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Orthodox Faith

Orthodox Faith

Orthodoxy is our way to the Kingdom of God, and this way is the incarnate Truth, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as He tells us: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” (John 14:6)

Our faith in the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is the energy of our soul, which drives our entire spiritual life. It is the living, free-willed, conscious connection between us and the Lord. Such faith is gained in Christ’s Orthodox Church, “the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (I Timothy 3:15) It is the greatest sacrifice we can offer the Lord because our free will opens the gate to distance from God through unbelief and union with God through faith.

Through faith in God, anything can be achieved, “for all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23) In the writing of Saint Maximus the Confessor, “Responses to Thalassius”, we are taught that the faithful person is in permanent connection with God, for “faith is a connecting power, which perfectly, supernaturally, and directly unites the one who believes with God in Whom he believes.” (Philokalia 3, p. 146, 2005) And what can be better and more useful than being permanently in the arms of God?

Through our Orthodox life, we, the people of God, send the world the message of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, the risen from the dead on the third day. (as per Mark 9:31) Our preaching is His work, for He confesses Himself through us, being the only One with the power to save us, thus giving us eternal life. He assures us of this, when saying: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” (John 11:25-26)

This eschatological pearl, the eternal life, is God’s great plan for mankind, as Jesus Christ says: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only True God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.” (John 17:3) God’s gift to us is so great that our minds cannot fully comprehend its true value. God’s generosity, springing from His boundless love towards us, extends before us endless care, as He says: “I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.” (John 10:10)

Love is the essential characteristic of God, as Holy Apostle and Evangelist John says: “We have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love; whoever abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (I John 4:16) The commandment of love is the greatest and wisest thing of all: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31) This is Orthodoxy, the Mystery of love for God and for our neighbor, through which our life in Christ is restored. Maran atha! – Our Lord is coming! (I Corinthians 16:22).