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“The Freedom of a Christian” by Martin Luther


Book Outline and Comments
by Monika-Maria Grace, Ph.D.

Church History Class Assignment


Fall 2008

Introduction

Luther is challenging “faith” as a virtue. Medieval theology thought of “faith”, as a


theological virtue, along with hope and love. According to Luther, faith alone is
sufficient--it does not need hope and love to be completed. He cites John 4:14, to speak
of faith as a “spring of water welling up to eternal life”. Luther affirms the great power of
faith as Godʼs gift to us, for our salvation. Faith in God as the term for that to which we
are to look for all good and to find refuge in all need.

He proposes to speak of faith ʻmore elegantlyʼ (p. 50) than the literalists and subtle
disputants of his time. He proposes two arguments, both statements from the Apostle
Paul, which he sets out to prove true:

a. A Christian is lord of all, completely free of everything.


b. A Christian is servant, completely attentive to the needs of all.

The Inner Person as Lord of All

Luther considers the human being as consisting of two natures: a) an inner, or “new”--
referring to the spiritual nature or the soul, and b) an outer nature--referring to the bodily,
physical nature (i.e., flesh and blood). The two natures are in conflict with each other.

Inner transformation cannot be produced by anything external. This is true both for
righteousness and unrighteousness. Good physical health or physical pleasures cannot
bring about inner salvation. On the other hand, poor physical health or bodily ailments
cannot harm the freedom of the soul. The sacred robe of the priest does not bring
sacredness to the soul (interestingly, this is a Greek proverb, as well.) The soul receives
no help from any word connected with the body. Nor does it receive harm if the person
is not engaged in works of salvation.

The only one thing that brings freedom to the soul is the Word of God, the Gospel of
Christ. This is the only thing needed by the soul, because “only the word of God brings
life, truth, light, peace, righteousness, peace, salvation, joy, liberty, wisdom, power
grace, glory and every other blessing imaginable” (p. 53).
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The Word of God is Christ, the good news given from God through his son who was
made flesh, suffered, rose from the dead and was glorified through the Spirit who makes
us holy. To preach Christ means to feed the soul, to make it righteous, to set it free and
save it, provided that preaching is believed.

The word of God cannot be received or honored by any works but must be grasped by
faith alone. Faith cannot exist in connection with works, or with anything else. Faith is
trust, which encompasses the whole person, not simply the intellect.

It is only when we begin to trust God that we realize that everything in us is sinful and
blameworthy, and then we will realize the necessity of Christ who suffered and rose
again for us. Through faith in Christ our sins are forgiven and we become a new person.
This happens only through Christ and Christ alone. Once this happens, one gives less
importance to works and begins to want to know more about Christ Jesus and benefits
of death and resurrection. 1/3/10 5:40 PM
Comment:
This is the key notion in the addiction
True faith in Christ is unconditional and heartfelt. This faith brings salvation. recovery program known as Alcoholics
Anonymous, with over 2 billion
members world-wide. Luther’s view of
The Role of the Bible the role of faith has applications in
spiritual recovery and inner salvation
The Bible is divided in two parts: Commands and Promises. The commands tell us what that reach far beyond the realm of his
dispute with the Catholic church and
is good, but they donʼt give us the power to do it. Their role is to teach us to know addresses the crucial problem of
ourselves. By means of the commandments, we recognize our inability to do good and psychological addiction, which is an
this causes us despair in our inadequacy and impotence. The fact that the commands epidemic ravaging humanity. The
approach of ‘works’ for salvation
exist proves our sinful nature form which there is no salvation by means of our powers. worsens the addictive behavior. The
We must therefore seek elsewhere this power. Outside ourselves. Itʼs not possible to soul needs Grace and only Grace to
keep the commandments. heal.
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Comment:
Amidst our despair in the impossibility of satisfying the Law comes the promise of God Seeking salvation through ‘works’ in
in Christ. The promise says “Believe in Christ who took sin into himself and you will religious practice is analogous to
have race, righteousness, peace, and liberty.” The promises of God give what the applying behavior modification
methods to treat addiction in
commands demand. God alone commands and God alone fulfills. The promise of God psychology, using the reward-
belongs to the New Testament. It is the New Testament. punishment approach. The results are
not promising. Luther is right. Faith
alone opens the soul to Grace and
The threefold power of faith healing happens in the inner person.
Then, the outer person must follow
steps (i.e., do works) to harness the
a. Faith frees from the Law: The soul who clings to Godʼs promises will share in the habits and desires of the body. But
power of the promises. It is touched by the word and it is healed, it finds freedom, it this part of the process happens out of
finds peace. Only the soul through faith in the Word can be free. No work can touch the the individual’s free will and
understanding that harnessing the
Word. Faith in the Word frees us from the Law. We have no need of the Law. The liberty habits of body supports the healing
of the Christian is our faith, which makes the law unnecessary for righteousness and of the soul which has happened
salvation. independently and by faith in Grace
alone, not because of the
individual’s efforts to harness the
desires and habits of the body.
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b. Faith Honors God: faith trusts in God with most reverent and highest regard. When
our soul trusts God and Godʼs promises, when we never question Godʼs
trustworthiness, when our soul consents to Godʼs will, then our faith honors God. We
trust that the one who is true, just, and wise will act in a way so that all will be well.

A soul that trusts God by faith alone is also obedient. The greatest rebellion against God
is not to trust his promises. The root of sin is not anger or lust, but unbelief. Faith is not
a virtue to be acquired by works. It is the absolute trust and surrender of our soul to
Godʼs Word made flesh in Jesus Christ. This is when we give to God what belongs to
God.
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Comment:
Luther is brilliantly right, here. The
c. Faith unites the soul with Christ: Through faith alone our soul and Christ become deepest cause of all human
one flesh in a true marriage, in which they hold everything in common, the good and the psychological suffering is our lack of
trust in The One--i.e., the Creator--
evil alike. In this marriage, what is ours becomes Christʼs and what is Christʼs becomes who is beyond our control. A soul that
ours. does not trust The One who created it
is a soul in perpetual alienation and
distress. Fundamental lack of trust in
God the Creator creates perpetual fear
Benefits of this exchange: Christ is full of grace, life and salvation, whereas our soul is and anguish, and a perverse need to
control God through “doing what is
full of sin, death and damnation. Faith is the catalyst that creates the exchange. The right”. Spiritually, no “works” can ever
result is victory and freedom. Christ takes on our soulʼs sin. It is as though he has bring relief. Instead, such approach
sinned and suffered but prevailed over sin and death. This marriage of faith results in fosters addiction--even if this is to
religion itself. The remedy is absolute
righteousness, justice, steadfast love, and mercy. This fulfills the commandments and surrender and trust in the One who
the works proceed from the fulfillment of the commandments, they do not fulfill the created All.
commandments. 1/3/10 5:40 PM
Comment:
Priesthood and Kingship: The more Christian a person is, the more evil, suffering and This is, in my opinion, Luther’s most
beautiful statement in this essay. I can
death he must endure, as we can see from the example of Godʼs firstborn, Christ. attest to the truth of his statement
Because the foundation for our belief is that in all things God works for our salvation. from my personal experience that
resulted in my name change.
The cross and death are compelled to serve me and work together for my salvation.
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This privilege gives us omnipotent power and spiritual dominion over all things, because
Comment:
there is nothing so good and nothing so evil that cannot be made to work for our good, The ultimate arrival of faith is absolute
provided that we trust Godʼs promises. Faith alone makes us indestructible and the fearlessness of Satan, attained through
freest of kings. absolute trust in God. Fearlessness of
Satan does not mean ‘befriending
Satan’, but ‘knowing God’s love so
But we also become priests by faith alone. We become worthy to appear before God, to deeply, loving God so deeply, that
pray for others, to teach one another divine things. We become human examples of having no need whatsoever to engage
Satan in any way.” (“Go thee behind
Christʼs priestly activity on our behalf before God in heaven. We carry out these duties me!”) The analogy is that of being in
only when and if we believe. Wholeheartedly. This is how Christ made it possible for us, such a faithful and fulfilling marriage,
that all the temptations of the world
provided that we trust him, to be only his brothers and sisters, but also his fellow priests. cannot corrode your commitment to
But for those of us who do not believe, nothing works for good. This personʼs prayer, is your beloved Spouse.
used for own advantage and is not heard by God. God does not hear sinners. Sinners
are the ones doubting God.
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If we are all priests, how do priests differ from laity? Priest, cleric, spiritual and
ecclestiastic should not be attributed only to those holding titles in the church.
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Comment:
The scripture gives the names “minister”, “servant”, “steward” to those who today would Spiritual direction point: I can minister
be called popes, bishops, lords. Those are the ones who should serve others and teach without being clergy. Here the
them the faith of Christ and the meaning of Christian freedom. We are all equally priests confusion lies between my rift from
the church--that was healed with
in that we pray for each other. But we are not all able to minister and teach publicly. wearing the collar--and the realities of
being a priest in today’s world. i don’t
This stewardship today is preoccupied with displays of power and governs in a have to be a priest to minister.

tyrannical manner. All knowledge of Christian grace, faith and freedom has been
replaced by human works or laws. Christians have become servants of the vilest people
on earth, who abuse oru misfortune and make it serve their own wicked wills.

The preaching of Christ should not be done in order to arouse Christians against Jews
of to arouse human sympathy for him. Rather, Christ should be preached so that we
might be moved to faith in him. He should be preached as someone who is for me and
you, not as a distant historical figure. We should preach why Christ came, what he
brought and gave to us, and the benefits we obtain when we receive him.

When the heart receives Christ no evil can frighten it. It hopes in the Lord. It trusts that
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the righteousness of Christ has become its own righteousness. Itʼs no longer afraid of
Comment:
death. Through faith, Christʼs victory over death has become our own. This is true, because there is not need
to “control” evil. A truly healed soul
The Outer Person as Servant of All sees evil as something that cannot be
controlled, but as something that one
can stay away from. (i.e., Jesus to
This part responds to those who are offended by the word “faith”, asking why the works Satan: “Go thee behind me.”)
are commanded, if faith alone is sufficient for righteousness. Then they argue that works
should be rejected altogether and we should contend with faith.

Luther says that this could be true if we were only inner or spiritual persons. As long as
we live in the flesh, we only being to make progress toward that which will be perfected
in a future life. As Christians, we are servants to all. Therefore, all kinds of works are
done.
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Comment:
Absolutely! But Luther starts with the
Controlling the body inner person, which is where all
approaches to spiritual recovery
should start from. God is spirit taking
If our inner nature is justified by faith alone, our outer nature needs works. They begin flesh, not flesh becoming spirit. But
through controlling the body and cultivating relationships with the rest of humanity. In tending to our spiritual nature alone
this earthly realm, where we are mortal bodies, we cannot enjoy leisure. We must without harnessing the habits of the
flesh leaves part of God out. The flesh
exercise moderate discipline by means of fasting, vigils, and labor. The body must obey needs works of the flesh to support
and conform--not hinder--the inner person and faith. The body must be controlled, the healing of the soul.
because it is in its nature to undermine faith and the inner person.
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The inner person is united with God through Christ, inspired by a love that is free and
unconstrained. But the body ha a contrary will that desires to serve the world and seeks
its own advantage.

The soul wants to serve God. Therefore it compels the body to participate in this
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service. The needs of the body compel us to do many good works in order to bring it
Comment:
under control. But these works do not justify us before God. Rather, they are done out of I agree. The soul that has truly trusted
a spirit of spontaneous love, asking nothing other than to serve God and yield to God in and loved God wants to serve only
all our earthly labors. God. It’s married to God, and then all
works of the flesh are done to sustain
and strengthen this marriage.
Each of us should discern the manner and limit of the bodily disciplines. We should
labor to the extend that such activities harness the desires of the body, but they should
never be considered as the means to salvation. The need for self-discipline is an act of
love for God that serves the soul who has married Christ, not the way of purchasing
Godʼs salvation.

Works must also be done within reason. Their purpose is to strengthen our faith, and
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the union of our soul with Christ, not to hinder or weaken it. “Good works do not make a
Comment:
good person, but a good person makes good works.” Luther must have been completely
Works donʼt give us faith. Itʼs faith that inspires us to do works. And faith does good healed from his ‘compulsive addiction’
works. to ‘works’ when he said this. He had
experienced the freeing gift of Grace
and seen that works are good
A Christian does not need any law to be saved. Salvation happens due to faith alone. practices that preserve the inner
But works are done out of a sense of pure liberty. There is not a self-serving motive in freedom.

doing works. They are acts of love for God. We do them because they please God. The
person who wants to do good works does not begin with the works, but with the
believing, because works do not make someone a believer.

Works that become obsessed with extracting Godʼs salvation are perverse and a
blasphemy to God, because they presume to do something that they are powerless to
do.

Pastoral concern and address to preachers: we should made known the voice of the law
so we all know our sins. But the goal should be to preach grace, repentance, the
promise of salvation.
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Comment:
A preacher who has not experienced
The preachers of repentance and grace do not explain Godʼs law and promise in a way the saving power of Grace is very
that a person might learn the source of repentance and grace. Repentance proceeds unlikely to preach Luther to his
congregation and instill unconditional
from the law of God, but faith or grace come from the promise of God. Faith comes from trust in God.
what is heard and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17).

Service to the neighbor


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We do not live to ourselves. live for others and for ourselves. In this life we cannot be
idle and without works toward the neighbor. We serve the neighbor without any hope or
reward. We care for our body so we can use the body to serve the ones in need.
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Comment:
Great implications of Luther’s theology
Faith should increase until itʼs made perfect. We, Christians, should empty ourselves for communal life. Serving the
and take on the form of servants, take on human form and become human in order to neighbor in a world of flesh brings
God’s kingdom among us.
sere and help our neighbors in every possible way. This is the way in which God in
Christ acted and continues to act toward us.

“I will give myself as a Christ to my neighbor, just as Christ gave himself to me.”
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Comment:
When service to the neighbor is done
Faith is the means of our relationship with God. From faith there flows a love and joy in as an act of gratitude to the crucified
the Lord. From that love proceeds a free mind that serves the neighbor and takes no Christ, then it is an ongoing act of love
for God.
account of gratitude or ingratitude, praise or blame, gain or loss.

We ought to know that we are named after Christ, not because he is absent, but
because he dwells in our midst. Our trust in him means that we are Christ to one
another and act toward our neighbors as Christ has acted toward us.

We must accept and nurture the faith of those who are weak but we should resist boldly
those who obstinately insist on works. All works should be done out of respect for the
church, not as a means to salvation.
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Comment:
Great point! Luther does observe and
The good we have from God should flow from one to another and be common to all. We respect the continuity and
should lay before God our faith and righteousness, so that they may cover and cohesiveness of the Church as a
community of people being at
intercede for the sins of our neighbors. We take these sins upon ourselves, and loabro different stages of faith and puts the
and serve in them, as if they were our own. role of works in this context. But he
also stresses the importance of “faith
in Grace alone” as the first and
Through faith we are caught up beyond ourselves into God. Likewise, through the love foremost principle leading to inner
that proceeds from faith, we descend beneath ourselves to serve our neighbors. This is healing and salvation.
our freedom, the true spiritual freedom of a Christian. To be above all and servant to all,
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through faith alone.
Comment:
Perhaps the prayers in the church
Careful not to misconstrue “above” as “detached from”. Christians are immersed in the should change from “Give us your
world, through loving service. The incarnation of God in Christ has provided the model Grace, help, healing etc...” to “give us
the innocence we need in order to
of life on this earth. Itʼs on earth where Christian life begins. surrender to your Grace”
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Comment:
Clarification Absolutely! Luther is a great scholar,
theologian, pastor, psychologist, and
social minister.
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Freedom does not mean contempt for ceremonies, traditions and human laws. The
church uses the law to terrorize and tyrannize people with weak faith, people who
cannot distinguish that their salvation depends on faith and not on works. We should
attack the laws and the lawgivers while being careful at the same time to observe the
laws with those who are weak so they wonʼt be offended. In the presence of tyrants, we
should be firm and consistent because they need to know that they are godless, that
their rules and laws do not lead to righteousness and that they have no authority to
institute them.

Faith must be taught constantly, so that false opinions do not prevail. Like little children
who are protected, weak people need to be instructed the laws, so they are kept from
doing evil and so they have time to be instructed in the righteousness of faith. But they
need to know that they are not made righteous or gain merit by following these rules. It
is true that this teaching about the righteousness of faith would not endure unless their
impulsiveness was restrained.

Human nature and natural reason are inclined toward superstition. When laws and
works are prescribed, it must mean that righteousness can be obtained by following
them. We need to pray that God may mold or shape us as theodidakti, those who are 1/3/10 5:40 PM
taught by God. In this way, God will write his law on our hearts, just as he promised to Comment:
do. Only God can teach our hearts this wisdom hidden in mystery. This is our only hope, Scripture is one way of knowing God’s
word. But experience of God is
since human nature can only condemn this wisdom and judge it to be heretical, as it another. In my opinion, Lutheranism
happened to the apostles and the prophets in the Bible and as it is happening to Luther, has given too much emphasis on the
Word and too little emphasis on the
by the foolish Popes. experience of Grace--whether that
comes through direct relationship with
Scripture, or through other means,
such as prayer, meditation,
spontaneous inner experiences, e.t.c.
_____________________________________________________________________
VISIT MY BLOG: www.mariagracephd.blogspot.com The fact that inner experiences of God
are not discussed openly among
Lutherans and the fact that “service to
VISIT MY WEBSITE: www.mariagrace.com the neighbor” seems a little too close
to social advocacy, have taken away
some of the essence of Luther’s
message as I read it in the “Freedom
of a Christian”. Also, Luther is
presented to us today more as a
scholar, a “Reformer” (what does that
mean anyway?) and someone who did
not do anything to save the peasants
when they were slaughtered.

I think his theology is sound and, in its


essence, the foundation toward
psychological and social health. It has
strong spiritual underpinnings that I
wish would be more widely
acknowledged by the church for their
essential role in our healing and
salvation.

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