The Lord Jesus Christ, before His ascension to heaven, said to His disciples: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned" (Mark 16:15-16). You see how clear the words are, you see how clearly the Lord said: "He who has not faith will be condemned." This means that good deeds alone are not enough, which means that faith is also needed, which means that those who do good deeds must believe in God with all their hearts and love Him.

The holy Apostle James said in his conciliar epistle: "Faith without works is dead" (James 2:20). And whoever only believes and places all his hopes for salvation in faith alone, will not be saved: good works are needed. But it can also be said in another way: if faith without good works is dead, then good works without faith are dead.

Our Lord and God Jesus Christ spoke to the Jews the amazing words that everyone should partake of the Heavenly Bread, He said that this Heavenly Bread is His Flesh, which He gives for the life and salvation of the world.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in yourselves" (John 6:53). What kind of life? Eternal life: you will not have eternal life, you will not be partakers of the Kingdom of God, you will not receive salvation for your souls. What is clearer? If we do not believe in God with all our hearts, if we are not baptized, if we do not partake of the Body and Blood of Christ, then there is no salvation for us.

You see: good deeds alone are not enough for salvation! You know that even unbelievers do good deeds and all righteousness, and the question arises: how to evaluate this good done by unbelievers? Of course, all the good deeds of unbelievers should be highly valued. Recognizing this, we must still know that there is a difference between the good deeds of unbelievers and the deeds of those who believe in God with all their hearts.

What is the difference? Here's the thing: there were a multitude of strong-willed people who sacrificed everything, even their lives for the good of the people. There have been countless such now, in our time and in recent years. There were many people who sacrificed their lives for the benefit of their people, their nation. There are people who give their lives for the good of people of their race, of their class. What is the difference between all these good deeds, even the sacrifice of one's life, great feats, and love for one's own class, for one's own people, for one's race, although very high, but this love – love only for one's own class, for one's own people, for one's own race – coexists with hatred for people of another class, another people, another race; and true and genuine love is all-embracing, the love pleasing to God embraces everything, it is never mixed with hatred for anyone, it is all-embracing.

If people love Christ with all their hearts, then there is no place in their hearts for hatred of any other person. About these people, who combine love for their class, for their nation, with hatred for people of another class, another people, another race and another nation, the holy Apostle Paul said in his amazing speech about love: "If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I can move mountains, but I have not love, then I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:2). Even a faith that moves mountains is nothing if it is not united with universal love.

"And if I give away all my possessions, and give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing" (v. 3). If it is love only for one's own class, for one's nation, and not a universal, all-embracing love, it is of no use to our soul. There is no benefit in good deeds, there is not even benefit in giving one's life for one's friends, if there is no universal love, love for all people.

Where does universal love come from? It is only from God: it is a gift of God's grace. Such all-embracing love is not found in those who do not believe in God, who have not loved Him with all their heart and with all their strength, who have not believed in the Lord Jesus with all their heart, and have not loved Him.

There are people who are naturally kind-hearted, and that is why they easily and naturally do good deeds. But there are also powerful people who possess extraordinary physical strength; There are people who have great bodily beauty. Is there any merit in the fact that you were born with mighty power, were born beautiful, were born with a kind heart? No, there is no merit in this: it is a gift received from God at birth, and the Kingdom of God must be earned. The Lord said: "The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it away" (Matt. 11:12).

We need podvigs, we need effort, we need to force ourselves to good, we need to turn from evil, from all unrighteousness to truth, we need efforts in doing good deeds. And only when, through great and unceasing efforts, we purify our hearts and attract the grace of God to it, when, under the influence of this grace, holy love, universal love, love devoid of hatred for anyone, is kindled and kindled in our hearts, only then will this love, combined with faith, open to us the path to the Kingdom of God. Thus, good deeds are not enough, the teaching of morality is not enough: religion is also needed, for only in religion, in faith in God, in communion with God, do we receive the strength to do genuine, full-fledged good in the eyes of God, and bare morality does not allow this, and those who think of replacing religion with one teaching about morality are very mistaken.

In the eyes of God, good is done only by those who are enlightened by Divine grace, whose heart has become a receptacle of genuine, universal love for people, and above all for God.

That is why I said at the beginning of my speech that good deeds alone are not enough. You see that it is impossible to be saved by good works alone, for if faith without works is dead, then good works without faith are also dead.

Remember this, remember that the salvation of your souls lies only in the acquisition of love. Without love, nothing has power. And love is only from God, for the Lord Jesus Christ has revealed to us the greatest mystery: that God is love. As the sun is the source of all life on earth, and all living things depend on it for their existence, so God is the Sun of Truth, the Sun of Love, the Sun of Good; and only those whose hearts receive these Divine rays of truth can be saved.