How can a layman be saved?
I advise you to read more diligently the Divine Scripture and the teaching of our holy and God-bearing Fathers, to whom it is given by the grace of the Most Holy Spirit to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, that is, the true meaning of the Holy Scriptures; in their spiritually enlightened teaching you will find everything you need for salvation. And I, a sinner, in my feeble-mindedness, answer your question: God, the most merciful, makes our salvation through the Orthodox faith, good deeds and His grace. The Orthodox faith is that which is contained by the one holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of the East; Without this Orthodox faith, no one can be saved. Good deeds are the Gospel commandments, without the fulfillment of which, as without faith, it is also impossible for anyone to be saved. The Orthodox faith without good works is dead, and good works without faith are also dead. He who desires salvation must have both together: the Orthodox faith with good deeds, and good deeds with the Orthodox faith, and then, with the help of the grace of God, promoting his good deeds, he will be saved according to the word of Christ, who said: “Without Me you cannot do something wicked." And we must know that Christ the Savior, our True God, Who wants to be saved by all mankind, has made good deeds, that is, His saving commandments of the Gospel, into the law, equally for all Orthodox Christians, both monks and laymen, living with wives and children, and demands from all Orthodox Christians the most diligent fulfillment of them, because His holy commandments do not require great physical labor, but only the good will of the soul: “the yoke” of His holy commandments is “good and the burden” of doing them is “easy.” The holy commandments of Christ, with the help of God’s grace, can easily be fulfilled by every Orthodox Christian, no matter what his rank, gender and age: old and young, healthy and sick, as long as his soul is disposed to do so. Therefore, those who transgress them and do not repent, at the terrible second coming of Christ will be condemned along with demons to eternal torment. – The holy commandments of the Gospel, especially the most important ones, are so necessary for salvation that if a person lacks one, then there is no salvation of the soul. These are the commandments about love for God and neighbors, about meekness and humility, about peace with everyone and patience, about forgiving one’s offenses from the heart, not condemning anyone, not having hatred, loving enemies, doing alms, both spiritual and physical, according to one’s strength. , and force yourself to fulfill with all diligence all the other commandments of Christ written in the Holy Gospel. And most of all, to love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your thoughts, and your neighbor as yourself, and imitating the meekness of Christ, fight against the passion of anger until you bleed. And living in peace with everyone is so necessary that the Lord considered it necessary to repeat more than once to His holy disciples and Apostles: “Peace be with you; I leave peace with you; My peace I give to you.” And where the peace of Christ is, there is Christ Himself; and if there is no peace in the soul, then Christ is not there. And patience is necessary for salvation. Christ says: “In your patience ye will gain your souls”; and one must endure not until a certain time, but until death: “having endured to the end, he will be saved.” Whoever forgives his neighbor for his sins with all his heart, God forgives his sins. He who does not condemn his neighbor will not himself be condemned by God. And all the other commandments of the Gospel, whoever desires salvation must observe them like the apple of his eye. And humility, which is the basis of all the commandments of the Gospel, is as necessary for salvation as breathing is for life: just as one cannot live without breathing, so without humility it is impossible to be saved. The saints of God were saved in various ways, but without humility none of them were saved, and this is impossible. Therefore, whoever wants to be saved must, with all his heart, consider himself before God a sinner, the most sinful of people, worse than any creation of God, count himself for dust and ashes, and in the secret of his heart reproach himself for everything, and blame only himself for everything. every sin. By thus fulfilling in humility of heart all the commandments of the Gospel, often praying to God with contrition of heart for the forgiveness of his sins, a person is honored with the mercy of God and the forgiveness of sins, and the grace of God visits him, and he is saved by the grace of God undoubtedly. – In addition, an Orthodox Christian must also observe the church commandments set out in the book “Orthodox Confession.” They are also necessary for salvation. – The sacrament of repentance consists in repenting before God of your sins, throwing them away and making a firm intention, with God’s help, not to return to them. Then, before your spiritual father, as before God Himself, confess all your sins and receive permission from him for them. One must prepare oneself for communion of the Divine Mysteries by fasting, tenderness, sincere confession of sins, perfect reconciliation with everyone, listening at the appointed time according to Christian custom to the entire rule of the church, and proceed to the Holy. Communion with fear and trembling, with faith and love, with worship befitting the only God.
On how to behave in the family, as well as on other Christian duties, the most complete instruction can be found in the inspired writings of St. John Chrysostom and other holy men, reading their books with the fear of God and due attention.
How can an Orthodox Christian live in the world?
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes.
Reader question:
How can an Orthodox Christian live in the world? Renounce everything (worldly books, computer games, TV series, other types of leisure (entertainment)) and live like a monk in the world? The Gospel speaks of precisely this ideal. You need to renounce everything, because any type of leisure is passion and worldly vanity, which does not bring anything useful. At the beginning of the journey, God helps, and a person easily gives up his previous hobbies, devoting himself entirely to God, but then it ends, and he has to crawl on his belly through the ocean of passions. Gradually you return to your former hobbies and become “worldly.” And there is no strength to fight passions. You become jealous of a pious life, suddenly give up everything worldly (books, games, etc.), it lasts for a few days, and then you succumb to the world again. And I am constantly tormented by doubts: is it right for a layman to live like a monk in the world, avoiding everything, or not? You run out of strength, and internally you reach such a degree of despair that you realize that you cannot live piously and keep yourself from the world, to the point that you realize that you cannot handle such a struggle and you cannot live piously, as befits a real Christian. , because you constantly fall into various passions that surround you. For me these are “unbearable burdens.” How then can one be saved in the world? Maybe I'm doing or understanding something wrong? If I understand everything correctly, then it is not possible for me to be saved at all, because... I can't stand this kind of struggle.
Priest Peter Guryanov answers:
Christ is Risen!
Nice man! Worldly books, computer games, TV series and other types of leisure - is this the whole meaning of your life?! The Gospel tells us that a Divine opportunity has arisen—the Kingdom of God has become achievable. And you can get there through the doors of new knowledge. The freedom of the human spirit from sin and death, the spirit transformed by grace, is the highest calling of man... this is what the Gospel speaks of! The Lord gives grace to tuna, that is, for nothing, but demands that a person seek it and, preferably, perceive it, devoting himself entirely to God. I strongly advise you to read the book of St. Theophan the Recluse “The Path to Salvation. A Brief Essay on Asceticism,” he reveals this topic in great detail!
There is an Indian story for children in which a child asks his mother: “Mom, why sometimes I feel that God is here, close, and I feel so good with Him, and then He moves away? Why did He leave? How can I find Him? And the mother answers: “Remember how we played hide and seek with you? You close your eyes, I go and hide in the bushes or behind a tree and call you from there: ah! You open your eyes, look around and try to understand: where did you hear the voice from? And you run towards him. Sometimes you find me right away, and I pick you up, and you are happy, and we laugh and hug each other. But sometimes you search and can't find me. For a moment you will think: what if mom went away and left me here? And it becomes scary. At first you just look around, then you look around more and more anxiously, and at the moment when I begin to feel your fear, I come out of my hiding place, and you run to me, and I take you in my arms, and you are happy again.
So is God. He gives us the experience of His presence, and then He says: now live with what you have learned, live as if I am with you, live so that I can be proud of you, and you will feel good with Me... And He is watching, as if from behind the bushes, from behind a tree, so that at that moment, when it seems to you that you have lost contact with Him, to call you. He will not necessarily appear Himself, but He will call in one way or another: you will meet someone, and this person will tell you about God, or you will go to a temple, pray with others and feel: yes, He is here, He is here with all these people and with me."
The same thing happens to us. At first we experience something, but this experience may fade, and then questions arise. The first question is: where has God gone? But then we ask: was He here at all or is this my fantasy and there was no God? And then it becomes scary and doubt overcomes.
And one more thing - regarding the rule of prayer and ascetic deeds, you must definitely consult with a priest who knows you well, with your confessor. In spiritual life, an inexperienced person can make many mistakes by taking on something that he cannot currently do. This is like a person who has just started training, immediately lifting a lot of weight or starting a long distance run. Some will survive, but the majority may have a tear, as a result of which they may have to stop playing sports. Likewise, in spiritual life, gradualism, preparedness and observations of an experienced person - a priest - are very important. In this case, everything will go more smoothly and there will be no feeling of unbearable burdens. With God blessing!
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On the screensaver there is a fragment of a photo by Giuseppe Milo/www.flickr.com
What depends on us
God requires only one thing from us - to come. Just come to Him.
How? With faith! Christ is the only WAY to God.
Jesus said to him: I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)
Is salvation possible in the world? Of course yes. Salvation “awaits” us here and now!
Stay in peace
Moreover, only in the world can one be saved.
I do not pray that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from evil. Sanctify them with Your truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, so I sent them into the world. (John 17:15,17-19)
Notice that Jesus did not pray for believers to be taken out of the world and receive salvation in heaven. But, on the contrary, they were SENT into it and REMAINED in it.
Christ did not command us to hide or hide from the world, but to OVERCOME it, being in the midst of evil and temptation, and to KEEP our salvation.
Jesus personally set an example of how to live. He was always among people, went to people and helped them, despite persecution and danger.
He who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.
(Luke 10:16).
One God, one faith, one Baptism
(Eph.4:5).
Whoever follows someone who leads a schism will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Hieromartyr Ignatius Bishop. Antioch (+107).
He can no longer have God as his father who does not have the Church as his mother.
If we consider the faith of those who believe outside the Church, it turns out that all heretics have a completely different faith; even, strictly speaking, they have only fanaticism, blasphemy and debate, hostile to holiness and truth.
Hieromartyr Cyprian. Bishop of Carthage (+258).
Heretics cannot be Christians!
Presbyter Tertullian (II-III centuries).
Separate the sunbeam from its beginning - unity will not allow a separate light to exist; break off a branch from a tree - the broken one will lose the ability to grow; If a stream is separated from its source, the separated one will dry up. In the same way, the Church, illuminated by the light of the Lord, spreads its rays throughout the world; but the light spreading everywhere is one, and the unity of the body remains undivided. She will spread her branches laden with fruits throughout the earth; its abundant streams flow into distant space; despite all this, there remains one head, one beginning, one mother, rich in the success of fruitfulness.
Do you want to be saved? Stay in the Church and it will not betray you. The church is a fence: if you are inside this fence, then the wolf will not touch you; and if you go out, you will be kidnapped by a beast. Don't shy away from the Church: there is nothing in the world
stronger than her. She is your hope, she is your salvation.
Saint John Chrysostom (+407).
Outside the Church and without the Church, Christian life is impossible. Only in the Church can a person live, develop and be saved, just as in any organism individual members never grow and develop separately from each other, but always only in inextricable connection with the whole organism. Without the Church there is no Christianity; only Christian teaching remains, which of itself cannot “renew fallen Adam.”
An individual person, even an individual Christian community, is alive insofar as he lives the life of Christ, insofar as he is united with the entire Universal Church. To isolate oneself, to withdraw into oneself, is for an individual or even for a local Church what is for a ray to be separated from the sun, for a stream to be separated from a source, for a branch to be separated from a trunk. Spiritual life can only exist through an organic connection with the Universal Church; If this connection is broken, Christian life will certainly dry up.
Hieromartyr Hilarion (Trinity), Archbishop. Vereisky (+1929).
People who are in the Orthodox Church are directed to the heavenly Jerusalem, i.e. to the Kingdom of Heaven, the right way: they sail on the sea of life in a boat, where the helmsman is Christ Himself. Those who are outside the Church strive to cross this sea on one board, which, of course, is impossible, and perish irrevocably.
Venerable Barsanuphius of Optina (1845-1913).
Everyone praises their faith as right, but it is not the right one who praises himself, but the one whom God praises, according to the word of the Apostle (see 1 Cor. 4:5). And God Himself constantly glorifies our faith, both in Himself and in His saints. Go to the relics of the saints and see whose faith is right. In what faith does God work such miracles as in the Orthodox faith? In what faith do people receive incorruptibility and the fragrance of bodies after death and perform such great and many miracles? Go to St. Seraphim and St. Sergius; go to Theodosius of Chernigov, etc. How to go against the truth, against the evidence?
Hold on to the Church - the pillar and foundation of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15) - and you will be saved; outside of it you will perish, because outside of it is the flattery of the devil.
Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt (1829-1908).
