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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. True faith in Christ is unconditional and heartfelt. This faith brings salvation. The Role of the Bible The Bible is divided in two parts: Commands and Promises. The commands tell us what is good, but they donʼt give us the power to do it. Their role is to teach us to know ourselves. By means of the commandments, we recognize our inability to do good and this causes us despair in our inadequacy and impotence. The fact that the commands exist proves our sinful nature form which there is no salvation by means of our powers. We must therefore seek elsewhere this power. Outside ourselves. Itʼs not possible to keep the commandments. Amidst our despair in the impossibility of satisfying the Law comes the promise of God in Christ. The promise says “Believe in Christ who took sin into himself and you will have race, righteousness, peace, and liberty.” The promises of God give what the commands demand. God alone commands and God alone fulfills. The promise of God belongs to the New Testament. It is the New Testament. The threefold power of faith a. Faith frees from the Law: The soul who clings to Godʼs promises will share in the power of the promises. It is touched by the word and it is healed, it finds freedom, it finds peace. Only the soul through faith in the Word can be free. No work can touch the Word. Faith in the Word frees us from the Law. We have no need of the Law. The liberty of the Christian is our faith, which makes the law unnecessary for righteousness and salvation.

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Comment: This is the key notion in the addiction recovery program known as Alcoholics Anonymous, with over 2 billion members world-wide. Luther’s view of the role of faith has applications in spiritual recovery and inner salvation that reach far beyond the realm of his dispute with the Catholic church and addresses the crucial problem of psychological addiction, which is an epidemic ravaging humanity. The approach of ‘works’ for salvation worsens the addictive behavior. The soul needs Grace and only Grace to heal.

Comment: Seeking salvation through ‘works’ in religious practice is analogous to applying behavior modification methods to treat addiction in psychology, using the reward-punishment approach. The results are not promising. Luther is right. Faith alone opens the soul to Grace and healing happens in the inner person. Then, the outer person must follow steps (i.e., do works) to harness the habits and desires of the body. But this part of the process happens out of the individual’s free will and understanding that harnessing the habits of body supports the healing of the soul which has happened 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. c. Faith unites the soul with Christ: Through faith alone our soul and Christ become one flesh in a true marriage, in which they hold everything in common, the good and the evil alike. In this marriage, what is ours becomes Christʼs and what is Christʼs becomes ours. Benefits of this exchange: Christ is full of grace, life and salvation, whereas our soul is full of sin, death and damnation. Faith is the catalyst that creates the exchange. The result is victory and freedom. Christ takes on our soulʼs sin. It is as though he has sinned and suffered but prevailed over sin and death. This marriage of faith results in righteousness, justice, steadfast love, and mercy. This fulfills the commandments and the works proceed from the fulfillment of the commandments, they do not fulfill the commandments. Priesthood and Kingship: The more Christian a person is, the more evil, suffering and death he must endure, as we can see from the example of Godʼs firstborn, Christ. Because the foundation for our belief is that in all things God works for our salvation. The cross and death are compelled to serve me and work together for my salvation. This privilege gives us omnipotent power and spiritual dominion over all things, because there is nothing so good and nothing so evil that cannot be made to work for our good, provided that we trust Godʼs promises. Faith alone makes us indestructible and the freest of kings. But we also become priests by faith alone. We become worthy to appear before God, to pray for others, to teach one another divine things. We become human examples of Christʼs priestly activity on our behalf before God in heaven. We carry out these duties only when and if we believe. Wholeheartedly. This is how Christ made it possible for us, provided that we trust him, to be only his brothers and sisters, but also his fellow priests. But for those of us who do not believe, nothing works for good. This personʼs prayer, is 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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Comment: Luther is brilliantly right, here. The deepest cause of all human psychological suffering is our lack of trust in The One--i.e., the Creator--who is beyond our control. A soul that 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 and anguish, and a perverse need to control God through “doing what is right”. Spiritually, no “works” can ever bring relief. Instead, such approach fosters addiction--even if this is to religion itself. The remedy is absolute surrender and trust in the One who created All.

Comment: This is, in my opinion, Luther’s most beautiful statement in this essay. I can attest to the truth of his statement from my personal experience that resulted in my name change.

Comment: The ultimate arrival of faith is absolute fearlessness of Satan, attained through absolute trust in God. Fearlessness of Satan does not mean ‘befriending Satan’, but ‘knowing God’s love so deeply, loving God so deeply, that having no need whatsoever to engage Satan in any way.” (“Go thee behind me!”) The analogy is that of being in such a faithful and fulfilling marriage, that all the temptations of the world cannot corrode your commitment to your beloved Spouse.

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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. The scripture gives the names “minister”, “servant”, “steward” to those who today would be called popes, bishops, lords. Those are the ones who should serve others and teach them the faith of Christ and the meaning of Christian freedom. We are all equally priests in that we pray for each other. But we are not all able to minister and teach publicly. This stewardship today is preoccupied with displays of power and governs in a 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 the righteousness of Christ has become its own righteousness. Itʼs no longer afraid of death. Through faith, Christʼs victory over death has become our own. The Outer Person as Servant of All This part responds to those who are offended by the word “faith”, asking why the works 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. Controlling the body If our inner nature is justified by faith alone, our outer nature needs works. They begin through controlling the body and cultivating relationships with the rest of humanity. In this earthly realm, where we are mortal bodies, we cannot enjoy leisure. We must exercise moderate discipline by means of fasting, vigils, and labor. The body must obey and conform--not hinder--the inner person and faith. The body must be controlled, because it is in its nature to undermine faith and the inner person.

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Comment: Spiritual direction point: I can minister without being clergy. Here the confusion lies between my rift from the church--that was healed with wearing the collar--and the realities of being a priest in today’s world. i don’t have to be a priest to minister.

Comment: This is true, because there is not need to “control” evil. A truly healed soul sees evil as something that cannot be controlled, but as something that one can stay away from. (i.e., Jesus to Satan: “Go thee behind me.”)

Comment: Absolutely! But Luther starts with the inner person, which is where all approaches to spiritual recovery should start from. God is spirit taking flesh, not flesh becoming spirit. But tending to our spiritual nature alone without harnessing the habits of the flesh leaves part of God out. The flesh needs works of the flesh to support the healing of the soul.

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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 service. The needs of the body compel us to do many good works in order to bring it under control. But these works do not justify us before God. Rather, they are done out of a spirit of spontaneous love, asking nothing other than to serve God and yield to God in all our earthly labors. 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 the union of our soul with Christ, not to hinder or weaken it. “Good works do not make a good person, but a good person makes good works.” Works donʼt give us faith. Itʼs faith that inspires us to do works. And faith does good works. A Christian does not need any law to be saved. Salvation happens due to faith alone. But works are done out of a sense of pure liberty. There is not a self-serving motive in 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. The preachers of repentance and grace do not explain Godʼs law and promise in a way that a person might learn the source of repentance and grace. Repentance proceeds from the law of God, but faith or grace come from the promise of God. Faith comes from what is heard and what is heard comes through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17). Service to the neighbor

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Comment: I agree. The soul that has truly trusted and loved God wants to serve only God. It’s married to God, and then all works of the flesh are done to sustain and strengthen this marriage.

Comment: Luther must have been completely healed from his ‘compulsive addiction’ to ‘works’ when he said this. He had experienced the freeing gift of Grace and seen that works are good practices that preserve the inner freedom.

Comment: A preacher who has not experienced the saving power of Grace is very unlikely to preach Luther to his congregation and instill unconditional trust in God.

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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. Faith should increase until itʼs made perfect. We, Christians, should empty ourselves and take on the form of servants, take on human form and become human in order to 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.” Faith is the means of our relationship with God. From faith there flows a love and joy in the Lord. From that love proceeds a free mind that serves the neighbor and takes no 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. The good we have from God should flow from one to another and be common to all. We should lay before God our faith and righteousness, so that they may cover and intercede for the sins of our neighbors. We take these sins upon ourselves, and loabro and serve in them, as if they were our own. Through faith we are caught up beyond ourselves into God. Likewise, through the love that proceeds from faith, we descend beneath ourselves to serve our neighbors. This is our freedom, the true spiritual freedom of a Christian. To be above all and servant to all, through faith alone. Careful not to misconstrue “above” as “detached from”. Christians are immersed in the world, through loving service. The incarnation of God in Christ has provided the model of life on this earth. Itʼs on earth where Christian life begins. Clarification

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Comment: Great implications of Luther’s theology for communal life. Serving the neighbor in a world of flesh brings God’s kingdom among us.

Comment: When service to the neighbor is done as an act of gratitude to the crucified Christ, then it is an ongoing act of love for God.

Comment: Great point! Luther does observe and respect the continuity and cohesiveness of the Church as a community of people being at different stages of faith and puts the role of works in this context. But he also stresses the importance of “faith in Grace alone” as the first and foremost principle leading to inner healing and salvation.

Comment: Perhaps the prayers in the church should change from “Give us your Grace, help, healing etc...” to “give us the innocence we need in order to surrender to your Grace”

Comment: 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 taught by God. In this way, God will write his law on our hearts, just as he promised to do. Only God can teach our hearts this wisdom hidden in mystery. This is our only hope, since human nature can only condemn this wisdom and judge it to be heretical, as it happened to the apostles and the prophets in the Bible and as it is happening to Luther, by the foolish Popes. _____________________________________________________________________ VISIT MY BLOG: www.mariagracephd.blogspot.com VISIT MY WEBSITE: www.mariagrace.com

1/3/10 5:40 PMComment: Scripture is one way of knowing God’s word. But experience of God is another. In my opinion, Lutheranism has given too much emphasis on the Word and too little emphasis on the 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. The fact that inner experiences of God are not discussed openly among Lutherans and the fact that “service to 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.