My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
The Orthodox Christian’s Commitment to our Lord, God, and Savior
Remains Steadfast and Unyielding.
Proof of the Orthodox Christian resolve and commitment to our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ IS THE WILLINGNESS TO DIE FOR HIM. Over centuries of persecution both from within and without, our Orthodox Christian Church retains its purity, unity, integrity and her total devotion to her Divine Founder and Head. Her history of over two thousand years is one of victory over victory against evil threats and heresies that seek her destruction and demise.
The Orthodox Martyrologium is replete with accounts of the heroism of men, women and children who bore horrific tortures for the sake of Christ. Their sacred blood shed for Our Lord and Faith indicates their unconditional love for Him and their willingness to combat the evil powers and the enemies of Christ who have sought to distort His Holy Gospel and Truth. It is evident that a Christian’s faith is not something abstract and theoretical but real and tangible.
The Orthodox Christian’s faith NEVER WAVERS but remains authentic,uncompromising and true. According to the Holy Apostle Paul, the Church is "a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" [Ephesians 2:22]. She is the living body of Jesus Christ. She makes an indelible impact in the world, and those who live in her life and faith are personally transformed. She maintains the revealed truth of God as given by Christ and His holy Apostles. Not only did the Holy Church of God begin under the teaching of the Apostles, but she was also instructed to "STAND FAST AND HOLD THE TRADITIONS WHICH YOU WERE TAUGHT, WHETHER BY WORD OR OUR EPISTLE" [2 Thessalonians 2:15].
The holy Apostle Paul insisted that those matters delivered by him and his fellow Apostles, both in person and in the writings that would come to be called the New Testament, be ADHERED TO CAREFULLY. Thus followed such appropriate warnings as "in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…WITHDRAW FROM EVERY BROTHER WHO WALKS DISORDERLY AND NOT ACCORDING TO THE TRADITION WHICH HE RECEIVED FROM US" [2 Thessalonians 3:6]. As Orthodox Christians we believe that the DOCTRINES TAUGHT BY CHRIST AND HIS DISCIPLES ARE TO BE SAFEGUARDED BY "THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD, THE PILLAR AND GROUND OF THE TRUTH" [1 Timothy 3:15], AND NOT OPEN FOR RENEGOTIATION.
The Holy Apostles were commissioned indeed by Our Savior and God to "Go therefore and make disciples of ALL NATIONS, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU…" [Matthew 28:19-20]. We see that making disciples CANNOT BE DONE in the strength of men, but ONLY IN THE POWER OF GOD. It is the Resurrected Son of God, LIVING IN US AND ENERGIZING US, MAKES POSSIBLE THE SALVATION OF ALL. "And lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS, EVEN TO THE END OF THE AGE" [Matthew 28:20]. By saying He is "with you always," our Lord and God Jesus Christ means His Resurrection is neither of the past, nor of the future. It is ALWAYS PRESENT IN OUR LIVES THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT. We know Him directly, HERE AND NOW, IN THE PRESENT, AS OUR SAVIOR AND OUR FRIEND. "To the end of the age" does NOT by any means imply that we are to be separated from Him after that great consummation. HE IS WITH US NOW, AND EVER, AND UNTO THE AGES OF AGES. Amen.
Moses said, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God IS ONE LORD! You shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart, from your whole soul, and from your whole power" [Deuteronomy 6:4]. THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOD! "Every man is made foolish because of this knowledge, and every goldsmith is put to shame by his carved images; Because they cast FALSE gods that have NO spirit in them. They ARE VAIN WORKS THAT ARE RIDICULED, AND IN THE TIME OF HIS VISITATION THEY SHALL BE DESTROYED" [Jeremiah 10:10]. Jesus Christ Himself said, "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Chrsit Whom You have sent" [John 17:3].
In the Book of Exodus God gives Moses and His people the Ten Commandments. God tells Moses: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out OF THE HOUSE OF BONDAGE. YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME. You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in heaven above, or in the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" [Exodus 20:2-5]. We, Christians, believe that there is only One True God as Jesus says but recently the Roman Catholic Pope Francis stated that we, and the non-Christian religions, have and worship the same God; but how can this be? How can a Christian bishop make such a wrong and false statement? How can he contradict what the Lord clearly stated in the Gospel of Saint John 17:3 and also what God revealed to His people through His Prophet Moses?
Christian must stop from treating Christianity as another world religion or to believe that we all believe in the same God. The Orthodox Church teaches that Christianity IS A REVELATION FROM GOD, NOT A RELIGION, and the Church is inseparable from the Christian Faith. We, as Orthodox Christians believe that God REVEALED HIMSELF TO HUMANS, ESPECIALLY THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, WHO IS THE SON OF GOD. The Christian Faith expresses the relationship between God and humanity, which is gracious and mysterious. God has revealed Himself to us, most especially in the revelation of Jesus Christ, Whom we know as the Son of God. The Revelation of God, His agape, and His purpose, is constantly made manifest and contemporary in the life of the Church by the power of the Holy Spirit.
"The Orthodox Christian Faith does not begin with mankind’s religious speculations, nor with the so-called "proofs" for the existence of God, nor with a human quest for the Divine. The origin of the Orthodox Christian Faith is the Self-disclosure of God. Each day, the Church’s Morning Prayer affirms and reminds us of this by declaring, "GOD IS THE LORD AND HE HAS REVEALED HIMSELF TO US." While the inner Being of God always remains UNKNOWN AND UNAPPROACHABLE. God has MANIFESTED HIMSELF TO US; AND THE CHURCH HAS EXPERIENCED HIM AS Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, which is central to the Orthodox Faith, is not a result of pious speculation, but OF THE OVERWHELMING EXPERIENCE OF GOD. The doctrine affirms THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD, in Whom there are three distinct Persons, in other words, when we encounter the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit, we are truly experiencing CONTACT WITH GOD. While the Holy Trinity is a mystery which can never be fully comprehended, Orthodoxy believes that we can truly participate in the Trinity through the life of the Church, especially through our celebration of the Holy Eucharist and the Mysteria (Sacraments), as well as the non-sacramental divine services."
Christians throughout history were never concerned about offending anyone or any other religious leader by believing and declaring that the Logos/Word of God became Incarnate and became man. Jesus Christ is much more than a pious man or a profound teacher of morality. He is the "Son of God Who became the Son of Man." In Him, Divinity is UNITED WITH HUMANITY WITHOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF EITHER REALITY. JESUS CHRIST IS TRULY GOD WHO SHARES IN THE SAME REALITY AS THE FATHER AND THE SPIRIT. MOREOVER, HE IS TRULY MAN WHO SHARES WITH US ALL THAT IS HUMAN. THE CHURCH BELIEVES THAT, AS THE UNIQUE GOD-man, Jesus Christ HAS RESTORED HUMANITY TO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD. THE GREAT HOLY FATHERS OF THE CHURCH SUMMARIZED THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST IN THE BOLD AFFIRMATION, "GOD BECAME WHAT WE ARE SO THAT WE MAY BECOME WHAT HE IS." [Resources: Old and New Testaments, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America].
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"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
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 