He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not believe in the Son will not see life.

He who believes in Me will never thirst.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath eternal life.

I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, shall live.

If you believe, you will see the glory of God.

As long as the light is with you, believe in the light, that you may be sons of light.

This is the work of God, that you should believe in Him Whom He sent.

Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Verily I say unto you, unless ye be converted, and be as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

I think, Theodoulos, this is the clearest description of the true faith that the Saviour requires of people. The pagans, like foolish children, deviated into the faith of Satan, and he seduced them and led them into the abyss. The Saviour now demands of people who desire deliverance and salvation from Satan that they, as prudent children, have perfect faith in Him, as perfect as children have for their parents.

The Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven speaks of patience as follows:

By your patience save your souls.

But he who endures to the end will be saved.

Whoever does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.

These and other words about patience and suffering were best received by the holy apostles of Christ; they became the first sufferers and martyrs. Patience is terrible for one who does not expect a reward in the end. Suffering and martyrdom are unbearable for those who do not know about the Heavenly Father, about the Kingdom of Heaven and about eternal life. The sufferer Paul speaks of this wonderfully, saying of himself: "Many times have I been in prison, and many times at the point of death. From the Jews five times I was given forty stripes without one; Three times I was beaten with sticks, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked... in dangers from robbers, in dangers from fellow countrymen, in dangers from pagans, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers among false brethren, in labor and in exhaustion, often in vigilance, in hunger and thirst, often in fasting, in cold and nakedness (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:23-25, 26-27). And he, who has experienced so much, speaks of it thus: the present temporal sufferings are worth nothing in comparison with the glory that will be revealed in us. The history of the world has not seen a more radiant halo over the gloomy suffering of man than this.

Finally, love is at the top of the peaks of love. As the light of the sun makes the light of all the stars superfluous, so love, when it shines, makes all the other commandments and all the laws in the world superfluous.

The entire New Testament shines under the sign of love. The Messiah is a God of love. The fatherhood of God is revealed through love for people; the sonship of men is manifested through love for God, the Father in heaven.

The Messiah of the world no longer carves the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone, but engraves two commandments into the hearts of men. The first commandment: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might, and with all thy mind. And the second commandment: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

After many centuries of fear of false, foul gods, and after many centuries of man's hatred of his neighbor, these two commandments would have looked truly incredible and fantastic, if He had not first of all shown His love for us, as St. John the Evangelist writes, and had not sent His Son Jesus to save us, the servants of demons, at the cost of His life; and further: if the Son of God had not uttered these never-heard words from the Cross in the throes of death: Father, forgive them! Forgive them, for they know not what they do.

To attain love for God and neighbor is the greatest task after liberation from Satan. After all, if Christ freed a person from Satan, and he did not cleanse himself, did not wash himself, did not change clothes, did not humanize, did not revive, and did not enlighten and warm himself with love, then he remains a lawless man as before. The first is the first, and the second is the second. The first is extraction from the tar, and the second is purification; the first is deliverance from vile demons, and the second is bringing light to the Father. Without the first, there would be no second, and without the second, there would be nothing.