[MUSIC] In this lecture, I want to explore how Luther's two core beliefs, one, that the inner self must be liberated from subservience to the flesh in order to obey the spirit. And two, that Christ alone is the one who forgives come together to form a powerful understanding of human freedom. We will look more deeply at how Luther understands God's gift of Christ, which sets the sinner free from sin and death and enables him or her to find new life in community. Only Christ can set the sinner free, Luther holds. Christ frees the sinner from sin and its consequences, hell and death. Forgiveness is Christ's work. Through his death on the cross and by the power of his resurrection Christ frees the sinner from captivity to the flesh and gives the sinner the new possibility of living life according to the spirit. With this inner freedom, says Luther, the person is freed from false notions about God, such as the idea that God is forever angry. Furthermore, Christ liberates Christians from whatever constricts and obstructs them in the external world, whether the judgement and demands of others, or their own intrusive self regard. Christ sets people free in order that they may be free in relationship to Him. Here we arrive at the mystery of Luther's conception of human freedom. How can it be that a person is free from anything that would hold him or her captive by being situated in relationship with Christ? Doesn't this merely substitute one kind of bondage for another? This is precisely the theological point that Luther wants to make in his treaties on christian freedom. True freedom, Luther says, is to be found only in Christ. It is the new relationship with Christ that frees the self from all forces, sin, and guilt, as well as outer judgments that would coerce it. In modern language, Luther offers a relational concept of freedom. But is Luther naively confusing here inner freedom with how a person lives within the institutions of society and culture? In the first part of his treatise on Christian freedom, Luther explains how Christ frees the sinner from bondage to sin and death by telling a story about the relationship between Christ and a figure Luther calls Christ's bride. He uses the language of marriage to make his point. Christ in whom there is both the divine and a human nature according to Christian theology, exchanges the light, salvation and righteousness of His own person. For the sin and death that is the nature of human life, and by this exchange, the sinner is freed from everything that would keep him or her soul dead and in bondage. Sealed by the marriage ring of faith, a new life opens for the bride, with all the joy and beauty Christ has given. Christ does not offer the bride a new form of subservience, but a new life and freedom with him. In the second part of the treatise Luther develops a further question about freedom. What does a Christian's freedom in Christ mean for his or her relations with other people? Luther says that Christ's freeing gift of himself endows the Christian with the capacity to resist the judgement and impositions of both self and others. And because Christ gives His bride all the life affirming attributes He, Himself, possesses. The self is free to share these attributes with others. The new relationship of Freedom in Christ orients the Christian toward relationships of service to others. The Christian life according to Luther is characterized by regard for the well being of the neighbor regard for the other becomes more important than self love. In a powerful argument, Luther connects the Christians freedom in relationship with Christ to the Christians loving actions in the world in relation to others. This would have enormous applications for the political and social programs of the modern world. [MUSIC]