Chapter 6: What We Believe About Salvation
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1. STUDY GUIDE
Focus Areas for Reading
As you read this chapter, pay special attention to:
Essential Concepts:
- The three stages of salvation: justification (past), sanctification (present), glorification (future)
- Salvation as dynamic movement toward God (theosis), not a static "I have arrived" state
- The Orthodox emphasis on "positive salvation" - not just forgiveness but restoration and participation in God's life
- The relationship between grace, faith, and good works in Orthodox theology
- Salvation as inner transformation that produces outer change - "changed people produce a changed society"
- The three conversions: meeting Christ, experiencing the cross/resurrection, receiving the Holy Spirit
- The distinction between genuine good works (done in Christ) and "counterfeit works" (done for pride)
Critical Questions to Consider:
- Why does the Orthodox bishop answer "all three are true" to the question "Are you saved?"
- How is the Orthodox understanding of salvation different from "once saved, always saved"?
- What does it mean that salvation is like a marriage that must be "worked out" daily?
- Why does Coniaris say good works do not produce salvation, but salvation produces good works?
- How does theosis (becoming like God by grace) shape the Orthodox vision of the Christian life?
- In what sense is Jesus both Savior today and Judge tomorrow?
Key Passages:
- Romans 7:15-25 - "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"
- Romans 6:3 - "We were baptized into His death"
- Romans 6:23 - "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life"
- Ephesians 2:8-10 - "By grace you have been saved through faith...created in Christ Jesus for good works"
- Philippians 2:12 - "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"
- 2 Peter 1:4 - "To become partakers of the Divine Nature"
- Colossians 3:4 - "When Christ Who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory"
- Colossians 3:14 - "Above all, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony"
- James 2:14-17 - "Faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead"
- Luke 17:10 - "We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty"
- 1 Corinthians 1:18 - "To us who are being saved, it is the power of God"
- John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son"
2. SUMMARY
Overview of Chapter Content
Chapter 6 presents the Orthodox understanding of salvation, which differs significantly from both the Protestant "once saved, always saved" model and the Roman Catholic merit-based system. Coniaris shows that salvation in Orthodoxy is comprehensive - it touches the past (justification through baptism), the present (sanctification through daily repentance and growth), and the future (glorification when Christ returns). The chapter's central message is that salvation is not a single moment but an ongoing, dynamic journey toward God - a constant process of becoming more like Christ (theosis) that can never be fully achieved in this life. Salvation is by grace through faith, and the new life that grace produces naturally bears the fruit of good works - not to earn God's love, but as a grateful response to it.
Main Themes
The Three Stages of Being Saved
Coniaris opens with a memorable story: a bishop is asked "Are you saved?" and responds by asking which sense is meant - have I been saved, am I being saved, or shall I be saved? His answer: all three are true.
Three tenses of salvation:
- Justification (past) - We have been saved from sin and death through baptism. Baptism is our personal Golgotha - the tomb where "we were baptized into His death" (Rom. 6:3) and the womb from which we were born anew into the life of Christ.
- Sanctification (present) - We are being saved daily as we repent, yield our will to God, and grow in the life of Christ and the Spirit. This is the ongoing "working out" of our salvation.
- Glorification (future) - We shall be saved at the end of time. As Paul wrote, "When Christ Who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4).
Another bishop's response: When asked "Have you been saved?" and "When?", he replied immediately: "On a Friday afternoon at three o'clock in the spring of the year 33 A.D. on a hill outside the City of Jerusalem." We were all saved then, but God will not force this salvation upon us - each of us must personally accept it.
Work Out Your Salvation
Coniaris uses a powerful marriage analogy: when you stand before God's altar, you are married right then and there. But it is equally true that you will work out your marriage from that moment until the end of your life together. Similarly, we were saved at baptism, but we must continue to "work out" our salvation daily by serving, loving, obeying, and following Jesus.
A marriage relationship with God: In Jeremiah 3:14, God says "I am married to you." Our relationship to God is like a marriage - more than anything else, God wants our love, our heart. Two wills are involved: God's will and ours. Jesus constantly yielded His will to the Father. That kind of obedience is not easy, and it is not something we can do once and forget. It is a way of life - a constant yielding of our will to God's will daily.
As St. Paul writes: "Therefore, my beloved...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12).
Daily Conversion
The great saints of the Church were not converted once - their life was a daily conversion and constant repentance. They were saved once on the cross at Golgotha, but they were also being saved daily in the yielding of their will to Jesus. Daily they sinned and daily they repented. Daily they fell and daily they rose.
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector: The proud Pharisee thought he had "made it" spiritually. It was that spiritual pride that condemned him. The poor tax collector, on a much lower level of spirituality, acknowledged his sinfulness and, realizing the unlimited possibilities for growth, moved on. The Orthodox approach to salvation mirrors the tax collector's humility rather than the Pharisee's self-satisfaction.
We are also being saved: "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God" (1 Cor. 1:18).
A Constant Moving Toward God
In Orthodox theology, salvation is not static but dynamic - not a completed state of "having arrived" but a constant moving toward theosis, toward becoming like Christ, toward receiving the fullness of God's life. And it can never be achieved fully in this life.
The more the great saints grew in their knowledge of Jesus, the more they realized their imperfection and sinfulness. Like the sinful tax collector, they prayed the Jesus Prayer constantly: "Lord Jesus, Son of God, be merciful to me a sinner." They were saved daily through repentance and the yielding of their mind, heart, and will to God. And they looked forward to their glorification with Jesus at the Second Coming.
A Cry for Salvation
People today may not be running to church asking "What must I do to be saved?" But when they run to psychiatrists, take drugs, drown themselves with alcohol, try to resign from the human race, or try to commit suicide - they are confessing a need to be saved from themselves, from the sin and death of their daily existence.
An Inner Salvation
The salvation we are looking for is not found in education, politics, or economics but in Christ. It is a spiritual, inner salvation which in turn produces an outer salvation. Changed people produce a changed society. The peace and fulfillment we seek can only be found in a relationship with God that only Jesus can bring: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you" (John 14:27).
Jesus did not come to condemn us but to save us by breaking the bonds of sin and death. St. Gregory of Nyssa wrote: "Our nature was sick and needed a doctor. Man had fallen and needed someone to raise him up. He who ceased to participate in the good needed someone to bring him back to it."
"Who Will Save Me...?"
St. Paul asked the same question long before modern scientists: "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate... Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Rom. 7).
Yesterday Savior - Tomorrow Judge!
Coniaris tells the story of a lawyer who saved a man from a runaway team of horses. Twenty years later, the same man, now convicted of murder, stands before the lawyer - now a respected judge. The convicted man appeals: "You were my savior then, can't you be my savior now?" The judge replies: "Yesterday I was your savior, but today I must be your judge."
The application: Jesus did not come to judge the world but to save it. But one day He must come to judge the world. Today He is our Savior. Tomorrow He will be our Judge. How shall we meet Him at the end - as Savior or Judge?
What Are We Saved For?
Saved for love: Once saved, sin becomes an incident in the Christian's life - not a practice. Love becomes the practice. The non-judgmental, accepting, forgiving love of Jesus must flow through us. "Above all, put on love which binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col. 3:14).
Saved for fruit-bearing: The purpose of the True Vine (Jesus) and the branches (Christians) is the same: to bear fruit for God, to carry God's saving love to the world. Every branch that bears no fruit, He takes away. We are saved to love, to serve, to bear witness, to confess Jesus, to bear the fruit of the Heavenly Vine for dying men and women to eat and live.
What Is Salvation?
Salvation is freedom - freedom from the tyranny of self-centeredness, freedom from the bondage of fear and death.
Salvation is being freed from myself so that I can become the person God created me to be.
Salvation is God lifting us up in Christ Jesus, giving us hope, working an unrelenting work in our personalities, in our characters, in our lives. It is God not giving up on us.
Salvation is not the state of "I have arrived" - it is the state of "I am on the way. I am moving. I am growing in God, for God, with God, and through the power of God."
Salvation is Christ overcoming death - our greatest enemy, the root of all our insecurity. God takes on a body and by His death destroys our death so that death becomes a doorway into His glorious presence.
Salvation is (Coniaris provides a comprehensive list):
- Liberation from evil, the defeat of the devil
- The transfiguration of humanity, living authentically
- Putting on Christ, restoration of the image of God in man
- Participating in the life of God, restoration of communion with God
- Incorruption, receiving the Holy Spirit
- Becoming temples of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins
- Ascending to the throne of God, participating in the kingdom of God
- Becoming by grace what God is by nature
- The destruction of death, seeing the light
- Being in a process of growth that never ends
- Living life the way God meant it to be
Positive Salvation
The Orthodox Church has always emphasized the more positive aspect of salvation. Salvation is not merely justification or forgiveness of sins - it means also the renewing and restoration of God's image in man, the lifting up of fallen humanity through Christ into the very life of God. Christ forgives man and frees him from sin so that he may proceed to fulfill his destiny, which is to become like God.
Partakers of the Divine Nature: Christ came to save us from sin for participation in the life of God. St. Peter wrote that we are invited "to become partakers of the Divine Nature" (2 Peter 1:4). St. Basil the Great described man as "the creature who has received an order to become god." The whole emphasis of the Orthodox way of life is on "putting on Christ" and receiving the Holy Spirit through prayer and the Sacraments.
Three Conversions
A monk of the Eastern Church writes of three conversions in the Christian life:
- First conversion: The meeting of the soul with our Lord, when He is followed as a Friend and Master (corresponds to Christmas/Epiphany)
- Second conversion: A personal experience of pardon and salvation, of the cross and resurrection (corresponds to Easter)
- Third conversion: The coming of the Holy Spirit into the soul like a flame and with power, establishing a lasting union with God (corresponds to Pentecost)
Saved By Grace
Grace is a gift rather than a wage we earn. It cannot be deserved. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8).
The 1000 points story: A man arrives at heaven and is told he needs 1000 points to enter. His church attendance earns 50 points, his giving earns 25, teaching Sunday school earns 25. Desperate, he says "at this rate the only way I'm going to get into heaven is by the grace of God." Peter smiles: "That's 900 points! Come on in!"
Grace is: The unlimited pouring out of God's mercy. It is God's unconditional forgiveness offered to the unworthy. It is God accepting us as His children in Baptism, filling us with His Holy Spirit in Chrismation, and sending Jesus to live in our hearts through Holy Communion. It is God loving us when we are unlovable. "But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us" (Rom. 5:8).
Through Faith
Faith is saying "yes" to God's gracious gift of salvation. It is the humble acceptance of God's gracious gift. It is the hand that takes the blessing. Faith is the marriage of Christ-the Bridegroom-to the bride which is my soul. It is the handle by which I grasp God's power and apply it to my weakness.
F-A-I-T-H: Forsaking All I Take Him. Faith is man's hand reaching up to grasp the already outstretched hand of God's grace. "By grace you have been saved through faith" (Eph. 2:8). When man's hand (faith) grasps God's hand (grace), there is reconciliation and salvation.
Good Works and Our Salvation
A person who has accepted Christ, been baptized, and received the Holy Spirit begins a new life expressed through works of love. A person is not saved by faith alone but by faith which expresses itself through love, as St. Paul writes. St. James asks: "What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has no works? Can his faith save him?... So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead" (James 2:14-17).
Not Meritorious
Good works do not earn us merit points in heaven. We can never buy God's love with them. Jesus tells us: "So you also, when you have done all that is commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty'" (Luke 17:10). Our good deeds are a grateful response, a feeble attempt to show appreciation to God for what He has done for us. "The love of Christ controls us," says Paul (2 Cor. 5:14).
Created For Good Works
Paul writes: "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10). This does not contradict "saved by grace through faith" - it completes it. One verse says: "You have been saved...not because of works," and the next says: "Created in Christ Jesus for good works."
The Orthodox position: Good works do not produce salvation, but salvation produces good works. We are not saved because of good works, but we are saved for good works. Christ makes each of us a new creation, and the new being, through the power of the indwelling Trinity, produces new works. Christ does not begin by changing our deeds - He begins by changing us. The good deeds flow by God's grace out of the new person.
Counterfeit Works
Only good works done in the name of Christ are the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Good deeds - even the best - are worthless in a person who does not believe in Christ. Like a counterfeit ten-dollar bill that does a lot of apparent good but fails inspection, the test is not how many good deeds we claim, but whether they can pass inspection in the sight of God. Were they done in Christ and for Christ, or are they products of pride?
A Showplace of Good Deeds
The early Church was astounding in its good works. Justin the Martyr (d. 165) wrote: "We used to value above all else money and possessions; now we bring together all that we have and share it with those who are in need." Tertullian (160-220) said: "It is our care for the helpless, our practice of loving kindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. 'Only look,' they say, 'look how they love one another.'"
The early Christians:
- Gave alms to help the destitute (even poor Christians were urged to give through fasting)
- Supported widows and orphans
- Supported the sick, the infirm, the poor, and the disabled (even establishing hospitals)
- Cared for prisoners and slaves
- Found work for those who were unemployed
- Cared for those who journeyed
- Cared for the victims of great calamities
Summary (from the book)
- We have been saved from sin and death through baptism (justification).
- We are being saved daily as we repent and continue our walk with Jesus (sanctification).
- We shall be saved at the end of time when Jesus comes again (glorification).
- Salvation is constant growth in the life of Christ, a dynamic movement toward theosis.
- He Who is our Savior today will be our Judge tomorrow.
- We are saved from sin, for putting on Christ, for love, for fruit-bearing, for serving, for confessing Christ among men, for becoming partakers of divine nature.
- We are not saved by good works. A new person in Christ produces good works in and by the Holy Trinity for God's glory. We cannot earn salvation through good works. They are our grateful response to God's love.
- We are saved by grace (God's gift) through faith, which is man reaching out to accept God's gift.
3. VISUAL OUTLINE
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT SALVATION
"Are you saved?" - "All three are true."
|
┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
| | |
HAVE BEEN AM BEING SHALL BE
SAVED SAVED SAVED
| | |
Justification Sanctification Glorification
| | |
Baptism Daily walk Second Coming
(Golgotha) & repentance (glory with Christ)
| | |
PAST PRESENT FUTURE
THE MARRIAGE ANALOGY:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
WEDDING DAY MARRIED LIFE
(Baptism) (Sanctification)
| |
"You ARE married" "Work out your marriage"
- moment of union - daily yielding of wills
- real & complete - growing in love
- can't be undone - becoming one
| |
└─────────┬───────────────┘
|
SALVATION IS BOTH:
a completed event AND
an ongoing process
SALVATION: THE ORTHODOX VIEW
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
NOT just: BUT ALSO:
───────── ─────────
Forgiveness of sins → Restoration of God's image
Escape from hell → Participation in God's life
A single moment → A lifelong journey
Removal of guilt → Becoming like God (theosis)
Legal transaction → Personal transformation
Individual event → Communal growth in Christ
THE THREE CONVERSIONS:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
1. MEETING CHRIST → Christmas / Epiphany
(Friend and Master)
↓
2. CROSS & RESURRECTION → Easter
(Pardon and salvation)
↓
3. COMING OF THE SPIRIT → Pentecost
(Lasting union with God)
GRACE, FAITH, AND WORKS:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
GOD'S HAND
(Grace - the gift)
|
↓
════════════════
║ RECONCILIATION ║
║ & SALVATION ║
════════════════
↑
|
MAN'S HAND
(Faith - the response)
|
↓
┌──────────────┐
│ NEW CREATION │
│ in Christ │
└──────┬───────┘
|
↓
┌──────────────┐
│ GOOD WORKS │ ← NOT the cause of salvation
│ (fruit of │ but the FRUIT of salvation
│ the Spirit)│
└──────────────┘
WHAT SALVATION IS:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
SAVED FROM: SAVED FOR:
────────── ─────────
• Sin • Putting on Christ
• Death • Love
• Self-centeredness • Fruit-bearing
• Fear • Serving
• The devil • Confessing Christ
• Bondage • Partaking of divine nature
• Living as God intended
DAILY CONVERSION CYCLE:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Fall → Repent → Rise → Grow → Fall → Repent...
↑ |
└────────────────────────────────────┘
(never "arriving" but
always moving toward God)
THE PHARISEE: THE TAX COLLECTOR:
"I have made it!" "God, be merciful to me"
Static / Pride Dynamic / Humility
CONDEMNED JUSTIFIED
4. REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Personal Understanding
"Are You Saved?": If someone asked you this question today, how would you answer? How does the three-stage understanding (justification, sanctification, glorification) change your response compared to a simple "yes" or "no"?
The Marriage Analogy: Coniaris compares salvation to marriage - real and complete at the altar, yet worked out daily for the rest of your life. How does this analogy resonate with your understanding of your relationship with God? Where are you in the "working out"?
Daily Conversion: The great saints fell daily and rose daily, praying the Jesus Prayer constantly. Does this vision of the Christian life feel discouraging or liberating? Why?
A Cry for Salvation: Coniaris says that people who turn to drugs, alcohol, or despair are actually crying out for salvation without knowing it. How have you seen this pattern in the world around you? In yourself?
Theological Reflection
Dynamic vs. Static Salvation: Orthodoxy teaches that salvation is not "I have arrived" but "I am on the way." How is this different from the Protestant "once saved, always saved" teaching? Why does the Orthodox Church insist on this dynamic understanding?
Positive Salvation: The chapter emphasizes that salvation is not just forgiveness but participation in the divine nature (theosis). How does this "positive" vision of salvation expand your understanding of what God offers us?
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector: The Pharisee was condemned for thinking he had "made it." How might this parable serve as a warning to those who are very religious or spiritually advanced? How does it apply to you?
Grace and Faith: Coniaris defines faith as "Forsaking All I Take Him" - man's hand reaching up to grasp God's already outstretched hand. How does this image help you understand the relationship between God's initiative (grace) and our response (faith)?
The Role of Good Works
Not Meritorious: Jesus said "We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty." How does this teaching protect us from spiritual pride while still motivating us to do good?
Salvation Produces Good Works: "Good works do not produce salvation, but salvation produces good works." How is this different from both the idea that we earn salvation by works AND the idea that faith alone (without works) is sufficient?
Counterfeit Works: Coniaris says even the best good deeds are "counterfeit" if not done in Christ. Is this a hard teaching? What does it mean for the good deeds done by people of other faiths or no faith?
The Early Church as Showplace: The early Christians were known for their radical care for the poor, sick, orphaned, and imprisoned. How does the modern Church compare? What would it look like for your parish to be a "showplace of good deeds"?
Living It Out
Yesterday Savior, Tomorrow Judge: The story of the lawyer-turned-judge is striking. How does the reality that Christ is both Savior and Judge affect how you live each day?
Inner Salvation: Coniaris says "changed people produce a changed society." Do you tend to focus more on changing yourself or changing the world around you? How does this chapter redirect your focus?
Bearing Fruit: We are saved "for fruit-bearing" - to carry God's saving love to the world. What fruit is your life currently producing? What fruit do you hope to bear?
Working Out Your Salvation: What does "working out your salvation with fear and trembling" look like practically in your daily life? What spiritual disciplines (prayer, fasting, confession, communion) help you in this ongoing work?
Application to Conversion Journey
Your Baptism: Coniaris describes baptism as both a tomb (dying with Christ) and a womb (being born anew). As you prepare for chrismation, how do you understand this double meaning? What are you "dying to" and "being born into"?
The Three Conversions: The chapter describes three conversions - meeting Christ, experiencing the cross/resurrection, and receiving the Holy Spirit. Where are you in this journey? Which conversion feels most immediate to you right now?
Theosis: The Orthodox vision of salvation culminates in becoming "partakers of the Divine Nature" - not becoming God, but becoming by grace what God is by nature. How does this ultimate goal shape your daily spiritual practice?
Gratitude as Foundation: The chapter emphasizes that good works are a grateful response to God's love, not an attempt to earn it. How does gratitude (rather than obligation or fear) motivate your faith and actions?
5. KEY DEFINITIONS
Salvation (Soteria) - In Orthodox theology, salvation is the comprehensive work of God to rescue humanity from sin, death, and separation from God, and to restore us to full communion with Him. It encompasses three dimensions: justification (past deliverance from sin through baptism), sanctification (present growth in holiness through daily repentance and the Holy Spirit), and glorification (future sharing in Christ's glory at His return). Salvation is understood as dynamic and ongoing, not a single completed event.
Justification - The first stage of salvation, referring to our deliverance from sin and death through baptism. In Orthodox theology, justification is not merely a legal declaration of innocence but an actual transformation - dying with Christ and being reborn in Him. Baptism is described as both the tomb where we die to our old self and the womb from which we are born anew.
Sanctification - The ongoing, present dimension of salvation in which believers are being saved daily through repentance, the yielding of their will to God, growth in the life of Christ, and the work of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul exhorts: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). This is the daily process of becoming more like Christ.
Glorification - The future and final dimension of salvation, when believers will share in Christ's glory at His Second Coming. As Paul writes: "When Christ Who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4).
Theosis (Deification) - The central concept in Orthodox soteriology: the process of becoming by grace what God is by nature. Not becoming God in essence, but participating in the divine life and becoming "partakers of the Divine Nature" (2 Peter 1:4). St. Basil the Great described man as "the creature who has received an order to become god." Theosis is the ultimate goal of the Christian life and can never be fully achieved in this life.
Grace - God's free, unmerited gift of His love, mercy, and saving power. Grace is not a wage we earn but a gift we receive. It is the unlimited pouring out of God's mercy, His unconditional forgiveness offered to the unworthy. Grace comes to us through Baptism, Chrismation, Holy Communion, and all the sacraments. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8).
Faith - In Orthodox theology, faith is saying "yes" to God's gracious gift of salvation. It is the humble acceptance of God's grace - the hand that receives the blessing. Coniaris uses the acronym F-A-I-T-H: Forsaking All I Take Him. Faith is man's hand reaching up to grasp God's already outstretched hand of grace. Faith is not opposed to works but naturally expresses itself through works of love.
Good Works - Deeds of love, mercy, and service done in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit. In Orthodox teaching, good works do not produce salvation (they are not meritorious), but salvation produces good works. They are the fruit of the new creation in Christ, the grateful response to God's love. Works done outside of Christ, even if outwardly good, are considered "counterfeit" because they lack the proper spiritual foundation.
Daily Conversion - The Orthodox understanding that the Christian life involves ongoing, daily repentance and renewal. The great saints were not converted once - they fell daily and rose daily, constantly praying "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." This stands in contrast to the idea of a single, once-for-all conversion experience.
Three Conversions - A framework from a monk of the Eastern Church describing three stages in the spiritual life: (1) the initial meeting of the soul with Christ as Friend and Master (corresponding to Christmas/Epiphany), (2) a personal experience of the cross and resurrection - pardon and salvation (corresponding to Easter), and (3) the coming of the Holy Spirit into the soul with power, establishing lasting union with God (corresponding to Pentecost).
Positive Salvation - The Orthodox emphasis that salvation is not merely negative (removal of sin, escape from punishment) but profoundly positive: the restoration of God's image in humanity, participation in the divine life, transformation into Christlikeness, and the fulfillment of our God-given destiny. Salvation for the Orthodox Church means not just forgiveness but the renewing and lifting up of fallen humanity into the very life of God.
Jesus Prayer - "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner." A short, powerful prayer used constantly by Orthodox Christians, especially monastics and the great saints, as a means of ongoing repentance and communion with God. Central to the daily conversion that characterizes the Orthodox understanding of salvation.
Counterfeit Works - Good deeds done outside of Christ - not motivated by faith or empowered by the Holy Spirit but by pride, self-righteousness, or the desire to earn God's favor. Coniaris compares them to counterfeit money: they may appear to do good, but they cannot pass inspection in God's sight. Genuine good works are done in Christ, for Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
STUDY SUGGESTIONS
Before Reading
- Pray: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner"
- Read Romans 6:1-14 (Baptized into Christ's death and resurrection)
- Read Ephesians 2:1-10 (Saved by grace through faith for good works)
While Reading
- Notice how Coniaris balances grace and human responsibility throughout the chapter
- Mark the passages where the Orthodox view differs from what you may have previously believed
- Pay attention to the many analogies and stories - which ones make salvation "click" for you?
After Reading
- Reflect on where you are in the three stages of salvation
- Consider the "marriage analogy" - how are you actively working out your relationship with God?
- Examine your good works: are they flowing from gratitude and love, or from obligation and pride?
For Discussion
- Share how the three-stage view of salvation (justification, sanctification, glorification) differs from what you previously understood
- Discuss theosis: what does it mean to "become partakers of the Divine Nature"?
- Talk about the balance between grace and works - how do they fit together without contradiction?
For Deeper Study
- Read St. Athanasius's On the Incarnation for the classic Orthodox treatment of salvation and theosis
- Study the baptismal liturgy and note how it reflects the themes of this chapter (death, burial, resurrection)
- Read the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) in light of this chapter's teaching on spiritual humility
- Explore the Jesus Prayer tradition through The Way of a Pilgrim