Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY

© Missionary Leaflet 71. Publishing House of the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. Editor: Bishop Alexander Mileant

© Omega Web Center, Moscow – 2004

Content

Preface

Misunderstandings of Christianity

Salvation is the renewal of the soul and assimilation to God

Appendix: The Holy Fathers on Salvation

On Leper Island

Appendix: The Holy Fathers on the Struggle with Sin

Following Christ (on the Christian feat)

Asceticism - who invented it?

Imitation of Christ

High Goal

Appendix: The Holy Fathers on the Christian Feat

Works or Faith

Two extremes

Clarification of terminology

What to strive for

Appendix: The Holy Fathers on Good Deeds

The Power Abounding (On the Grace of the Holy Spirit)

Introduction. Martyr Nicephorus

Power is not of this world

Special Grace-Filled Gifts

Real gifts and their surrogates

The Holy Scriptures on the Grace of the Holy Spirit

Conclusion

Preface

"Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect"

(Matthew 5:48).

In the two thousand years of Christianity's existence, it would be expected that the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ would be deeply and comprehensively studied, understood, and explained. However, the presence of a large number of all kinds of sects convinces us that this is far from the case. While the majority of the "exact" sciences are progressing and perfecting, the teaching of our Lord Christ seems to be more and more distorted. The reason for this is not so much the incomprehensibility of Christian truths as the unwillingness to understand and accept the most important thing in Christianity - why the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, i.e. the essence of Christianity.

The reader may think that, probably, we ourselves are confusing something here. After all, even children know that the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth to save people, as evidenced by His very name "Jesus", which means "Savior". The problem is that the essence of salvation cannot be understood outside the context of the teaching of the Holy Scriptures on the destiny of man.

Naturally, no one wants to be condemned to hell, but everyone would like to get into the Kingdom of Heaven. However, it is extremely important to understand that the kingdom of heaven is not so much a place as a state. To the question of the scribes when the Kingdom of God would be revealed, Christ replied that it "will not come in a visible way, and they will not say, 'Here it is, or here it is,' for the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:20). By this the Lord indicated that salvation is most closely connected with the inner state of man. It is not just a "migration" from the present conditions of life to other, better ones, but something deeper and more remarkable. "If the wicked be pardoned," says the Scriptures, "he shall not learn righteousness, he shall do evil in the land of the righteous, and shall not behold the majesty of the Lord" (Isaiah 26:10) - i.e. he will continue to envy, enmity, quarrel and thirst for sensual pleasures - i.e. he will carry hell within himself. After all, true joy, peace and bliss are inner states that come as a result of communion with God, whom the sinner does not have. A righteous person, wherever he is, will enjoy communion with God everywhere and, as it were, carry paradise with him.

It is very important to understand that the main purpose of Christ's coming was not to relocate us externally to better conditions of existence, but to restore the lost paradise within us. This truth holds the key to understanding Christianity. When a person understands this, then he will see the superiority of Orthodoxy over other faiths, because in essence everything that the Orthodox Church teaches and adheres to is directed towards one goal – union with God through moral renewal and assimilation to Him.