Reformation Reflections about Liberty and Freedom: They Still Matter!

Word from the Center
Written By LCRL Staff

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Every year on October 31, Christians from around the world are reminded of a “reforming” movement that brought back to light the central message of the Bible, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Freedom, life, and salvation were again heard as God’s gifts offered to sinners by grace alone, through faith alone, in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. Martin Luther’s rediscovery of the uniqueness of the freedom of the Gospel as God’s saving work in the world for all shook the foundations of the medieval world. It ushered in many of the precious freedoms that we enjoy in this world today. It clearly identified and distinguished the uniqueness of the eternal freedom that comes from knowing and trusting in God’s gracious work in Jesus from the cultural/political freedoms that come from public policy, citizenship, and good government. Distinguishing, cherishing, and engaging both freedoms is part of what it means to be a Christian citizen in the world for the sake of the culture and the mission of the Church.

Does such differentiation matter today? Is the awareness of the distinction between God’s preserving work from His saving work still important today? Or is it the product of a by-gone era that no longer matters to a society so “advanced” as ours? What if I told you that Luther’s teaching, often called “two-kingdoms,” is more vital today than ever before? James Madison said as much he wrote about the uniqueness of the American government and its inspiration from the Reformation in a letter to Rev. Schaeffer, Dec. 3, 1821, saying:

It illustrates the excellence of a system which, by a due distinction, to which the genius and courage of Luther led the way, between what is due to Caesar and what is due God, best promotes the discharge of both obligations. The experience of the United States is a happy disproof of the error so long rooted in the unenlightened minds of well-meaning Christians, as well as in the corrupt hearts of persecuting usurpers, that without a legal incorporation of religious and civil polity, neither could be supported. A mutual independence is found most friendly to practical Religion, to social harmony, and to political prosperity.[1]

His point? You can’t have one freedom or the other because one freedom undergirds the other. That’s right: Knowing that our rights come from God because He is our creator, and knowing that there is a God in heaven who is both judge and redeemer, such a powerful idea gives purpose to our temporal freedoms here on earth. But the Apostle Paul goes further in Galatians 5:13, saying, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.” One freedom, God’s gift of freedom in Christ, empowers the other. One freedom compels the other. One freedom sustains the other.

Today, all throughout the Western world, many are seeking to maintain the temporal freedoms of our democratic republics without any allegiance or commitment to the eternal things of God. Morals, ethics, and messages like the Gospel—forgiveness of sin/eternal life in Christ alone— are said to be nothing more than our words from a time long past. Or even worse, they are our words, words of position, subjugation, and power. Nothing more. I’ve heard people say, “We fashioned such notions once. We can refashion them again.” “We” fashioned them? Or did we merely recognize their truth and power? Can we really dispense with the eternal freedoms of God in Christ, the wisdom of the biblical worldview, God’s Law and His Gospel, and still maintain the precious freedoms that liberty and democracy presently offer? I don’t think so.  

So, I say, remember the Reformation! It’s proclamation of eternal freedom in Christ as a gift of grace, and defending the constitutional freedoms that we have, compelled by the preserving power of God’s Law, that allows us the temporal freedom to live as God’s people free of government coercion or intimidation to the contrary. Let the “first freedom” undergird the second. Let the Reformation proclamation of our ultimate freedom in Christ rekindle a hope in you that the world can never take away. Let it resound a message of freedom from us that is as eternal as the resurrection of the one who was crucified and raised from the dead so that all could live with Him in a freedom that never ends. Let the wisdom of the Reformation that differentiated the two freedoms as God’s blessings in the world—His preserving work from His saving work—that transformed subjects into citizens, that came to fruition in a “Bill of Rights’” protection of citizens from bad government, let it compel you to put your liberties to work rightly in service to others as well.

Earthly freedom is built on the notion that we are created beings of an eternal God. Earthly liberty stems from God’s preserving work in the world, exercised through family, government, work, and enterprise, even in a world hell-bent on its own demise. Eternal freedom, however, comes only through God’s restoration of all things through the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ alone. That differentiation brought out the best of both freedoms for a time. On this Reformation weekend, as we prepare to vote in the upcoming election, let’s rekindle our commitment to be faithful to the God who both preserves and redeems this world His two ways. And let’s us remind ourselves of the blessings that come from following Him in all things, now and forever.

The Rev. Dr. Gregory Seltz is executive director of the Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty.

Be Informed
Learn more about the difference between men and women and how it impacts a pro-child culture with Peachy Keenan in a recent Issues, Etc. podcast.

Be Equipped
Do fathers get a choice or have any say when it comes to their children being lost to abortion?

Be Encouraged
“Having received God’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation in His divine services to us in our congregations, we jointly put on His armor (Ephesians 6:10-18) in the public square, proclaiming Christ and Him crucified for the forgiveness of sins, even those of babies still in the womb. In so doing, we advocate for the sanctity of life from the moment of fertilization and pray that God will use us to change the hearts of the abortion-minded in our communities.” -Dr. Roni Grad

[1] http://www.beliefnet.com/resourcelib/docs/10/Letter_from_James_Madison_to_FL_Schaeffer_1.html

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