Salvation in the Orthodox Concept – 2
The Conditions of Salvation Through the Blood of Christ
Regarding these conditions, I would like to place before you four very essential matters:
1- Faith 2- Baptism
3- The Church Sacraments Necessary for Salvation
4- Good Works
Faith
1- The Conditions of Faith:
Faith is an essential condition for becoming worthy of the Blood of Christ. Thus the Lord Christ said about Himself: “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
The importance of this condition for becoming worthy of the Blood of Christ is also shown by the words of the Lord Christ Himself in the same chapter: “He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).
This condition is also shown in the words of the Apostle John at the conclusion of his Gospel: “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). There is therefore a condition: that salvation will be yours if you believe.
With this, the Apostle Paul preached in Antioch, saying: “that through Him is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. And by Him everyone who believes is justified” (Acts 13:38, 39).
Our Lord Jesus Christ made clear that without this condition of faith, salvation cannot be, when He said to the Jews: “if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).
How serious is this statement: “you will die in your sins”! The Blood of Christ is present and able to save. But He cannot save you without your participation.
You must fulfill the condition of faith in order to be saved by the Blood of Christ. It is the first condition, but it is not the only condition. It is the step that qualifies you for Baptism.
This condition of faith is found in the words of Paul and Silas to the jailer: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31).
2- What Is Faith? …
The word faith is a very, very broad word. Many matters are included within it. Although the Apostle Paul said that “we have been justified by faith” (Rom. 5:1), what does he mean by this faith? What is this faith by which we have been justified?
Therefore, the Apostle Paul places before us a very serious question concerning faith. He says: “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves” (2 Cor. 13:5). Therefore, we must examine ourselves and see whether we are truly in the faith or not. What is this faith? …
A Living Faith…
The faith necessary for salvation must be a living faith. Our teacher James the Apostle explained this matter most fully, saying: “that faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). He repeated this meaning, saying: “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26).
Such dead faith, that is, faith devoid of works, cannot save anyone. Thus our teacher James the Apostle says: “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?” (James 2:14).
Indeed, the Apostle said that we have been justified by faith. But this faith has two important characteristics: living faith and working faith. And in both of these characteristics, we see good works.
We should not think that any Protestant—no matter how much he denies works—can, concerning salvation, teach a faith that is without works. For the Apostle says: “the demons believe—and tremble” (James 2:19).
So, brother, do you mean by faith a faith of the kind possessed by demons who have no works? For the Apostle says: “the demons believe—and tremble” (James 2:19).
Do you mean by faith, brother, a faith like that of demons who have no good works, but merely believe and tremble at the horror of their evils and corruption?!
The phrase “living faith working through love” may expand in its scope until it includes the entire spiritual life. How can it include the entire spiritual life? Incline your ears, beloved brethren, to the words of the Apostle.
Faith Working Through Love…
The Apostle Paul said: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). So what does the characteristic “working through love” mean? What is this love, and how is it expressed? …
The Apostle Paul explained this love by demonstrating it through a multitude of good works, saying: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:4-7).
If faith is this faith working through love, then it will certainly include all these qualities, and all of them are works. Here Christianity appears in its essence: it is not merely a verse, but spirit and life (John 6:63). Indeed, as the Scripture says, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor. 3:6)… The letter tells you that there is something called faith, while the Spirit explains to you the essence of faith and that it includes all good works.
So do our opposing brethren mean faith in this broad sense that includes the entire spiritual life? Do they mean faith in the great sense to which the Apostle Paul referred in the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews when speaking about the men of faith? Or do they mean merely faith stripped of the qualities mentioned above?!
If this is the case, let us discuss, so that we may see whether this faith can save them, according to what the Apostle James marveled at.
3- Faith and Love
Those who say that faith alone is what justifies a person, and place faith as an independent element, apart from works, are not confronted by me, but by the Apostle Paul, who places before them a powerful verse: “And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2). So do you want faith greater than this? …
And you, brother, no matter how much you rise in faith, what is the highest degree you will reach? Will you reach all faith that moves mountains? Believe me, even if you reach this degree as well, and you have no love, you are nothing! This faith cannot save you! If the Apostle Paul, with all his faith, is nothing without love, how much more you.
For this reason, the Apostle placed love at a higher degree than faith. He said: “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13).
4- Believers and the Elect
We said that faith should be living faith and faith working through love. But some people sometimes exaggerate in defining the word “believers,” to the point that it becomes synonymous with the word “the elect.”
Thus, such people proclaim that a believer cannot perish, and if they hear or read about a believer who perished, they say that he was not a believer according to their particular understanding!! There is no doubt that the elect cannot perish. But who said that believers are the elect?
The Holy Bible has given us many meanings for the word faith. At one point it says: “the demons believe—and tremble” (James 2:19). The Apostle Paul said in his definition of faith that it “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1).
The Scripture has explained to us that there is a type of dead faith. Although it is dead, the Apostle called it faith. It also gave us an example of faith without works that cannot save anyone (James 2:20, 14). Although it cannot save anyone, the Apostle called it faith.
The Scripture says that all have gone astray and become corrupt and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:12). Were they all unbelievers, with the earth having been emptied of faith?! Or did God apply the title of believers even to those who sin while believing?
The Lord did not deprive such sinners of the title of believers. The Lord said through the Prophet Jeremiah: “My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water. My people have forgotten Me days without number” (Jer. 2:13, 32). And despite all this, He called them His people. He also said through the Prophet Isaiah: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me” (Isa. 1:2). Despite their rebellion, He called them children. This reminds us of what He said about the prodigal son: “This my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24). Despite his straying and spiritual death, he called him a son.
In the Apostle’s statement, “And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2), there is further evidence that the state of faith can be attributed to a person who is devoid of love and who is nothing.
Indeed, the Lord applied the title of believers to those who resemble the seed that fell on the rock and, when it grew, withered. He said: “But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away” (Luke 8:6, 13).
Naturally, these who fell away cannot be called elect, even though the Lord Christ, glory be to Him, described them as having believed for a while. These are naturally like those about whom the Apostle said: “But the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1). Naturally, these cannot be called elect, although they lived in faith before they fell away.
Perhaps it has now become clear that there is a great difference between the two words. All the elect are believers, but not all believers are elect, for some may depart from the faith, following deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
However, beloved, we will return to this point later. We shall leave it for now and speak about the second condition of salvation and its essential entrance, which is Baptism.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III — in El-Keraza Magazine — Ninth Year (Issue Six), 10-2-1978
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