“The Freedom of a Christian” is a reform document written in the 16th century by Martin Luther. The treatise covers the topic of Christian freedom and is published in Wittenberg. In this document, Luther outlines a number of conflicting elements and attempts to reconcile these contradictory elements. Some of the elements covered by Luther include the following: (I) the soul and the body, (II) freedom and servitude, (III) faith and works, and (V) god and humanity (Luther, 2008). According to Luther, faith alone brings righteousness. Luther maintains that faith alone reconciles human beings with their creator. According to Luther, without faith, human beings are slaves to sin and the law (human law) (Luther, 2016). Luther maintains that work does not have any effect on the salvation or the righteousness of an individual. According to Luther, an individual can gain freedom through good works. Therefore, faith in God is what brings freedoms and frees a person from sin, the law, and false gods. In addition, an individual ought to have faith in God. Through this, one can be free. In “ The Freedom of a Christian,” Luther employs his own historical background, biographical encounters, support from scriptures, and his own logic to support the argument that faith only brings righteousness or salvation.
In “ The Freedom of a Christian ,” Luther attempts to connect to import yet contradicting elements –spiritual freedom and servitude. He starts to write his treatise by laying down two contradictory principles. Luther states,
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“A Christian man is the freest lord of all, and subject to none.”
“A Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone” (Luther, 2008, 315).
In his treatise, Luther moves on to explain how these two contradictory principles are linked. He clearly differentiates the spirit and the body. In fact, the document is divided into 2 parts to reflect the division between the spirit and the body. In the first section, Luther discussed the spiritual component of human beings. He refers to this spiritual component as the “inner man” (Luther, 2008, 316). In this regard, Luther discusses how a person can attain righteousness. According to Luther, an individual can attain righteousness, not through the use of external force but through faith in God. In other words, Luther maintains that faith alone brings righteousness (Mitei, 2015). In other words, Luther believed that faith alone was the only way to freedom. Luther argues that “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” (Luther, 2008, 316). He holds that faith is the only way to righteousness, and thus people ought to have faith in their creator.
In his treatise, Luther maintains that having faith in God is the foundation of everything, as well as the root of all Christianity. According to Luther, faith brings three powers. First, it brings salvation to sinners. He maintains that external forces do not work, and thus, people should have inner spiritual faith (Luther, 2016). Secondly, faith is the only way human beings can honor their creator. It is through faith that humans can place absolute trust in God. In this regard, through faith, humans recognized God as omnipresent, all-powerful, and holy. In “ The Freedom of a Christian,” Luther states that “The very highest worship of God is this: that we ascribe to him truthfulness, righteousness, and whatever else should be ascribed to one who is trusted” (Luther, 2008, 318). With this in mind, humans are expected to have faith in God and not external forces, such as the gods. The final power of faith is that it can reconcile an individual with God. In other words, faith alone units humans with their creator. In “ The Freedom of a Christian,” Luther writes, “faith …unites the soul with Christ as a bride is united with her bridegroom. By this mystery…Christ and the soul become one flesh” (Luther, 2008, 318).
In “ The Freedom of Christian ,” Luther demonstrates how faith necessitates equality. Luther claims that faith makes an individual become a saved follower of Christ. This, in turn, makes an individual fulfill two roles. The first role is the role of a king, while the second role is the role of a priest. In his treatise, Luther clearly outlines how faith makes a Christian fulfill these two roles. With regard to the role of a king, all believers of Christianity, by virtue of their faith, as well as by virtue of their spiritual power, have power over everything except God (Mitei, 2015). With this in mind, no external forces can do harm to Christians. In other words, Christians have “a spiritual dominion” over all God’s creations.
With regard to the role of priests, Luther claims that all Christians are worthy of appearing before their lord, of praying for themselves as well as pray for their fellow Christians. “A Christian is a dutiful servant of all” (Mitei, 2015, 87). With regard to the role of the priesthood, all Christianity has the power to speak to their creator. In addition, they have the power to spread his word to the world through teachings. The two roles –the role of a king and role of a priest –that Christians exhibit is what makes all Christian equal in the kingdom as well as in the priesthood of God.
In “ The Freedom of a Christian,” Luther also writes about the “outer man,” which refers to the physical works that Christians perform (320). In this regard, the good works that humans do are meant to punish their bodies. As a result, humans subject their bodies to the “inner man” of faith. According to Luther, this makes them “not revolt against faith and hinder the inner man” (320). However, Luther holds that good works alone are not enough to guarantee individual freedom. According to Luther, work should be performed in a righteous manner and in a manner that pleases God (Mitei, 2015). Lastly, Luther places faith and work in the same context. He concludes by stating that good works can be considered to be righteous when they are performed based on faith. Luther concludes his treatise by asking humans to rely on faith because it is the only way they can get salvation.
At the time Luther was writing “ The Freedom of a Christian,” there was an extreme conflict between a group of people, who are non-Catholics, and the papacy. More specifically, he completed writing this document just before the papacy excluded him from participating in the sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church (Luther, 2016). He wrote this treatise in response to the Pope’s criticisms of his teaching. Luther wrote this treatise to point out some crucial things that the Roman Catholic Church did wrong. More specifically, Luther positions his document historically. He addresses the doings of the Catholic Church during the time. One of the historical contexts that Luther covers is the introduction to Pope Leo X. In addition, he points out the misconceptions about works. According to Luther, the Catholic Church places great emphasis on works and religious ceremonies. Luther maintains that the individuals or the Christians who put great emphasis on religious rites ought not to despise those who do not engage themselves in such practices. Here, Luther wrote this treatise to warn people against the divisions created by the Roman Catholic Church. During his exile, his followers started to desecrate Catholic churches. According to Gonzalez (2010), people started to desecrate these churches citing the Protestant Reformation. Luther clearly foresaw these latent issues. In the treatise, Luther argues for equal freedom for all Christian.
The reform document The Freedom of a Christian by Luther also holds traces of biological influence. Luther was raised in a very strict environment. More specifically, Luther grew up under an authoritarian style of parenting. His parents, particularly his father, were very harsh. In addition, Luther was brought up as a Catholic, and the church he attended had a judgmental leadership structure. His early upbringing has a significant contribution to how he viewed God. According to Gonzalez (2010), Luther considered God as a severe judge, just like his father and teachers. In his treatise, Luther describes his early childhood experiences. Luther writes, “The moment you begin to have faith, you learn that all things in you are altogether blameworthy, sinful, and damnable” (Luther, 2008, 281). Luther personally experienced the shocking repercussion of salvation based on works. As such, he devoted himself to fight for salvation through faith.
In “ The Freedom of a Christian,” Luther uses scriptures and logic to develop and support his arguments or main points. The main scripture that Luther has utilized to supports his main points include the Bible, especially the New Testament and Apostle Paul’s letters. He directly quotes from 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, as well as from Romans and Galatians, to support his main arguments. Luther does not rely much on the Old Testament. As we all know, the Old Testament supports religious ceremonies and physical works. Maybe, this is the reason why Luther did not rely on this scripture.
Luther’s explanations are also strongly rooted in logic. He uses logic to set up his argument for salvation. Using logic, Luther shows that faith alone brings salvation. He shows that there no other means to gain salvation other than faith. Luther writes, “No external things have any influence in producing Christian righteousness or freedom, or in producing unrighteousness or servitude” (Luther, 2008, 316). Thus, in his treatise, Luther uses scriptures and logic to provide strong arguments.
Conclusively, in his treatise, Luther employs his own historical background, biographical encounters, support from scriptures, and his own logic to support the argument that faith only brings righteousness or salvation. Faith alone reconciles human beings with their creator. Work does not bring salvation. Thus, Christians should not rely on external forces but have faith in God. This is because it is freedom and frees a person from sin, the law, and false gods.
References
Gonzalez, J. L. (2010). The Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (Vol. 1). Zondervan.
Luther, M. (2008). The freedom of a Christian . Ediciones Sigueme.
Luther, M. (2016). The Freedom of a Christian, 1520: The Annotated Luther Study Edition . Fortress Press.
Mitei, H. (2015). Martin Luther’s theology of ‘Freedom of a Christian’ and its implication for 21st Century African Church. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research and Development, 2 (2); 86-90.
