FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY IN THE THEOLOGY OF ST PAUL, THE APOSTLE
FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY IN THE THEOLOGY OF ST PAUL, THE APOSTLE

Summary/Abstract: The analysis of the concept of freedom in Paul’s theology can be defined from two points of view: 1) the liberating work of Jesus; 2) the practising of Christian ethics resulting from the acceptance of the redemptive work of Jesus that is authoritative and that determines the moral life of Christians. The concept of freedom seems to be a rather abstract concept, however Paul gives it a very exact meaning and reveals its extensive content. Christian freedom cannot be understood as mere liberation from the Law but should be seen as the existential position of the Christian (Gal 3:13; 4:5). In other words, freedom is the final redemptive-eschatological work of Christ, which was achieved by the single act of the redemption. The term refers to freedom in Christ (2:4); freedom from today’s bad times (1:4; 6:14); from circumcision (2:1–10); from the Law (3:13; 4:5), from sin (2:17; 3:22); from the elements of the world (4:3–11); and from the inclination of the flesh (5:13, 24). Freedom means the acquisition of the status of the children of God, of the adoptive “sonship” and hence of the heritage (3:24–25, 29). To conclude, it can be said that freedom in the Spirit, as we can see in Paul’s theology, can be interpreted as the ability to love and to understand the importance of self-giving. The Spirit has the power to set us free through the freedom that is identical with God’s freedom (Rom 5:5). Moreover, our freedom tries to imitate the freedom of God and Christ, in order to turn gradually into the ability to love, and to live according to the idea of self-giving and ministry to other people. Freedom which is granted to us by the Spirit is synonymous with love (2 Cor 3:17).

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