Free to Serve

In the midst of his spiritual anguish, Martin Luther discovered a profound truth that was completely new to him. Since Jesus had already secured a place in heaven for him, Luther was no longer bound to earn God's forgiveness and favor. Instead, Jesus had called him to be bound to his neighbors in love. Suddenly Luther saw how his neighbors' needs provided his life with a daily and never-ceasing divine purpose. He was free to serve!

Fulfilling our duties for others is what makes our lives truly God-pleasing, fruitful, and fulfilling because we're doing what God created us to do, not inventing our own ways to please him. "Therefore, it happens," Luther asserted, "that [when] a pious maid does what she is ordered and according to her office sweeps the yard or carries out the manure, or a servant in the same way plows and drives the team--they are walking straight toward heaven on the right road" (AE 75:355).

The intention of this brief volume is to explore and summarize what Luther taught about the doctrine of vocation so that readers can apply his insights to their own lives, find comfort, confidence, and purpose in their very unique and necessary callings from God, and rejoice in the fact that they are bound in Christ to serve their neighbors freely in sacrificial love.

Book Details
Publisher: Joh. Ph. Koehler Press (2024)
Language: English
Hardcover: 174 pages
ISBN: 978-1312093478