The Paradox of Christian Freedom | Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J. | Editorial for the October 2009 issue of Homiletic & Pastoral Review
“For freedom Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1). St. Paul tells us that faith in Christ makes us free. In the contemporary world there is a universal demand for more freedom—personal, political and economic. Freedom, however, is a slogan word that has many different meanings. Today freedom is often understood in the sense of a lack of restraint, so that one is free to do whatever one wishes to do. That is a form of licentiousness, not true freedom.
Freedom understood as licentiousness is a false freedom. Actually, it is not freedom at all, but rather it is slavery to one’s selfishness, passions and pride.
Christian freedom is something totally different. The Christian who submits himself to the law of love in Christ Jesus is the one who is truly free. Only God has absolute freedom because his will is identified with his being or substance. So God is essential freedom—he can do whatever he wills because he has absolute power over all things. But since God is also absolute truth and goodness, he can do only what is in accordance with his essence—everything he does is good. So God cannot deceive and he cannot do anything that is evil since that is contrary to his nature.
On the other hand, created freedom is limited and relative. But the more a created person (man or angel) approaches the goodness of God, the more he shares in the freedom of God. We have here what seems to be a paradox. Man wishes to be free, but the only way he can become truly free is by submitting himself to Christ by faith, hope and charity. St. Paul calls it the “obedience of faith” (Rom. 1:5). The saints who strive mightily to serve God in all things, whose whole being is centered on God, are human persons who are supremely free. Submission to the truth is what makes one free.
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