Can repentance be replaced by "reasonable cooperation"? In order for a person to agree to such "cooperation", serious motives are needed. It is wrong to interpret repentance as an act of purely verbal confession of one's sin, devoid of practical deeds. To illustrate once again the connection between faith and life, let us recall the example of the repentance of the publican Zacchaeus: "And behold, a man named Zacchaeus, the chief of the publicans and a rich man, sought to see Jesus, who He was, but could not follow the people, because He was small in stature, and running ahead, he climbed up on a fig tree to see Him, because He had to pass by it. When Jesus came to this place, he looked at him and said to him, "Zacchaeus! come down quickly, for today I must be in your house. And he came down hastily and received Him with joy. And all, seeing this, began to murmur, and said that He had come to a sinful man; And Zacchaeus, standing up, said to the Lord, Lord! I will give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have wronged anyone in any way, I will repay fourfold. Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is the son of Abraham, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost' (Luke 19:2-10).

We see that repentance is not only a formal act of acknowledging the commission of a sin, in the final analysis, repentance is a change in all a person's life: "Faith and baptism will not deliver from eternal fire, without works of righteousness. If you have been married to Christ, keep His commandments, and if you believe in the future, try to earn eternal glory and fear the fire of fire. But if you do not keep the commandments of God, then do not call yourself faithful."88

Fundamental differences

Orthodoxy Agni Yoga Repentance is the foundation of spiritual life Agni Yoga rejects and distorts the semantic meaning of the Christian concept of "repentance"

9. The Authority to "Forgive and Forgive" Sins (Matthew 18:18)

Thus, repentance is the basis of the spiritual life of an Orthodox Christian. The call to repentance sounded in the sermon of John the Baptist: "... repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). Mankind is sick with sin. Sin separated man from God. Original sin distorted human nature. Sin is a disease of the will, its wrong direction.89 Moreover, this disease is not cured by self-medication. After the Fall, the will of man became susceptible to sin. If before the Fall, human freedom did not imply constant choice, was not discursive, it was enough for a person to follow his undamaged nature in order to achieve "well-being", then after the Fall, the will of man oscillates between good and evil, it is often easier for us to choose evil than good: "... I do not what I will, but what I hate, I do" (Romans 7:15). It is necessary to become the master of one's own will, and not the plaything of blind passions. It is necessary to realize that sin is a disease that requires healing. Sin is a lie, because "all unrighteousness is sin..." (1 John 5:17). Any lie distances a person from God and brings him closer to the "father of lies" (John 8:44), the devil. It was sin that made man mortal, as it separated him from God, the Source of Life and Immortality, for "... the sin committed brings forth death" (James 1:15).

But how can one be healed from sin? How can we bridge the gap between God and man? How to be healed from death? Jesus Christ, having become Man, united in Himself two natures – divine and human. Having walked the paths of man, by His death and Resurrection, Jesus Christ overcame death, destroyed the power of sin, and healed the nature and will of man. But this healing is not magical, it must be personally assimilated by each Christian in his spiritual life. Jesus Christ became the New Adam, brought salvation from sin and death, becoming a medicine that grants immortality.

Many sectarians believe that the Orthodox Church teaches about the magical absolution of sins in the sacrament of Repentance. This statement is not true. What is repentance? St. John Chrysostom writes: "I call repentance not only to abandon former evil deeds, but also to show great good deeds. Bring forth, it is said, fruits worthy of repentance (Luke 3:8). How are we to create them? Doing the opposite: for example, did you steal someone else's property? From now on, give what is yours. Has he committed fornication for a long time? Now abstain from your wife on certain days; Get used to abstinence. He insulted and even beat ... Now bless those who despitefully use you... For our healing, it is not enough only to remove the arrow from the body, but it is also necessary to apply medicine to the wound... It is said, "Turn away from evil and do good."90 As we see again, repentance is not just a list of sins in front of a priest, it is a change in the way of thinking and, as a result, a way of life. Those who interpret repentance as an "indulgence" for the right to sin further are deceiving themselves. It is wrong to understand repentance only as an act of verbal confession of one's sin without changing one's whole life and actions. In the previous chapter, we have already given the example of the repentance of the publican Zacchaeus (Luke 19:2-10).

Only the Lord can forgive sins, but He also grants this authority to the apostles: "Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever ye loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt. 18:18); "To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, they will remain" (John 20:23). The apostleship did not depart from the world without the succession of its ministry, the apostles handed over to their successors, bishops and priests, through a succession of ordinations, the ministry of pastorship, which includes the power to forgive and absolve sins. It should be noted right away that there are several myths about the sacrament of Repentance, one of them is that the priest himself forgives sins. This is not true, sins are forgiven only by God (Mark 2:7), but through a priest (Matt. 18:18, John 20:23). In addition, the priest takes part in the sacrament as a witness (2 Corinthians 4:5; Matt. 20:24-28), his role is also related to evoking a sense of shame in a person, the priest must help with advice, spiritual guidance, he prays that the Lord will forgive the confessor. But the priest may say: "Thy sins are forgiven thee, God, as the Only True Knower of the Heart" (Acts 1:24), may not accept repentance if it is not sincere.91 A formal attitude to confession without a sense of repentance and readiness to change will not bring good fruit for the spiritual life of a person. A beautiful example of true repentance is found in the New Testament. The Apostle Peter, who denied Jesus Christ three times (Luke 22:57), repents and the Lord forgives him (John 21:15-17). The entire subsequent life of the Apostle Peter, as we know from the Holy Tradition of the Church, is an example of Christian life, Ap. Peter would never again renounce his Teacher until his death, and in His name he would go to his death.