1. Christ is the Saviour; he came into the world to set mankind free from the bondage of sin at the price of his paschal sacrifice. We saw this in the previous catechesis. If the concept of "liberation" refers on the one hand to evil, liberated from which we find "salvation", on the other hand it refers to good, for the attainment of which we have been liberated by Christ, the redeemer of man and the world with man and in man. "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (Jn 8:32). These words of Jesus specify very concisely the good for which man has been set free through the Gospel in the context of Christ's redemption. It is freedom in truth. It constitutes the essential good of salvation, wrought by Christ. Through this good, the kingdom of God is truly "near" to man and his earthly history.

2. The salvific liberation that Christ works towards man contains within itself, in a certain sense, the two dimensions: liberation "from" (evil) and liberation "for" (good), which are intimately united, condition and complement each other.

Returning yet again to the evil from which Christ liberates man - that is, the evil of sin - we must add that through the extraordinary 'signs' of his saving power (that is, the miracles), which he performed by healing the sick from various infirmities, he always indicated, at least indirectly, this essential liberation, which is liberation from sin, its remission. This appears clearly in the healing of the paralytic, to whom Jesus first said: 'Your sins are forgiven you', and only afterwards: 'Get up, take up your bed and go home' (Mk 2:5, 11). Performing this miracle Jesus addressed those around him (especially those who accused him of blasphemy, for only God can forgive sins): "That ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins" (Mk 2:10).

3. In the Acts of the Apostles we read that Jesus "went about doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him" (Acts 10: 38). In fact, it appears from the Gospels that Jesus healed the sick from many infirmities (such as the bent woman who "could not stand upright in any way" [cf. Lk 13:10-16]). When he happened to "cast out evil spirits", if they accused him of doing this with the help of the evil one, he responded by demonstrating the nonsense of such an insinuation and said: "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come among you" (Mt 12:28; cf. Lk 11:20). By freeing men from the evil of sin, Jesus unmasks the one who is the "father of sin". It is from him, from the evil spirit, that the "bondage of sin" in which men find themselves begins. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the slave of sin. Now the slave does not remain in the house forever, but the son remains there always; if therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8: 34-36).

4. Faced with the opposition of his listeners, Jesus added: ". . From God I came forth and am coming; I did not come of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my language? Because you cannot listen to my words, you who have the devil for a father, and want to fulfil your father's desires. He has been murderous from the beginning and has not persevered in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks falsely, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8: 42-44). It is difficult to find a text in which the evil of sin is shown so strongly in its root of diabolical falsehood.

5. We hear again the words of Jesus: "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (Jn 8:36). "If you remain true to my word, you will indeed be my disciples: you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (John 8: 31-32). Jesus Christ came to set mankind free from the evil of sin. This fundamental evil has its beginning in the "father of lies" (as already seen in the book of Genesis) (cf. Gen 3:4). For this reason, deliverance from the evil of sin, working down to its very roots, must be deliverance to the truth and through the truth. Jesus Christ reveals this truth. He himself is "the truth" (John 14: 6). This truth brings with it true freedom. It is freedom from sin and falsehood. Those who were "slaves to sin" because they were under the influence of the "father of lies" are set free through participation in the truth, which is Christ - and in the freedom of the Son of God they themselves attain "the freedom of the children of God" (cf. Rom 8:21). St Paul can assure; "The law of the Spirit which gives life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:2).

6. In the same letter to the Romans, the Apostle eloquently presents the human decadence that sin brings with it. Looking at the moral evil of his time, he writes that men, having forgotten God, "have rambled in their reasoning and their dulled minds have grown dull" (Rom 1:21). "They have exchanged the truth of God for lies, and have worshipped and adored the creature instead of the Creator" (Rom 1:25). "And because they have despised the knowledge of God, God has left them at the mercy of a depraved understanding, so that they commit what is unworthy" (Rom 1:28).

7. In other passages of his letter, the Apostle moves from the external description to an analysis of the human interior, where good and evil fight against each other. "I cannot understand even what I do: for it is not what I want that I do, but what I detest. Now if I do what I do not want, I recognise that the law is good; therefore it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me" (Rom 7:15-17). "In my members I see another law, which wages war against the law of my mind and makes me a slave to the law of sin . . .". "I am a wretched man! Who shall deliver me from this body doomed to death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom 7:23-25). It follows from this Pauline analysis that sin constitutes a profound alienation; in a certain sense it "makes man a stranger" to himself in his inner "self". Liberation comes with the "grace and truth" (cf. Jn 1:17) brought by Christ.

8. It is clear in what the liberation wrought by Christ consists: to what freedom he has set us free. The liberation wrought by Christ differs from that expected by his contemporaries in Israel. For even before going definitively to the Father, Christ was questioned by those who were closest to him: "Lord, is this the time when you will rebuild the kingdom of Israel?" (Acts 1:6). And so even then - after the experience of the paschal events - they continued to think of deliverance in a political sense: in this respect the Messiah, the descendant of David, was awaited.

9. But the liberation wrought by Christ at the price of his passion and death on the cross, has an essentially different meaning: it is liberation from that which in man's innermost being hinders his relationship with God. At that level sin means slavery; and Christ overcame sin in order to graft the grace of divine sonship, the liberating grace, back into man. "And you have not received a spirit of slaves to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adopted sons by which we cry out, 'Abba, Father!'" (Rom 8:15).

This spiritual liberation, that is, "freedom in the Holy Spirit", is thus the fruit of Christ's saving mission: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom" (2 Cor 3:17). In this sense we have "been called to freedom" (Gal 5:13) in Christ and through Christ. "Faith working through charity" (Gal 5:6) is the expression of this freedom.

10. It is a matter of the liberation of the inner man, the "freedom of the heart". Liberation in the social and political sense is not the true messianic work of Christ. On the other hand, it must be realised that without the liberation he brought about, without the liberation of man from sin, and thus from all kinds of selfishness, no real liberation in the socio-political sense can be achieved either. No purely external change of structures leads to any real liberation of society, as long as man is subject to sin and lies, as long as the passions dominate, and with them exploitation and the various forms of oppression.

11. Even what could be called liberation in the psychological sense cannot be fully realised except by the liberating forces that come from Christ. It is part of his work of redemption. Christ alone is "our peace" (Eph 2:14). His grace and love liberate man from existential fear before the meaninglessness of life and from that torment of conscience that is the legacy of man fallen into the bondage of sin.

12. The liberation wrought by Christ with the truth of his gospel, and definitively with the gospel of his cross and resurrection, while retaining its primarily spiritual and "interior" character, can extend over a universal range of action, and is intended for all men. The words "for by grace you have been saved" (Eph 2:5) concern everyone. At the same time, however, this deliverance, which is "a grace", i.e. a gift, cannot be accomplished without man's participation. Man must welcome it with faith, hope and charity. He must "await his salvation with fear and trembling" (cf. Phil 2:12). "For it is God who awakens in you the willing and working according to his gracious designs" (Phil 2:13). Aware of this supernatural gift, we ourselves must cooperate with the liberating power of God, which through Christ's redeeming sacrifice has entered the world as the eternal source of salvation.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 3 August 1988]