"To whom more is given, more will be demanded. If a person has promised to serve God all his life (monasticism is the dedication of life to God), he is responsible for the broken promise. A person who has been brought up in the faith since childhood is more fully responsible for his sinful misdeeds than one who has just been baptized, but as he becomes churched, the responsibility increases.

And at the same time, God not only reduces evil, but also supports good. He supports and strengthens all good. Even imperfect good, even good that is not done in the world for His sake, God supports. We know, of course, that no good done without God is salvific. No matter how good a person is, he cannot be saved without God.

Why can't a person be saved without God by good works? — It's not very clear. "I'll try to explain it now. The fact is that salvation is union with God. You cannot unite with God without Him. Good works are a condition, but not a substitute for faith. Many people think that salvation is some kind of incomprehensible thing, which is usually not thought of, but it is good, and it must be earned with the help of good deeds.

So he counted out a certain number of good deeds and bought salvation for himself. Catholics have such a thing as scales. There are general and private scales. If you have done many good deeds, they outweigh your sins. It turns out that a good deed is equal to repentance. If you have done a lot of good deeds, they go to the common piggy bank and save another sinner. This is very convenient, of course, but somewhat contrary to the Word of God.

In fact, salvation is union with God. "What do you have to save yourself from?" — From death. From sin and its consequences. "To save yourself from death?" — Yes. "But you can't escape from death. — Maybe. "From spiritual death?" "And physically, too. — Is physical death overcome? — Of course. Through the resurrection. Death is overcome by the Resurrection of Christ, by His power.

And spiritual death is overcome by repentance, fasting and prayer. Good deeds lead a person to the fact that a person finds God. In the Holy Scriptures there is an episode about the centurion Cornelius, who was very fond of giving alms. And God sent an angel to him, who said: "... thy prayers and thy alms have come to remembrance before God.

Therefore send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is called Peter. He is staying with a certain Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea; he shall speak to thee the words whereby thou shalt be saved, and all thy house" (Acts 10:4-6). Good deeds in themselves do not save, but lead to salvation. These are good deeds that are done without God. And then, when a person has come to baptism, good deeds must be done with God, and they assimilate the salvation that has already been given.

Salvation is for God, pure for God. Without God, no one would have been saved. I will now explain the reason in more detail. But one can be saved only with the help of the Sacraments and good works. Why, for example, will Muslims, Buddhists, idolaters perish? Because they have not entered into union with God. Destruction is the state when God says: you wanted to live without Me – go. This is where death lies.

— Tell me, please, but they say that confessions are different, but God is one, how do you understand this? You were right in saying that God is one, and it is true that confessions are different, but you have drawn the wrong conclusion from this that all confessions lead to one God. This is a mistake. Why? We can say this: St. Petersburg is one, but the roads are different. Faithfully? — Of course — But it doesn't follow from this that I will come to St. Petersburg on any road.

- I mean Christian confessions. "It doesn't matter. What's the odds? Communion with God must be done by God. The church is the place of the Holy Spirit, Who appeared on the Day of Pentecost. "And how many Christians convert to Muslims!" "Well, what kind of Christians are they! They apply for various reasons. Christians convert to Islam because they need many wives. Or so that the husband does not drink.

"I know a woman who converted to Islam. "For what reason?" "My husband drinks. "Well, that's what I'm saying: so that my husband doesn't drink. You see, this is the logic of a woman: it is necessary that her husband does not drink. True, he will not drink, but will beat. The point is not that people are looking for the truth and therefore leave. Let's return to God. Let us move from the dispute about Muslims to a conversation about God.

Otherwise, we will never know the most important thing. Let's talk about God's feelings. First of all, we must remember that we have said that God is Love, but love is a state of will, not only of feelings. But God is also merciful, this is also a manifestation of feelings. In addition to the fact that He loves, He is also jealous, but this is not human jealousy. He does not want to humble himself if a person leaves Him.

When a person leaves God, do you think He looks at it calmly? — I don't think so. "God will say that His wrath and wrath will always haunt this man. There are these words in the Scriptures: "But if you do not listen to me, and do not do all these commandments, and if you despise my statutes, and if your soul abhors my laws, so that you do not do all my commandments, having broken my covenant, then I will do this to you: I will send upon you terror, stunting, and fever, because of which the eyes will grow weary, and the soul will be tormented; and you will sow your seeds in vain, and your enemies will eat them up; I will set my face against you, and you will fall before your enemies, and your enemies will rule over you, and you will flee when no one pursues you.

Even if you do not listen to Me, I will increase the punishment for your sins in every way, and I will break your proud stubbornness, and I will make your heavens like iron, and your earth like brass. and in vain shall your strength be exhausted, and your land shall not yield its crops, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit. But if you go against me, and will not listen to me, I will add to you the full blows for your sins: I will send against you the beasts of the field, which will deprive you of your children, and destroy your cattle, and diminish you, so that your roads will be laid waste.