Why We Sin

We are not mortal because we sin; we sin because we are mortal. St. Paul did not say that death is the sting of sin, but that sin is the sting of death (1 Corinthians 15:56). It is not the sting that causes the bee but the bee that causes the sting.

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:52-56)

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death — that is, the devil — and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Hebrews 2:14-15)

The power of death has been broken, so also the power of the devil, who held the power of death — and with that, the power of sin.

The Nature of Salvation

The nature of salvation is to become Partakers of the Divine Nature, to be like God, who is Love. Love gives and serves. To love, give and serve is not a means to salvation but is the very nature of salvation.

For God so loved the world that He gave. (John 3:16)

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45)

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11) 

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life 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, having escaped 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, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2 Peter 1:3-7)

The Distinction Between Heaven and Earth

When we behold Christ in everyone and everything, 
the distinction between Heaven and Earth disappears.

Incarnation and Deification

We have been created in the image of God and to be like God, and though it has often been tarnished and obscured, the divine image nonetheless remains. God has never backed away from his purpose. Indeed, Jesus Christ has himself become the image of the invisible God, in whom all the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form, and in him we are made complete (Colossians 1:15; 2:9-10). 

By his Incarnation, our Lord Jesus Christ has united divinity with humanity, God with humankind, and through the work of the Cross reveals both what it means to be human and what it means to be divine. So the Incarnation shows that human nature was meant to be the bearer of divinity. We are expressly created for it.

Deification is the fulfillment of what it means to be human. It is to become in Christ, “partakers of the divine nature.” To be like God, becoming by grace what Christ is by nature. To be conformed to the image of the Son, who is himself the image of the Father. To be who we truly and inherently are, what God planned for us even from before the foundation of the world. To enjoy in Christ the relationship he has with the Father and the Holy Spirit. For it is the gracious work of the Father, through the faithfulness of the Son and the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth.” God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life 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, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:4)

Gratitude is Humility is Happiness

“Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His Love endures forever.” (Psalm 118:1)

“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:6-7)

We Cannot Be Saved Without Him

If we do not forgive our brother for his own sake, then we do not yet understand. For he is our brother, with whom we are intimately and inextricably connected — and we cannot be saved without him.

We are all united by Creation and Incarnation. For all are created by Christ, through Christ, for Christ, and in Christ, and all consist and hold together in Christ (Colossians 1:16-17).

By the Incarnation, Christ has united God with all humankind. He became not just one of us but one with us. Indeed, Christ has become Human Being, the only Human Being there is, and of which we all participate. He is precisely what it means to be human.

Christ has become intimately and inextricably with humankind, and so we are intimately and inextricably united with each other. This union we have with each other cannot be undone any more than the Incarnation can be undone. Therefore, we must forgive one another, for we cannot be saved without one another.

The Salvation to Which We Are Called

The Salvation to which we are called and by which we are delivered is the Way of the Cross, the Way of Dying to ourselves and Living unto God.

We see this in the Sacrament of Baptism. St. Paul teaches that in baptism we are immersed into the death of Christ and buried with him, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we also may walk in newness of life. For if we have become one with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be one with him in his resurrection (Romans 6:3-5). The early Church understood this as the New Birth. Paul continues:

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:8-11)

Salvation is not an abstract thing, some other where and other when. It is tangible, livable, even edible. It is the life we live now in the body as we yield to the life Christ now lives in us. This is the paradox Paul declares in Galatians 2:20.

I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

Salvation is the faithfulness of Christ in us, the life of Christ energizing us, transforming us. It is participating in the divine nature, being conformed to the image and likeness of Christ. So it is always giving up all we have and are, and following Christ. The extent that we have not yet done so is the extent the we have yet to be saved and that our faith is still lacking.

A Retributive Deity is Abominable

A retributive deity is a petty deity, and one that is endlessly retributive even moreso. Such a being is not worthy of worship. It is  not a being who is love, and so not a being that can truly be called God. For the revelation of God we have in Jesus Christ is this: God is Love (1 John 4:8). Love is not merely something God has, or brings into play from time to time. No, Love is what God is. It is the very nature of God to love, at all times and in all circumstances. There is nothing God has created that is not also the object of God’s love.

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the full and final revelation of God. He is the Image of the Invisible God, in whom all the fullness of divinity dwells in bodily form. If we have seen him, we have seen the Father. There is nothing retributive or retaliatory, for God is Love, and love is not retributive or retaliatory. God does not seek revenge. Even as he was being crucified, the prayer of Lord Jesus was, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

To view God as a retributive deity, one has to ignore what Lord Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount:

You have heard that it was said, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:43-45)

Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. This is not retribution. This is the boundless love of the God who is love. St. Paul describes this love of us in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

Retribution and retaliation have no place at all here. That would be self-seeking. That would be keeping record of being wronged, and holding grudges. That is not love but pettiness. But love never fails, never gives up, but perseveres for the sake of the loved one — even for one’s enemies!

Even in Romans 12:17-21, where we read of “wrath” and “vengeance” of God, it is no less about the love of God. For God is love, so even the wrath and vengeance of God must be the manifestation of the God’s love even towards the wicked. It is not retributive but restorative, to put things right.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is not our job to put things right; we would skew to self-interest and try to even the score. Leave it to God, who always acts in righteousness. It is God’s to handle.

How does God repay? Evil for evil; “You did something against me, now I’ll do something against you”? No, God does not retaliate, does not exact retribution. That would be no better than a petty deity, a Zeus-like being.

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil,” Paul says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Why does he say that? Because that is the way God is, and that is the way of Love. God is Love and so does not repay evil for evil, does not retaliate or seek revenge, but overcomes evil with good. Behold the Cross.

Therefore, with St. Isaac of Nineveh, 7th century Christian Bishop, we say, “Even to think this of God and to suppose that retribution for evil acts is to be found with Him is abominable.”