Download Concerning Christian Liberty djvu

Many people tend to think that the Christian walk is filled with endless and burdensome rules and regulations that enslave its disciples to the tyranny of God. Yet it becomes quite clear for anyone that has studied the Scriptures and developed a close relationship with God that the Lord intends to burden no one and desires to set everyone free.

It is from this bold stance that Martin Luther develops his central thesis in On Christian Liberty: that true freedom is only found in submission to Christ, not to rules, institutions or ideology.

He declares his purpose for the book when he writes, “To make the way smoother for the unlearned—for only them do I serve—I shall set down the following two propositions concerning the freedom and the bondage of the spirit: A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

On Christian Liberty has no chapters and proceeds along a logical train of thought complete with many Scripture references. Liberty in a Christian sense is described as our faith which simultaneously compels us forward to live fruitful, productive lives while liberating us from the Law, works, or any other burdens that unnecessarily hinder us. In essence, Luther extends upon the Augustinian axiom to “Love God and do as you please.”

Again as Luther writes, “Yes, since faith alone suffices for salvation, I need nothing except faith exercising the power and dominion of its own liberty. Lo, this is the inestimable power and liberty of Christians.”

On Christian Liberty is very short (less than 80 pages) and is fairly easy to read. Potential readers should be aware, however, that buying either a written or electronic version of this book will be a matter of preference because this text is widely available for free on the internet in a variety of formats.

In reading this book I realized that it has a very important place in the Christian community. It is not the BIBLE itself. But it will help the reader see into the plan of GOD for their true Christian Liberty. We don't realize that true Christian Liberty is also a Christian Responsibility. A responsibility to the people of faith. We are told that when we gain our strength we are to give strength to our brothers and sisters. Martin Luther did this through his writings And as we enter into the true understanding of Christian Liberty we can do the same. I am not saying that the HOLY Spirit cannot lead us into that truth. But He will use others such as Martin Luther and others as a vessel to do the same. Romans 10:14b,c-15a (KJV)
14b,c and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15a And how shall they preach, except they be sent? These scriptures are paramount to our understanding along with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And Martin Luther was a Preacher of sound character during the time of the reformation. Sent of GOD for that time and this. I hope this is not too long or confusing to anyone. Now is the time for us to start walking in our faith. I hope this helps!

Martin Luther's Concerning Christian Liberty is considered by many to be Luther's seminal work which encapsulates Salvation by Grace through Faith alone as a rallying cry that shook the world of his time. It's a remarkable short work and it's two sections are demarcated by it's opening lines, ""a Christian man is the most free lord of all, and subject to none; a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all, and subject to everyone." This of course is pretty much a restatement of Christ's paradoxical statement, "He who would be the greatest among you, must be the servant of all."

Included in the Kindle version of this work is an opening letter to Pope Leo X, which speaks of a deference and respect that deteriorated subsequently with the eventual rift that rent the fabric of the Catholic Church soon after.

The first section related to faith, is of course, the strongest message related to Luther and in many ways the reclaiming of what characterized the Gospel of the early Church but which over time, had been laden with tradition, reason and experience to where the key message of the gospel was all but drowned out. Luther ties the message back to Scripture and the Word of God, which Luther rightly doesn't separate from the person of Jesus Christ. The Gospel message is brought strongly with a separation from the works and indulgences of Luther's day that had replaced the simple truth.

Luther expands upon the three great "virtues" of faith. First, faith gives us true Christian liberty: we are free from the law and works. Second, faith honors God because by believing His promise it truth and righteousness are imputed to Him. So to not believe the word of the gospel is to make God a liar. Third, faith unites the soul to Christ. Believing in Christ is compared simply and stunningly to a marriage of king and a prostitute, where both share equally in what each brings to the union, for example: "Christ is full of grace, life, and salvation; the soul is full of sin, death, and condemnation. Let faith step in, and then sin, death and hell will belong to Christ, and grace, life, and salvation to the soul."

Following this Luther then expounds upon works and their role carefully separating them from the Salvation message. He points that works serve as a means or purification for us against the continued presence of the flesh in our lives and further evidence of the love we have for God and our brothers and sisters in the faith.

When you consider that this message, so familiar in so many contexts today, was coming out in a manner that had been muffled for years it's easy to see the power with which it burst onto the scene of its times. What is more, when we consider that many traditions today which claim the message of Grace and Faith but which have equally in time become slowly laden with tradition, reason and experience, there is great value in returning to this as an opportunity to cast off those elements that perhaps in our own communities of faith, like the organized church of old, have crept in and begun to muffle the message of Grace that is the most remarkable message of God.

Luther was not a perfect man by any means. When you examine his life and some of his views in other areas, it's hard to reconcile the grace he spoke of with the bigotry he expressed in some regards, even if you try to factor in the context of the society he lived in as some form of justification. Even with that, Luther's message of Grace echoing what he found in the Bible and which society at that time was able to access without the filtering of the institutional church, echoes still even 500 years later.

As a Kindle Book the free version loses nothing in terms of it's readability. The work is short enough and simple enough that the usual features that help to make Kindle Versions easier to navigate, really aren't needed.

5 Stars.

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