Reformational Europe

Christian Liberty

MARTIN LUTHER and CHRISTIAN LIBERTY

Martin Luther is considered to the founder of reformation in Christianity. If we see the Church divided on the various aspects of Christianity today, it is because of 15th century revolution in the religion initiated by Martin Luther since he was not satisfied with what the Catholic Church had been teaching. The one primary question that we are all concerned with is 'how can we go to heaven." What actions or deeds are required on our behalf that would lead us to heaven? Catholic Church prior to the 15th century maintained that the only way to enter the paradise was through good deeds. The description of these good deeds was also restricted to interpretations by the church. Priests would distribute papal certificates to those they willed to shorten their penance or reduce their punishments for various sins. Martin Luther however refused to accept such teachings since he saw something inherently flawed in the way Catholic Church was spreading the word of God. According to him, Christianity had a different view of personal liberty: "A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all." Luther's view of liberty as he found it in Christianity is not very easy to decipher since while some see him as the champion of personal freedom, others attack him for restricting freedom. Karl Marx, for example, criticized Luther's view of liberty in these words:

Luther, to be sure, overcame servitude based on devotion, but by replacing it with servitude based on conviction. He shattered faith in authority by restoring the authority of faith. He transformed the priests into laymen by changing the laymen into priests. He liberated man from external religiosity by making religiosity that which is innermost to man. He freed the body of chains by putting the heart in chains.

Luther has been viewed as a champion of freedom who couldn't interpret freedom correctly. For while he wanted people to be free of servitude to the church, he bound them to servitude of God so much so that he termed man completely helpless. Luther believed that man was a servant of God who was utterly helpless in every aspect of his life and thus completely refuted the idea of freedom of will or choice. He writes: "Free choice without the grace of God is not free at all, but immutably the captive and slave of evil, since it cannot of itself turn to the good." He felt that liberum arbitrium i.e. free will or free choice was "plainly a divine term (divinum nomen), and can be properly applied to none but the Divine Majesty alone; for he alone can do and does...whatever he pleases in heaven and on earth."

If we look at some other writings of Martin Luther, apart from his essays on Christian liberty, we notice that for Luther, Christian liberty was liberty of the conscience. By this he meant that faith along could take the man to salvation and not good deeds. He maintained that we must rely on God's mercy instead of our good deeds for salvation. In his Judgment on Monastic Vows of 1521, Luther wrote:

Christian or evangelical freedom, then, is a freedom of conscience (libertas conscientiae) which liberates the conscience from works. Not that no works are done, but no faith is put in them....Christ has freed this conscience from works through the gospel and teaches this conscience not to trust in works, but to rely only on his mercy.

While you may choose to disagree with Lutheran view of Christian freedom, it is widely accepted by those who follow his teachings. Luther feels that it is through Christ that man can attain salvation and not through soul or spiritual deeds alone. By Christ, he was probably referring to one's faith in Lord. He writes: He writes:

One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ, as Christ says, John 11[:25], "I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he die yet shall he live"; and John 8[:36], "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed."

Luther maintained that Christian liberty is prescribed in the word of God which is "the gospel of God concerning his Son, who was made flesh, suffered, rose from the dead, and was glorified through the Spirit who sanctifies." Luther felt that one must have immense faith in the word; in the promises of God because this faith alone takes the man to his destination but good deeds may not be able to have the same effect. Good deeds without faith are thus in simple words, useless. Luther further writes:

Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation. The soul is full of sins, death, and damnation. Now let faith come between them and sins, death, and damnation will be Christ's, while grace, life, and salvation will be the soul's; for if Christ is a bridegroom, he must take upon himself the things which are his bride's and bestow upon her things that are his.

In Concerning Christian Liberty, Luther feels that faith alone in Christ is the only device for salvation. He quoted various passages from the gospel to prove his point including: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned" (Mark xvi. 16). And Paul's words: "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Rom. x. 10).