My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST1 HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
OUR KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
The first word of our Christian Symbol of Faith (Creed( is "I BELIEVE." All of our Christian confession is based UPON FAITH. God is the first object of Christian belief. Thus, our Christian acknowledgment of the existence of God is founded not upon rational grounds, not on proofs taken from reason or received from the experience of our outward senses, but UPON AN INWARD, HIGHER CONVICTION WHICH HAS A MORAL FOUNDATION.
In the Christian understanding, to believe in God signifies not only to ACKNOWLEDGE God with the mind, but also to STRIVE towards Him with the heart. We BELIEVE that which is inaccessible by our outward organs of sense. Saint Gregory the Theologian distinguishes between RELIGIOUS BELIEF–"I believe in someone, in something" –and a simple personal belief—"I believe someone, I believe something." He writes: "It is not one and the same thing ‘to believe is something’ and ‘to believe something’. We believe in the Divinity but we simply believe any ordinary thing".
Belief or Faith as an Attribute of the Soul
CHRISTIAN FAITH is A MYSTICAL REVELATION in the human soul. It is broader, more powerful, closer to reality than THOUGHT. It is more complex than separate FEELINGS. It contains within itself the feeling of love, fear, veneration, reverence, and humility. Likewise, it cannot be called a manifestation of the will, for although it moves mountains, the Christain renounces his own will when he believes, and entirely gives himself over TO THE WILL OF GOD: "May Thy will be done in me, a sinner." THE PATH TO FAITH LIES IN THE HEART; IT IS INSEPARABLE FROM PURE, SACRIFICIAL LOVE "WORKING THROUGH LOVE" (Galatians 5:6).
The Power of Faith
The Church of Christ IS FOUNDED UPON FAITH AS UPON A ROCK WHICH DOES NOT SHAKE BENEATH IT. By faith the saints conquered kingdoms, performed righteous deeds, closed the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the sharp sword, were strengthened in infirmity(Hebrews 11:33-38). Being inspired by faith, Christians went to torture and death with joy. Faith is a rock, but a rock that is impalpable, free of heaviness and weight, that draws one upward and not downward.
"He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," said the Lord (John 7:38), and the preaching of the Apostles, a preaching in the power of the word, in the power of the Spirit, in the power of signs and wonders (miracles), was a living testimony of the Truth of the words of the Lord. Such is the mystery OF LIVING CHRISTIAN FAITH.
The Source of Faith
"If ye have faith, and doubt not… if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done" (Matthew 21:21). The history of the Church of Christ is filed with the miracles of the saints of all ages. However, miracles are not performed by faith in general, but BY CHRISTIAN FAITH. Faith is a reality not by the power of imagination and not by self-hypnosis, but by the fact that it binds one with the source of all life and power–with God. In the expression of the Hieromartyr Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, FAITH IS A VESSEL BY WHICH WATER IS SCOOPED UP; BUT ONE MUST BE NEXT TO THIS WATER AND MUST PUT THE VESSEL INTO IT: THIS WATER IS THE GRACE OF GOD. "Faith is the key to the treasure-house of God," writes Saint John of Kronstadt.
FAITH is strengthened and its Truth is confirmed by the benefits of its spiritual fruits which are known by experience. Therefore, the Apostle instructs us, saying, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" (2 Corinthians 13:5).
Yet, it is difficult to give a definition of what faith is. When the Apostle says, "NOW FAITH IS THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR, THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS NOT SEEN" (Hebrews 11:1), without touching here on the nature of faith, he indicates only what its gaze is directed towards: TOWARDS THAT WHICH IS AWAITED, TOWARDS THE INVISIBLE; AND THUS HE INDICATES PRECISELY THAT FAITH IS THE PENETRATION OF THE SOUL INTO THE FUTURE ("the substance of things hoped for"), or into the invisible ("the evidence of things not seen"). This testifies to the mystical character of the Christian faith.
The evangelical teaching of faith is the teaching:
a) concerning God, our All-Good Father, to Whom we are taught to appeal with the cry of a son: "Ou Father." Concerning this revelation to men of the new, more perfect understanding of God, the Savior speaks in the prayer before His sufferings: "I have manifested Thy name unto men," and, "I have declared unto them Thy name" (John 17:6, 26);
b) concerning the coming of the the Logos/Word into the world–the coming of the Only-Begotten Son of God–FOR THE SALVATION OF MEN AND THEIR UNION WITH GOD:
c) concerning the Holy Spirit, Our Comforter and Sanctifier;
d) concerning the nature and purpose of man; concerning sin, repentance, the means of salvation, sanctification and rebirth;
e) concerning the Kingdom of God and the New Testament Church:
f) concerning the Final General Judgment and the final fate of the world and man.
Faith and Works
[James 2:14-18]
"What does it profit, my brethren, is someone says he has faith but does NOT have works? Can faith save
him?
If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do NOT give them the things
which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
Thus also faith by itself, IF IT DOES NOT HAVE WORKS, IS DEAD.
But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’
Show me your faith WITHOUT your works, AND I WILL SHOW YOU MY FAITH BY MY WORKS."
[Source: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology]
The faith THAT SAVES IS A COMPLETE FAITH: NOT JUST THE MIND BELIEVING AND THE TONGUE
CONFESSING; BUT THE WHOLE MAN TRUSTING IN THE LIVING GOD. We must nurture our faith
in God and love for Him through our works, works of charity and compassion.
_________________________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 