SERMONS FOR GREAT LENT

Period one

A Word on Predestination in the First Week of Lent. On predestination

"In the morning (Jesus) wanted to go out into Galilee; and you shall find Philip, and say unto him, Follow me" (John 1:43)

There is nothing so proud and so inquisitive as the human mind. Though sin has weakened him greatly, though faith demands of him blind obedience, he still stretches out a hundred wings to soar to the heights, opens a hundred eyes to explore the most innermost things. And it would also be good if he were so eager to investigate so many wondrous works of nature on earth, for this is the natural striving of man, by which he is led to the knowledge of all existence. But he strives to penetrate into the most invisible depths of the incomprehensible divine destinies, in order to ascertain whether the supreme Providence of God really governs everything in a rational way, and what it positively determines about human affairs. After all, this is indecent impudence! Divine predestination is one of the most incomprehensible mysteries contained in the abyss of Divine reason and wisdom! The human mind, which is not narrow in cognition, limited in perception, let it study and investigate this mystery as much as it likes: it will never be able to understand it anyway.

Learned theologians, I know how you talk about divine predestination. You say: predestination is the foreknowledge and preparation of God's blessings, by which all who are saved are irrevocably saved; that it is the ascent of the rational creature to eternal life, it is the election to grace and glory. But you do not understand that God from eternity foresees everything that people do in time, that this divine foreknowledge is firm, and human affairs in time are free. How can we reconcile the immutability of God's counsel and the free self-determination of rational creatures? Just as the immutability of the divine decision does not lead to necessity, why is it indubitable and not subject to chance? "So, away, away from these questions and perplexities of scientists, questions that do not teach, but only darken the mind. In this incomprehensible realm we, brethren, understand only one thing: namely, that predestination is a combination of divine grace and human will, the grace of God, which calls, and the human will, which follows the calling.

Going to Galilee, Jesus Christ found Philip and called him – saying to him: "Come after me." Philip believed and followed him. And Moses wrote in the law and the prophets, he says to his companion Nathanael, who found Jesus, the son of Joseph, who was of Nazareth. Thus Philip is predestined to the honor of the apostolic dignity and to the glory of the heavenly kingdom. This is what I will talk about today. I will try to prove two propositions. First, that God has all the desire to save every person; secondly, that man has all freedom to be saved with the help of the grace of God. God wills, and if man wills, then he is already predestodated.

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The doctrine of predestination is a dogma of faith based on Holy Scripture, and none of the Orthodox doubts it. "Whom thou hast foreordained," says Paul plainly, "to be conformed to the image of thy Son. And whom thou hast ordained, thou hast called, and whom thou hast called, these thou hast justified; and whom thou hast justified, these also glorify" (Romans 8:29, 30). In the book of mysterious divine foresight, which surpasses understanding, God inscribed whom He loved to life, and whom He hated to death: "Jacob thou loved, but Esau thou hated" (2:13), says God Himself. As a potter prepares one vessel from the same clay in honor and another not in honor, so the almighty God glorifies some of His creatures as valuable, and rejects others as unnecessary. "Whom he wills, has mercy, and whom he wills, he hardens" (9:18). God acts according to His will, and who can contradict Him? Who can resist His will? But is there not any unrighteousness in God, therefore? "Let it not be!" – This is the entire teaching of Ap. Paul, a hidden and sublime teaching, into which the more we delve, the less we understand it. So what? On the question of predestination, let us not understand everything that the Holy Scripture says. Scripture, because it is incomprehensible, the interpretations of the Holy Fathers, because they are difficult, the opinions of learned theologians, because they are vague. Let this be blamed on our reason, weak and blind, which cannot ascend to the heights or discern the invisible. This was not understood by Paul himself, who ascended to the third heaven. At this height of divine revelations, he saw only the unfathomable depth of Divine wisdom, which surpasses reason. Therefore he cried out in amazement: "O depth of the riches, and wisdom, and understanding of God!" (Romans 11:33). Chrysostom continues that "even if it were possible to resolve this, it would be lawless to desire it." It is enough to know these two clear, easy, and lasting propositions: first, that God wants us to be saved, for He loves mankind; the second is that we can be saved, because we are free. The will of God and the will of man form predestination. God wills; If man also wills, then he is already predesceed.

Yes, God, the lover of mankind, wants us all to be saved, and this is confirmed by His three non-contradictory attributes – Divine justice, mercy and providence. God has given the law indifferently to all people and wants everyone to resolutely obey it: there is no person who is not obliged to keep the law of God. Greeks and barbarians, impure and Orthodox, Jews and Christians must fulfill this duty. What reward do people expect for themselves for fulfilling the Divine law? – Salvation and the Kingdom of Heaven. "If ye will and listen, thou shalt tear down the good land" (Isaiah 1:19), so God promises through the mouth of Isaiah. Would it not be the greatest injustice if God wanted people to keep His law on the one hand, and did not want the salvation of all, on the other? What if He predestined one part to salvation, and condemned the other to torment? How? Does he call everyone to podvig and only some to be rewarded? Does he demand that all serve him equally, but does not want to give everyone the same pay? No, God is just, He is justice itself: giving the law to all, He wants all to be saved: "He desires all to be saved," says the Apostle. "For," explains St. Ambrose, "Who gave the law for all, excludes no one from His kingdom."