On Repentance and Salvation

 

Blessed are You, O Lord, teach me Your statutes.

The choir of the saints has found the fountain of life and the door of

Paradise. May I also find the way through repentance, the sheep that

was lost am I, call me up to You, O Savior, and save me.

It seems like my heart has been heavier than ever these past few weeks and days, mainly because of everything that has been going on in the world. I have been dealing with a lot of struggles and demonic attacks as of late and could use your prayers as I pray for you. However, I would be remiss if I did not discuss repentance and what it has meant to the Church and the world around us. It is during the worst of times that God can bring about the most change in our lives because when we live in peace, we often think we don’t need God. Today let us discuss repentance and hope of salvation. 

                First let us set the groundwork for salvation. Salvation is a topic that many in the world believe they understand, but few truly grasp its real presence in their lives. I am not sure who said this so I can’t give credit to the following statement, but I know from experience, that I am saved, am being saved and will be saved. Salvation is not in itself a one time walk down the aisle pray a prayer and magically one is granted entrance into heaven. Salvation is a process. A process by which one becomes more like Christ. In the Orthodox Church we call this Theosis. Theosis while not a common term one might find in English bibles, it is plain to see in the scriptures especially written by St. Paul. Galatians 4:3 says, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.” The bondage of the world is the slave to sin, Theosis is the bondage of Christ, becoming a servant of the Most High. Colossians 1:18 says, “And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” If he is the firstborn among the dead, so too must we die to ourselves and become new creatures. The way through this is the path of salvation. When we participate in the divine liturgy, the services of the church, the prayers that come from our prayer books we unite ourselves to Christ in such a way that his divine energy the Energeia in Greek (Ενέργεια του Θεού). He is allowed to work through us and with us, only by our choosing, protestants might say that we must accept the gift of salvation. Christ uses us as the instruments by which divine grace is poured out on the world and distributed among the nations of the world. He uses the priests to distribute the gifts of the Eucharist, the Bishops to uphold the teachings of the church, and the laypeople to go out into the world and sow the seeds of salvation by example, drawing all people to himself. Though many reject him, this is still the divine plan, whether they accept it or not.

                The way to salvation is a simple one. It is the way of repentance. We have discussed what salvation is, in that is the way in which God brings all people to himself and unites himself with us in union, but how must we unite ourselves to Christ. Surely, we just live our lives and God accepts for who we are right? No. That is not the case. It never has been and never will be. God being a Holy and Just God cannot dwell in the realm of sinners and cannot dwell where the stench of evil lives. The Greek word for this is called, metanoia. Repentance according to my own jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America says, “The Greek term for repentance, metanoia, denotes a change of mind, a reorientation, a fundamental transformation of outlook, of man's vision of the world and of himself, and a new way of loving others and God.” It is more than a prayer, reading the scriptures, or any other sort of act that we do. It is a complete change of mind and heart. The things that we once enjoyed, the things that are mundane and fleeting become dim lights in the eyes of one with true repentance. They look forward to the coming of Jesus Christ at the Second Coming, and they participate in the services with joy and gladness. They do not seek the wealth and pleasures of this world. Theirs is a home in paradise where there is no sighing or suffering, but life everlasting. To achieve this, one must seek Christ and his saints through prayer, through offerings and through actions. It is one thing to confess Christ, it is another to act upon it. If you believe in something so strongly that it consumes you like Christ should, you will act upon this belief. People who walk down the aisle of protestant churches, or are chrismated in the Orthodox Church, who never return once the service is over have no true repentance in their hearts. They only offer lip service to Christ like the Pharisees did. Repentance is allowing Christ to take that which is corrupted by sin, and to restore you to the way things were prior to the fall. Just as salvation is the way that Christ acts within us, repentance is the gate that must be open for Christ to come in. You must break down the bars of your own Hades, so that Christ can come in and harrow it. In this, the light of Christ can be shown through you, and you truly become the salt of the earth. My favorite Orthodox hymn repeats the phrase, “For His Mercy endures forever and ever alleluia.”  This hymn reminds me it is never too late for you to accept Christ in this world. You have the chance now. Don’t waste it on the things of the world. Nothing in this life can compare to the things prepared for us in heaven.

                I am hoping that life and Lent finds all you well as we have entered into the second week. I pray that you are struggling against the devil as St. George did with the dragon and will not yield. I pray that this article might give you hope as it does to me.

 

Amen.