Having confirmed the faith, the Holy Spirit leads a person to the baptismal font and here instills Christ in him, but He accomplishes salvation only with the free cooperation of the person himself. "The Spirit of God transforms our inner order," writes St. Theophan "but not by creative power and power alone, but by following the conscious and free decisions of man himself and considering them" [86: p. 453]. He strengthens "the believing heart for the difficult struggle with the passions, guides and helps in it" [25, p. 13]. As a careful gardener guards, waters, and cleanses a good tree, so the Spirit of God nourishes and purifies the soul that in its labors gives itself over to His guidance.

Gradually, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, the passions weaken and disappear, and in their place good dispositions are introduced and strengthened, the old man decays and a new one is created, and the features of the image of God are revealed more and more clearly.

The Holy Spirit is the perfector of communion with God. "He who has received the Spirit of grace freely fulfills every commandment; the fulfillment of the commandments purifies the heart; a pure heart is a ready-made dwelling place of God, Who dwells in it" [96: p. 149], and then "the entire Holy Trinity shines in the believer inseparably. And behold, he is a perfect man, who has attained the measure of the stature of the fulfillment of Christ" [96, p. 200]. A person who has attained perfection in the spiritual life is led by the Holy Spirit "into the contemplation of the mysteries of God" [68: p. 107].

By the power of the Spirit of God, Christians ascend to the highest degrees of Christian perfection, which is already manifested in them clearly and tangibly through "look, movement, deed, thought, feeling" [5, p. 91]. The soul of a person who has attained holiness becomes pure and innocent, like a blameless child of God, "in the midst of a generation of obstinate and perverse, and will shine as a light in the world" (Phil. 2:15), spreading light everywhere for the glorification of the Heavenly Father.

Chapter 6. Salvation and the Church

The Church on Earth and in Heaven

The Holy Church is of great importance in the life of a Christian. In the Holy Scriptures and in the works of the Holy Fathers, the word "Church" is used in various meanings. In the words of the famous Russian theologian, Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, "the Church of Christ is the society of all rationally free beings, that is, both angels and people who believe in Christ the Savior and are united in Him as one Head" [205: p. 187].

Christ is the Savior of the whole world, of the entire human race, not only of all present and future generations, but also of the past. Therefore, all those who believe and believe in Him are members of His Church, both those who lived and are living after His coming, and those who lived before His coming. In this sense, the Church includes not only Orthodox Christians living on earth, but also all those who have died in the true faith and holiness.

The Church, consisting of angels and saints, is called Heavenly, or triumphant. The Church, which includes those who live on earth, is called the visible Church, the earthly Church. It is called wandering or militant [207, p. 50].

The Heavenly Church helps the earthly Church in achieving the salvation of its members. This help is realized in the prayerful intercession of the Heavenly Church before the throne of God. "It alone," writes Bishop Theophan "combines the most powerful and effective intercessors and helpers. In heaven, the Lord Himself intercedes for us, sitting at the right hand of God the Father, the assembly of Angels and Saints prays for us, and especially the protection of the Most Holy Lady Theotokos, the Guardian Angel and the saint of the same name, overshadows each of us" [118: p. 407].

In a narrower sense, but also the most universally demanding and widespread, the Church of Christ "includes all Orthodox Christians living on earth" [192: p. 43].

The word "Church" (translated from Greek (ή εκκλησία), from (εκκαλέω) – I summon to a meeting) generally means a meeting or society of those who are called. In the Christian sense, it is a community of people who have heard the Lord's call to salvation and have followed this call. "What is the Holy Church? Bishop Theophan asks and answers: "This is a community of believers united by the unity of the confession of divinely revealed truths, the unity of sanctification by the divinely instituted sacraments, and the unity of the administration and leadership of the God-given pastorate" [32: p. 250].

The earthly Church "embraces all and everywhere, whoever they may be, believers in Christ, who now, being in an earthly pilgrimage, have not yet settled in the Heavenly Fatherland" [225: p. 32].

From the outside, the Church is a visible society of people, existing and developing in earthly conditions and relationships. From the inside, the Church is a treasury of truth and grace given by the Lord Jesus Christ.