Saved By Faith Or By Works?

During a recent conversation with a Baptist acquaintance of mine, we compared notes on how we view salvation. The general perception in the Protestant world is that Catholics and Orthodox alike are 'works' oriented. I only reinforced this perception when I told him I did not believe in 'once saved, always saved'. He immediately replied saying, "So, salvation is a crapshoot then."

He had withdrawn from the faith back in his college days but has been strongly living out his Baptist faith since then. We had to end our conversation abruptly because I had to get back to work - but I sent him this reply to assure him salvation is not a crapshoot...

It was great talking to you this morning - I wish we could have had more time to fill in the details of this engaging topic, but I couldn't just leave you with the impression that salvation is a "crapshoot" in the Orthodox world. So, I am sending you this email to hopefully clarify things.

Salvation is a gift. It is the most wonderful gift ever. It is also an incredibly expensive gift. As one of my pastor friends put it, "Salvation (grace) is free, but not cheap". With this gift comes responsibility. To whom much is given, much is required. The parable of the talents emphasizes this point. Jesus also emphasizes this point in another passage -

"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes...Remain in me and I will remain in you..."(John 15:2ff)

This passage goes on to say "if you remain in me..." and "if you obey my commands...".

We are responsible. We are to remain in Christ and feed on Him. We are then loved by the Father and bear much fruit. He is our salvation. Bible study and reading are important, but it isn't our salvation - Christ is our salvation. We feed on Him in the Eucharist, through purposeful and intentional prayer, through fasting to identify with his sufferings and to continually soften our hearts toward Him, and through repentance and confession to purge our souls of pride, to "prune our branches". These "touch points" of grace, of God's Presence on the earth, are what empower us to love, to give, to obey His commandments and bear much fruit. This is why the Orthodox Church places heavy emphasis on regular church attendance, keeping the church fasts and following a disciplined prayer rule. This is what keeps you on the path, what keeps you humble and in obedience to God's perfect will. If you stop doing these things, then it is a crapshoot, because you have left the well-trodden path laid out before you to assure your growth and to bear much fruit.

Grace, from an Orthodox perspective, is God's empowering life and energy. So, to be saved by grace means appropriating that life and energy toward good works which he has prepared in advance for us to do. To neglect this empowering life and energy is to neglect our salvation -

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" (Hebrews 2:1-4)

So, yes, we can stray from the path, and it is a dangerous place to be. Thank God that he put you back despite your wanderings. There is a sure road to salvation, and not everyone who calls Jesus "Lord" is on it. It isn't a crapshoot, but a path of discipleship, obedience and humility in Christ and in the Church He established to produce saintly beings whose lives bring Him glory in this age and in the age to come. You stay on this path, then your salvation is assured, but if you leave it, only God knows whether you will be saved, as it is not up to me, or my priest, or anyone else to judge someone in that regard.

I want to leave you with one of my favorite New Testament passages that summarizes this theme perfectly. It is 2 Peter 1:2-11:

"Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Since Peter states that we should be eager to make our calling and election sure, it emphasizes how important our responsibility is to stay on the path.

As always, it was great talking to you. I hope this clarifies why our salvation is neither a crapshoot, nor something to take for granted.

God's peace my friend,

Nicodemus

New Year, New Day, New Stuff

Ok, a new year has started and it is time to take blogging a little more seriously. As I look back, I think about why I have procrastinated posting anything. I guess I was hoping each blog would be a masterpiece or have something profound to say. This year, I am simply going to make it more random and laid back - simply talk about life and God and Orthodox stuff. I am not a deacon, a priest or a bishop, therefore the pressure of being perfect in my blogs should not be so severe. At the same time, I never want to misrepresent the Faith and cause a seeking person to reject Orthodoxy because of something I've said. Lord have mercy.

I have missed not posting more frequently, and I have missed not responding to other blogs. God willing, I will be out there amongst you, fellowshipping in cyberspace and hopefully contribute a random thought that strikes a chord in your beautiful soul.

The Mystery of God

The first time I heard “Praises” in Tone 2, one of many mellifluous, age-old Christian chants, it felt as if my soul was a restless sea and Christ had calmed the waters through its melody and meditative words. Arrogantly thinking that maybe I could improve on this simplistic style of music, I began searching the internet for more chants. My searches kept landing me on Eastern Orthodox websites, the ancient paradigm of Christianity known in part for its icons, incense, intense regimen of prayer and fasting, and emphasis on union with the mystical and ineffable God as the means to salvation.

I had only vaguely heard of Eastern Orthodoxy before this search for chants, but I immediately identified with its all-encompassing lifestyle of Christian spirituality. Several times throughout each day, prayers and Psalms are offered up in remembrance of Christ’s hours on the cross and of the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit. Each day of the week carries its own biblical and spiritual theme, and twelve times throughout each year, a major feast, commemorating the things God has done on the earth, is celebrated. For me, this saturation in the things of God is important, as well as the framework of discipleship, accountability and support which are inherent in the fabric of Orthodoxy. So, I gladly joined their ranks to experience it all first hand.

Converting from Protestantism to Eastern Orthodoxy is challenging because I am being stretched not just by the Bible, but by a Church Tradition complementary to the Bible which has been passed down through the generations. I am being formed by a different understanding of the faith which states God’s grace is more than just His favor, but is His divine energy vivifying and permeating my being for good works, and it is through His Life, His Energy, His Grace that I am saved. I think ultimately, it is the emphasis on the mystery of God, and the going beyond reason and intellect to connect with Him that sustained my interest in Eastern Orthodoxy. It is now more than ever a faith walk as I march ever forward in the divine light of God’s eternal life in Christ.

The Outer Fringe

Nothing in all of creation makes me blush in wonder and awe like the magnitude, glory and majesty of the heavens. I think about how much power is in just one star - more power than my mind can possibly conceive. Multiply that by the trillions upon trillions more that are out there. Then realize that God himself has far more power than all of these combined.

I think about the brightness and splendor that our star produces even though it is 93 million miles away. I need shades to drive to subdue the power of its brightness. No one can can even look directly at the sun it is so bright. I then watch a show called "The Universe" and learn that the active center of a quasar galaxy is a trillion times brighter than our sun. A trillion times brighter!!! How can we possibly imagine something so bright? It is beyond my comprehension. God Himself, however, the Creator of this majestic wonder, outshines them all!

When I want to ponder the greatness and power of God, I leaf through a book my wife gave me for my birthday called "Powers of Ten". It is a visual journey from the inside of an atom to the edge of the galaxy. You can also take this journey online at Molecular Expressions.

To top it all off, one of my favorite Bible verses reminds me that no matter what I see in all of creation, no matter how great it is, it is simply the outer fringe of His works - ponder these galactic thoughts and read this passage from Job. Hopefully, you too will blush with wonder and awe.

And these are but the outer fringe of his works; how faint the whisper we hear of him! Who then can understand the thunder of his power? (Job 26:14 - NIV)

The Word of God

I just recently listened to the Our Life In Christ broadcast in which they went on an evangelical radio station to talk about sola Scriptura. Wow, what a courageous act! It made me investigate further some of the other materials they have on their website, particularly the program notes from April 17, 2005. In those notes they quote CRI (Christian Research Institute) as saying:

The fact that apostles sometimes referred to "traditions" they gave orally as authoritative in no way diminishes the Protestant argument for sola Scriptura. First, it is not necessary to claim that these oral teachings were inspired or infallible, only that they were authoritative. The believers were asked to "maintain" them (1 Cor. 11:2) and "stand fast in them" (2 Thess. 2:15). But oral teachings of the apostles were not called "inspired" or "unbreakable" or the equivalent, unless they were recorded as Scripture.

The response of Bill and Steve was quite good, but I couldn't help but think of an additional scripture that I thought would be perfect for this. As a matter of fact, I am surprised the folks at CRI are not aware of this verse:

For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe (I Thess 2:13 - NKJV).

Would this oral teaching Paul is speaking of not be more than just authoritative? Is it not the Word of God? Is the Word of God ever less than something that has an eternal quality? Does it not always come from the grace and power of the Holy Spirit? Does it not accomplish that which God has sent it forth to do, whether written or spoken? It would seem as if there is a blind devotion to the written text, as if the written Word is somehow more powerful.

Let's not forget, Jesus didn't write down a single word of His teachings either. Are those invalid because they weren't written down until some 40-50 years later? What about the words Jesus spoke that are not written in the Bible, are they not the Word of God? These are just some of the thoughts that came to mind when I read this surprisingly provincial statement made by CRI. I don't claim by any stretch of the imagination to have their credentials, but it doesn't take a genius to observe that the entire Christian faith was delivered orally, first from Christ and then from His apostles. Even though it was not written down, I am certain they were declaring and delivering the Word of God.

Images

I have had to wrangle it out with some folks who view Orthodox iconography as idol worship. It seemed like none of the typical apologetics worked with my crowd, so I tried a different approach. Whether it has had any affect or not remains to be seen, but here is what I have been saying:

"Isn't it true that advertisers and those who study the effects of repeated exposure to various images, whether through billboards, magazines or other media, conclude that there is a direct correlation to what people see and how it affects their behavior? There are a myriad of articles which reveal that those who are constantly exposed to violent images tend to show signs of aggresive behavior. So, if negative images affect you negatively, wouldn't positive images affect you positively? Since the icons are holy images reflecting the life of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit in those who follow Him, constant and reverent exposure to these images should likewise produce holiness and spirituality in their viewers."

Of course, the issue of kissing an icon also is bothersome and where the line between the "proper use" of images and idolatry intersect. It is as if kissing something suddenly makes it an idol. As my priest says, "If kissing something makes it an idol, then we shouldn't kiss our children or our spouses either."

I may talk more on this later as this is a subject on which much can be said.

I'm Back - Just Finished School!

It has been a few weeks since my last post, and to all of you who faithfully read my blog, I apologize it has been so long. I was only a few weeks from finishing my unfinished Bachelor's degree. Now that it is done, I should be posting more often. Thank you to all who read this blog for hanging in there with me. Now that I have finished my degree, I should really sound smart now!