As we have seen, the patristic doctrine of salvation is not based on the idea of Adam's inherited guilt from which man is delivered in Christ, but on a more existential understanding of both "fallen" and "redeemed" humanity. From the "old Adam," through his natural birth, man inherited a defective form of life – limited by mortality, inevitably sinful, and associated with a lack of freedom from the "prince of this world." The alternative to this "fallen" state is "life in Christ," the true and "natural" human life, the gift of God bestowed in the sacrament of the Church. "Baptism," writes Nicholas Cabasilas, "is nothing other than birth in Christ and for the sake of accepting our very being and nature."

In the rite of Baptism and in the theological commentaries of the Byzantine period, the emphasis is placed on the positive meaning of Baptism as the "new birth." "The beneficent day of Baptism," continues Cabasilas, "becomes a day of naming for Christians, because then they are formed and take shape, and our life receives form and definition." Again, according to Cabasilas, all the designations of Baptism in Scripture and Tradition point to one and the same positive meaning: "birth" and "new birth," "renewal" and "seal," as well as "baptism" and "vestment" and "anointing," "gift," "enlightenment," and "washing" – all signify one and the same thing: that the rite is the beginning of existence for those who are and live in harmony with God.

If Baptism is considered a "new birth," then it is implied that it is also a free gift from God and that this gift does not in any way depend on human choice, consent, or even consciousness: "Just as in the case of bodily birth, we do not even willingly participate in all the blessings that come from Baptism." In the East, therefore, there have never been serious doubts or disputes about the legitimacy of infant baptism. Such legitimacy is based not on the idea of "sin," which can make infants guilty in the eyes of God and in need of Baptism for the sake of justification, but on the fact that at all stages of life, including infancy, a person needs to be "born again" – that is, to begin a new and eternal life according to Christ. After all, even a "conscious adult" is not able to fully comprehend the ultimate eschatological goal of the new life.

Just as it is impossible to understand the power of the eyes, or the grace of color without light, or as it is impossible for those who are asleep to know the affairs of those who are awake while the former are asleep, so it is impossible in this life to understand the new members and their faculties, which are directed only to the life to come. … Yet we are members of Christ, and this is the fruit of Baptism. The splendor and beauty of the members depend on the Head, for the members will not become beautiful until they cling to the Head. From these members the Head is hidden in the present life, but will appear clearly when they shine forth together with Chapter 474...

Thus, through Baptism, a person is a member of the Body of Christ and becomes "theocentric" – that is, he restores his original purpose, which is eschatological and mysterious because he participates in the very mystery of God. As a Divine gift sent to an adult or an infant, Baptism is the beginning of a new life. As Theodoret of Cyrus writes:

If the only meaning of Baptism was the forgiveness of sins, then why would newborns be baptized who have not yet had time to taste sin? But the sacrament of Baptism is not limited to this; Baptism is the promise of greater and most perfect gifts. It is the essence of the promises of future joys; it is an image of the future resurrection, communion with the Passion of the Lord, participation in His Resurrection, the robe of salvation, the garment of joy, the garment of light, or rather the light itself.

As a "beginning" and a promise of new life, Baptism implies self-determination and growth. It does not suppress human freedom, but restores it in its original and "natural" form. In the case of infant baptism, this restoration is, of course, only potential, but the sacrament always implies a call to freedom. In the Byzantine tradition, the formula of Baptism is pronounced, unlike in the West, not in the name of the priest who performs the Sacrament (in the West, the priest says: "I baptize you"), but a solemn declaration is made in the name of the person being baptized: "The servant of God, the name, is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." "This," writes Symeon of Thessalonica, "signifies the freedom of the one being baptized" (476). After Baptism, the path to God is a "synergy"477 of God's power and free human effort. And then there is the liberation from the bonds of Satan, the tyrant and usurper, which is indicated by the exorcisms that precede the actual sacrament of Baptism.

The Byzantine tradition has preserved the ancient Christian custom of baptizing by triple immersion. In fact, immersion has sometimes been considered essential to the validity of the sacrament, and some extreme anti-Latin polemicists have disputed the validity of the Western rite of Baptism on the grounds that the Latins baptized by pouring. Immersion is the very sign of what Baptism means. "Water destroys one life, but reveals another; it drowns the old man and brings out the new," writes Cabasilas 479. "Drowning" cannot be symbolized otherwise than through immersion.

A person freed through Baptism from the bondage of Satan is endowed by the Spirit with the ability to "be active in the spiritual energies," as Cabasilas put it elsewhere. We have already seen that Byzantine patristic theology recognizes the connection between the gifts of the Spirit and human freedom; the redemption of mankind implies that not only human "nature" but also each person, freely and personally, will find a place for himself in the new creation, "repeat in himself" Christ again. The gift of the Spirit in Chrismation is the main sacramental sign of this particular dimension of salvation, which, according to the liturgical norm, is inseparable from Baptism. Therefore, "life in Christ" and "life in the Spirit" are not two separate forms of spirituality: they are complementary sides of the same road leading to eschatological "deification."

Usually united with Baptism in one rite of Christian initiation, Chrismation is performed separately only in cases of reconciliation with the Church of certain categories of heretics and schismatics listed in Canon 95 of the Trullo Council. The significance of Chrismation thus confirms the validity of the "seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit" (this formula is pronounced by the priest when performing the anointing) of Christian Baptism performed in unusual circumstances, that is, outside the canonical boundaries of the Church.

3. Repentance

Sacramental repentance – that is, reconciliation with the Church after sins committed after receiving Baptism – developed in the West and the East in parallel. At first, it was a public act – repentance was demanded from sinners who were officially excommunicated from church communion or committed acts that deserved excommunication. But gradually, especially after the fourth century, repentance took the form of private confession, followed by a prayer for absolution of sins pronounced by a priest. And then repentance almost completely merged with the custom of receiving private spiritual instruction, especially widespread in monastic communities.