Individual Soul Liberty

“Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” (2Ti 2:7 AV)

A great verse for individual soul liberty.  For those unfamiliar, individual soul liberty is one of those tenets that separates Baptists from most other denominations.  Individual soul liberty states the individual has the right and responsibility to search the scriptures and discover truth for themselves.  Truth is truth.  There is no such thing as relative truth.  However, as the saints of God, we have no authority to force someone to believe anything.  Each soul is responsible before God to find the truth and live by it.  All we can do as preachers and churches is to be honest with the word of God and teach it as the Spirit leads.  The individual is the one who is responsible for gaining understanding.  They are to consider what it taught and then, as the Bereans, they are to go home and see if these things are so.  In this liberty is an implied responsibility.  This is what Paul is sharing with Timothy.  Timothy has the liberty to gain understanding in all things as he considers what Paul has said.  But he also has the responsibility.

Ignorance is no defense.  ‘I didn’t know’ will not fly.  Many years ago, I got a speeding ticket that wasn’t fair.  LOL My wife and I were visiting her parents at a lakeside hotel.  This hotel was located in a state park.  The road leading out of the part was about a mile long.  There were no speed limit signs on the way into the park until you got almost to the hotel.  On the way out, there was none when departing the hotel parking lot until you drove about a hundred yards toward the exit.  The speed limit was 15 mph.  Fair enough.  But the first speed limit sign was obscured by a tree.  This tress was right in front of the sign.  There was no way for me to see it.  The officer knew this because he was right in the path of a clear line of sight of anyone and everyone who did not see that sign.  When the police officer pulled me over, I stated I did not see a sign.  He pointed back at it and then I told him it was obscured.  That did not stop him from writing me the ticket.  The sign was posted.  I should have known.  My failure to take proper caution and drive slower until I found a sign was my fault.  It was my responsibility to know what the speed limit was.

Individual soul liberty is not a license to determine truth which we prefer.  Trust does not bend.  Truth does not change to accommodate one preference over another.  Paul is encouraging Timothy to exercise that liberty.  Consider what your mentor is teaching you, but may the LORD give you understanding in all things.  This is also a reminder of proper authority.  Paul, although he has apostolic authority, does not claim the right to not be examined or questioned.  God is the final authority, not man.  God is the one who teaches truth.  Truth and God are inseparably tied.  God is truth and truth is God.  Therefore, it is right and proper to say to the young preacher that he is to consider what his mentor teaches him, but the determiner of truth is the LORD.  Go to Him for understanding.  Seek His truth first and foremost.  Praise the LORD!