Try though as he may, man cannot reap as he will — peace and joy alone come from God; in and of himself, the best man can do is be at war with himself and the world. Man was not created to be a selfish, autonomous being; he was created in the image of God to reflect Him and to glorify Him.
Knowing that we are indeed loved by God, we will live in the freedom which flows from that truth and love. In this experience of salvation, man discovers the true meaning of his freedom, since liberation is the restoration of freedom. Thus the opposite of freedom would be the dependence of our will upon the will of another. Such is the nature of freedom. Ultimately, it is the freedom to offer to God everything we are and everything we have.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger adds a number of other important elements to this matter of freedom. He begins by affirming the fact that we were not created to be selfish, autonomous beings — we were created to need the company of other people and to live in orientation toward them.
Thus, he says, it is only by learning to unite our will to the will of others, for the sake of the common good, that we will learn moral integrity of will; such requires the criterion of truth and a right relationship to the will of others.
Truth and justice doing right are therefore the measure of true freedom. Therefore, far from being achieved in total self-sufficiency and an absence of relationships, freedom only truly exists where reciprocal bonds, governed by truth and justice, link people to one another; and for such bonds to be possible, each person must live in the truth.
Freedom is not the liberty to do anything whatsoever — it is the freedom to do good and in this alone happiness is to be found. The good is thus the goal of freedom. In consequence, man becomes free to the extent that he comes to a knowledge of the truth, and to the extent that this truth and not any other forces guides his will Radzinger, points By creating man in His own image, God imprinted His likeness on him — as such he hears the call of his Creator toward the good.
It is revealed to man that God created him free so that by grace he could enter into friendship with God and share His life. It is precisely the characteristic of atheism to believe that the affirmation of God means the negation of man. In reality, it is from God and in relationship with Him that human freedom takes its meaning…. By his free will, man is master of his own life. Since man belongs to different communities family, professional, political, and social , it is inside these communities that he must exercise his responsible freedom.
The social dimension of the human being is meant to find its accomplishment in the Body of Christ — this is why social life, according to Augustine, when it is in conformity with the divine law, constitutes a reflection of the glory of God in the world AD Macedonium, II, The great and rapid transformations of the present age face him with a dramatic challenge: that of mastering and controlling by the use of his reason and freedom the forces which he puts to work in the service of the true purposes of human existence.
Radzinger says that God calls man to freedom, and that there is a desire in every person to be free… yet this desire almost always tends towards slavery and oppression. Such is the profound nature of sin: man rejects the truth and places his own will above it. By wishing to free himself from God and be a god himself, he deceives himself and destroys himself…. By seeking total autonomy and self-sufficiency, man denies God… and by denying or trying to deny God, who is his Beginning and End, man profoundly disturbs his own order and interior balance as well as that of society….
Scripture shows that [throughout] the whole course of [human] history, man has abused his freedom by setting himself up against God and by seeking to gain his ends without God…. Human beings deprived of divine grace have thus inherited a common mortal nature, incapable of choosing what is good and inclined to covet-ousness read Gen ; Rom ; …. By sinning man seeks to free himself from God.
A disordered love of self is the other side of contempt for God. Man then wishes to make independent decisions about what is good and what is evil, or decisions about values; and in a single step he rejects both the idea of God and the idea of sin. Human history, marked as it is by the experience of sin, would drive us to complete despair if God had abandoned His creation to itself. But the divine promise of liberation through the cross of Christ is the basis of the joyful hope that gives us the strength to act resolutely and effectively in the service of love, justice and peace.
The gospel is a liberating message of freedom in the life of the believer. Injustice to the little ones and to the poor is a grave sin — the just and the poor of Yahweh offer up their supplications to him in the Psalms Ps 25, 31, 35, They endure persecution and martyrdom, but they live in hope of deliverance. Above all, they place their trust in Yahweh, to whom they commend their cause Jer ; For them, the most tragic misfortune is the loss of this communion.
Paul had just demonstrated that Christ alone is sufficient to reconcile us to God Col ; also cf. Jesus told His disciples that if the world hated Him they would also persecute them His followers — Jn Mt Paul not only suffered for Christ, but also for the sake of the Church 2 Tim ; he was also mindful of the fact that his sufferings were producing an eternal reward 2 Cor ; Rom The freedom brought by Christ in the Holy Spirit has restored to us the capacity which sin had taken away from us to love God above all things and remain in communion with Him.
We must therefore persevere and fight in order not to fall once more under the yoke of slavery. The path of genuine freedom on our part requires faith, commitment, endurance, intentionality, determination and discipline. The people of God of the New Covenant is the Church of Christ, and her law is the command-ment of love — all those found worthy before Christ by the grace of God, who made good use of their freedom, will receive the reward of happiness 1 Cor ; 2 Cor … and ultimately they shall be made like Him, for they shall see Him as He is 1 Jn In addition to the various individuals stated in the foregoing material, some of the themes of this study were taken from the following authors and sources —.
Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc. Ekstrand Introduction Printable pdf Version of this Study The gospel is a message of freedom and liberation — the ministry of Jesus was that of liberating captives.
Yoder Sincerity is a necessary requisite for acquiring spiritual wisdom — earnest, sincere inquiry leads to successful investigation. Pastor and author Henry Jaegers offers the following considerations Jaegers — 1. Truth makes us flexible and willing to change our position on an issue. Truth is faithful ; it always comes through on its promises.
Truth is always consistent with the intended meaning of Scripture. The Liberating Business of the Church As followers of Christ we need to see that we are in the business of liberating captives, of setting people free from sin and death through the gospel Rom , and thus reconciling them to God Rom Liberation and Christian Freedom Human history, marked as it is by the experience of sin, would drive us to complete despair if God had abandoned His creation to itself.
Beckwith was ordained in Religious Science in He was married to New Thought musician Rickie Byars Beckwith Michael Bernard Beckwith's inspiring teachings have been empowering spiritual seekers for more than two decades. Now, in the film Spiritual Liberation, you can take an intimate walk with the founder and director of Agape International Spiritual Center and witness how he lives his own teachings. A New Thought church with a congregation estimated in excess of 8, members.
Michael Beckwith, D. God is outside of me making things happen in my life - testing, rewarding and punishing me. Life appears governed by external forces. I This is a good book. I think the middle 3rd suffers from a lack of real examples to illustrate the guidance given.
But it's a very spiritual book and is great to read if you want to improve yourself. People who buy the SP2 primarily for tablet use will be disappointed. Now that I have a few days left to send it back and as the SP2. If this don t do it I would Michael Bernard Beckwith -- the dynamic spiritual leader who touched millions of readers and viewers in The Secret and through the spiritual community he founded, the Agape International Spiritual Center -- is now sharing his.
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