The purpose of life in Orthodoxy. “What is the most important thing in the Christian way of life”

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Professor Alexei Ilyich Osipov

The problem of the meaning of life.

The problem of the meaning of life is the problem of the desired ideal or truth.

Its understanding determines the purpose, direction and nature of all human activity. However, the very solution of the issue, speaking in essence, is due to the existential-personal attitude of a person: his freedom, his spiritual and moral state.

In the historical arena, three main forces claim to resolve this issue: religion, philosophy and science. Briefly, their responses could be summarized as follows.

Religion, by which we mean such a complete system of beliefs, where the ideas of God and eternal life are central, sees the meaning of life in union with God.

Philosophy, ultimately - in the rational comprehension of truth.

Science - in the maximum knowledge of the world.

Naturally, each of these answers requires a broad interpretation.

What is the peculiarity of the Orthodox understanding of this issue?

It sees the meaning of life in eternal life in God, otherwise called salvation. This means, firstly, the conviction that God exists, and that He is not only the source of being, but also being itself, in which only the good of being of all that exists is possible, full comprehension of the Truth and knowledge of the created world in its being is possible. Secondly, this presupposes an understanding that real (earthly) life is not a self-sufficient value, but a necessary condition, a transient form of a person's being in order to achieve a perfect life in God. Therefore, the atheistic call is unnatural to the Christian consciousness: “Believe, man, eternal death awaits you!” - because it does not remain for the meaning of the most important thing - life, in which only meaning can be and is realized.

Creature Christian faith can be expressed in two words: “CHRIST IS RISEN!”, since they contain the whole infinite and at the same time quite concrete perspective of life. Its meaning is in becoming like Christ and uniting with Him, in other words - deification, theosis. What does it mean? In short, this is perfection in kenotic (Greek - self-abasement, sacrificial humility) love, which constitutes the very essence of God, for "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him" (; 16).

The Apostle Paul writes about this state in some detail in his epistle to the Galatians, when he lists the fruits of God's action in man. He characterizes it as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, mercy, meekness, temperance (). In another epistle, he describes this state in the following words: “Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and it has not entered into the heart of man, which God has prepared for those who love Him” (;9).

The Apostle, as we see, writes that a person who is spiritually cleansed, healed of passions, that is, spiritually healthy, abides in deep joy, love and peace of mind - speaking in modern language - in happiness, but not fleeting, accidental, caused by the action of the nerves and psyche, but which has become a property of the soul of the "new" person, and therefore inalienable, eternal. However, it should be noted that this state in itself is not the goal and meaning of human life according to Christian teaching. It is only one of the consequences of achieving the goal - salvation, deification, unity with God, in which the personality of a person reaches the fullness of its disclosure, god-likeness.

But perfection in love is not only a moral and emotional good for a person. Love is no less a perfect “instrument” for cognizing the Truth and the created world. It is no coincidence that those who, due to their special spiritual purity, are called reverend, called the spiritual life true philosophy, art from arts, science from sciences. They called it that because correct asceticism, restoring the unity of the soul with God, reveals to man both the knowledge of the Truth, and the contemplation of Her imperishable Beauty, and the knowledge of the essence of all creations. The experience of the Church clearly shows that the spiritual perfection of a person, to which the Gospel calls, is not a fantasy of ardent dreamers, but a reality, a fact, an infinite, practically, number of times verified in the history of the life of the world, and until now offered to a seeking person as the only reasonable goal of being. .

Naturally, such a meaning of life is unacceptable to the pagan world, the essence of which the first Theologian of the Church expressed in the following words: “... everything in the world: lust of the flesh (thirst for pleasures: sensual, aesthetic, intellectual), lust of the eyes (thirst for wealth) and worldly pride ( seeking power, glory), is not from the Father, but from this world" (;16). The psychological basis of the world is the "ostrich syndrome" - the refusal to see the only indisputable and inevitable reality of this life - death. Therefore, all the forces of a person and he throws on the acquisition of these "benefits". And although it is quite obvious how ruthlessly they are all taken away from the simple touch of death, nevertheless, for the world, the ideal that goes beyond the interests of this life, the IDEAL crucified in this life, is, in the words of the Apostle Paul, temptation and madness ().

The Christian meaning of life, which consists in the acquisition by a person even here, on earth, of God-like spiritual values ​​and faith in the real resurrection of the body for infinite life in God, thus becomes in irreconcilable contradiction with the ideal of the so-called. atheistic humanism.

It would be extremely interesting and important to analyze the spiritual sources from which the denial of the Christian ideal stems. There is no doubt that these origins are purely spiritual and not rational. This is supported by at least the following considerations.

First. Every correct theory must satisfy at least two basic requirements: to have facts to support it, and to be verifiable (it goes without saying that it must be consistent). It is obvious that Christianity satisfies these conditions, and that atheism has (and cannot have in principle) neither facts confirming the non-existence of God, nor an answer to its main question: “What should a person do to be convinced of the non-existence of God?” - no less obvious. More precisely, atheism must recognize its full agreement with religion that for a person who is looking for the meaning of life, there is only one way to find (or not find) it - religious.

Second. Christianity offers man an ideal that no religion in the world has ever known greater or equal - pure, disinterested love. This love, in the image of Christ, is the highest state of good (to use the terminology of Plato), happiness (in the terminology of the world), bliss spiritual man, and at the same time a means of true knowledge of God and all created being. That this ideal of perfect love is achievable in reality, and not the fruit of someone's fantasies, is quite eloquently evidenced by the history of the Church, the life of her saints. Why, in this case, is it not only denied by the world, but often with bitterness, fire and sword, “cleansed” from human consciousness? Isn't this bitterness itself an indication of the true source of the world's denial of the Christian ideal of life?

The third is the well-known so-called. "Pascal's wager". Indeed, the recognition of Christ, without taking away anything useful and reasonable from a person in this life, at the same time gives him complete hope for well-being in eternity, if Christ is God and Savior. On the contrary, the rejection of Him as the ideal and meaning of life, without enriching the earthly existence of man, deprives him of everything in eternity, if there is a God. Therefore, being a Christian is “profitable”, while rejecting the Christian meaning of life is unreasonable. But in that case, why is this meaning rejected?

Christianity is rejected, of course, not because of some of its fundamental contradictions to human nature and life. The reason is completely different. It is rejected because of its complete opposition to the purposes and nature of the life of the pagan world.

For the world of pleasure, wealth and glory are the essence of life, for Christianity they are passions, inevitably entailing suffering, disappointment and inevitable bodily and spiritual death. For paganism, the meaning of life is earthly goods, for Christianity it is spiritual goods: love, peace of mind, joy, purity of conscience, generosity, that is, something that a person can own forever. Finally, for paganism, Christian holiness itself is unbearable; for it it is like a reproach of conscience in an unrepentant soul, like a bell ringing, reminiscent of eternal truth. By the way, it is no coincidence that the revolution of 1917 in Russia threw down and destroyed bells with such hatred ...

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Father Sergiy said that I would give lectures. Do not believe me - I forgot my glasses. We'll have to speak!
You know, our age is of such a kind that when we come into contact with something or something is offered to us, then we, sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously, but ask ourselves - what will it give us? The West is accustoming us a little bit to look at things pragmatically. Stop hovering in the clouds.
So, exactly the same approach can often be encountered when we talk about Orthodoxy. But really, what can it give me? And what does it give a person? There are many worldviews. And, you know, we look at them as something applied. There is life - this is our life. These are our worries, these are our troubles, if you like, sorrows, joys. It is our life. We know our work, we know how we live, what we strive for. A worldview and religion - it's just some appendage. I'm trying to talk about what I think is felt by a lot of people. Religion has become an appendage to life! Life is one thing, religion is another! The most that strives modern man, - this is on Sunday or on holidays to go to mass. At the Academy, I quite often say that priests perform services during services, professors attend services, students sing during services, and I don’t know who prays. In general, what is it? And why is it to pray?
The fact is that any worldview, a worldview in essence, and religion in particular, is not an appendage to our practical life, but it is, it turns out, what determines our life, determines it in the most important things. And what is most important for us is, probably, we all know. The most important thing for us is to have a good soul. You know, in a hut - yes, to your liking! And you can live in palaces and be an unhappy person.

The abbot told me a story from his life, about which you may have heard. He himself was from an Orthodox family, a believer, but then he went to school, from school to a real school. There he was completely convinced that there is no God, that these are just empty fantasies that mean nothing. And that the meaning of life lies precisely in knowing this world. As much as possible. Achieve dominance in this world and acquire all the benefits that this world can give. We were all, he said, infected with materialism.
And one day, he said, we were all deeply shocked. Suddenly there was a message in the newspapers large print what is called, "with exclamation points": "Millionaire committed suicide"! – we were all shocked. “We were already,” he says, “raised in a materialistic worldview.” Yes, yes, it was before the revolution, mind you, before the revolution! Do not think that it is now, there somewhere, in Soviet times. No, it was the 1900s. "We were all materialists." “I remember,” he says, “I go into the dining room and do not take off my hats, as it should be according to Orthodox custom, I demonstrate my atheistic conviction.” The millionaire committed suicide... So what is the most important thing in life? He had everything! It turns out that failed love - and everything is gone.

There is a very interesting myth among the Greeks, they generally have a lot of interesting myths. Deep myths that reveal, really very strongly sometimes, one or another side human life, psychology, sometimes even affect the very essence of man. The myth of the sword of Damocles. Remember how one of the nobles envied the king that he lives in luxury. The king noticed this and decided to arrange a feast. He put the nobleman in his place, but hung a sword over his head on a thin hair. And then he asked: “Well, how do you feel? Why don't you eat or drink? Why are you so sad? Why are you so sad?" This idea of ​​the sword of Damocles is a great idea, I'll tell you. Every person who was born, I don't even say - was born, he is already sitting under the sword of Damocles. When this hair will break, no one knows. That is, we hear, of course, we hear - it broke off over one thing, over another, over a third, over a tenth. This is how wars begin - this thin hair breaks over millions.

And involuntarily a person wonders if he wants to break away at least a little from everyday life, from the hustle and bustle, which, by the way, clutter up the most, you know, like dust in the eyes or something: what do I live for? A person sees, there seems to be vision, but the dust can close his eyes so much that he will not see anything, everything seems to be there - but he sees nothing. So this is our everyday life, these are our worries, problems, torments, bewilderments, disputes, etc. sometimes our life is so closed that we don't even have time to think what is called: why am I living? What am I living for? What is the meaning of this life of mine? What is the point of all this activity of mine? What's the point? Okay, I did everything, and then what? Did. Well, I did. And then what? True, there are different attempts to answer this question. But in fact, these are half-measures. "I do this in order to live!" - but very often we do a lot not at all in order to live. In order to live, we need much less. "We do it for others!" – but we need to think: what can we do for others? In general, the question of the value of what we do is one of the most important. Meaning and value are the content of all our activities. This meaning and value can only be assessed from the point of view of one or another worldview. Only worldview can answer the question - is it good or bad? Am I doing activities that will really benefit me and other people?! Or it just won’t work, I’m doing it like a squirrel in a wheel: I do it with one hand, and ruin it with the other!

So, the first question that, it seems to me, should confront a person, and indeed it is worth it, no matter how much we sometimes drown it out. This, after all, is a question about: “As a person, I live for some years - and that’s it? Or do I, as a person, continue to live, will I live? Here, if you like, are two statements that cannot be reconciled and reconciled in any way. This is an alternative. Or: believe, man, eternal death awaits you - so says atheism. Or: believe, man, eternal life awaits you. And this [earthly] life is only, if you like, an examination, an opportunity to reveal oneself as a person, as a moral being and aspiring to one or the other.

What is a person? A man is his faith! What does he aspire to, what does he want, what is he looking for. The belief that there is no God, no eternity, no soul, is splendidly shown by Dostoevsky in The Brothers Karamazov. I remember when I watched the film, I simply said in my hearts, even in delight: “Now the apologists have nothing to do!” There is a wonderful conversation between Ivan Karamazov and a hanger-on, i.e. demon: “But if there is no God, then everything is allowed?! If there is no God, then why live? A healthy person can talk well, everything is fine with him, everything is fine now. Did the person get sick? Did he start having problems? But not in the family? Etc. What is the meaning of life, tell me? It is only from the point of view of the worldview that all our activity and all our life can be correctly assessed. So, in connection with this, a very important question arises, with which I began: “And what does Orthodoxy give a person? What gives us the Christian faith as such? I am not now touching upon the question of the relationship between Orthodoxy and other religions, the relationship between Orthodoxy and other confessions. These questions, you know, are very interesting. Now I want to say literally about the main thing - what Orthodoxy really gives a person.

Here we are now talking about the fact that our position, the position of each of us, is really a position under a hanging sword. We never know whether we are healthy or already sick, who knows? How will things turn out for us tomorrow, what will we have in the family, what will we have at work, what will we have in the state, what will we have in the world? We don't know anything! All our assumptions for the most part are very approximate, and then, these are assumptions and nothing more. What do we know? We don't know anything.
And now, pay attention: a person believes, I especially emphasize this word - he believes that there is no God. Because it is impossible to know, you yourself understand. It is impossible to know that there is no God. From the point of view of science, what is our cognitive activity? The cognizable world is infinite, and, consequently, all our knowledge at any moment of time is only a drop from the ocean, therefore, from the point of view of even science, it will never, in any future, be said that there is no God, even if He really did not exist. It was. Science can never tell. The most she can say is: yes, perhaps He is! See how likely it is.

But maybe we'll talk about that later. Now let's talk about something else. About the fact that in the absence of faith in God, with the conviction that our life is only earthly life, connected exclusively with the body, and a person does not have any soul, the human consciousness disappears, the personality disappears, there is no God - then all of our what is life based on? Calculate everything, each of us knows, we can't do anything. We are counting a very small range of questions that we can count on. I say again: we cannot know anything about any global, state, social, natural shocks! And we can't do anything, even if we knew something.
Or health, family affairs…. A person who does not believe in God is always in a state: "No matter what happens! ..". As if the person on whom I depend did not change his attitude towards me. As if someone didn't drop something like that on me. No matter where they set me up, etc. Such a person has no solid ground under his feet. We see how revolutions are made: in the twinkling of an eye. Someone was WHO, became NOBODY, etc.

What gives Orthodoxy? The Orthodox faith and a person's conviction that there is a God and that God is Love, and not something else, completely changes a person's perception of everything that happens in his life. How worried that millionaire who committed suicide! And how many people end their lives for other reasons - they were deprived of their post, they were deprived of their position ... How much stress, strokes, heart attacks, how much despair we have. Where? Because we don't have solid ground under our feet. This solid ground is faith in God, Who is Love. I know that nothing will happen to me, nothing will happen without the will of God! Only an alien can look and say, “Oh… this man in a white coat is cutting him with a scalpel. What horrors, what is happening to him, what is being done to him? Because he doesn't know anything. And a person who knows will say: “So this is a surgeon, the best surgeon in the world who saves a person from cancer.” What happens to me, with the Christian faith, is perceived as a loving and wise Providence of God in relation to me. I know this for sure because I believe. I believe that this is not a random phenomenon. That this is not a conspiracy of some people, that this is not the hatred of some person. No one and nothing can touch me unless God allows. I pay attention to this as the most important thing that concerns our life.

Faith in God gives extraordinary courage in relation to all the sorrows that happen to a person. People who do me harm - and I see how they do it - from a Christian point of view, are only blind - you hear, blind! - instruments in the hands of God. The scalpel doesn't understand anything! From the outside, you might think that it torments my skin, my organs. What is actually happening? A loving and wise operation, without which I cannot live. Think what Christianity says! Faith in God gives me a solid foundation in this life. It is courage that gives me, I repeat once again, it gives me the possibility of a completely different attitude towards other people. I don’t need to fawn – I need to treat a person in truth. I don’t need to hate - I need to truly treat a person the way I want to be treated. Christianity establishes the highest principle, the central principle, in which only a person can really have happiness here on earth.

Now I am not saying anything about the future, because very often one has to hear and read that Christianity supposedly promises only a pie in the sky. That only after death you will receive something, there you will have eternal blessings. But there's nothing here. Nothing like this. Nothing like this!!! It is here that Christianity gives man that which nothing else can give. Look, now they are running to psychologists, psychics, sorcerers, I don’t know who they just don’t run to in order to somehow remove this burden. “I can’t do this anymore, what should I do, I have longing ...”. You can’t imagine, at one of the meetings in Finland they gave statistics: now more than half of the people are Western, wealthy people - more than half of the people have lost the meaning of life and turn to psychiatrists. The cause of suicide, terrible stress is the loss of the meaning of life. They don't know what's next. That's all there is - and then what? What's next? Christianity gives a person a perspective of life, does not close him in this narrow circle, in these tens of years. He says - no, you are not an animal, you are a person. Your personality is indestructible. Here I pay attention to it. How important it is for a person to choose a worldview! The person must be reasonable. Should be able to reasonably approach where it is, the correct faith. Is it faith in eternal life personality - or is it a belief in the eternal death of the personality, its disappearance. On this depends, I tell you, our whole future life.

Pascal is a famous physicist, as a physicist we all know him, and we don’t know another - that he is a man who spent almost his entire adult life in a monastery. He left us wonderful thoughts. The book that he planned to write as a response to atheism, he did not have time to write, he died very early. But his notes remained. They were published after Pascal's death, when they were found. His "Thoughts on Religion" has not lost its relevance to this day. Those who are interested can read. And here, in particular, there he has one interesting idea that has remained in the history of human thought as “Pascal's wager”, a wager - that is, a dispute. So what is this wager? He says that a person who does not believe in God wins nothing here, gains absolutely nothing here, but if there is a God, he will lose everything there. A person who believes in God does not lose anything here, he does not have two stomachs and not ten shoulders, but everything wins there - if there is a God. The first question, therefore, is there a God or not? Without this, a person's worldview is not a worldview. Of course, you can not look for anything, you can slide down to the level of such a life when a person does not need anything in the world. Well, we know what kind of standard of living it is - so to speak, animal, biological, vegetative, whatever you want, at least not human. A person cannot refuse the question - why do I live and what is the meaning of my activity? Christianity answers what meaning this activity has, any: economic, economic, creative, state - it does not matter. What meaning does it have? If God is Love, and I want to tell you again that God is not a creature that is somewhere in the constellation Alpha Centauri, sits there and controls from there, pushes levers or buttons. God is Spirit. That is, it is not material something. This is not the law of gravity, this is not some kind of ether that permeates, this is something completely intangible, something that we, of course, cannot describe, but something else is important: God is fundamentally different from everything material.
If God is Love, that is, the essence of our entire being, our entire existence, being, both cosmic and human, then the Christian faith has as its focus the principle or, let's say, “law number one”, on which all other laws are built, from which all other laws derive. This is the law of love, you see, here it is, the principle is eternal. Because God is that eternal Being Which permeates all our being and man, first of all. This is the principle of love. Christianity says from here that with the whole basic thought, with the whole basic content human activity there must be activity in accordance with this principle. Anything that does not conform to this principle of love is wrong activity. What does unfaithful mean? We know what wrong doing is in any business: we do something wrong, and then we scratch the back of the head - and now what to do? Wrong activity is what in Christianity is called sin, and in production is called a mistake.

What is sin? Christianity speaks of one amazing thing, which, unfortunately, is little known to people. It says something like this: Did you steal? You stole from yourself! But not from him. Have you harmed him? You have done harm to yourself! Not to him. Do you have something? You only have what you gave to another! Sin in Christianity is everything that harms the human soul. This is a very important position. Harm, to whomever I bring it: whether to myself, whether to another, whether to nature, is a sin. And hence every sin is a wound inflicted on me. Every sin that I commit. Only for the most short-sighted eye, murder, great theft, terrible betrayal, etc., are called sin. And Christianity looks a little deeper and encourages people to wear glasses. No, all these great sins are a consequence, not an independent act. The consequence of what is happening in the human soul. No one has ever killed immediately. He hated this man, he turned this coil a thousand times in his soul, he committed a murder in his soul a thousand times before he actually did it. Therefore, Christianity says that the first and most important sin is committed in the human soul. You know, when a person is on a mountain, and there is a sleigh standing there, it is very interesting to go down the hill. But he is told that there, at some stage, there is an abyss. They say it's better not to get in the sled. If you sit down, you won't stop in the middle. Christianity therefore draws attention to the so-called spiritual side of man. Here we talk a lot - spiritual, spiritual! Soon you begin to touch yourself - am I not a spirit ?! What is spiritual? But what is spiritual! This is what happens in me, inside, what no one sees or hears. I can hate a person inside, and this hatred can then lead to terrible consequences, and these consequences, since they are already taking place not only in the soul, but also in the material plane, they turn out to be the most severe wounds for me.

Here we are talking about Divine Revelation, we say that New Testament- it is a revelation. Old Testament, New Testament, Gospel - revelation of Whom? Revelation of the One we call God. Who is this God? – Love, What does He reveal? Human! don't hurt yourself! How? But like this! At first there were rude commandments, if you take the Old Testament, then there were the most rude commandments. You know, don't kill, don't steal, etc. The most rude commandments that are in the eye climb. Christ came and pointed out the reason for these things and said that a person harms himself, upsets his life, ruins his life, depravity begins in thoughts! It never happens right away! So Christ just warns about this: man, pay attention to your soul! Your thoughts, your feelings, your desires. Just think about the purity of a person in Christianity. He speaks of his very soul. To what shrine calls him! You think how wonderful it is. This is the beauty that Chekhov spoke about: Everything in a person should be beautiful - both the soul, and the body, and the hands, and the face. Man is called to be a royal being. In what sense? In a holy sense. By the way, only he can manage others well who knows how to manage himself. Those who do not know how to manage themselves will never be able to properly manage others. This is the law. This is the law that the ancient sages, pre-Christian, spoke about. Christianity only confirms this. And he says that the hardest fight that a person has to fight is a fight with himself. And the victory of victories is a victory over yourself!

You will pay attention: in Christianity, who is most glorified? Ascetics. What are they doing there in the desert, you say, they are being saved?! Well, selfish and nothing more. He climbed into the desert somewhere and sits there, saves himself. You might even think so! In fact, what is at stake: no one has ever achieved anything without giving up everything that hinders him. They say that someone wrote an etymological dictionary, so he generally abandoned friends, acquaintances, everything. He went into full lock, literally. For a very long time, almost a few years. But then he gave out really what he needed. What a dictionary! And what are the hermit ascetics busy with? The most important! An attempt to cleanse ourselves of everything that hurts us, that hurts, that kills. That is why we glorify them so. They are truly pure souls.

Unfortunately, we talk about this very, very little. In our life, of course, little is said about this. Now life is becoming more and more materialistic. The materialism by which the West has lived or by which it is now living, and for which materialism is the only goal in life, literally dominates there. Now it strikes, of course, and our consciousness. But we still have a soul, I would say. In general, in Russia this is a striking phenomenon, after so many years of atheism, where there are so many people, it seems, brought up in the spirit of atheism who have just been given freedom - look what an explosion has occurred! Where?! In general, this is a phenomenon that scientists would certainly have dealt with if humanity had still existed for a long time, and, unfortunately, it will not be for long, because the same scientists say so. This is an amazing fact: as soon as the ban was lifted, people rushed to the temple. Moreover, what is most interesting, you probably noticed: parents are brought by children, and in the truest sense of the word, even children. Children - ten, fifteen, twenty years old - bring their parents to. There is still a voice in our soul, this spark of the search for truth, a sense of sacredness, an understanding that I am not just an animal, I am a person, and I cannot believe that I will never be, that with the death of my body I will stop exist.

By the way, I don’t know if this is interesting for you or not, but I want to say that atheism as a worldview does not stand up to criticism, not only from the point of view of the scientific view that I spoke about: that science can never say that there is no God. Atheism, it does not stand up to criticism on the other hand. He cannot answer the most important question. And the most important question for him is: what should I do to make sure that there is no God. He also claims that there is no God. I want to make sure. Do you want to make me believe? Sorry. I want to be sure, not to believe. Tell me what should I do to make sure there is no God? Do science? How many scientists do you need to count? The greatest scientists who believed and still believe in God. Do art, literature, philosophy? It is clear that these spheres do not say that there is no God. So what should I do to make sure that there is no God, that there is no soul, that there is no eternity for me? Atheism is silent. No answer. There is no answer to this question. Christianity only knows, on the contrary, what it says: for the sake of God, for the sake of everything holy, try to live like this, try it, and you will see that there is a God. Specifies a specific path directly. By the way, many people of very different eras, different social status, different educational levels, even different intellects - from the lowest to the highest - when they embarked on the path indicated by Christianity, they came to this faith, or rather, to direct, personal knowledge of the Divine . It turns out that Christianity shows this practical way to anyone who really sincerely wants to be convinced of this. I'm not talking about the fact that Christianity has a whole range of arguments, both negative in relation to atheism, and positive, confirming its truth. After all, each theory, if you want, is confirmed by what? Remember, the neutrino: when it was discovered, discovered theoretically, then for thirty years they wondered whether it actually existed or not. All the data that a neutrino should have is there, but in fact - is it or not? There are an incredible number of people in Christianity who believe not simply because they were brought up in a Christian environment. This faith is cheap, I tell you. So many people who were brought up in the Muslim faith would be Muslims, and those who were brought up in the Buddhist faith would be Buddhists. I'm not talking about these people. I don't want to talk about these people, there are many such people everywhere. In any religion. I'm talking about other people, I'm talking about those people who, figuratively speaking, "with a bow and sword" went through this life, really looked for God and found Him.

If we pay attention to at least one thing, only one fact: the history of the origin and formation of Christianity, then we will surely be convinced of what kind of religion it is. As you know, Christ was crucified, i.e. subjected to the cruelest punishment of that time. His disciples, the apostles, sat in fear, as it is written: “for the sake of the Jews,” shutting themselves in the room. Why? Because they knew: as soon as they show up, they will be immediately executed. Also crucified or stoned. This is how Christianity began, you think! The Jewish Sanhedrin gave the order - all who will preach about this name, lead to it. And many of the disciples of Christ, as we know, suffered. Stephen, who is called the first martyr, was stoned, and James was thrown from the temple. Severe persecution and real terror began. Here is a word that is very useful to us now. This is the era in which Christianity began its life. Not enough of this turned out. It turned out to be very good ties with Rome, with the royal house, and we see that already in the 60s, perhaps even at the end of the 50s of the first century, a law was issued according to which everyone who is recognized as a Christian, whether he himself says, if they report him, he should be executed. Christians - to the lions. Can you imagine the situation in which Christianity was born. Now, if we imagined it so realistically, really, in life, then we would understand that Christianity should not have existed. It must be destroyed at the very root, at the very beginning, and this was exactly what was calculated. That's why they killed Christ, that's why they killed His disciples. By the way, every one, except for John the Theologian. All were executed. All their followers. Execution after execution. Christian to the lions. Circuses were filled with spectacles. In the Nero Gardens, Christians were tied up, tarred and set on fire at nightfall as torches. Tell me, what religion could exist here? And all this continued until 317, with some interruptions. I ask myself: how could Christianity be, how could it exist, how could it remain at all?

I point to this fact as one of the amazing arguments that Christianity is not just, you know, some kind of religious philosophy or some kind of sect that has arisen and you can't get rid of it. A lot of sects arise, and so they remain these sects. And then they disappear. And this is a religion that then spread throughout the world. In what conditions!!! I think this fact alone is enough to believe in God. Only by recognizing this can one understand the existence of Christianity up to the present time. And it could be destroyed for what reason? Because of apostasy from God. For this reason alone.
This, at least, is an idea, this historical fact already speaks volumes. That Christianity is not an invention of some fantasist, dreamer, etc. And then, when we read the Gospel, we see the image of Christ. He is surprisingly sober, shall we say, Man. Sober. There are no dreams. Moreover, a Person Who does not strive for either power or glory is not an ambitious person. Having resurrected the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus, the first thing He does is order no one to tell about it. He heals one leper, another - and orders not to tell anyone about this. Man did not aspire to anything earthly. Neither power, nor wealth, nor glory interested Him.

So, I want to say that Christianity, it also has very strong arguments under itself, confirming that there really is a God and this God is exactly the idea that Christianity gives. In this case, we are entering the sphere of “Christianity and other religions”. Every religion represents God in its own way. Just like Ivan Petrovich over there. Who do you think he is? "Wrong person". And you? “Oh, beautiful person.” Do you think how? - "Oh, dumbass." And you? - "So this is a genius!" Ask ten people about another person, and sometimes we will hear ten opinions. People felt that God exists. All nations believed. By the way, this is a very interesting fact: that all nations have always believed in God. And so far not a single atheistic tribe has been found among the so-called savage peoples. No one. Never. This is the most curious thing. Everyone believed. But it is one thing to believe that He exists, and another thing to know who He is! There were, in different nations, strong personalities, or thinkers, or strong "charismatics" who said: "That's who He is. He is such and such." This is how the Teaching about God was formed, from the bottom up. There is a feeling of God, there is an idea of ​​God, and who He is has already been proposed by this or that “active creator of religion”.

So many ideas about God arose, so many religions arose. It got to the point that there were already religions that claimed that many gods exist. Not one God, but many. And it came about, by the way, very simply. I think we will also come to this soon. At least there is a trend towards this. You know that the Greeks had a God of Trade, a God of War, a God of Love. How did it come about? Well, of course, there is only one God. But then it began to arise in the mind that there are those who especially patronize this or that type of human activity. This is how the degradation began: from the “realization of the one God” came the realization of the multitude of those who are in charge of each of their areas. It began in Catholicism, and then it began to pass to us and, I think, it will take root very, very much. This or that saint is in charge of this or that area. In churches, you are now very often someone comes up to you and asks who to pray to .... And that's it, neither the Lord God, nor any other saint - only to this saint and no one else is needed. If, for example, a husband has drunkenness, then to whom should one pray? Not to whom! And it is necessary before the icon "Inexhaustible Chalice". If you just pray to the Mother of God, then it will not work. You definitely need the icon "Inexhaustible Chalice". This image of the Virgin, then it will help. The Mother of God herself was divided! I remember once, back in the 70s, Kremlin doctors came to us, and we took them around our museum. And there, in particular, there is an icon Mother of God"Increased Mind". So, you know what the discussion was. One doctor yelled: “My son is studying, give me such an icon!” And the second: “And I have a daughter. Give it to me too." You feel? Now we have it at the level of such an easy thought, almost even anecdotal. But in fact, this is not a joke at all. It is a very rare occurrence when they come to a priest and ask to serve a prayer service to the Mother of God in order to get rid of the disease of drunkenness. Rather, they will come and ask to serve a prayer service in front of the Inexhaustible Chalice icon, and there are queues of such people. Hear what's going on. No longer the Mother of God, but an icon. I'm just drawing you psychologically how it can happen that people, once believing in one God, began to believe in many gods. We even excel in this: believing in the Mother of God, we share Her with icons. I remember one old woman, in response to my statement that the Mother of God was alone, poured me very hard. “Like one Mother of God? And Vladimirskaya? And Iverskaya? And Kazanskaya? Is that what they teach you in seminary?” And I got nuts! Of course, I immediately gave up, there's nothing to say. That was the process by which the belief in one God crumbled, even into many gods.

So, how were ideas about God created in people? Each religion believes in its own God, that is, in its own image of God. Here, it turns out, how religions differ. In fact, God, of course, is one. And these ideas about God sometimes reached such distortions that it became simply scary. Until complete debauchery. To complete satanism. And the gods were here. So, what is the difference between Christianity and other religions? Let's just think. If there is a God, if He is Love, He cannot, in the end, not reveal himself to people. He cannot open up. It opens. That is, there is a way not only from the bottom up, but there is a way from the top down. This is what we call Divine revelation. Christianity, unlike other religions, claims to be a revealed religion. In this sense, true religion. I gave you only one argument, a historical argument, showed the conditions under which Christianity developed, what terrible persecutions, tortures and tortures and executions the first Christians were subjected to. But religion remained, spread and acquired a worldwide character. This alone suggests that Christianity is not just a product of our fantasies. And this is the religion that is constantly, constantly supported by the power of God. You will not find any explanations, you just have to talk objectively with historians - there are no human reasons to explain the fact of the preservation of Christianity in history. On this I would like to end the lecture. Now let's talk.

Answers on questions

Now, of course, the situation in our country is such that we are among many religions, more precisely, not religions, but worldviews. Many sects, many representatives of other religions. Now Catholicism is very active. This tendency of his is called "eternal". He has already raised the rank of his dioceses here, more precisely, of his formations here in Russia. Now several dioceses have arisen, bishops have been appointed, and there is now a metropolitan. And, in general, as you can see, the situation in this regard is becoming more and more complicated. Moreover, all the calls of our Church and even our Foreign Ministry to somehow correlate their activities with the state of affairs that we have always had, and to reckon with Orthodoxy, all these our statements remained, in fact, unanswered. Catholicism has finally reached Russia. Only dad will not come to Russia yet. This, of course, is his dream, cherished. But he has already been around us. And in Ukraine, and in Armenia, and in Georgia, so we are, so to speak, in a certain Catholic aura, which is now trying to permeate our Church as much as possible. I think that there are real prerequisites for this, of course.

– Aleksey Ilyich, the following question came in: “Is a person considered a believer who believes in his soul, but does not attend church and does not observe fasts?”

You know, it is difficult to answer this question in such a general form. On formal grounds, of course not. Formal. Because if I believe that now someone will run in here and say: “We are on fire, fire!”, If I believe, they will immediately carry me out either through the door or through the window. And if I don't believe, I won't budge. It's true?
So, how can I say that I believe in my soul, and do not go where only I can come to my senses at least a little? Pray a little. Where can I hear the Gospel, its explanation. If I believe, well, how can I not go there! If I believe, then I must confess, cleanse my soul, at least a little. What am I, a sinless being, or what? I believe I am an angel. So I need to confess, I need to take communion. I do need to pray. It is impossible without it.
Therefore, I will tell you: faith, it is always effective. If I believe, I will definitely do. If I don't do it, it means I don't believe, it means I just have some idea in my head that doesn't give any concrete impetus to my life. It remains an abstract idea. Like a point in geometry, without size. Yes, any point, whatever it is, has dimensions, take any point, on any paper. Not! The geometric point has no dimensions. That's how it is here too.
So I doubt very much that such a belief can benefit that person. But I can't say until the end. Because faith is like a seed, a seed that we plant and which then can sprout, then can sprout more, and can become a tree. And even bear fruit.
Therefore, everything depends on the person in this case. If it is a faith that is still beginning, perhaps yes, while he is at this stage. But if a person has been believing in God for decades and does not recognize any temple or anything, then here I have very, very doubts. I don't think it's faith anymore. It's simple, as Khomyakov, one of our geniuses, said: "not faith, but faith." Still, it is necessary to somehow distinguish between these two concepts, in this case I would call it that.

- I have the following question. We are worldly people, we live in the world, and the Savior showed us the way, but I have a wife and children. Where is the line that I must find in this matter. Clearly, the saints, they could go into the desert and be saved through it. But what about us? How can we find that line so as not to offend our loved ones and not to forget ourselves, our salvation.

That's a good question. I will recall the text a little, and then perhaps you will see part of the answer. The young man asked him: what should I do to be saved. Jesus said: Do you know the commandments? - I know. And lists them to him. I did it all, says the young man. Then go on, he says, if you want to be perfect, then go and sell your property and give it to the poor. Listen, if you want to be saved, then yes, give up everything, says Jesus. There, in the Gospel, it is so directly written. You see, there are two fundamentally different stages here.
Therefore, in relation to us, worldly people, what would I say? We must live according to our conscience. Actually, this is what it all comes down to. All commandments. If something like this does not work out, then at least sincerely repent. In what they violated. But if someone really wants to achieve more, then, we understand, being in our bustle, constantly communicating with people, we constantly literally sin. Only one condemnation does not leave our lips. What does condemnation alone do, but envy, and jealousy, what is not there, but hostility? We are spinning here, hitting each other, pricking each other continuously, tearing ourselves every moment, so it is impossible to achieve much here. I told you about a scientist who, in order to write an etymological dictionary, closed down literally for a year or two. Only then could he do something. And in general, I'll tell you, no one could do anything great if he did not devote all his strength only to this cause and did not renounce everything else. So, if a person wants to be perfect, then yes. Then he really needs to renounce all that he can really renounce. To the extent he renounces, to that extent he is able to cultivate in this matter. Why did they go into the desert, into seclusions, solitude. Do you know what to call them? Greenhouse flowers. Look at the lush flowers in the greenhouses, they will never grow in the fresh air. Now, they were greenhouse flowers. They created exceptional, ideal conditions for spiritual life. And so they could achieve more. Something we can never achieve. Here we cannot reach such a state as to love everyone equally. We can never reach the point of loving our enemies. I say love, in the sense of feeling with the heart. We can feel with the mind, we can treat the enemy fairly, but in order to love him - sorry. I can't do this. They achieved it.
You say - what does it give a person? The answer to this question is very simple. Anyone who has ever fallen in love knows what it is. So did they: they acquired love, and not love for everything and everyone, and this was their state of mind. This is how the state of mind of a lover who is ready to give everything, ready to be walled up, this is what love is. This is the state for which a person is ready to give everything. So, it turns out that the correct Christian life and the perfection that a person achieves under special conditions bring amazing fruits to this person. Yesterday, if anyone was in the church, they probably heard the life of Mary of Egypt. I will tell you that what happened to her is a completely unique case in history, and it is impossible to explain it humanly to anyone. So that she, immediately leaving her stormy life, went into the desert and then was there alone for 47 years! This alone is either just complete fantasy or fact. And if it is a fact, then we must understand what was in her soul that she paid everyone for. Neither hunger, nor fears from animals, nor cold, nor complete loneliness, nothing could drive her out of there - such was her condition. That's what perfection is.
Perfection is the maximum approach to God, Who is Love. The Apostle Paul says that spiritual fruit is love, joy. Do you remember what he lists things. But, unfortunately, we almost do not know what it is. We forgot about these things. We don't feel it. Therefore, for us now it is not clear how Mary of Egypt could stay there. After all, how can one explain the suffering of a martyr? After all, tens, hundreds, thousands died during these 300 years of persecution. Well, how was it possible when I know for sure that every Christian will be given to the beasts or crucified or something else will be done with him, and I will accept Christianity? Are you laughing? Why do I need it, what kind of religion is it, why do I need to accept it? And how is it possible to declare oneself a Christian. Or when I am offered to throw a handful of grains on a hot frying pan in front of a standing idol - and that's it, and you are free. All in all only. And thousands and thousands of people went to a wild, terrible death, but did not renounce. The Great Martyr Eustratius said about this: “These torments are the joy of Your servants.” Here we have forgotten these categories. In general, these categories: love, joy - these are real things. And just the right Christian life cleanses the human soul from dirty, unclean, crazy and all sorts of other thoughts, feelings and desires. It makes the soul capable of perceiving God, feeling God, experiencing God, and then this soul is filled with truly inexplicable joy, love, etc. That's what makes perfection. But for this you need to free the soul. The soul, on the other hand, has certain dimensions: the more it is filled with rubbish, the less useful it is, the more ballast, the less useful cargo. This is what our soul is.
So what are we going to do with her? Behold, I fill my soul with all sorts of dreams and thoughts. All sorts of films. All rubbish, hostility. The more I fill my soul with this, the less that can nourish me remains. And so we don't worry. There is no joy, no love, the soul becomes dead. Here's the trouble. Therefore, in our worldly life, I believe, we should, as far as possible, strive to live according to conscience, according to the Gospel. And then, what is still very important: at least not to become attached to anything with your soul. Yes, we know: we must do this and that, this is our job, this is our business, we are obliged to do it. But don't get attached to your soul. Because you know what a rich man is, in a bad sense of the word: someone who is attached to his wealth. And this rich man may be the last beggar. The rich man is who? One who is attached to his possessions, who lives for it, who longs for it, for whom this is the goal of life. That's who the rich man is. And at the same time, a rich person can be a person who does not acquire, he is not attached to it. By the way, I want to say: the more these ties to the earth, the more difficult it is for a person to die. We need to know this. Because you have to cut too thick ropes. You don't need to be attached to anything. And I will say that it is a great boon when a person is not attached. And when we: “Oh, my God, what will Princess Marya Alekseevna say!” When we are worried about human opinion, when we are worried about all sorts of other things, then it is difficult for a person, very difficult. Therefore, our task is to fight this leash as much as possible, then we can achieve some kind of certain freedom.

– By God's providence, we can all become a blind instrument in the hands of the Most High.

There is no need to confuse two completely different things. One thing is human freedom. I am faced with a choice: I can do good or evil. Because my freedom decides. And here I am responsible and, accordingly, bear the results of this choice. This is one thing. What I want to do and what I am already doing within myself. And it is a completely different matter what I will be allowed to do in relation to other people, the world around, etc. I can hate someone with a fierce hatred and I am ready to kill him. But I can't kill. I would have killed it, but it doesn't work. Here is the Providence of God where it operates. But not in my freedom. My freedom remains. Therefore, we say that a person can sometimes be outwardly morally pure. So what does it mean to be morally pure? Maybe he behaves impeccably in human society and no one will say anything bad about him. Yes, he doesn't steal. He does his work faithfully. Everything is fine in his family. In general, everything is fine. Good man. This is the moral side. And inside, this is already the spiritual side, he can be completely amazed. We don't know what he wants? What is he striving for? What does he dream about, this moral man? What can he dream about? About Glory. If I live all this, waiting for human glory, then this feeling alone, this search for glory, crosses out my entire spiritual life. So inside a person can be proud, and vain, and glorious, and so on. On the outside, he can be quite a moral person.
So, with regard to Cain, for example. The fact that Cain wanted to kill his brother, hated him, is a matter of his freedom. His personality. His sin. And the fact that he was allowed to kill Abel is the work of God's Providence. Of course, a counter question arises: why was this necessary? Why was Abel killed? He could live another 900 years! I think that we will not find a definitive answer to this question, but there is a fundamental answer. I can’t say specifically, but there is a principled answer. There is no glory without feat. I believe that martyrdom is always for a person one of those moments that bring him special benefit. Either they are expiatory for his sins, or they even bring eternal glory to him. Not earthly, but eternal. And we look exactly the opposite. Someone, somewhere, was killed or something happened to someone, we say - that's how he should be! He was such, such and such. What does Christianity say? God is Love, He gave this man to suffer, perhaps even to repent, we do not know what other moments, minutes and hours he was alive. He let me suffer - this is the great mercy of God. You hear, if you look from the point of view of eternity, our assessments take on a completely different character. In particular, directly opposite to those to which we are accustomed in this life. We are what he needs, he deserves it. But it turns out that the One Who cuts with a knife, with a scalpel, does the operation. The savior does the operation. A completely different understanding of the facts. The fact that God gave Cain to do this is possible, and for him it later served as an object of repentance. We don't know what happened to him later. And for Abel, this served as a crown of glory. Here, I think, this fact and similar ones can be understood in this way.

– We, Russians, bearers of Orthodoxy, are under the protection of the Mother of God. On the one hand, it takes pride in it, on the other hand, it smacks a little of self-exaltation. How to draw a line here? We, the bearers of Orthodoxy, are like an "Aryan nation", and the whole world is like nothing.

I think that you have already answered yourself, anticipated my answer. Wherever there is an offering, know that there is untruth. This occurs all the time: "We are under the protection of the Mother of God." What it is? What does it mean: that I can do anything, and the Mother of God covers me? Is that it? Again the same reason. Because who says it? These are people who seem to have accepted Orthodoxy without knowing anything about it, and they bring their worldly, that is, passionate, principles into consciousness. It's just trouble. I just now told you - to serve a prayer service from drunkenness in front of the icon "Inexhaustible Chalice" and no other. If in front of "Vladimirskaya", then there will be no case. The same in front of the "Reigning" icon, and if not in front of the "Reigning", then there will be no use. You see, this is no longer the Mother of God, but an icon. So we will soon come to paganism. It is very dangerous. Icons are images of who we believe in. Who do we pray to? This is an image. And there are many of these images. There are about 700 images of the Mother of God. Various images before which we pray. Just like there can be as many photos of us as you like. That's the problem. It was the pagans who thought that their images, drawn or sculpted, were gods. For this Christianity denounced them.
And it's the same with Russia. Well, what is it: "We are the third Rome." Well, Elder Philotheus had such an idea, but he had a completely different idea. What a thought: Rome has fallen away, Byzantium has fallen, where else is the center, then the state, where Orthodoxy would be the state religion and would have every opportunity to exist, spread and live. Yes, in Russia. Yes, in Moscow. That's just what the idea was - that's all. Then. But to say that this is forever and always will be so is the same as saying: but our ancestors saved Rome. Roughly the same.
The same is true of the cover of the Mother of God. The protection of the Mother of God is not unconditional. Were the Jewish people chosen? Was. Rejected Christ - chosenness is taken away. Nothing and no one can be forever. Everything depends on our will. Well, I will blaspheme God, and the Mother of God will cover me! I will insult Her Son, and she will cover me? You yourself think. And Athos says: "No, we are under the protection of the Mother of God." Greece says: "No, we are." Russia: No, we are. Let's fight. Well, what is it? The protection of God, the saints and the Mother of God is used only by those who really sincerely want to follow the commandments of God. Whoever rejects these commandments rejects this cover himself. This is the law of life.
You know, in one article I read how Nicholas II was canonized and the author of the article writes, a year after that: “Now the royal family has been enjoying heavenly blessings for a whole year now.” Just think, this is being written by a new theologian, I know him, he is an engineer by education, a mathematician, and suddenly - that's all his knowledge of theology. It turns out that before that, before canonization, it doesn't matter, even if they were saints, they didn't enjoy it, but after canonization they enjoyed it. And if they decanonize, ask him, then what will happen? Then back to the underworld, right? Well, what kind of logic is this!
It is from such views, from such an understanding of things, that such views are formed. It's very sad, I'll tell you. Christianity says one thing: until a person humbles himself, God cannot approach him. And he can't do anything. “Go away,” he says, “Lord, I myself.” Until he humbles himself, no one can approach him, but God Himself. Do you understand now why pride is the most terrible thing? This is vanity, this pride, this is I - this is Us. These are the surest means of breaking away from God. God resists no one as much as the proud. God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. This is how I understand this situation.

Reflections on the words of St. Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer.
Anthony Dulevich, missionary department of the Kyzyl diocese.
“Therefore, there is nothing left that we could ask of our Savior, and, having received it, we would say with Philip: “Lord, it is enough for us!” (John 14:8). If we begin to look for something better for our life, then He will tell us: “This Sacrament, which I gave you, is the fullness of all blessings, and I have nothing greater than it. All blessings I have given you in this Bread and in this Wine.”("Instructions of the Monk Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer").

What an amazing and wonderful thought of the holy Athos ascetic! If a believer sincerely and wholeheartedly accepts these words, then his attitude to all the blessings and honors of this world will change dramatically. Moreover, I am convinced that faith in the veracity of this thought of St. Nicodemus can give a Christian freedom from everything passing and superficial (if, of course, he does not have it). If a person does not have a family, children, work or position in society, there is no reason for despondency, because he has the opportunity to receive the Most Precious Blood of our Savior. Blood, the drop of which is not worth the whole universe.

The meaning of the Christian life is union with God. On earth, in the closest way, this union takes place through Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. If a person, calling himself a Christian, believes that there can be something greater in his life than communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, then he does not have an Orthodox worldview. If a Christian is convinced that there is nothing more important and significant in earthly life than union with Christ in the Mystery of Holy Communion, then it is not the desire of a person who thinks like this to approach the Chalice as often as possible looks at least strange. But after all, many, affirming this truth in words, for some reason do not strive to receive communion more often.

There are no saints who would object to frequent Communion. On the contrary, almost in unison, they say the opposite. “And this is the opinion of all the saints, that there is no salvation without communion and there is no prosperity in life without frequent communion», - wrote St. Theophan the Recluse. And St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) taught that the petition “Give us our daily bread today” imposes on Christians the duty of daily communion with the Holy Mysteries, which has been missed today. There is no need to enumerate all the holy teachers of the Church who called for regular participation in the main Sacrament. One can only pay attention to the joint work of St. Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer and St. Macarius of Corinth "On the Unceasing Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ", in which, relying on Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, these saints answer 14 objections of opponents of frequent communion. The canons of the Church also call for Communion at every Liturgy. The ninth canon of the Holy Apostles subjects to penance a layman who is at the Liturgy, but who does not receive communion. And the second canon of the Council of Antioch also speaks of excommunication from the Church of those who were at the Liturgy and did not want to receive communion. The interpreter of this rule, Zonara, emphasizes that the ban is imposed on the one who does not receive communion, allegedly out of reverence and humility. And this is easily explained. What kind of humility can we talk about if at the Divine Liturgy Christ, through the mouth of a priest, addresses all the faithful: “Come and eat”, “Drink all of Her”, and the faithful are baptized and bow, but, neglecting the words of the Lord, do not go to receive communion, as if and Christ did not address them at all? Saint John Chrysostom teaches: “If you are not worthy of communion, then you are not worthy of participation (in the Liturgy of the faithful, and therefore in prayers) ... ... If someone, being called to a feast, expressed his consent to this, appeared and would have already begun to eat, but then would not to participate in it, then - tell me - would he not offend those who called him?. These are the formidable words that St. Chrysostom says to those who do not want to approach the Holy Chalice! Of course, this does not apply to those who are under penance, women in uncleanness, and those who came to the Liturgy, passing by the temple and initially not intending to participate in the Divine Service.

The attitude towards the Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion tests the Christian's trust in God. If we believe that the Blood of Christ contains everything we need, then the Divine Eucharist will become for the Christian the center of all life, from which rays will emanate, sanctifying all his activity. Thoughts of lack of faith do not agree and try to prove that if you participate in the Liturgy every day, then you simply will not have time to do anything. St. Theophan the Recluse answered the nuns (but I am sure that this is also true for the laity, who have the opportunity to attend the Liturgy every day) to this bewilderment: “Let the call not tempt you, firstly, to omit this or that Divine service, to complete the required work as needed. Remember that works are not successful when there is no blessing of God on them, and this blessing must be attracted and sent down from heaven ... With what and where? Prayer in the temple. When a blessing is requested, then one hour will replace the work of a whole day, while without it everything is torn and confused, and the day is wasted. No social or missionary activity can be more important than the Eucharistic life. After all, without sanctifying their souls at the Liturgy and not uniting as often as possible with Christ in Holy Communion, a Christian will not have the strength to regularly help those in need. It's the same with a mission: by communing and having Christ in him, the missionary brings Him to the people. By placing Holy Communion at the forefront, a Christian receives a blessing from God for all his other affairs. The King of kings is present in the Eucharistic Chalice with His Body and Blood. And where the King is, there is His Kingdom. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33).

There are other words of the Monk Nikodim that prompt a number of thoughts: “Our Lord desires one thing: to unite with your accursed soul, but you do not want to unite with Him, the all-surpassing Good? The Creator shows such ardent love, and the dust such coldness? The Lord deigns to live in you and make you His home, and you, an ungrateful creature, slam the door on Him and do not want to let Him in? You, showing such ingratitude, become like those Jews who in the desert wanted Egyptian onions and garlic, that is, carnal pleasures. What else must God do to overcome your insensitivity and inhumanity? . The Lord wants to unite with us! This thought forces us to consider the question of Communion from a different angle. If we are God's children, then we should strive to please our Heavenly Father. If He wants us to unite with Him in Communion, then what else can we do but run to the Chalice? Of course, a perfect God wants to be with us all the time, not just on Sundays. Therefore, He arranges His Divine meal for us daily. This thought of St. Nicodemus is as an additional motivation against human laziness and coldness: if you yourself do not want to go to communion out of negligence, then remember that God wants to unite with you, and go (of course, after preparing) to please Him.

These are two wonderful and in some ways even radical thoughts about the attitude of a Christian to Holy Communion left us by the Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer. Everyone can draw a conclusion for himself: whether he believes these words of the Athonite saint. After all, if we trust these words, they oblige us to a lot.

No one, probably, will dispute the fact that each of us is involved in a complex system of relationships with God, with ourselves, with the people around us. The question to be asked is: what does this relationship contribute to, what is its purpose? It is obvious that relationships are not valuable in themselves and are born to achieve a certain goal; they make possible joint and purposeful activity, realization of common interests. At the same time, we must remember that living people are involved in the relationship, which cannot be considered as means for someone else's goals.

One of the most exciting questions in my Christian life has been this: “What is the main thing in my life: the fulfillment of a specific task or the development of relationships with those who are close to me? Are the surrounding people just a means of activity or an end in itself? “

It is often said that there are two types of relationships: relationships for the sake of relationships and relationships with a specific pragmatic purpose. It is believed that the first type of relationship is most often found between neighbors, good friends, relatives, and their goal is pleasant communication, mutual understanding, mutual support. The second type of relationship is typical for formal organizations (in production, in churches, educational institutions), in management structures, i.e. where a group of people purposefully perform a specific task.

It seems to me that such a contrast between communication and practical activity is incorrect; there must be harmony between them. Although extremes are often encountered in practice, a balance must be maintained between building relationships and completing the task. On the one hand, the task cannot be completed without relationships (unity, solidarity, ideological cohesion, coherence of actions, mutual support), but relationships do not make sense if we do not create anything (there is always a question about purpose and meaning). In fact, we need relationships that would contribute to the fulfillment of the task. In other words, relationships must be subordinated to a common goal, which does not detract from their significance. Awareness of purpose is a necessary condition for organized activity, but a good relationship that cements it together is a sufficient condition. Without established relationships, without unity around an idea and a specific goal, all efforts are in vain. As in the well-known fable: there is a lot of fuss, effort, "but things are still there."

Christ came into the world to restore relationship with fallen man. He set the same task for the Church: “teach, as you go, baptize and teach.” But before that, Jesus trained his disciples for three years, preparing them for this task, developing personal relationships with Them so that they could do the same - build the Church by establishing and developing vertical (man - God) and horizontal (man - man) ) relationships. As we can see, even God's plan is carried out through personal relationships based not on manipulating people as means, but on free will, consent, voluntary obedience, unity.

“How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to live together!” But how can the Church fulfill her mission if she spends time only on pleasant communication with each other, forgetting about the responsibility for the fate of the world? Our time is too precious to waste on ourselves. Everything must be subordinated to the fulfillment of the main task of the Church.

So what is the main thing in this matter for me? – Achievement of the goal set before me by God. But this goal can be achieved only through the creation and strengthening of the right relationship, firstly, with God, and, secondly, with those who are close to me. People are not means, but co-workers in our common great and small deeds.

“And He appointed some…, others…, others… for the work of service, for the building up of the Body of Christ…”. “... From whom (Christ) the whole body, which is made up and copulated by means of all mutually binding ties, with the action of each member in its measure, receives an increase for the building up of itself in love” (Eph. 4:11-16).

Anthony Dulevich, head of the missionary department of the Kyzyl diocese. Reflections on the words of St. Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer.

“Therefore, there is nothing left that we could ask of our Savior, and, having received it, we would say with Philip: “Lord, it is enough for us!” (John 14:8). If we begin to look for something better for our life, then He will tell us: “This Sacrament, which I gave you, is the fullness of all blessings, and I have nothing greater than it. All blessings I have given you in this Bread and in this Wine.” ("Instructions of the Monk Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer").

What an amazing and wonderful thought of the holy Athos ascetic! If a believer sincerely and wholeheartedly accepts these words, then his attitude to all the blessings and honors of this world will change dramatically. Moreover, I am convinced that faith in the veracity of this thought of St. Nicodemus can give a Christian freedom from everything passing and superficial (if, of course, he does not have it). If a person does not have a family, children, work or position in society, there is no reason for despondency, because he has the opportunity to receive the Most Precious Blood of our Savior. Blood, the drop of which is not worth the whole universe.

The meaning of the Christian life is union with God. On earth, in the closest way, this union takes place through Holy Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ. If a person, calling himself a Christian, believes that there can be something greater in his life than communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord, then he does not have an Orthodox worldview. If a Christian is convinced that there is nothing more important and significant in earthly life than union with Christ in the Mystery of Holy Communion, then it is not the desire of a person who thinks like this to approach the Chalice as often as possible looks at least strange. But after all, many, affirming this truth in words, for some reason do not strive to receive communion more often.

There are no saints who would object to frequent Communion. On the contrary, almost in unison, they say the opposite. “And this is the opinion of all the saints that there is no salvation without communion and there is no prosperity in life without frequent communion,”- wrote St. Theophan the Recluse. And St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) taught that the petition “Give us our daily bread today” imposes on Christians the duty of daily communion with the Holy Mysteries, which has been missed today. There is no need to enumerate all the holy teachers of the Church who called for regular participation in the main Sacrament. One can only pay attention to the joint work of St. Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer and St. Macarius of Corinth "On the Unceasing Communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ", in which, relying on Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition, these saints answer 14 objections of opponents of frequent communion. The canons of the Church also call for Communion at every Liturgy. The ninth canon of the Holy Apostles subjects to penance a layman who is at the Liturgy, but who does not receive communion. And the second canon of the Council of Antioch also speaks of excommunication from the Church of those who were at the Liturgy and did not want to receive communion. The interpreter of this rule, Zonara, emphasizes that the ban is imposed on the one who does not receive communion, allegedly out of reverence and humility. And this is easily explained. What kind of humility can we talk about if at the Divine Liturgy Christ, through the mouth of a priest, addresses all the faithful: “Come and eat”, “Drink all of Her”, and the faithful are baptized and bow, but, neglecting the words of the Lord, do not go to receive communion, as if and Christ did not address them at all? Saint John Chrysostom teaches: “If you are not worthy of communion, then you are not worthy of participation (in the Liturgy of the faithful, and therefore in prayers) ... ... If someone, being called to a feast, expressed his consent to this, appeared and would have already begun to eat, but then would not to participate in it, then - tell me - would he not offend those who called him?. These are the formidable words that St. Chrysostom says to those who do not want to approach the Holy Chalice! Of course, this does not apply to those who are under penance, women in uncleanness, and those who came to the Liturgy, passing by the temple and initially not intending to participate in the Divine Service.

The attitude towards the Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion tests the Christian's trust in God. If we believe that the Blood of Christ contains everything we need, then the Divine Eucharist will become for the Christian the center of all life, from which rays will emanate, sanctifying all his activity. Thoughts of lack of faith do not agree and try to prove that if you participate in the Liturgy every day, then you simply will not have time to do anything. St. Theophan the Recluse answered the nuns (but I am sure that this is also true for the laity, who have the opportunity to attend the Liturgy every day) to this bewilderment: “Let the call not tempt you, firstly, to omit this or that Divine service, to complete the required work as needed. Remember that work is not successful when there is no blessing of God on them, and this blessing must be attracted and brought down from heaven. ".. With what and where? Prayer in the temple. When a blessing is requested, then one hour will replace the work of a whole day, while without it everything is torn and confused, and the day is wasted." No social or missionary activity can be more important than the Eucharistic life. After all, without sanctifying their souls at the Liturgy and not uniting as often as possible with Christ in Holy Communion, a Christian will not have the strength to regularly help those in need. It's the same with a mission: by communing and having Christ in him, the missionary brings Him to the people. By placing Holy Communion at the forefront, a Christian receives a blessing from God for all his other affairs. The King of kings is present in the Eucharistic Chalice with His Body and Blood. And where the King is, there is His Kingdom. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).

There are other words of the Monk Nikodim that prompt a number of thoughts: “Our Lord desires one thing: to unite with your accursed soul, but you do not want to unite with Him, the all-surpassing Good? The Creator shows such ardent love, and the dust such coldness? The Lord deigns to live in you and make you His home, and you, an ungrateful creature, slam the door on Him and do not want to let Him in? You, showing such ingratitude, become like those Jews who in the desert wanted Egyptian onions and garlic, that is, carnal pleasures. What else must God do to overcome your insensitivity and inhumanity? . The Lord wants to unite with us! This thought forces us to consider the question of Communion from a different angle. If we are God's children, then we should strive to please our Heavenly Father. If He wants us to unite with Him in Communion, then what else can we do but run to the Chalice? Of course, a perfect God wants to be with us all the time, not just on Sundays. Therefore, He arranges His Divine meal for us daily. This thought of St. Nicodemus is as an additional motivation against human laziness and coldness: if you yourself do not want to go to communion out of negligence, then remember that God wants to unite with you, and go (of course, after preparing) to please Him.

These are two wonderful and in some ways even radical thoughts about the attitude of a Christian to Holy Communion left us by the Monk Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer. Everyone can draw a conclusion for himself: whether he believes these words of the Athonite saint. After all, if we trust these words, they oblige us to a lot.

Reference*

The Monk Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer was born in Greece in 1749 from well-behaved parents Anthony and Kalivoursi. At baptism he was named Nicholas. From an early age, the monk strives for purification of the heart and an equal-angelic life. He received his education in Naxos from the parish priest. Then, at the age of fifteen, his father sends him to study at a school in Smyrna. In addition to theological disciplines and ancient Greek, Nicholas studies Italian, French and latin languages. In 1770, during the persecution of Christians by the Turkish authorities, Nicholas left the city of Smyrna and returned to his homeland - to Naxos. In 1775, he went to the holy Mount Athos, where he held obediences in the monastery of Dionisiat. In the same year, Nicholas was tonsured a monk with the name Nicodemus, and he completely indulged in spiritual exploits. Every day, learning in the law of God and studying the writings of the Holy Fathers, he completely mortifies the thoughts and movements of the flesh with intense fasting and constant mental prayer.
In 1778, the Monk Nikodim the Holy Mountaineer takes on a great angelic image - the schema - and settles in the cell of Feonas. Ascetic there, the holy father instructs those who come to him with wise and divinely inspired words, conducts a deep study of the manuscripts of many Athos monasteries, becomes an active publisher and popularizer of the author's and translated by him into the vernacular patristic works, begins to actively cooperate with many contemporary public and church figures. In the last years of his earthly life, he changed the place of his exploits several times. On July 1, 1809, in the sixtieth year of his life, the Monk Nicodemus departed to the Lord. He was buried in the Scurteon cell in Carey. He was canonized as a saint by the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1955.

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The meaning and purpose of the Christian life.

1. Orthodox faith - trust and love for God.

2. "Narrow" and "wide" path of the human personality.

3. Salvation and death of the soul. Law of retribution for earthly deeds.

4. The “strong house” of Christian righteousness and the “dilapidated temporary house” of sinful life.

5. The choice between "earthly and heavenly."

6. The pernicious "peace" and the saving "sword".

7. Uncompromising and individuality of the Christian life.

8. The "darkness" of sin and the "light" of true faith.

9. Formal and real fulfillment of the Law of God.

10. Three steps to knowing the Truth.

11. Applying God-given talents.

12. Human strength and God's help.

13. "Quantity" and "quality" of Christian love.

14. "Spiritual birth" of an earthly person.

15. Orthodox path to eternal life.

16. "Salvation" and "destruction" of religious life.

17. Decisive choice of personal cross.

18. Finding true freedom.

19. Spiritual insight and the path to the Light of eternal life.

20. The religion of worshiping God in "spirit and truth."

What does it mean to be a believer and an Orthodox Christian? In the generally accepted understanding, an Orthodox believer is a person who professes the existence of the One God - the Creator of the Universe in accordance with the dogmatic teachings of Eastern Christianity-Orthodoxy, fulfills the commandments of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and is a member of Orthodox Church.

This definition of the Orthodox faith is absolutely correct. The problem is that in the distorted consciousness of a sinful earthly person, the concept of “believing in the existence of the One God and doing the will of the Creator” often turns into a very bizarre worldview, far from traditional Orthodoxy, distorted and even false in relation to Christian Truth.

By creating man, the All-Good Creator unselfishly gives us invaluable spiritual talents - immortal life, freedom and creative abilities. The Lord always wants only good for His creation. All His deeds in relation to man bring us only good.

It is possible to sincerely fulfill the will of God only by realizing God as the Supreme Personality who absolutely loves us. Real faith means trusting communication between a person and the Creator in the spirit of mutual love, when the believer responds to God's love with a conscious choice of a righteous life. Genuine faith cannot arise if a person sins for his own pleasure, while simultaneously creating for himself a distorted image of the Creator in the form of a harsh Lord and Judge of the Universe, Whom we must fear as “the most important and strong boss.”

The Lord always and in everything helps a person, but the love of God does not at all mean for us “childish” irresponsibility for our deeds. For any normal person, and even more so for a believer, earthly life is a continuous and difficult test. Each person on earth has to choose one of two ways of earthly existence - "wide" or "narrow".

*** 2 ***

The “narrow” and difficult path of the true Orthodox faith lies in the voluntary liberation of a person from the power of bodily and spiritual sins. Conscious faith requires from a person the complete eradication of self-love and pride, which prevent a person from approaching God and do not allow us to imitate the love and goodness of the All-good Creator in relation to people.

The life of a Christian should be a full-fledged creation of conscious holiness, selfless goodness, and selfless love. A Christian lives, believes, serves God and people not only for the sake of personal salvation. Purification and liberation of a person from the power of sin and evil is impossible without sincere love towards God and people. This is the disinterested - "close and difficult", the only true path of spiritual development, leading the Christian to the grace-filled communion with God and the knowledge of God of the true faith.

For the normal development and expression of faith, any believer needs the traditional means of a righteous life - pious behavior, temple attendance, fasting and prayer. Traditional church creativity must necessarily be confirmed by the conscious fulfillment of Christian commandments. A believer is not the one who constantly speaks about his faith, parading ritual piety, but the one who selflessly does the will of God in the deeds of a righteous and good life.

For all their importance, dogmatic and theological knowledge, ritual piety and participation in church life do not play the main role for the salvation of the soul. Any means of salvation can remain ineffective and can lead to the growth of destructive religious pride if the believer does not pass in time from the theory of the Christian life to its practical implementation. It is not for nothing that the word "religion" means a connection between a person and God, which is impossible without the conscious fulfillment of the Divine commandments.

Refusing to do the will of God in a righteous life, anyone - a believer and an unbeliever, a church person or a non-church person chooses the opposite "broad and easy" path of a sinful life. Selfishly turning away from God, a proud person begins to uncontrollably sow evil around him. This is the path of spiritual self-destruction, which negatively affects the person himself, his neighbors and all of humanity.

Knowledge of the dogmas of the true Orthodox faith and the apparent belonging of a person to the Christian Church are of no value if pride subjugates a person, preventing him from doing good and living righteously. It makes no sense to talk in detail about what results the life of a sinner-egoist leads to, who considers himself better than other people and allows himself to do whatever he pleases, not paying attention to others.

*** 3 ***

The meaning of the Christian life is to live according to Divine laws, which give the highest good to man himself and to the whole world. Gracefully uniting with God, a believing person strives for the main goal of the Christian life - to gain immortal being, to enter into the unimaginable joy and fullness of Divine eternity.

In earthly life, each person, by thought, word and deed, creates an invisible and at the same time quite real spiritual building of his eternal existence. The Christian path calls us prudently, for the benefit of ourselves and humanity, to fulfill the saving will of God, transforming the world around us with the creativity of holiness, goodness and love. This is how a Christian builds a “strong building” that is not afraid of material and spiritual trials, naturally acquiring the salvation of the soul and the joy of eternal life with God.

The opposite choice of the sinful - "independent and independent" path of self-loving pride, which does not recognize and denies the fulfillment of the Divine commandments, inevitably leads a person to the creation of evil. As a result, he gets a “temporary” structure without a stable “capital foundation”, since the forces and abilities of an imperfect, earthly man distorted by the fall of man are not enough and not for long. However, such a person is not going to "build" something spiritually serious - that is, useful to himself and people.

A loving Creator never punishes or torments people. The sinner punishes himself with the "fruits" of his unbridled passions. The disastrous consequences of evil, godless behavior are terribly manifested already in earthly life. But the most terrible thing awaits the sinner after the death of the body, when the soul enters eternity and receives a just reward for the evil done on earth.

The law of just retribution applies not only to unbelievers and non-church sinners. On earth, a person can endlessly deceive those around him with feigned pharisaic piety, but in eternity, where only the righteous deeds of the Christian life have value, formal belonging to the Orthodox Church does not play any role.

The fair law of retribution for good and evil deeds is valid for all intelligent beings created by God in the Universe. No one can cancel the action of the only correct laws of the Creator, on which the universe rests. It is easy and pleasant to live for your own pleasure, committing sin and frivolously causing harm to people. One can even convince, or rather deceive oneself, that eternal life and responsibility for earthly affairs simply do not exist. But this is a very stupid and bad way out of this situation.

The Christian life is built on a simple and clear principle - to constantly "listen to and hear God", in practice embodying His holy saving will. In striving for the knowledge and implementation of Divine laws, a Christian realizes that for the salvation of the soul and the attainment of eternity, the theological and dogmatic "theory" of Christianity alone is not enough.

In order to “build a strong house”, which is not afraid of the test of time and eternity, it is necessary to accept the will of the All-good Creator with all your heart with love, selflessly fulfilling it in specific deeds of a righteous life. Only in this way, to the best of his ability, becoming like God in His Holiness and Love, a Christian acquires an inseparable gracious connection with the spiritual world and becomes one Spirit with his Creator.

Christian communication with God and the forces of Light has nothing to do with the unhealthy, "charming", demonic mysticism of "spiritual visions and supernatural miracles" that bring a person into contact with the world of fallen angels. The grace-filled union of a Christian with God, first of all, means voluntary hearing, understanding and fulfillment of the will of God.

A righteous life and the practical implementation of the Divine commandments in the spirit of humble love naturally unite a person with the Creator. This is how we gain the opportunity to unlimitedly perceive the Divine energy-grace of the Holy Spirit, aimed at saving the person himself and the world around him.

Building a “temporary house on the sand”, “without laying the foundation and without erecting strong walls” of a righteous life, can be done quickly and without much trouble. It is sad that, along with worldly unbelieving sinners, many believers who only outwardly, formally belong to the Orthodox Church often engage in such “creativity”.

Naturally, such a “structure” can be used for a very short time - only during a short earthly life. "Wide gates and a spacious way" inevitably lead a sinful person who does not fulfill Christian commandments to eternal death. Fallen angels are very fond of mocking their slaves, as a result of which the life of a sinner who does not think about eternity very often collapses and ends at the moment of his “highest take-off”. This situation also applies to believers who think “a little more” to live for their own pleasure, leaving real repentance “for tomorrow”.

The majority of believers and unbelievers clearly feel the justice of the demands of conscience, which is the voice of the human spirit. Unfortunately, a sinful earthly person usually understands the calls of conscience in a very original way, expecting full-fledged justice in relation to himself, and selfishly refusing to show kindness and love towards other people.

In any case, the evil of a sinful life has no justification and does not remain without just retribution. It is pointless to be offended by God if a proud person, who has indulged his destructive selfish will all his life, eventually receives a well-deserved punishment. And it is also foolish to envy believers who gain Divine eternity as a result of a righteous good life.

It takes a lot of effort to build a reliable and strong building of human existence, which benefits the person himself and his descendants. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ calls us to enter into eternal life through “the narrow gate and the narrow way” of uncompromising cleansing from the power of bodily and spiritual sins.

The Christian path of grace-filled enlightenment through the spirit of selfless love and selfless goodness requires us to make every effort to work on ourselves. At the same time, it does not represent anything impossible. Each person can find the saving path of the Orthodox faith, subject to our sincere consent and with the help of the Creator.

No matter how hard and scary a person is, the path of the Christian faith is the only way to build a reliable foundation for our earthly and eternal life. A person becomes a genuine person, ascending the steps of god-like enlightenment, only in the process of purification and liberation from the power of evil, only on the path of Orthodox creativity of a righteous life.

Proudly unwilling to accept the saving spiritual laws established by the Creator, humanity, distorted by the fall, proudly and arbitrarily rushes to seek “special ways” of cognition of the Truth, forgetting that God is Holiness, Love and Goodness. While Christian knowledge of God extremely easily and clearly reveals to a person an undistorted vision of the world, leading us to the grace-filled deification of the individual.

The graceful communion with God of the "narrow path" is open not only to the great righteous, ascetics and ascetics. It is equally necessary and accessible to every normal person who builds his life in the name of sincere love for God and people. All people on earth are called to transform our world into better side saving yourself and those around you. For a good and righteous life, “special knowledge and secret initiations” are not needed at all.

The Christian life begins with the Orthodox believer's renunciation of the "easy and wide" path of selfish pride. For all its simplicity, the fulfillment of the Christian commandments is truly a Divine deed, requiring maximum, inhuman efforts. But the Lord never leaves His conscious disciples and friends without the graceful help, who sincerely share the Divine creativity aimed at transforming our evil and imperfect world.

13 Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many go through it; 14 for narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

15 Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do they gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So by their fruits you will know them. 21 Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord, Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in Heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day: Lord! God! Have we not prophesied in Your name? and did they not cast out demons in your name? and did not many miracles work in your name? 23 And then I will declare to them: I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of iniquity.

24 So whoever hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; 25 and the rain fell, and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew, and rushed against that house, and it did not fall, because it was founded on a stone. 26 And whoever hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand; 27 and the rain came down, and the rivers flooded, and the winds blew, and fell upon that house; and he fell, and his fall was great. Gospel of Matthew 7 (13-27)

The path of the true Christian Orthodox faith requires us to clearly define the choice between good and evil, righteousness and sin, the saving creation of the will of God and life in the destructive captivity of bodily passions, selfishness and pride.

The meaning of faith lies in the salvation of our eternal and immortal soul, for the development of which the mortal and temporary physical body, as well as all earthly concerns and deeds, play a secondary role.

If a person puts earthly goods above all else, forgetting about the vital necessity of uncompromising faith, he eventually loses everything, choosing eternal death. The denial of faith inevitably leads a person to the path of a sinful life committed in the name of satisfying bodily and spiritual passions. A sinful person is simply incapable of doing the will of God and necessarily brings evil to the world around him, destroying his soul and pushing those around him to perdition.

It is not surprising that the practical confession of faith is valued by a Christian above all earthly things. Hence comes the rigidity of the Christian in the war against evil. Let us note that a normal Christian never uses violence against unbelievers and dissenters, defending the faith by bearing the personal cross of Orthodox life.

A Christian is one who voluntarily and freely chooses the path of conscious holiness, selfless goodness, and selfless love. The difficult path of the true Orthodox faith calls on the Christian to completely abandon himself, leaving everything that seems to him valuable in material terms, up to earthly life itself.

The Lord necessarily sends the believers the material benefits necessary for the reasonable provision of earthly life. The Creator calls us not to be afraid of the loss of earthly pleasures and inevitable physical death. When all the thoughts and deeds of a believer are directed towards the coming eternity, the Almighty Lord absolutely faithfully saves a person who has trusted in Him, who has embarked on the path of faith without looking back. The Christian benefits absolutely even if he renounces the treasures of the whole world.

Full service to God in the name of personal salvation, at the same time contributing to the salvation of all mankind, requires the uncompromising creation of the will of God. "Christianity is either fire or it is not." The Christian maximalism of spiritual demands is entirely justified, for only it leads to the salvation of man himself and the surrounding world.

A Christian has no right to feel sorry for himself and live according to the rule “ours and yours”, serving his sinful nature and trying to fulfill the requirements of Divine Truth. A person who chooses to satisfy self-love and pride in search of earthly power and material wealth, voluntarily or involuntarily renounces the creation of a righteous life, which is the basis of true faith. Such a "believer" inevitably begins to sin and do evil. He will never do anything spiritually useful for the people around him and will surely lose the most valuable thing for himself - the eternal salvation of the soul.

The Lord, our Heavenly Father, expects from every person a full confession of the teachings of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the form of the creation of a righteous life based on the principles of selfless love and selfless kindness towards everything Divine creation. Choosing the saving path of fulfilling the will of God, a person brings good to the whole world and to himself. Otherwise, the rejection of faith means the removal of the protection and help of the Creator from him, with all the ensuing consequences, up to the eternal death of the soul.

Carrying the personal cross of a righteous life and the feasible sharing of the Cross of Christ in the name of the salvation of the world leads to a harmonious combination of personal salvation with the creativity of sincere love towards God and people.

To embody the will of God, a Christian has to set spiritual goals above all else. In this sense, one must understand the words about the uncompromising service of the true faith: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."

Unbelieving people usually understand peace among themselves as a crafty concealment of sinful contradictions. Instead of a real correction, it is easier for a person to hide his sins and pretend that he does not see the evil of others, so as not to interfere with the mutual existence of egoists. To do this, you need to become "like everyone else", refusing the "right to go beyond the general framework." But such a "peace" is always fragile and regularly leads to "explosions" of evil between people.

The Christian's war against evil initially implies a refusal to use evil and violent methods. A normal believer does not force anyone to believe. The deeds of a Christian bring only material and spiritual benefits to the world, but the closest people often try to subordinate him to the will of the majority so that he does not leave a sinful life.

When a Christian is required to renounce the Higher Truth that leads to eternal life, he has every right not to give in to any "reasonable" and emotional arguments. For a person, his eternal soul and its eternal being are most valuable, and not transient earthly blessings. Earthly love for close people has no right to stand between a person and God. Because this is not real love, if relatives force a believer to abandon spiritual development, harming him and himself personally.

The primary acceptance of the will of God does not mean at all that a believer has the right to indifferently turn away from people in the name of a "higher" goal, forgetting about his loved ones, about ensuring their earthly and spiritual well-being. By refusing the usual daily help to people, from his family and social duties, the believer shows the usual selfish laziness, covered with false piety and has nothing to do with the Christian faith.

The path of Christian life wisely combines the maximum self-renunciation of the sinful and evil world with full-fledged creativity of goodness and love towards humanity. Only then does he lead the believer to the true goal of religious creativity, saving the person himself and the souls of the people around him.

28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 Are not two sparrows sold for an assaria? And not one of them will fall to the ground without the will of your Father; 30 and the hairs of your head are all numbered; 31 do not be afraid: you are better than many small birds. 32 Therefore, whoever confesses Me before men, I will confess him also before My Father in heaven; 33 but whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my Father in heaven. 34 Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; not peace I came to bring, but a sword, 35 for I have come to divide a man from his father, and a daughter from her mother, and a daughter-in-law from her mother-in-law. 36 And the enemies of a man are his household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38 and whoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 He who saves his soul will lose it; but he who loses his life for my sake will save it. Mt 10 (28-39)

When a person wants to achieve good results in any material creativity, he has to make every effort, resolutely refusing to interfere with extraneous influences. Similarly, spiritual development is unthinkable without an extremely tough struggle with selfishness and pride. A believing person is obliged to make a decisive choice between God and the forces of evil, between a righteous and a sinful life.

The words of the Savior, “Let the dead bury their dead,” at first glance seem unnecessarily cruel. But from the point of view of spiritual benefit, they are fully justified. The Lord initially knows our sinful self-loving nature and understands his spiritual destiny better than the person himself, realizing which we create the highest good for ourselves, our loved ones and all of humanity. The fulfillment of the all-good and saving will of the Creator should be in the first place for a Christian. Otherwise, vain concerns about material values ​​and the improvement of earthly life take away all our strength, turning into idols that require absolute worship.

The Lord shows each person his personal spiritual path, optimal in terms of strength and abilities. Fulfilling our duty and using God-given talents according to the will of God, we thereby avoid overwhelming feats and spiritual dead ends, bringing maximum benefit to ourselves and the world around us.

God never calls people to the same spiritual creativity without differences in individual qualities. Someone is given more, someone less, but in any case, the path of faith is the ultimate feat of bearing the personal cross of Christian life. The realization of a personal spiritual destiny requires a comprehensive spiritual transformation from every Christian, calling on us to resolutely reject earthly vanity and, to the best of our ability, follow the Savior of the world.

For the majority of Orthodox believers, the creation of the Divine commandments does not at all mean a rejection of all earthly affairs and concerns. Complete renunciation of worldly life, special ascetic and prayerful deeds, church creativity of preaching and missionary activity can be endured only by a few believers - clergymen, ascetics and monks who take special vows by the will of God.

The lay believer's renunciation of earthly vanity takes place in a "softer" form, which does not require removal from social and family life. The Lord accepts from us any, the smallest good and pious deed. In general, everyone is called to fully work in his place, caring for personal salvation and not forgetting about spiritual help to people. A conscious Christian does the will of God equally in the world and in the monastery. Although the laity, clergy and monks serve God and people in different ways, they all do it in accordance with the will of God, which guides everyone along the best path.

24 No one can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or he will be zealous for one, and neglect the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Mt 6 (24)

18 When Jesus saw a multitude of people around Him, He ordered [the disciples] to sail to the other side. 19 Then a certain scribe came up and said to Him: Master! I will follow You wherever You go. 20 And Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. 21 Another of His disciples said to Him: Lord! let me first go and bury my father. 22 But Jesus said to him: Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead. Matthew 8 (18-22)

40 Whoever receives you receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; 41 whoever receives a prophet, in the name of a prophet, will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever receives the righteous, in the name of the righteous, will receive the reward of the righteous. 42 And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water to drink, in the name of a disciple, I tell you truly, he will not lose his reward. Mt 10 (40-42)

The spiritual "darkness" of sinful unbelief affects not only unbelieving people who are far from the Church. Often, believers and non-believers alike - extremely simplified, if not primitively, understand the meaning of the words "faith" and "commandments". A person says: “I know that God exists” and calls it faith, says: “I am baptized and go to the temple” and takes this for the fulfillment of Christian commandments.

The study of dogmatic knowledge about God, the world and man, accompanied by the arrival in an Orthodox church, marks the beginning of the path of the true Christian faith. But this is not yet faith, since a person can quit what he started at any moment. Genuine faith means not so much knowledge about God as trust in the Creator who loves us, which is manifested in a sincere desire to fulfill His all-good and saving will.

Real faith-trust is based on direct living communion with God, when the Lord is Heavenly Father and closest friend for a Christian. Real faith, inseparable from selfless love for God and people, necessarily manifests itself in the practice of a righteous Christian life that brings goodness and love to the world around.

A Christian is obliged to imitate the Holiness and Love of our Heavenly Father towards people. This is how he saves his soul and helps the salvation of mankind, revealing to the world the appearance of the true Orthodox faith and the true essence of the All-good Creator.

14 You are the light of the world. A city on top of a mountain cannot hide. 15 And having lighted a candle, they do not put it under a vessel, but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 So let your light shine before people, so that they see your good deeds and glorify your Father in Heaven. Mt 5 (14-16)

Orthodox Jews often accused the Lord Jesus Christ of violating the foundations of the Old Testament religion. Answering them, Christ affirmed that He did not come to destroy, but to fulfill spiritual law fully embodying the divinely revealed knowledge of the people of Israel.

Imitating the Son of God, a Christian is obliged to clearly distinguish between the concepts of "ceremonial law" and "Divine commandments." The outward righteousness of the Old Testament "scribes and Pharisees" was based on formal ritual piety. Christian righteousness, which does not deny the ritual law, puts above all the fulfillment of the Divine commandments in the creation of a sinless life, selfless kindness and selfless love towards God and people.

The fulfillment of the ritual law through the use of traditional means of spiritual development, such as fasting and prayer, the reading of spiritual books and church service, the performance of church rites and even the acceptance of the blessed Sacraments, undoubtedly, refers to the fulfillment of Divine commandments. Nevertheless, the full-fledged creativity of the Christian commandments is expressed, first of all, in a righteous life and self-sacrificing love towards God and people. Everything else is only a means to achieve this goal.

The minimum level of universal spiritual and religious requirements, which can be called the "law of justice", operated in the Old Testament and continues to be the basis of traditional world religions. In contrast to them, the Christian spiritual life is based on the maximum "law of self-sacrificing love."

Christian righteousness is called upon to surpass the “righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,” for which ritual service and the rule “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” are sufficient. All people are equally sinners, so it is ridiculous to talk about some kind of justice that we ourselves do not show in relation to God and people. A believer is obliged to unselfishly forgive people like God, and then the Lord will forgive him. Otherwise, our earthly life, despite the apparent churching, can end very badly - a merciless punishment for all the sins committed.

The Lord Jesus Christ teaches us to meaningfully fulfill the traditional ritual law, preserved and affirmed by the Holy Tradition of the Church, because without it the life of the earthly Church will turn into chaos. But the practical embodiment of the commandments of Christ is not always manifested in noticeable forms of religious life - there is still an "invisible" or, rather, imperceptible side of spiritual creativity for many.

A full-fledged confession of the dogmatic and canonical teaching of the Christian Church is divided into two special stages of spiritual development - "water baptism" and "Spirit baptism".

“Baptism with water” means a clear, visible entry of a person into the earthly Church through the acceptance of Baptism and the dogmas of Christianity, submission to church discipline and observance of the ritual law, through fasting and prayer, asceticism and the study of church experience, visiting the temple and receiving the blessed Church Sacraments. At the same time, visible religious creativity is insufficient for the salvation of the soul, if the Christian does not undergo the grace-filled "baptism in the Spirit."

The Christian life immeasurably exceeds the "generally accepted standard" of ritual righteousness. Faith means a person's personal union with God, the individual enlightenment of a Christian by the grace of the Holy Spirit. “Baptism with the Spirit” is the second, main stage of the Christian path, which likens a person to the Creator in His Holiness and Love. Any religious creativity loses its meaning and spiritual value without the voluntary purification of the believer from the power of bodily passions, selfishness and pride, without the blessed enlightenment of his nature by the spirit of conscious holiness and selfless love.

A Christian has no right to repeat the mistakes of the "lifeless" righteousness of the Old Testament Pharisees, who magically performed rituals for the sake of the rituals themselves, or in the "best" case for the selfish salvation of the soul. The confessor of Christianity is called to strive for conscious righteousness and holiness through the grace-filled enlightenment of our mind and heart with the spirit of disinterested love for God and people. Without this step, any, the most strict, exalted and useful religious service loses its value.

In His Essence, God is the Supreme Good and Love. It is not surprising that only people of the same Spirit with Him who imitate the Creator in His Absolute Holiness and Love towards people and all earthly creation can truly come to the knowledge of God, gain true faith and fulfill the saving Divine commandments.

17 Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled. 19 So, whoever breaks one of these least commandments and teaches people so, he will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but whoever does and teaches, he will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

21 You have heard what the ancients said: do not kill; whoever kills is subject to judgment. 22 But I tell you that everyone who is angry with his brother in vain is subject to judgment; whoever says to his brother: "cancer", is subject to the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, "insane," is subject to fiery hell. 23 So if you bring your gift to the altar and remember there that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 25 Make peace with your opponent quickly, while you are still on the way with him, so that your opponent does not hand you over to the judge, and the judge does not hand you over to a servant, and plunge you into prison; 26 Truly, I say to you, you will not get out of there until you have paid every last penny. Mt 5 (14-26)

The human personality is a unique combination of special abilities and talents, advantages and disadvantages. Each person is individual spiritually and physically. At the same time, all people are spiritual and physical brothers, due to which there is only one correct path for humanity to spiritual enlightenment and cognition of the Divine Truth.

Often, believers incorrectly believe that the path of Christian knowledge of God is impossible without “special” ascetic, theological or missionary exploits, or, in extreme cases, without impeccable ritual piety. Christianity does not reject the ceremonial law and teaches its strict observance. But above all, he puts the fulfillment of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ through the creativity of a righteous life.

The fulfillment of the commandment of love in relation to God and people is the only condition, without which it is impossible to obtain the salvation of the soul, and even more so to help save our world.

The first step on the saving path of a righteous Christian life is the ability to repent of one's sins, at the same time completely, without conditions, forgiving human evil.

By virtue of his sinfulness, any person imperceptibly for himself inevitably offends others, harms them physically and mentally. We constantly harm people with selfish and evil deeds, words and thoughts. The Lord, in His inexpressible mercy, constantly forgives and cleanses our conscious and unconscious sins. But only on the condition that we bring sincere repentance, try not to repeat our sins and be sure to forgive the sins of others. In this case, the Lord gives believers special grace-filled help to overcome bodily and spiritual passions, because a person is not able to overcome the demonic power of sin and evil by his own strength.

First, a Christian receives forgiveness of personal sins through the Sacrament of Confession and personal prayerful repentance before God and people, through the forgiveness of others. Such a "repentant victory" over the passions of the body and soul means only "half the battle." What follows is the final correction of the situation through an appropriate righteous life according to the will of God.

Full repentance necessarily includes an active renunciation of a sinful life and a conscious creation of the will of God. Comprehensive repentance, which frees a person from the power of sin and evil, cannot be accomplished without grace-filled Divine help. To receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, the believer should try to act like God, imitating the conscious Holiness and selfless Love of the Creator, because repentance is an inseparable process of cooperation between God and man.

It must be added that an essential sign of Christian repentance is the ability to correct evil situations, especially one’s own evil sinful mistakes, good deeds in relation to people. Every normal person wants the people around him to treat him with kindness, to be loved and never offended. It is foolish to demand a good attitude from people without giving anything in return.

The second decisive step in the fulfillment of the commandment of love means a complete ban on doing evil to people by deed, word and thought.

The creation of righteous deeds in the name of personal salvation necessarily brings the believer closer to the correct fulfillment of the will of God. But here one must beware that a person is not possessed by “selfish” goodness, which is directed by a selfish desire for a personal spiritual reward, and which is clearly not enough for the full fulfillment of Christian commandments.

For a Christian, one passive non-doing of evil in the form of abstaining from bodily and spiritual sins is not enough. A Christian is obliged to voluntarily imitate Divine Love, sincerely and selflessly doing selfless good to all people without exception.

The third decisive step on the path of grace-filled union with God is made through gaining the fullness of disinterested Divine Love, which is equally poured out on good and evil, on believers and unbelievers. Imitating the absolute Love of the Creator, we must learn to love all people equally.

A conscious disciple of Christ repents, does good, shows love for God and people completely disinterestedly, without thinking about the reward from above in the form of personal salvation and worldly goods, without distinguishing people by their external and internal state.

Selfish love for God and neighbor, manifested for the sake of personal salvation and the reward of eternal life, is spiritually defective. It is rather a religious variety of selfishness, only slightly similar to sincere Christian self-denial. A believer becomes a Christian only if he consciously imitates the mercy of the Heavenly Father who loves us, sharing to the best of his ability the sacrificial Love of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The real fulfillment of the commandments of the true Orthodox faith lies in the most “simple” things - a righteous life in renunciation of bodily and spiritual passions, not doing evil, sincere love for all people without exception, disinterested material and spiritual help to all those in need, unconditional forgiveness of others, accompanied not only verbal forgiveness, but always good deeds.

This is the only way to receive forgiveness of personal sins from God and people, without which the salvation of a person's soul is impossible. As long as a person does evil and condemns those around him, he will never correct himself, will not be able to save his soul, much less help save humanity. It is not enough to talk about faith, one must live by faith in accordance with the commandments of the Son of God and the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

14 For if you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive people their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses. Mt 6 (14-15)

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you; 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Is there a man among you who, when his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? 10 and when he asks for a fish, would you give him a snake? 11 If then, being evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him.

12 Therefore, in everything you want people to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets. Mt 7 (12)

27 But to you who hear, I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you and pray for those who despitefully use you. 29 Offer the other to the one who slaps you on the cheek, and do not prevent the one who takes your coat from you to take your shirt. 30 To everyone who asks of you, give, and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand back. 31 And as you want people to do to you, do to them. 32 And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? for even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? for sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what thanks do you have for that? for even sinners lend to sinners in order to get back the same amount. 35 But you love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36 So be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; 38 give, and it will be given to you: good measure, shaken together, shaken together, and overflowing, they will pour into your bosom; for with what measure you mete, it will be measured to you again. 39 He also told them a parable: Can the blind lead the blind? will they not both fall into the pit? 40 The student is not higher than his teacher; but even when perfected, everyone will be like his teacher. 41 Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but do not feel the beam in your eye? 42 Or, how can you say to your brother: brother! let me take the speck out of your eye, when you yourself don't see the log in your eye? Hypocrite! first take the log out of your eye, and then you will see how to take the speck out of your brother's eye. 43 Not good tree which would bear bad fruit; and there is no bad tree that bears good fruit, 44 for every tree is known by its fruit, because the figs are not gathered from the thorn bush, and the grapes are not picked from the bush. 45 A good man brings forth good out of the good treasure of his heart, but an evil man brings forth evil out of the evil treasure of his heart, for out of the abundance of his heart his mouth speaks.

46 Why are you calling me: Lord! God! - and do not do what I say? 47 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will tell you to whom he is like. 48 He is like a man who builds a house, who dug, deepened, and laid his foundation upon the rock; why, when there was a flood and the water rushed over this house, it could not shake it, because it was built on a stone. 49 And he who hears and does not do is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation, which, when the water came down on him, immediately collapsed; and the destruction of this house was great. Lk 6 (27-49)

True faith is born in mutual communication and cooperation of man with the Creator. Uniting with God in the spirit of self-sacrificing love and knowing His good saving will, a Christian cannot but participate in the Divine work to save our world from the power of evil. For this, the Lord unselfishly gives each person individual spiritual talents, realizing which we are called to sincerely work to the best of our ability.

A person who refuses to do the will of God, in any case, acts insincerely and slyly. Usually sinners justify themselves with the right of God-given freedom: "God gave us freedom and therefore we can refuse to fulfill the Divine commandments and religious life." This also includes typical arguments on the topic of church life: “why go to church and belong to the Church, if God is in our souls, and in general I do nothing wrong, which means I have no sins.” It sounds quite logical and beautiful, but in reality it turns out a completely different picture.

Selfish people who calmly create sin and evil “for their own pleasure” harm themselves most of all, imperceptibly losing their human appearance and the salvation of their souls. Not to mention their attitude towards people. In youth and middle age, a person usually does not notice this. And when the terrifying old age of a hardened sinner comes, the proud man can only “bite his elbows” from despair and anger, remaining with a “broken trough”.

The fact is that the Lord does not require anything unusual from a person. Spiritual talents given to us from above for obligatory incarnation, in most cases mean not so much "pure" church-religious creativity, but the fulfillment of universally binding laws of morality and the generally accepted requirements of human conscience. In case of refusal to fulfill them, a sinful - proud and proud person has no justification.

Either a person accepts the will of God, lives a righteous life according to his conscience and does good, or he serves the forces of evil, turning into a selfish proud man who destroys himself and the world around him. Moreover, we need the Church precisely in order to fully apply the God-given talents for personal and social benefit.

The fulfillment of Divine laws best of all shows the relationship of a person to people. Our earthly existence consists of concrete - good and bad deeds. The Orthodox faith is never a theological theory abstracted from life or formal ceremonial piety.

The creativity of the Christian faith cannot concern only the personal salvation of the soul, having nothing to do with the surrounding people. If a believer selfishly understands faith as a means of personal deliverance from punishment for sins, he is unlikely to be able to fully cleanse himself from the power of evil, free himself from the destructive slavery of bodily and spiritual passions that bring death to himself and the world around him.

At the Divine Judgment, anticipating eternal life, the soul of a person undergoes a comprehensive test of the earthly activity of a person - his thoughts, words and deeds. The choice of the true Orthodox faith is undoubtedly of decisive importance for our salvation. The true direct Orthodox path to eternity is clearly better than the roundabout and dangerous other denominations and religions. And at the same time, we see that the Lord does not divide the peoples of the Earth into Christians and non-Christians, especially into Orthodox and non-Orthodox, marking people not so much by their religious affiliation as by their deeds.

God equally judges "all nations" according to the degree of our good and evil. Another thing is that different religions clearly provide a person with a path of spiritual salvation and development in different ways, depending on the purity of their dogmatic and moral-practical teachings. Christianity-Orthodoxy stands incomparably higher than all world religions, fully teaching us the renunciation of sin and the saving creation of the will of God through deeds of goodness and love.

Correct Orthodox dogmas and canons, Sacraments and rituals ensure the normal life of the Christian Church, contributing in every possible way to the grace-filled development of every Christian. But, above all, the Christian faith is a creation of conscious holiness, which requires an uncompromising fulfillment of the commandment of love for God and people. Formal belonging to Orthodoxy never saves a person, because the true faith must be really confessed by a righteous life.

Genuine love for God is expressed in the resolute renunciation of a sinful and evil life by a Christian in the name of doing the will of God. Sincere love for the All-good Creator is always inseparable from the same selfless love for people.

The fulfillment of the Divine commandments begins with the cleansing of a person from the power of bodily passions, and continues with the cleansing of the soul from selfishness and pride. The first thing a believer sets himself is the task of personal purification and salvation. But we simply cannot live in a closed space without influencing the people around us and our world. Therefore, a conscious follower of Christ cultivates in himself the spirit of humble love in relation to all of God's creation, learns not to do evil and actively do good to all people without exception.

Fulfilling the commandments of Christ in relation to himself and others, the Orthodox believer gradually becomes a true Christian and a member of the Church of Christ, who receives the saving grace of the Holy Spirit. Only in this way - gracefully transforming the world with the creativity of a righteous life, selfless goodness and selfless love, a person can save his soul and help save those around him.

A person who accepts Christianity “theoretically”, in its simplest ceremonial expression, will “stagnate in place” for as long as he likes, not in the least approaching the faith of grace-filled communion with God and knowledge of God. At the same time, he can very actively participate in visible church and religious activities, without doing anything practically useful for himself and our world.

In a similar way, very frivolously, illogically and spiritually ruinous act the proud who are outside the Church of Christ. Many unbelievers and non-church people seek the highest truth, achieve the triumph of universal goodness and universal justice, and speak of spiritual service to the "good of mankind." But in fact, none of them strives to truly fulfill the will of God and do good to people, renouncing bodily passions, selfishness and pride.

A Christian must understand with the utmost clarity the futility of abstract thoughts about the struggle between good and evil. When a believer voluntarily chooses to comprehend and do the will of God in the name of personal salvation, he is driven not only by "spiritual" egoism. A righteous life in caring for one's soul naturally reduces the number of sins on earth and the power of human evil. In the future, with the correct fulfillment of the will of God, Christian service enters an “active phase”, to help perishing humanity, most effectively increasing the power of spiritual truth and genuine goodness on earth.

The words of the Gospel about the primary value of a sinless life and selfless goodness, without which the change and transformation of our world is impossible, cannot but excite anyone who has felt the bitter wrongness of earthly existence. Every honest person understands that it is not enough to feel the influence of evil, realizing its "spiritual" untruth. Each of us is obliged to work at least a little to really rectify the situation. As a result, if a person sincerely strives for the triumph of the Highest Truth, for the establishment of the power of goodness and love on earth, he has no choice but to accept conscious faith and embark on the path of Christian life.

14 For He will act like a man who, going to a foreign country, called his servants and entrusted them with his possessions: 15 and to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability; and immediately set off. 16 The one who received the five talents went and put them to work and acquired another five talents; 17 in the same way, he who received two talents acquired the other two; 18 but the one who received the one talent went and dug it in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 After a long time, the master of those servants comes and demands an account from them. 20 And the one who had received the five talents came up and brought another five talents and said, Sir! you gave me five talents; behold, five other talents I have acquired with them. 21 22 The one who had received two talents also approached and said: Sir! you gave me two talents; behold, two other talents I have acquired with them. 23 His master said to him: Well done, good and faithful servant! you have been faithful in a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master. 24 The one who had received one talent also approached and said: Sir! I knew you that you are a cruel man, you reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter, 25 and being afraid, you went and hid your talent in the ground; here's yours. 26 And his master answered and said to him: Crafty and lazy servant! you knew that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter; 27 wherefore it behooved thee to give my money to the merchants, and when I came, I would have received mine with a profit; 28 so take the talent from him and give it to him who has ten talents, 29 for to everyone who has it will be given and multiplied, but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away; 30 but cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Having said this, he proclaimed: He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

31 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He sits on the throne of His glory, 32 and all nations will be gathered before him; and separate one from the other, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and he will put the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you accepted Me; 36 was naked, and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me. 37 Then the righteous will answer Him: Lord! when we saw you hungry and fed you? or thirsty, and drink? 38 when we saw you as a stranger and received you? or naked and clothed? 39 when did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you? 40 And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, because you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you did it to Me.” 41 Then he will say also to those who left side: Depart from me, you cursed, into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry, and you gave me no food; I was thirsty, and you did not give Me drink; 43 I was a stranger, and they did not receive me; was naked, and they did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and did not visit Me. 44 Then they too will say to Him in answer: Lord! when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve you? 45 Then he will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, because you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.” 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Matthew 25(14-46)

A complete renunciation of earthly concerns and problems, necessary for the maximum fulfillment of the will of God, is required only from a few believers who are especially gifted for spiritual and religious service. From them the Lord expects the highest feat of self-denial.

This does not mean at all that only a few, chosen saints and righteous people, can serve God and people. The path of salvation through the fulfillment of the Divine commandments is equally accessible to all believers - ordinary members of the Church, clergymen and monks. We can all live righteously, do good and love people, fully demonstrating our spiritual and bodily powers.

In the creativeness of a righteous life, selfless kindness and self-sacrificing love, the noble and the simple, the learned and the illiterate, the rich and the poor are equally saved. Only a sinful - an evil and proud person who cares about himself and does not think about people, relying on his own strength and earthly wealth, regardless of his church and social position, destroys his soul by consciously serving the forces of evil.

Successful advancement of a believer along the path of grace-filled transformation of the soul through bearing the personal cross of Christian life directly depends on the sincerity of our humility. In the spiritual struggle of man's strength, there is very little and not for long. Only humble acceptance and fulfillment of the will of God will give us invincible strength to achieve the Kingdom of God.

The irreconcilable choice between pride and humility is equally necessary for all people. The spiritual fall of non-church sinners and church-going believers comes mainly from proud arrogance in their "spiritual labors and merits." The worldly sinner loves to talk about the complete absence of sin. And the believer begins to despise the surrounding "sinners", considering himself better and more righteous than the rest. As a result, a person inevitably loses the grace-filled state of humble wisdom that soberly assesses its own strength and hopes for God's all-powerful help.

The creativeness of the Christian commandments immeasurably exceeds human powers. The presumptuous believer, not to mention unbelievers, is sure to begin to sin and do evil, in spite of any ritual piety. The proud believer is no different from the proud unbeliever who turns his back on God in the mad hope of earthly power and wealth. It is not surprising that religious and earthly pride are often combined, since they come from the same source.

17 When He went out on the road, someone ran up, fell on his knees before Him and asked Him: Good Teacher! what should I do to inherit eternal life? 18 Jesus said to him: why do you call me good? Nobody is good but God alone. 19 You know the commandments: do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not offend, honor your father and mother. 20 He said to Him in answer: Master! All this I have kept from my youth. 21 Jesus, looking at him, fell in love with him and said to him: You lack one thing: go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross. 22 He, embarrassed by this word, departed with sorrow, because he had a large estate. 23 And, looking around, Jesus said to His disciples: how difficult it is for those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God! 24 The disciples were horrified at His words. But Jesus again says to them in answer: Children! How difficult it is for those who trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God. 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said among themselves, Who then can be saved? 27 Jesus, looking at them, says: it is impossible for men, but not for God, for everything is possible with God. Mk 10 (17-27)

Every Christian is called to work selflessly to the best of his ability, in accordance with his God-given talents and abilities. True spiritual wisdom lies in not overestimating and underestimating your capabilities at the same time.

It is very dangerous to incorrectly overestimate one's abilities, proudly striving for unbearable spiritual and religious activity. The spiritual struggle is waged with the fallen angels, who are incomparably smarter and more powerful than any human being. Realistically perceiving the situation, a spiritually sober believer humbly trusts God, placing hope mainly in the grace-filled help and mercy of God. An extremely clear awareness of the imperfection and sinful weakness of earthly man is necessary for our own good. And at the same time, we do not have the right to be lazy, and are obliged to fully devote all our strength to the service of God and people.

The path of salvation and the grace-filled development of the human personality is a gift of God, which depends little on our learning and earthly wealth, position in society and church service. All the good that we have is given to us from above, in fact, for nothing. In this regard, all people are equally equal before the Almighty and Omniscient Creator. At the same time, the Lord demands from us the utmost self-denial in the fulfillment of Christian commandments, because otherwise a person turns into a “spiritual lazybones”, whose “faith” consists in a primitive and hypocritical “ritualism”.

It is very stupid and dangerous to boast of one's faith before people, because pride immediately deprives a person of the opportunity to correctly apply the Divine gifts. Note that the Lord pays attention not so much to the quantity of our deeds as to their quality.

Numerous "good" deeds and visible ostentatious piety, done for the sake of human glory and praise, have no spiritual value. Rather, it is already a negative value, developing the sin of proud vanity. In fact, real faith consists of “small” deeds, like the poor widow’s mite, which are imperceptibly done in the name of sincere love for God and people. The main thing is that a person not sparing himself does everything in his power.

All manifestations of human activity can be used both for the creation of good and for the service of evil, depending on what kind of spirit a person moves. Any means of spiritual development - fasting and prayer, church service and good deeds - can be done in such a way that a good deed will not bring us and people any benefit and even harm. And you can do the opposite, applying the principle of humble love for God and people.

The Christian faith is tested for correctness by the presence of a spirit of humble love. The Lord expects from His disciples not so much the impeccable fulfillment of the ritual law, but the sincere creativity of conscious righteousness, selfless goodness and self-sacrificing love. This is the only important and valuable spiritual creativity in which a Christian has no right to stop, boldly striving to imitate the perfection of the Creator Himself.

28 One of the scribes, hearing their argument and seeing that Jesus answered them well, came up and asked Him, Which is the first of all the commandments? 29 Jesus answered him: the first of all the commandments: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord; 30 And love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength—this is the first commandment! 31 The second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. 32 The scribe said to him: well, Master! Thou hast said the truth, that there is one God, and there is none else besides Him; 33 and to love Him with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is greater than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34 Jesus, seeing that he answered wisely, said to him, You are not far from the Kingdom of God. After that, no one dared to question Him.

35 Continuing to teach in the temple, Jesus said: How do the scribes say that Christ is the Son of David? 36 For David himself said by the Holy Spirit, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool. 37 So David himself calls Him Lord: how is He his Son? And many people listened to Him with delight. 38 And he said to them in his teaching: beware of the scribes, who love to walk in long robes and receive greetings in the assemblies of the people, 39 to sit in front in the synagogues, and to reclining in the first place at feasts, 40 these who devour the houses of widows and pray for a long time for show will receive the most severe condemnation.

41 And Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in a lot. 42 When a poor widow arrived, she put in two mites, which is a kodrant. 43 Calling His disciples, Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who put in the treasury, 44 for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, contributed all that she had, all her livelihood. Mk 12 (28-44)

31 When he came out, Jesus said, "Today the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him." 32 If God is glorified in Him, then God will glorify Him in Himself, and will soon glorify Him. 33 Children! It won't be long for me to be with you. You will seek Me, and as I said to the Jews, that where I go, you cannot come, so I tell you now. 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another; as I have loved you, let you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. 36 Simon Peter said to Him: Lord! where are you going? Jesus answered him: where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but later you will follow me. 37 Peter said to Him: Lord! why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for You. 38 Jesus answered him: Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow until you deny me three times.
John 13 (31-38)

First of all, the correctness of the confession of the Christian faith is verified by the acceptance of Orthodox dogmatic knowledge, the entry of a person into the earthly Orthodox Church, the observance of church discipline, the fulfillment of the traditional ritual law and participation in the Church Sacraments. But the main confession of the Orthodox faith is the fulfillment of the Divine commandments, which leads to the grace-filled transfiguration and deification of a person by the spirit of conscious holiness and love.

At the first stage of the Orthodox faith, the supremacy of the spirit of love for God and people is expressed in the believer's renunciation of a sinful life, in resolutely embarking on the path of full purification from the power of bodily passions.

The second step on the way to the knowledge of God and true faith is to purify from the spiritual passions of egoism and pride of our soul - mind and heart.

The third stage represents the creativity of selfless goodness and selfless love, completing the blessed enlightenment of human nature through the perception of the Divine energy of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian path of repentance, liberation from the power of evil and enlightenment by the spirit of good, can be called baptism with "water and the Holy Spirit", a process of grace-filled deification of the human person, which is the main goal of spiritual and religious life for all members of the Orthodox Christian Church.

The spiritual birth and development of a Christian begins with bodily purification, education of the body and soul with the help of ascetic abstinence and ritual law. It continues with a conscious renunciation of self-love and pride. It ends with a blessed transformation of human nature through the creation of sincere holiness, selfless goodness and selfless love.

The perception of the saving grace of the Holy Spirit does not depend on any special mystical abilities and is not the privilege of a few saints. For a grace-filled union with God, a believer needs to renounce a sinful life and develop in himself the spirit of humble love, combining personal salvation with a feasible division of Divine creativity in the name of the salvation of our world. Of particular importance here is the victory over selfishness and pride. These are the main sins that most of all prevent a person from living righteously and do not allow him to selflessly do good, showing sincere love towards God and people.

The Almighty Creator can make a person “mechanically”, like an automatic robot, do only good deeds. But then a person will no longer be a person, because Divine Love initially created him as a conscious and creative being, having the freedom to choose between good and evil. For all our weakness and imperfection, we are able to choose the path of true faith or the path of spiritual death. And then, in accordance with our personal choice, the forces of Light or the forces of darkness begin to help a person. From here, good and evil appear on Earth, shaping our personal life, the present and future of all mankind.

In accordance with the absolutely fair laws of the universe, all people on Earth - believers and non-believers, judge themselves by their own deeds. The righteous is saved by a righteous and good life, which he freely chooses, and the sinner is punished by his own evil.

By virtue of His absolute Holiness, the Creator has the full right to judge and punish people. But instead, the Lord Jesus Christ saves the world with His sacrificial love, showing equal mercy to the righteous and sinners. To the extent that a Christian comprehends this knowledge and realizes it in life, he firmly takes the path of true Christianity, the path of mystical communion with God and the knowledge of God, the path of grace-filled acquisition of the Spirit of divine-human holiness and love.

The birth and growth of the true Orthodox faith is impossible without a conscious self-renunciation of a sinful and evil life, without a resolute rejection of selfishness and pride, without a firm step on the path of selfless goodness, without the voluntary creation of selfless love. At the same time, a Christian does not have the right to think only about personal salvation. A true disciple of Christ is obliged to accept the highest goal of Divine Providence, imitating to the best of his ability the sacrificial self-giving of the Savior of the world, who cares for all mankind.

1 Among the Pharisees was someone named Nicodemus, one of the leaders of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said to Him: Rabbi! we know that you are a teacher who came from God; for such miracles as you do, no one can do unless God is with him. 3 Jesus answered and said to him: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus says to Him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? 5 Jesus answered: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Don't be surprised at what I said to you: You must be born again. 8 The Spirit breathes where it wants to, and you hear its voice, but you do not know where it comes from and where it goes: this is the case with everyone who is born of the Spirit. 9 Nicodemus answered Him, “How can this be? 10 Jesus answered and said to him, You are the teacher of Israel, and do you not know this? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, We speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, but you do not accept Our testimony. 12 If I told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but the Son of Man who descended from heaven, who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must I be lifted up Son of Man, 15 so that everyone who believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged, but the unbeliever is already condemned, because he did not believe in the name of the Only Begotten Son of God. 19 The judgment is that light has come into the world; but people loved the darkness more than the light, because their deeds were evil; 20 for everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works be convicted, because they are evil, 21 but he who does what is right goes to the light, that his works may be manifest, because they are done in God. John 3 (1-21)

Acquisition of the Christian faith is impossible without a person's visible communion with the Orthodox Church. The earthly church organization has existed since the beginning of time. By criticizing the church organization as something meaningless and unnecessary, various sectarians or simply ignorant people make a gross spiritual mistake.

Another thing is that formal belonging to the earthly Church in itself does not mean anything. Real Christian repentance and spiritual cleansing of a person begins with a clear awareness of personal sinfulness. Further, we are required to free a person from the power of bodily and spiritual passions with the help of a righteous life and good deeds. The spiritual development of a Christian is crowned by a grace-filled transfiguration by the energy of the Holy Spirit, carried out through the creativity of selfless love for God and people.

The meaning of the Christian faith lies in the graceful creation of a righteous life, leading us to the only important goal - the acquisition of the Holy Spirit and the deification of the human person, when a person is saved himself and, to the best of his ability, helps the salvation of mankind.

The true Orthodox religion, the divinely revealed dogmatic knowledge of Christianity and the Church's means of spiritual salvation, bring us God-given power only if we do the will of God towards people with love and disinterestedly. Only by humbly recognizing his sinfulness, renouncing the creation of evil, choosing a righteous life and the creation of good deeds, a believing person can acquire a “living” faith and become a true Orthodox Christian.

With grace-filled help, the righteous, kind and loving disciple of Christ naturally works the will of God in all aspects, realizing personal salvation and manifesting himself in the Christian work of love for the salvation of the world. Otherwise, despite any outwardly religious appearance, a person remains sinful - an evil and proud self-lover, who himself deprives himself of the Light of Divine Truth, always accessible to a humble and pure heart.

....the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 And he went through all the surrounding country of the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4 as it is written in the book of words of the prophet Isaiah, who says: the voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight; 5 let every valley be filled, and let every mountain and hill be lowered, crookedness straightened, and uneven paths made smooth; 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. 7 JohnHe said to the people who came to be baptized by him: You brood of vipers! who inspired you to flee from future wrath? 8 Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say within yourselves: Abraham is our father, for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9 Already the ax lies at the root of the trees: every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 10 And the people asked him: what shall we do? 11 He answered and said to them: Whoever has two robes, give to the poor, and whoever has food, do the same. 12 The publicans also came to be baptized, and said to him: teacher! what should we do? 13 He answered them: Do not demand anything more than what is certain for you. 14 The soldiers also asked him: what should we do? And he said to them: do not offend anyone, do not slander, and be content with your salary. 15 When the people were in expectation, and all thought in their hearts about John, whether he was not the Christ, - 16 John answered everyone: I baptize you with water, but the strongest of me is coming, from whom I am not worthy to untie the strap of my shoes; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His shovel is in His hand, and He will cleanse His threshing floor and gather the wheat into His barn, and burn the chaff with unquenchable fire. 18 He preached many other things to the people, instructing them. Lk 3 (2-18)

17 The seventy disciples returned with joy and said: Lord! and demons obey us in your name. 18 He said to them: I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning; 19 Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and on all the power of the enemy, and nothing will harm you; 20 however, do not rejoice that the spirits obey you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. 21 At that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said: I praise Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Hey Father! For such was Your good pleasure. 22 And turning to the disciples, he said: everything is delivered to me by my Father; and who the Son is, no one knows but the Father, and who the Father is, no one knows but the Son, and to whom the Son wants to reveal. 23 And, turning to the disciples, he said to them especially: blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see and did not see, and to hear what you hear and did not hear.

25 And behold, one lawyer stood up and, tempting Him, said: Teacher! what should I do to inherit eternal life? 26 And he said to him, What is written in the law? how do you read? 27 He answered and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. 28 Jesussaid to him: you answered correctly; do so, and you will live. 29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbor? 30 Jesus said to this: a certain man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho and was caught by robbers, who took off his clothes, wounded him and left, leaving him barely alive. 31 By chance, a priest was walking along that road and, seeing him, passed by. 32 Likewise, the Levite, being at that place, approached, looked, and passed by. 33 But a certain Samaritan, passing by, found him, and seeing him, had compassion 34 and going up, he bandaged his wounds, pouring out oil and wine; and putting him on his donkey, he brought him to an inn and took care of him; 35 and the next day, as he was leaving, he took out two denarii, gave it to the innkeeper, and said to him, Take care of him; and if you spend more, I will give it to you when I return. 36 Which of these three, do you think, was the neighbor of the one who was caught by the robbers? 37 He said: Who showed him mercy. Then Jesus said to him: Go, and you do the same. Lk 10 (17-37)

In the time of the Savior, the vast majority of the Jewish people belonged to the Old Testament Church. Hence the significant question: “Lord! Are there really few who are being saved?” After all, almost the entire population of Israel considered themselves believers. A comparison immediately suggests itself with the current state of Orthodoxy in Russia. Many Russian people consider themselves Orthodox believers, but is it true or is it really?

In response, Christ speaks of entering the Kingdom of Heaven through the "straight gate" through the real creation of the will of God. A sinful and spiritually lazy earthly person is very fond of relying on formal ritual belief, which is only a shadow of true faith. The most terrible situation is when a person who has gone to church all his life and considered himself a confessor of the true Christian faith, suddenly hears from God at the judgment of eternity: “I don’t know where you are from; Depart from Me, all workers of iniquity."

It becomes clear why the Son of God accepts suffering in the holy city of Jerusalem, from the God-chosen people of Israel. In our time, among Orthodox believers, one can often observe the same phenomenon, due to "Orthodox" Pharisees. Fallen angels-demons specifically inspire believers that salvation is easily achieved with the help of a purely formal membership in the Christian Church, through the simplest observance of the ritual law. Such hypocrisy became the main cause of the Russian revolution of 1917 and the subsequent general atheism of the Russian people. With the help of formal ritual belief, the forces of evil have destroyed many believers in the past and continue to destroy "Orthodox" sinners in the present, who actually crucify the Savior with their sins.

No, the most correct dogmas and canons, rituals and Sacraments will save a person if in his soul he is full of sin and evil, pride and selfishness. The saving grace of the Holy Spirit, Divine help and God-revealed knowledge are given only to the righteous and good servant of God, who creates "God's righteousness."

This rule is immutable for all believers without exception. Each Orthodox Christian must fully confess Orthodoxy in word and deed. Otherwise, due to proud selfishness, sinful carelessness and spiritual frivolity, he can quite “simply” irretrievably lose his salvation and destroy his soul.

23 Someone said to Him: Lord! Are there few who are saved? He said to them: 24 Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for I tell you that many will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When the owner of the house gets up and shuts the door, then you, standing outside, will begin to knock on the door and say: Lord! God! open to us; but He will answer you, I do not know where you are from. 26 Then you will begin to say: We ate and drank before You, and You taught in our streets. 27 But He will say, I say to you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all workers of iniquity. 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourself being cast out. 29 And they shall come from the east and the west, and the north and the south, and shall lie down in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, there are the last who will be the first, and there are the first who will be the last.

31 On that day some of the Pharisees came and said to Him, Get out and get away from here, for Herod wants to kill You. 32 And he said to them: Go, tell this fox: Behold, I cast out demons and work healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will finish; 33 however, I must walk today, tomorrow, and the next day, because it does not happen that a prophet perishes outside Jerusalem. 34 Jerusalem! Jerusalem! who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to you! How many times have I wanted to gather your children like a bird under its wings, and you did not want to! 35 Behold, your house is left to you empty. I tell you that you will not see Me until the time comes when you say: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!Luke 13 (23-35)

It is not for nothing that Christ addresses His followers in an extremely categorical tone: "any one of you who does not renounce everything that he has cannot be My disciple." The path of grace-filled transformation of human nature requires uncompromising self-denial in order to overcome bodily and spiritual passions.

The path of bearing the personal cross of Christian life, and even more so the path of sharing the Cross of Christ for the sake of the salvation of the world, characteristic of the righteous, means accepting the sacrificial service of conscious holiness and self-sacrificing love, completely overcoming human bodily and spiritual sinfulness.

Giving up yourself for the love of God and people is never easy. But only in this way can we find the pure "salt" of the true Orthodox faith, which leads us to the personal salvation of the soul and at the same time helps to save the people around us. Otherwise, the "salt of faith", despite any outwardly beautiful appearance, completely loses its beneficial value and strength for a person.

A true disciple of Christ is called to fulfill the commandments of the Son of God in the practice of a personal righteous life and good deeds, voluntarily giving himself to the service of God and people. Christian teaching and Orthodox Church life reveal to us their salvific, grace-filled essence only if a person really does the will of God.

25 Many people went with him; and he turned and said to them: 26 if anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple; 27 and whoever does not bear his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, whether he has what it takes to complete it, 29 lest when he has laid the foundation and is not able to finish, all who see him should not laugh at him, 30 saying, This man began to build and could not finish? 31 Or what king, going to war against another king, does not sit down and consult first whether he is strong with ten thousand to resist the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Otherwise, while he is still far away, he will send an embassy to him to ask for peace. 33 So any of you who does not renounce everything that he has cannot be My disciple. 34 Salt is a good thing; but if the salt loses its strength, how can I fix it? 35 neither in the ground nor in manure is good; they throw her out. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear! Lk 14 (25-35)

The salvific confession of the Christian doctrine, which frees us from the slavery of sin and evil, begins with the simplest bodily cleansing from the power of base, animal instincts. The implementation of the practice of religious life is impossible without the use of traditional means of spiritual development - fasting and prayer, asceticism and ritual law, the study of Holy Scripture and following Holy Tradition, without obedience to church discipline and the experience of the Orthodox Church. If a believer wants to become a full-fledged Christian and save his soul, he must behave righteously in his personal life, actively participating in the life and Sacraments of the earthly Church.

But this is only the beginning of the process of spiritual purification and liberation, so to speak, the preparation of the foundation of true faith, which is carried out in the human soul only if there is a spirit of humble love for God and people. If a believer is infected with self-love and submits to the spirit of religious pride, any means of spiritual development loses its meaning, fertile power and benefit for him.

When a formal "believer" lives in the name of satisfying pride, he thereby refuses to serve God and begins, voluntarily or involuntarily, to do the will of the fallen demon angels. True faith necessarily expresses itself in the deeds of a righteous life, in manifestations of sincere love towards God and people. The Christian faith is born where the believer voluntarily renounces evil and sin in the name of the conscious fulfillment of the will of God.

It is not enough for an Orthodox Christian to be a formal member of an earthly church organization. A Christian is a disciple of Christ, who, through the creativity of a righteous life, selfless goodness and humble love, acquires true spiritual freedom from the power of sin and evil. "Abraham's children do the works of Abraham." A believer is a follower of the Son of God and a confessor of the Orthodox faith only if he sincerely fulfills the Christian commandments.

Despite any, the most careful and strict observance of the ritual law, religious pride is no less effective than bodily passions, making the believer a "slave of sin", creating the will of demonic forces. Moreover, often a proud believer brings more evil into the world than an ordinary worldly sinner.

A sinner who humbly recognizes personal sinfulness can repent easily enough, receiving the remission of sins and the salvation of the soul. In contrast, the proud believer is not merely delusional. He is absolutely confident in personal holiness and instead of repentance, he despises everyone around him. As a result, any kind of pride “naturally” leads a person to reject God, who “interferes” with the satisfaction of human self-love. The sinful fall of a proud person who does not love God and people, in fact, does not depend on what kind of pride it is - religious or worldly, it refers to the satisfaction of bodily or spiritual passions.

The acquisition of full-fledged spiritual freedom from the power of bodily and spiritual sins is impossible without grace-filled help from above. The Lord unlimitedly sends His power and knowledge to all people without exception. But in order to receive the Divine energy of the Holy Spirit, we, on our part, are called to purify our nature from the power of bodily passions, especially resolutely driving out spiritual passions born of self-love and pride. The Lord can help only those who, to the best of their ability, voluntarily develop in themselves the spirit of humble love.

There is simply no other way to gain real spiritual freedom, equivalent to communion with God and the knowledge of God of the true Orthodox faith. The Lord Jesus Christ is the spiritual Light of our world, bringing the knowledge of the Truth, giving freedom and eternity to everyone who wishes. But for this, a person who has come to the Christian Church and accepted its teaching is obliged to constantly “abide in the word of God”, learning the essence of faith in the practice of Christian life.

Only in this way can one cognize the Divine Truth of Orthodoxy, which makes a person a free creator of being. If a believer sincerely wants to gain personal salvation and help save our world, he must unconditionally accept the path of a righteous and good life, which opens up the only opportunity for a grace-filled union of a person with God.

12 Again Jesus spoke to the people and said to them: I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. 13 Then the Pharisees said to Him: You testify of Yourself; Your testimony is not true. 14 Jesus answered and said to them: If I testify of myself, then my testimony is true; because I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I don't judge anyone. 16 And even if I judge, then My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I am the Father who sent Me. 17 And it is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. 18 I testify of myself, and the Father who sent me testifies of me.

19 Then they said to Him, Where is Your Father? Jesus answered: You know neither Me nor My Father; if you had known me, you would have known my Father also. 20 These were the words Jesus spoke at the treasury when he taught in the temple; and no one took him, because his hour had not yet come. 21 Again Jesus said to them: I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.

22 Then the Jews said: Will He kill Himself, that He says: "Where I go, you cannot come"? 23 He said to them: you are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that it is I, you will die in your sins. 25 Then they said to him, Who are you? Jesus said to them, He has been from the beginning, just as I say to you. 26 I have much to say and judge about you; but He who sent Me is true, and what I have heard from Him, I say to the world. 27 They did not understand what He was saying to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them: When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that it is I, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, so I say. 29 He who sent me is with me; The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him. 30 When He spoke this, many believed in Him. 31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him: If you continue in my word, then you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

33 They answered him: we are the seed of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone; how then do you say, you will be made free? 34 Jesus answered them: Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 But the slave does not stay in the house forever; the son abides forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free. 37 I know that you are Abraham's seed; yet you seek to kill me, because my word does not fit in you. 38 I say what I saw with my Father; but you do what you saw with your father. 39 They answered Him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them: If you were the children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 And now you seek to kill Me, the Man who told you the truth that I heard from God: Abraham did not do this. 41 You are doing the work of your father. To this they said to Him: We are not born of fornication; We have one Father, God. 42 Jesus said to them: If God were your Father, then you would love Me, because I came and came from God; for I did not come of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you cannot hear My words. 44 Your father is the devil; and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and did not stand in the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks his own, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But when I speak the truth, do not believe Me. 46 Which of you will convict Me of iniquity? If I speak the truth, why don't you believe Me? 47 Who is from God, he listens to the words of God. The reason you don't listen is because you are not from God.

48 To this the Jews answered and said to Him: Do we not say the truth that You are a Samaritan and that a demon is in You? 49 Jesus answered: I have no demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50 However, I do not seek My glory: there is a Seeker and a Judge. 51 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever keeps my word will never see death. 52 The Jews said to Him: Now we know that the demon is in You. Abraham died and the prophets, but You say: Whoever keeps My word will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? and the prophets have died: what do you make yourself? 54 Jesus answered: If I glorify Myself, then My glory is nothing. My Father glorifies me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 And you did not know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you. But I know Him and keep His word. 56 Abraham your father was glad to see my day; and saw and rejoiced. 57 To this the Jews said to him: You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? 58 Jesus said to them: Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. 59 Then they took stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, passing through the midst of them, and went on. John 8 (12-59)

A "believing" person, fanatically confident in personal holiness, religious omniscience, and the infallible ability to do the will of God, becomes incapable of real spiritual creativity. The one who considers himself infallible will never move from his place in the real fulfillment of the will of God.

A believing person, sincerely, out of ignorance, deluded about his own perfection, remains capable of spiritual insight, humble repentance and a change in his sinful state. But this is a very dangerous situation, because religious pride does not wait until we see the light.

A proud and proud believer, who understands well the meaning and purpose of Christian spiritual practice, often begins to specifically hide and defend his sinful wrong, departs from God, does not want to uncompromisingly do the will of God and goes into the darkness of sinful death.

When a person understands that conscious faith requires the utmost self-denial from a sinful and evil life in the name of fulfilling the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ and denies this knowledge, he loses all right to be called a Christian. The believer is called to uncompromisingly make a choice between righteousness and sinfulness, between love for people and the satisfaction of selfishness, between the sober reality of humility and the crafty mirages of pride. Because this choice determines our faith and unbelief, salvation and death of the soul.

The degree of completeness of faith is difficult to determine by the outward, visible behavior of a person. Righteousness is not measured by theological education and books read, the number of prayers and rituals. The spiritual laws of human existence, originally given by the Creator, say that the spiritual ascent or fall of a person, his spiritual freedom or slavery, depend on the inner state, on the purity of our soul. The salvation of an individual and of all mankind is determined by a conscious choice between good and evil, a righteous and sinful life, self-love and selfless goodness, love and pride.

1 And as he passed, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked Him: Rabbi! who sinned, he or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered: neither he nor his parents sinned, but this was so that the works of God might appear on him. 4 I must do the works of him who sent me while it is day; comes the night when no one can do. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 Having said this, He spat on the ground, made clay out of the spitting, and anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And he said to him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, which means sent. He went and washed himself, and came back sighted. 8 Then the neighbors and those who had seen before that he was blind said: Is this not the one who sat and begged? 9 Some said it was him, others said he looked like him. He said: it's me. 10 Then they asked him: how did your eyes open? 11 He answered and said, The man called Jesus made clay, anointed my eyes, and said to me, Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself. I went, washed and got my sight. 12 Then they said to him, Where is he? He answered: I don't know. 13 They took this former blind man to the Pharisees. 14 And it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 The Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight. He said to them: He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see. 16 Then some of the Pharisees said: This Man is not from God, because he does not keep the Sabbath. Others said: how can a sinful person work such miracles? And there was a rift between them. 17 Again they say to the blind: what will you say about him, because he opened your eyes? He said: This is a prophet. 18 Then the Jews did not believe that he was blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of this sighted 19 and they asked: Is this your son, of whom you say that he was born blind? how does he see now? 20 His parents answered and said to them: We know that this is our son and that he was born blind, 21 but how he sees now, we do not know, or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Himself in perfect years; ask yourself; let him speak for himself. 22 So his parents answered, because they were afraid of the Jews; For the Jews have already agreed that whoever recognizes Him as Christ should be excommunicated from the synagogue. 23 Therefore, his parents said: he is in perfect years; ask yourself. 24 So the man who was blind was called a second time, and they said to him, Give glory to God; we know that Man That is a sinner. 25 He answered and said to them: Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; I know one thing, that I was blind, but now I see. 26 Again they asked him: what did he do to you? how did you open your eyes? 27 He answered them: I already told you, and you did not listen; what else do you want to hear? Or do you also want to become His disciples? 28 They reproached him and said: You are His disciple, and we are Moses' disciples. 29 We know that God spoke to Moses; We do not know where He comes from. 30 The man who received his sight said to them in response: it is amazing that you do not know where He comes from, but He opened my eyes. 31 But we know that God does not listen to sinners; but whoever honors God and does His will, hears him. 32 From time immemorial it has not been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. 33 If He had not been from God, He could not have done anything. 34 They said to him in response: you were all born in sins, and do you teach us? And they kicked him out. 35 When Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and finding him, he said to him, Do you believe in the Son of God? 36 He answered and said: and who is he, Lord, that I should believe in him? 37 Jesus said to him: And you saw Him, and He speaks to you. 38 He said: I believe, Lord! And bowed to Him.

39 And Jesus said, I have come into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. 40 When some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this, they said to him, Are we also blind? 41 Jesus said to them: If you were blind, you would not have sin on you; but as you say you see, the sin remains on you. John 9 (1-41)

23 Jesus answered and said to them, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, if a grain of wheat, falling into the ground, does not die, it will remain alone; and if he dies, he will bear much fruit. 25 He who loves his soul will destroy it; but he who hates his soul in this world will keep it to eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me, let him follow me; and where I am, there my servant will be also. And whoever serves me, my Father will honor him. 27 My soul is now indignant; and what should I say? Father! deliver me from this hour! But for this hour I have come.

28 Father! glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven: I have glorified, and I will glorify again. 29 The people who stood and heard it said: it is thunder; and others said: An angel spoke to him. 30 Jesus said to this: This voice was not for me, but for the people. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. 32 And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me. 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die. 34 The people answered him, We have heard from the law that Christ abides forever; how then do you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? who is this Son of Man? 35 Then Jesus said to them: For a little while longer, the light is with you; walk while there is light, lest darkness overtake you: but he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 As long as the light is with you, believe in the light, that you may be children of the light. Having said this, Jesus departed and hid from them. 37 He did so many miracles before them, and they did not believe in Him, 38 may the word of Isaiah the prophet come true: Lord! who believed what they heard from us? and to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? 39 Therefore, they could not believe that, as Isaiah also said, 40 This people has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so that they do not see with their eyes, and do not understand with their hearts, and do not turn to me to heal them. 41 Isaiah said this when he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 However, many of the rulers also believed in Him; but for the sake of the Pharisees they did not confess, lest they be excommunicated from the synagogue, 43 for they loved the glory of man rather than the glory of God. 44 But Jesus cried out and said, He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me. 45 And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him, for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 He who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge for himself: the word that I spoke, it will judge him on the last day. 49 For I did not speak of Myself; but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment what to say and what to say. 50 And I know that His commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father has told Me. John 12 (35-50)

Christianity-Orthodoxy is a religion of ultimate spiritual freedom that teaches us to consciously worship God in the "spirit and truth" of self-sacrificing love. It is possible to fully create the Divine commandments only of good will and from a “pure” heart.

Naturally, Christian freedom does not allow for spiritual anarchy and self-will that reject the visible forms of religious life and the earthly Church. The concept that the true Orthodox faith does not exist without conscious freedom in no way cancels the traditional religious knowledge about the ways of a person to God, about a righteous life and the creation of the will of God. Therefore, the original Christianity-Orthodoxy, coming from Christ and His disciples-apostles, naturally preserves and applies the best traditional experience of the Old Testament.

Another thing is that a Christian must beware of spiritual “ossification” and the absolutization of visible forms of church and religious creativity like fire. We are called to tirelessly elevate the life and conciliar experience of the Church to new, higher levels of grace-filled co-creation with God, enlivening and transforming them with the Divine spirit of conscious holiness and humble love.

19 The woman says to Him: Lord! I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where worship should be is in Jerusalem. 21 Jesus says to her: Believe Me, the time is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You do not know what you bow to, but we know what we bow to, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the time will come, and has already come, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for such worshipers the Father seeks for Himself. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman says to Him: I know that the Messiah, that is, Christ, will come; when He comes, He will announce everything to us. 26 Jesus says to her, It is I who am talking to you. John 4 (19-26)

The Christian faith represents the path of truly Divine or, rather, God-human spiritual creativity. An earthly person is in fact not capable of fully fulfilling the will of God without grace-filled help from above.

At the same time, if a Christian strives for the communion with God of the true faith, which bears spiritual fruit, he has no right to rely only on God's help. To the best of his ability, a Christian is obliged to fight against sin, observing the Divine commandments, especially the commandment of self-sacrificing love for God and people. Faith is a process of mutual co-creation of God and man, which, despite our spiritual weakness, requires the utmost possible effort on our part.

Faith is confirmed by the "good fruits" of spiritual and religious creativity, for the creation of which the Christian humbly and gratefully accepts the Divine Word and God's power. And then he necessarily tries to apply them in the practice of a righteous life.

As this practice grows, the Christian naturally approaches the Creator and unites with God in the Spirit of Love. This is the only way to gain grace-filled communion with God and the knowledge of God of the true Christian faith, leading a person to true likeness to God.

A Christian does not have the right to be "just a believer", formally belonging to the earthly Church. He is called to become a conscious son of God and a God-man, enlightened by the spirit of Divine Holiness and Love.

The Lord easily dwells in the heart of the righteous and good man who has one spirit and one common purpose with God. And then the believer can correctly, fully, without mistakes and profitably do the will of God, gaining personal salvation of the soul and sharing Divine creativity in the name of saving our world from the power of evil.

Christianity is the creative union of man with God in the spirit of mutual love. Orthodox communion with God and knowledge of God at the same time means the spiritual and mystical union of a Christian with all mankind. A Christian who has agreed to bear a personal cross, sharing the Cross of Christ's love with the Savior to the best of his ability, assumes a certain responsibility for the fate of the whole world. Therefore, Christ calls the apostles "not slaves, but friends."

The divine-human feat of Christian life requires truly inhuman spiritual strength and knowledge. By itself, and even more so in comparison with the spiritual world, an earthly person is a very insignificant quantity. None of the people can acquire, cognize and realize the Divine Truth by personal efforts. Our world is incredibly distorted by the fall, and the forces of evil are immeasurably stronger than any person. Therefore, a Christian, humbly aware of human weakness and imperfection, gladly accepts the help of the Creator and lovingly does His saving will.

Sincere obedience to God's will does not in the least limit our freedom, because serving God brings salvation and benefit, first of all, to man himself. As the enlightenment by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Christian gradually becomes spiritually stronger, smarter and freer from the power of evil. Gradually receiving the grace-filled opportunity to more consciously and independently do good and fight against sin, a Christian understands more and more clearly that true freedom is born in the process of growing self-sacrificing love for God and people.

The only normal and correct path of spiritual development begins with the knowledge of the God-given laws of being, revealed to mankind in the teachings of traditional Christianity-Orthodoxy. But the spiritual transformation of man only partly depends on "theoretical" religious knowledge.

First of all, the Creator expects us to create a righteous, sinless life. If we agree to do the will of God, the Lord God-like strengthens our strength with the grace of the Holy Spirit, as a result of which a person becomes able to actually fulfill the commandment of love for God and people.

A “simple” righteous life gradually and imperceptibly transforms a weak and sinful earthly person into a deified being, similar to the Creator in His knowledge and power. The conscious creativity of the Christian life can in no way humiliate or enslave a person, as does a sinful and evil life that puts us below dumb animals. It is sinful self-love and pride that turn us into slaves of dark forces and destroy the human soul. Christian creativity of kindness and love, on the contrary, elevates us to Divine perfection, making us sons of God and friends of the Creator of the world.

Choosing a saving Christian path is in any case associated with inevitable suffering and spiritual struggle. Christianity is not entertainment and not an empty ritual formality. Serving God is inseparable from the sharing of the Cross of Christ, on which not only the joy of blessed communion with God awaits a person. In the fight against evil, tests of the sincerity and firmness of our love for God and people are inevitable.

At all times, demonic forces fiercely resist the actions of Divine Providence, preventing people from knowing the meaning and purpose of Christianity-Orthodoxy, leading humanity to salvation and liberation from the power of evil. The sinless God-Son, who descended to earth for our salvation and incarnated in the Person of the Lord and God-man Jesus Christ, was forced to bear the greatest suffering for the liberation of mankind from the power of evil.

Therefore, there is nothing strange in the fact that the faithful followers of Christ have to fight with dark forces and suffer from evil people who do not know God. Nevertheless, a Christian necessarily overcomes the power of evil with the grace-filled spirit of humble love, unlimitedly given to us by the Savior of the world. With the help of God, a Christian acquires invincible Divine power and is transformed into a God-Man, similar to the God-Man Jesus Christ.

The path of Divine Holiness and Love is unbearable for an earthly person burdened with a sinful and weak material body. But if a Christian sincerely loves God and people, if he really strives to live righteously and do good unselfishly, the grace of the Holy Spirit descends unlimitedly into his mind and heart, transforming him into an omniscient and omnipotent son of God.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch I have that does not bear fruit, He cuts off; and every one that bears fruit he cleanses, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already cleansed through the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me and I in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit of its own accord unless it is in the vine, so neither can you unless you are in Me. 5 I am the vine and you are the branches; whoever abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 Whoever does not abide in Me will be cast out like a branch and wither; and such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in me and my words abide in you, then ask whatever you want, and it will be yours. 8 My Father will be glorified by this, if you bear much fruit and become My disciples. 9 As the Father has loved Me, and I have loved you; abide in my love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will continue in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and continue in His love. 11 I have said this to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than if a man lays down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends because I have told you all that I have heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. 17 This I command you, that you love one another. 18 If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If I was persecuted, you will be persecuted; if they keep my word, they will keep yours. 21 But they will do all these things to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates Me hates my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them works that no one else had done, they would not have sin; but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. 25 But let the word that is written in their law be fulfilled: They hated Me in vain. 26 When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me; 27 and also you will testify, because you are with Me first. Jn 15(1-27)