The root and source of all piety is true knowledge of God. And just as a pious life is a testimony to the knowledge of God, so a sinful and lawless life is a proof of God's ignorance and a godless heart, even if such a person confesses God and Christ, goes to church, prays, communes of the Mysteries, and shows other signs of Christianity.

§ 56. Since God, as a Spirit, not subject to any senses, is seen not with the bodily, but with the eyes of the soul, therefore the sinner does not know Him, and, not knowing, does not revere Him, for the darkness of sin has blinded his spiritual eyes. From whence it comes, it does something, it strives for it, it only seeks that which is subject to its external feelings. Because he sees his father, sees his master, sees his master, then he honors them, listens to them, tries to serve and please them, and takes care to offend and anger them; he sees judgment and temporal punishment and fears them; He sees the honor, glory, and riches of this world, and therefore desires them and seeks them. But he does not see God and eternal glory, and honor, and riches, so he does not try to please God, so he does not try to seek that eternal treasure.

Whoever does not see or know what does not want and does not seek it. He does not desire honey or the fruits of the earth and trees, until he knows the taste of their sweetness: we must first taste them, whether they are sweet or bitter, useful or harmful to us, and so desire or reject them. A merchant does not go to that country where he does not hope to find profit for himself; The foolish lad does not see any benefit in science, and therefore he does not care about learning. So it is with spiritual things: whoever does not have spiritual enlightenment in himself about them, does not strive for them, does not desire them, and does not seek them.

The sinner has not tasted how good the Lord is, and does not seek Him.

He does not feel God's blessings in his heart – and does not thank God.

He does not know the omnipotence and majesty of God – and does not tremble before Him.

He does not know His truth, and does not believe Him.

He does not know the truth – and is not afraid to anger Him.

He does not know how great sweetness, and peace, and peace are found in Christian love and in all piety, and he does not strive for this.

He does not see eternal bliss – and does not properly seek that which he does not see.

One must first cognize, and then seek what one will know. It is necessary to know God in His attributes – and then to revere Him. To know that He is the Creator, the Redeemer, the Providence, the Lord and King of all you, and since you revere your Creator, Redeemer, Provider, Lord and King, listen to His will and commands, as your father, who begat you, your lord and king. It is necessary to know that He is God, Helper, Defender and Intercessor, as well as yours, and there is none else besides Him. And so to put our hope in Him, and in the day of trouble and misfortune to run to Him and call upon Him, and to ask for help and protection from Him, and so on. It must be kept without doubt that those who worship God in the age to come will have eternal bliss and incomprehensible to the mind, and thus the desire and diligence to receive it will be kindled.

Thus the farmers first look upon the fruits of the earth, and thus, hoping to gather the fruits, they labor in agriculture. Thus the miners first know where the ore is in the ground, whether copper, or iron, or silver, and then they dig it. Thus, with the eye of faith, one must first see the life to come, and so by faith seek it, and wait for it, and hope to receive it, as it is written about Moses: He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and would rather suffer with the people of God than have a temporary sinful pleasure, and he considered the reproach of Christ a greater wealth for himself than the treasures of Egypt; for he looked to the recompense (Heb. 11:24-26). And for what reason did he despise all the glory and wealth of Egypt? For with the eye of faith he saw the future glory and life, and despised the earthly as nothing, and sought it, for he looked to the recompense. In the same way, whoever sees the future life and glory of God's chosen ones with the eye of faith will surely despise the glory, honor, riches, and all the vanity of this world, and will strive for this one as his goal and priceless treasure.

You see that every thing is first known, and so it is desired and demanded, for what we do not know, we do not desire and do not seek. And from this it is evident that every sinner does not revere God, does not fear and does not love Him, because he does not know Him; and he does not properly desire or seek the future life and glory, because he does not see it. He does not know God and does not see that glory, because he does not have spiritual eyes, enlightened by His faith and grace, by which only God and that glory are seen. Such Christians have darkness and darkness on their spiritual eyes, like a veil, and does not allow them to see God and His glory. And it will lie until they turn with all their hearts to the Lord, as the Apostle wrote about the Jews: "Until now, when they read Moses, a veil lies over their hearts; but when they turn to the Lord, then this veil is removed (2 Cor. 3:15-16). With this veil the eyes of the soul are covered, although they read and listen to the Holy Scriptures, they do not understand, as the Apostle says about the Jews in the same place: "But their minds are blinded" (2 Corinthians 3:14), and so they become blind both in the knowledge of God and in the worship of Him. This blindness and darkness lies on the heart of every sinner who has not turned from the world and sin to God.

§ 57. The image of terrible blindness is presented to us by the Scriptures in the old Israel. The Lord did all kinds of miracles before them in the land of Egypt, as we read in the Book of Exodus and in the Psalms: "He sent darkness and brought darkness, for they resisted His words; He turned their waters into blood, and killed the fish in them; their land boiled with frogs, even in the treasuries of their kings; And he commanded, and the flies and gnats of the dog appeared in all their borders; instead of rain he sent them hail and fire to scorch their land, and smote their vineyards and their fig trees, and broke down every tree within them. He commanded, and locusts and caterpillars without number appeared; and they ate all the grass in their land; and they ate all the fruit in their land; and he smote every firstborn in their land, the firstfruits of all their labor (Psalm 104:28-36). But the holy prophet confesses to the Lord: "Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Thy miracles" (Psalm 105:7), when those terrible plagues struck down only the Egyptians, the enemies of Israel, and did not touch the Israelites, as we read in the Book of Exodus. This very thing, as it were, showed them with a finger the special Providence of God and mercy for them; but they did not understand the miracles of God, did not remember the mercy of God. To those who came out of Egypt and fled from their enemies, the Lord opened the way, and there where there was no way, He divided the sea and led them (Psalm 77:13). The Red Sea was fiercely spoken, and it was dried up; and led them through the depths as on dry land (Psalm 105:9). And they saw their enemies covered with water, as with one grave: The waters covered their enemies, not one of them remained; they also sang the praise of God (Psalm 105:11-12). But soon they forgot (Psalm 105:13) such great and terrible works of God. They made a golden calf; instead of God the Creator, their Father and Deliverer, they honoured the soulless idol, and worshipped the work of their hands: and they made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the image: and exchanged His glory for the likeness of a calf that eateth grass. And they forgot God, Who saved them, Who did great things in Egypt, miracles in the land of Ham, terrible things in the Red Sea (Psalm 105:19-22). They ascribed such a miraculous blessing of God to soulless things and to the creation of their hands. Terrible blasphemy and blindness! A soulless thing, immovable of itself, what help can give, especially to do such a wonderful deed.. But the blinded Israel stretches out her hands and cries, "Behold your god, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!" (Exodus 32:4).