When I was in seminary I had to read a lot of “liberation theology.” This is a branch of theology that understands God’s saving work as delivering people from class oppression, usually expressed in economic terms. For a liberation theologian, wherever one discovers the forces of oppression being challenged is where one discovers God’s redeeming presence. It’s telling that the first step that a liberation theologian would recommend for someone hoping to minister among a people is to do an analysis of the society based upon marxist economic principles.
I had to write a paper about this phenomenon. I entitled it, “Liberation Theology: Liberated for What?” The paper challenged liberation theology’s assumption that sin expressed in economic and political terms is the only sin that needs to be addressed. Certainly, sin does express itself in such terms; but someone who has cast off the oppressive chains of sinful societal structures is still a slave to their own sin. Ultimately, this is the slavery from which Jesus came to free us. And free us he has, God be praised, for “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
The good news is that Jesus, in his own body, offered the slave price for our freedom. As such, a believer’s faith in Christ sets him or her free from the ownership that sin, death, and the devil claimed. Sin, while still present and seeking to get back its property, no longer has a legitimate claim. This goes for death and the devil as well. For those who confess faith in the finished work of Christ have that which liberates them: a righteousness that does not depend on personal obedience, but the obedience of Christ, as well as the power that raised our liberator from the grave (see Romans 6:5-11).
Without the liberating work of Jesus in a person’s life, those who have been freed from oppressive societal structures remain slaves of sin and will turn around to become oppressors themselves. History has demonstrated as much, time and time again. Only in Christ does one find the grace to be both truly free and to pursue true freedom for others.
