblical Beliefs About Government

Romans 13:1–3 ESV

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,

Baptists are Bible people and the Scriptures are clear.

Paul wrote to Romans who lived under Caesar’s thumb and said, “Be subject to the Emperor.”

Because theologically, we know God appoints kings and dethrones kings.

He is in control of every chair on the earth from His throne.

The authority really comes from Him.

And in general, if government does its job, it should not be a problem for you IF YOU DO GOOD.

Since it bears the swords against evil and is a servant of good, Christians should be able to exist under governing powers most of the time.

1 Peter 2:13–17 ESV

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Fear God. Love the Church. Honor the Emperor.

There is the Christian’s marching orders in the social order.

The Faith and Message and History

The Baptist Faith and Message

This is why the Baptist Faith and Message is clear about this.

Civil government being ordained of God, it is the duty of Christians to render loyal obedience thereto in all things not contrary to the revealed will of God.

Of course if the government asks you to do something that is contrary to God’s revealed will in the Bible, we say no.

Early Christians were persecuted because they would bow the knee to the Roman Emperor as a divine god.

This was an example of the government overstepping their jurisdiction and the Christian saying, “I can’t do that.”

Acts 5:29 ESV

But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

But by and large, the Christian is able to honor Christ by loyally submitting to good and just laws put in place by the authorities He has ordained.

By saying what it says, the Faith and Message aligns itself with Baptist confessions historically.

The 1689 London Baptist Confession

Civil magistrates being set up by God for the ends aforesaid; subjection, in all lawful things commanded by them, ought to be yielded by us in the Lord, not only for wrath, but for conscience’ sake; and we ought to make supplications and prayers for kings and all that are in authority, that under them we may live a quiet and peaceable life, in all godliness and honesty.

The 1689 Second London Baptist Confession, Chapter XXIV, Paragraph III

You can see the call to be submissive.

You also see what Paul teaches in 1 Timothy 2 being expressed:

That we should pray for the magistrate in a place of authority so that they rule justly, we can follow laws and live a generally peaceable and quiet life.

The American Baptists

The Baptist Faith and Message also stands with our Baptist forefathers in this country.

Those Baptists who were jailed in places like Chesterfield County were not anarchists.

They weren’t looking to spark a revolution.

They were not lawless.

They would petition the authorities on these matters.

They would appeal to lawmakers.

Or in the case of the Danbury Baptists—they wrote to the President!

The bottom line is that Baptists work through the process of government even in order to stand up for religious liberty.

We are not looking to tear down society.

The Two Extremes

In all of this, you continue to see the two extremes avoided, right?

State control of the church? NEVER.

Rebellion against the authority of the state? NO.

Instead, we see that the Baptist life is one where:

We seek to be good citizens

We pay our taxes

We respect the authorities God has put in place

We are active in civil life

And yet, along the way, we never waver on the fact that our allegiance belongs to King Jesus first—not Caesar.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, like many of the Articles in our Confession, Article 17 of the Faith and Message give us a framework to understand something that so many Christians have struggled to grasp.

Truth cannot be coerced.

God alone is Lord of the conscience

The Church must remain free from the rule of the State

The Church should not seek to go outside of its mission to rule the State

And Christians should be loyal citizens whose ultimate devotion belongs to Jesus

As we stand here days from our 250th birthday party as a nation—it is amazing to consider just how many Baptist fingerprints you can find on the American understanding of free exercise of religion.

You might even say, “There are some very Baptist things about America at her core...”

Let us rejoice in this as we celebrate this Saturday.

And then let us gather here Sunday to exercise this wonderful right.