The freedom of the children of God according to St. Paul

Abstract

Christians are called to freedom. Anywhere that freedom is preached, it can be wrongly understood. There will always be people who take freedom to be the arbitrary wilfullness of egoism. Paul is aware of this: freedom can become "a springboard for the flesh". It can be abused by selfish men to give free play to their lower nature. They can easily feel themselves to be lordly creatures in their new found freedom" According to St Paul, brotherly service of one another is the way of life which corresponds to freedom in Christo And to be free in Christ is to be free "for love", because love occupies, as it were, the space made by freedom. In this short dissertation, I tried to explain, what St. Paul understood by freedom; how this freedom is attained in existence and how freedom comes to realization in us. For Paul, the Gospel freedom is "the perfect law of freedom" , and this leads to the liberty of the children of God .. And love is "the crown of freedom". Thus freedom is release, endowment and sonship. Once we are "sons in the Son", we are compelled to live as free men, and spiritually the perfect tense to live is love.