“The Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to no one. The Christian is a perfectly devoted servant of all, subject to all." This paradox is the basis of Luther's conception of Christian freedom. For Luther, his reform liberated Christians in two ways. Christians were free from false assumptions about salvation and the commandments of the Old Testament. For Luther, only God could guarantee salvation. Despite this freedom, Christians still had to obey earthly laws. The differences between spiritual and temporal freedom seemed contradictory but for Luther it was clear that faith would liberate the Christian soul. Luther defined Christian freedom as freedom through faith. Salvation was granted only by God. However their flesh was still bound by temporal laws on earth because it did not touch the soul. First, the basis of Christian freedom was Luther's belief in an inner man and an outer man. The inner man was the spiritual man, and the outer man the flesh. For Luther, freedom does not concern the external man but the internal one. Since the needs of the soul were contrary to the needs of the flesh, external forces on the flesh could not influence the inner soul. Here Luther explains why works, as in the Catholic tradition, cannot free the soul. Works do not touch the soul, whether good or bad. Rather only faith could liberate the soul. This belief was in direct opposition to the Catholic doctrine of doing good works to help earn salvation. Luther saw this as hypocrisy. It meant putting something that only God would do into the hands of man. Therefore, faith was the basis for truly liberating the Christian soul. Furthermore, Luther was firmly convinced that the freedom of the inner person came from the knowledge that works could not save the soul. “I am… middle of paper… the soul of UE Christian was free. By living as a true Christian one could help others and preserve peace. This freedom ultimately belonged to the inner man and not the outer man, so Christians remained under the authority of the lords. To Luther it didn't matter since their souls were finally free. Works CitedMartin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian, in Hans Hillerbrand (ed.), The Protestant Reformation (1968), pp. 33Luther, FC, p. 33Luther, FC, p. 33Luther, FC, p. 49Martin Luther, Commentary on the epistle of Saint Paul to the Galatians, in Hans Hillerbrand (ed.), The Protestant Reformation (1968), pp. 126Luther, FC, p. 37Luther CP, p. 131Martin Luther, Concerning Governmental Authority in Hans Hillerbrand (ed.), The Protestant Reformation (1968), pp. 74Luther, G.A., p. 75Luther, GA, p. 76Luther, GA, p. 83Luther, GA, p. 88