Can there be Christ without the Church, and the Church without Christ?

What does Christ have to do with the Russian Orthodox Church?

Behind this question there is often a paradoxical position - there is no God, but the Russian Orthodox Church has nothing to do with Him. But in order to pose this question on its merits, we must proceed from the fact that Christ, the Christ of the Gospels - there is no other and there is nowhere to take it from - is real. The Gospel speaks of Christ not as a long-dead teacher or founder of a philosophical school, or even a Prophet, but as a Risen and living Savior, with whom we, living now, can enter into a relationship of trust and obedience, into a Covenant, as Christ himself calls it .

The covenant that unites a person with Christ inevitably unites him with other people. You cannot be one of your own with Christ and alien to other people whom Christ accepted. If you are adopted as sons of God in Christ - and this is what Scripture says - then you have found not only a Father, but also many brothers and sisters.

Those who are in this Covenant constitute a community - a community that stretches through the centuries, from the time of Christ himself and the Apostles. In the Gospel, this community has a specific name - the Church. As Christ says, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18) *.

Starting from the time of the Lord and the apostles, in all centuries, in I, II, IV, ... XI, XII, ... XX, XXI, the Church proclaims the same Gospel, and the testimony of Christ itself has reached us through this entire thickness of centuries solely thanks to Churches. The Russian Orthodox Church is part of the Universal Church, which dates back to the Baptism of Rus', an event that played a key role in the Christianization of the Eastern Slavs.

Christ says, “him who comes to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). In Russia, the closest place where people gather who come to Him is the temple of the Russian Orthodox Church. To say that Christ has “no relation” to the people who cry out to Him would be to deny His direct words.

Vision and Ministry

The most important issue for a person who serves the Lord is that he must have a vision. Everyone who serves the Lord must be a man of vision. Not all brothers and sisters receive a vision directly from the Lord; some of them receive the vision indirectly, with the help of others. One way or another, everyone must have a vision. If a man has a vision, his ministry is a ministry with a vision. The Apostle Paul said that he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision (Acts 26:19). Throughout his life he served according to the vision he received.

Therefore, if we have a desire to serve, we must have a vision. We must ask the Lord to give us a vision. Moreover, I hope that we will not just get run-of-the-mill visions that are secondary. Instead, we need to see the most central vision, the most fundamental vision in God's purpose, so that we can have a true understanding and vision of the most basic and central issues regarding God's purpose.

Jesus taught kindness, not dogma!

Monogram of the name of Christ surrounded by vines (sarcophagus of the 6th century). In addition to the two initial Greek letters of the name of Christ, along the edges of the monogram are the Greek letters α and ω. This refers us to the text of the Apocalypse: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev 1:8).

Jesus taught precisely dogmas - that is, certain doctrinal truths that are very important to adhere to. First of all, the truths about Himself. And precisely because He is kind and desires the salvation of people. Kindness is manifested in the desire for the good of people, and Christ came to give us the highest good, eternal and blessed life. But for this we need to believe Him and His testimony about Himself.

Jesus said that he was with the Father before the world was (John 17:5, 24), that it is He who will come to judge all nations on the last day (Matthew 25:31), that it is He who sends angels (Matthew 24:31) and prophets ( Matthew 23:34). In other words, He speaks of Himself not just as someone great, but as God, the Lord and Judge of the universe.

He said that whoever believes in Him has eternal life: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life” (John 6:47), and warned that those who reject Him will lose this gift: “unless you believe.” Because it is I, you will die in your sins” (John 8:24).

Of course, in the Gospel itself there are no dogmas in precisely the formulations that were later adopted by the Church at the ecumenical councils. These formulations were needed in order to protect the apostolic testimony about Jesus from heresies. But the preaching of Jesus himself is undoubtedly dogmatic - He says certain things about Himself and demands to be believed in them.

Thorough Dedication

If we want to live Christ as a life in practice, we must first commit ourselves. What is dedication? Commitment means that we commit ourselves to Christ and allow Him to be our life. A consecrated person is a person who constantly surrenders himself to the Lord. Although we have our own will, we renounce it and accept the will of Christ as our own. Although we have our own love, we renounce it and accept the love of Christ as our own. Likewise, although we have our own thoughts and inclinations, we give up all of them and take the thoughts of Christ as our thoughts and the inclinations of Christ as our inclinations. We must surrender ourselves completely to Christ and accept Him into us so that He can be our life. Although we have life and are alive, we have given up our life and instead receive Christ as life.

Whether we can accept Christ as our life depends on whether we are willing to seriously give Him everything that concerns us. Only a person who gives himself completely to the Lord can be a person who truly knows Christ as life. Such a person is usually very strong. The weak are not ready to seriously devote, to hand over, themselves to the Lord. As you read the Old and New Testaments, you see that those who loved the Lord very much were strong. People like Samuel, Daniel, Peter, Paul and the martyrs throughout the generations were very strong. They surrendered themselves completely and accepted Christ to be their life. To them it was not a doctrine; on the contrary, they practically accepted Christ into their daily walk and life. Therefore, they could say: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me” and “For me to live is Christ” (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21). Because they gave themselves completely, they could practically experience Christ as life.

Did Jesus institute all these rituals?

Philippe de Champagne. Last Supper. 1652

The Gospel directly speaks of the establishment of two Sacraments - Baptism and the Eucharist, which, even in their simplest form, presupposed a certain rite, that is, as the dictionary says, “a set of actions of a stereotypical nature, which is characterized by symbolic meaning.”

Moreover, Jesus said that participation in these Sacraments is necessary for salvation.

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:53,54).

Our belonging to Christ is manifested - and He himself established this - in the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist.

Of course, many of the rituals that are now performed in the Church were formed later, in the course of its history. But “riteless Christianity” never existed.

God, in order to save people, turns to human nature. And for people, the language in which they speak about the most important things is the language of ritual. Young people get married, a baby comes into the world, sovereigns sign a treaty, a ruler takes office, loved ones bury the deceased - in all human cultures these events are accompanied by rituals. These rituals may be different, but they always exist, because events of such importance require them.

Moreover, the most important thing that can happen in life - a meeting with God, the conclusion of a Covenant with Him - requires a ritual.

The Incarnation and the Church

“Thou art secretly born in a den, but heaven preaches Thee to all, like lips offering a star, O Savior,” sings the Holy Church on the eve of Christ’s Nativity.
The great mystery of piety: God appeared in the flesh—was precisely a mystery. The heavens preached about the birth of God on earth, but this sermon was majestic and silent, because the mouth of heaven was a star. That event, which is now celebrated by the entire Christian world, passed almost completely unnoticed in its time. Did the Greco-Roman world know, did even the Jewish world feel that somewhere in a cave, in Bethlehem, the Divinity Itself, having become incarnate, united “unfused and inseparable, unchangeable and inseparable” with human nature? And how soon did humanity turn its attention to the greatest event in its history? Not years, but centuries passed before the time when high minds began to theologize about the incarnation and its meaning for humanity. The child grew, but we do not know His holy childhood. Only the apocryphal gospels try to fill the thirty-year void and fill it with the miraculous. The divine dignity of the Child is clearly revealed in the events about which the apocrypha speaks, but the Gospels are silent about all this.

In the Gospels, on the contrary, we see a constant, as it were, concealment of the Divine. Christ was the hidden God on earth. He asks to remain silent about His miracles. He never says about Himself: “I am God.”

Even in the den, the Divine admixture with human nature took place. Christ has already gone out to the work of evangelism. The fishers of men were also gathered. They left the fishermen's nets, but they had already sunk their gospel nets into the sea of ​​humanity. And the Divinity of their Teacher is only felt, but not yet realized in all the depth of its meaning. The incarnation of God and the meaning of this incarnation still remains a mystery.

But here is the first time when Christ spoke with His disciples about the incarnation and pointed out to them its consequences. Where was it? Far from people, far from cities, in the far north of the promised land, within the borders of Caesarea Philippi. There Christ was alone with His disciples. Carefully, Christ asks the disciples: Who do people say... the Son of Man is?

, that is, Himself?
“Showing how much He desires that His incarnation should be confessed, He says: Son of Man
.”
The disciples answer: “For John the Baptist, for Elijah, for Jeremiah, for one of the prophets.” This is not the opinion the Lord wants to hear about Himself from His closest followers. “Who do you think I am?” Your opinion must be different, higher. “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God
,” the Apostle Peter hastens to answer before others (Matthew 16:13–16).
What did Peter say? He confessed the incarnation of the Son of God. Peter said the same thing that John later wrote in his spiritual Gospel, when his mind, like an eagle, soared above visible creation: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us
(John 1:14), although the glory, dignity, nature of this Word was the glory of the Only Begotten from the Father.
The great mystery of piety, before it became generally recognized ( professed
), was confessed through the mouth of Peter from the entire face of the apostle.
“These words: You are the Christ, the Son of God
(Luke 4:41), mean the union of two natures, which the Son of God magnificently accomplished in Himself for our salvation.” In Peter's confession one should see the grain of later church Christology. Many great church theologians revealed the Christological teaching in all its depth, but the Christological truth was expressed briefly and quite definitely much earlier than the Council of Chalcedon - when the apostles gathered around Christ Himself within the boundaries of Caesarea Philippi.

It was not flesh and blood that, according to the word of Christ, revealed this great truth to the Apostle Peter. Jewish flesh and blood did not take incarnation. We do not want to stone You for a good deed, but for blasphemy and because You, being a man, make Yourself God

(John 10:33).
The high priest tore his clothes and said: He is blaspheming!
...Now you have heard His blasphemy! What do you think? They answered: he is guilty of death (Matt. 26:65-66; Mark 14:63). “We all expect that the Messiah will be a man from men,” says the Jew in Justin. And long after, the Semitic element in the Church created Christological heresies. “The Ebionites... do not accept into their souls by faith the union of God and man,” complains Saint Irenaeus of Lyons. The ancient world taught a lot about the Word, about the Logos, but could not say: the Word became flesh. The Jew was a deist. Hellenus, speaking about the Logos, fell into pantheism. Alexandrian syncretism did not emerge from these two extremes either. A new era has begun in the doctrine of Logos. Philosophy was subordinated to theology. The incarnate Logos began to dwell in the world, in people.

But Christ’s answer did not end there. He Himself spoke about the significance that the incarnation of the Son of God would have for humanity. And I say to you: you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church
(Matthew 16:18). Your name is Stone, and the incarnation you confessed will also be the stone on which My Church will be created. Isaiah prophesied about the stone, David prophesied. In the light of these prophecies, the apostles could easily understand the words of Christ. The apostles learned His words well. Both the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul call Christ Himself the Stone. Christ is the Rock on which the Church was created. But what does it mean to create the Church in Christ? Many holy fathers say that the Church was created on the confession of Peter, on the faith of Peter. What does it mean? How can you create anything based on the theoretical confession of some truth? After all, a new life for humanity is being created, a new humanity is being created. New life and new creation are not created by theoretical truth. Christ is the foundation of the Church in the precise sense in which He was confessed by the Apostle Peter. And Peter confessed the incarnation of the Son of God. The incarnate Son of God became the foundation of the Church. The confession of Peter can be called the foundation of the Church in its objective meaning, in its content, because it confessed the fact of the incarnation of God. It is not the idea of ​​the incarnation, but the very fact of the incarnation that lies at the foundation of the Church. The church is, as it were, a direct continuation of the incarnation, just as a building can be called a continuation of the foundation. Hermas saw the Church as a tower under construction. The individual stones fit so tightly together that it was impossible to notice where one stone ended and where another began. The tower seemed to be created from one stone. As soon as the stones entered the structure of the tower, they began to glow, they changed their usual appearance. According to the Apostle Paul, the Church is a new creation.

But the new creation can be compared in some points with the first creation. Once upon a time, God took dust from the earth and created man. This man was from the dusty earth, and he fell into the dust, although he was created for incorruptibility. People wore the image of earthy Adam. In the Incarnation, dust is again taken, flesh is borrowed from the earthy nature, albeit from the Most Pure Virgin. A new man is being created because people have become partakers of the Divine nature. God once breathed the breath of life into man’s face, and man became a living soul. During the new creation there was also a Divine breath with the words: Receive the Holy Spirit

(John 20:22)—and,
with a rush of breath
(Acts 2:2), they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. The new Adam became the life-giving Spirit. The ancient has passed, now everything is new. The old man's former way of life is put aside and the new man, created according to God, is put on in righteousness and true holiness. The process of gradual transformation of human nature began with the incarnation of the Son of God, and the continuation and completion of this process is in the life of the church. Thus the incarnation and the Church are inextricably linked. “The Word, existing in the beginning and with God, and the Word, the very existing God, who in the last days, through communion with the humiliation of our nature, became flesh out of love for mankind and, uniting through it with man, took into Himself all our nature, so that through dissolution with The human was deified by the divine nature, and with the firstfruits thereof the entire composition of our nature was sanctified.”6

St. John of Damascus in his homily on the Transfiguration and Archbishop of Thessalonica Nile Cabasilas call Peter's confession theology. But the answer of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostle Peter should also be called high and very meaningful theology. Understood in their inextricable connection, the confession of Peter and the answer of Christ form an entire system of Christian theology, a single, integral and harmonious system. This system harmoniously combined the doctrine of the Divinity of Christ (Christology), the doctrine of salvation (soteriology), and the doctrine of the Church (ecclisiology). The incarnation is the beginning of salvation, and on the basis of the incarnation the Church is created, a new nature, which, through the action of grace, is healed from sinful corruption and reaches the full stature of Christ.

By stone, Catholics mean Peter himself and with the words of Christ they justify the claims of the Bishop of Rome to lawless supremacy in the Church and even to infallibility. Our theologians argue a lot with this understanding of the words of Christ. But the religious feeling, living by the ideal of salvation and deification, turns away from the Catholic interpretation because this interpretation wants to buy and sell where the greatest religious mysteries are proclaimed. The theological ideological insignificance of Catholic thought is what turns us away from it most of all. About the ancient Ebionites, the church historian Eusebius writes that they were called Ebionites because of the poverty of their minds; for this name among the Jews means “poor” (N. E. III, 27, 6). And Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus explains: “He who recognized Christ as a simple man is truly poor in understanding, and in hope, and in deed” (Heresy. 30. Chapter 17). Catholics are the Ebionites of our time. Their ideological poverty is reflected in their interpretation of Christ’s answer in the sense of granting primacy and primacy in the Church to Peter, as well as to all his successors in the see of the Bishop of Rome. Catholics do not want to see anything other than the church structure, except external order and subordination, where, according to the Orthodox understanding, deep theological secrets about the natural unity of Christ with the Church have been revealed.

Our theology also understands the Church too externally. The Church is some kind of human institution; its mystical connection with the fact of the incarnation is not the subject of theological speculation for us. But whoever on the day of Christ’s Nativity listens more closely to the church hymns will learn in what the Church sees the guarantee of its life and the beginning of the salvation of its members. It is today, according to the Church, that a glorious sacrament is being established: nature is renewed and God comes into being as man. The Son of God, by His very unity and unification with human nature (in the incarnation), made God

earthy. In church songs for Christmas Day, we hear ideological echoes of the very theology that we spoke about above. According to the Church itself, in the Christmas service it brings to the born Christ “the Orthodox riches of theology, as to God and the Savior of our souls” (in Prakhitikh, “Glory”). And the wealth of this Orthodox theology lies in the same great truths that were originally expressed in the Lord’s conversations with his disciples within Caesarea Philippi. “The beginning of the salvation of human nature and the beginning of church life is laid in the very fact of the incarnation and incarnation of the second Hypostasis of the Most Holy Trinity,” this is how we define the “Orthodox wealth of theology.” The ideological and theological content of the Christmas service was given in the north of Palestine, where the Lord was alone with His disciples, far from people.

Christ was secretly born from the Most Pure Virgin in the south of the Holy Land; secretly in the north of this land the importance of this birth was theologically determined. For centuries afterwards, church theologians discussed the mystery of the incarnation. Which of them does not have a word about the incarnation? Sometimes people even argued about this secret in squares and markets. The mystery of the incarnation beckons humanity, because without this mystery, for humanity there remains only joyless decay in the lusts of the delightful and the dark gates of death. We glorify Christ's incarnation because no matter how much we love our sinful nature, we still long to be consoled by the rebirth

.

To suffer for the sake of the Body of Christ and to build the Body of Christ

In the 1st chapter of the Epistle to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul says that he suffered for the sake of the Body of Christ in order to fill up what was lacking in the afflictions of Christ. We need to know that Christ endured two kinds of suffering. The first kind of suffering is the suffering of substitution, in which He was judged and smitten by God for our sins. None of us can in any way participate in the suffering of this species. He Himself endured this type of suffering for us. The second type of suffering is suffering for the sake of generation. The suffering of this kind can be compared to the suffering of a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and dies and thereby produces many grains. Such suffering is designed to release life and put it into us for the production of the church. Christ had not yet completed this aspect of His suffering; there is still a lack of them. This is what Paul calls “what the afflictions of Christ lack” (v. 24). Sorrows of this kind have been met by all those who have loved the Lord throughout all the ages. The three thousand and five thousand saved in the early days of the church would not have been saved without the suffering that the first group of apostles endured. The early churches would not have emerged without the suffering that Paul and his fellow workers endured. Likewise, if we do not undergo suffering, we will not be able to cause people to accept Christ as life, produce much grain, or gain many members to build up the Body of Christ. Therefore, we, those who serve the Lord, need to make up for what is lacking in the sorrows of Christ for the sake of His Body.

The Apostle Paul said that his suffering was for the church and his ministry as a minister was also for the church. He served the Lord as a minister of the church to complete the word of God, which was a mystery hidden from ages and generations, the mystery which is Christ in us, the hope of glory. So Paul preached Christ, and the result was the church. His job was to release Christ to build up the church. He presented Christ to every man in all wisdom, to present every man mature in Christ for the edification of the Body of Christ, which is the church (vv. 25-29). Therefore, the purpose of the apostle's work was, on the one hand, for people to accept Christ as their life, and on the other hand, for them to accept the church as their life. This should be our ministry today. In all our ministry in the church, we need to bring Christ to people so that they accept Him and are built up in the church.

Taking the vision of Christ and the church as the purpose of our ministry

The vision of Christ and the church is not only related to our personal growth in life, but also to the building of the church on earth. If we experience Christ as life, then we can have growth in life. If we live the church life, the church can be built. Therefore, each of us who serve the Lord needs to receive a vision of Christ and the church. We need to receive this vision and live in it. This vision must also be the goal of our ministry. It should be like a brightly shining lamp, and we should walk in its light. If we minister to children in the church, we need to help them learn Christ as children and become materials for building the church, so that one day they too will be built up. If we minister to young people, then with God-given wisdom we need to help them accept Christ so that they become useful resources in the church, future deacons, elders and evangelists. If we have received a vision of Christ and the church, then the purpose of all our ministry is to help others receive Christ as life, so that they become the proper materials that are built up in the church. In all our ministries we need to use all wisdom to help people receive Christ as life, so that they become materials for building and are built up as the spiritual house of God. Brothers and sisters, this is our vision.

Receive Christ as life and enter into the Body of Christ

As we know, there is a book in the Scriptures that most clearly depicts the levels of our Christian life; this book is the book of Romans. It clearly talks about the stages of the spiritual journey, the spiritual experience, the believer before God. From chapter 1 to the first half of chapter 3, Romans shows that all the people in the world are sinners who do not know God and who are under God's condemnation. From the second half of chapter 3 to chapter 4, it shows that through believing and accepting Christ's atonement, sinners are justified and accepted by God and thereby reconciled to God. Chapter 5 says that those who were redeemed and justified by God were formerly in Adam and inherited sin and death. Chapter 6 says that through faith and baptism we are united to Christ, that we are in Christ, and that we have received the death and resurrection of Christ. Through the death of Christ we were freed from sin in Adam, and through the resurrection of Christ we were freed from death in Adam. Chapter 7 says that in our experience we come to know the old creation, in our practical daily life we ​​come to know the powerlessness of our flesh, and as a result we realize that the old creation and our flesh are incurable. The first half of chapter 8 says that if we live by the law of the Spirit of life and walk according to the spirit, then we are people who live in the Holy Spirit. The second half of chapter 8 tells us that we are being conformed to the image of the Son of God, not only through the work of the Spirit of God within us, but also through everything working for our good in God's external environment. Therefore, when we reach chapter 8, inwardly we are filled with the Holy Spirit, but outwardly we are overwhelmed by the environment; our whole being is conformed to the image of Christ. At this point we have fully accepted Christ as life and we are also living fully in Christ. Chapters 9 to 11 are a digression. Chapter 12, which continues from chapter 8, tells us that we need to dedicate ourselves to God in a practical way by presenting our bodies as living sacrifices to God. We live in a body, so we need to make our body available for practical initiation. Chapter 12 goes on to say that we are one Body in Christ, and individually we are members of one another. As we provide our bodies, the Body of Christ is perfected and manifested.

In Romans 12 we see two bodies: our body and the Body of Christ. If we hold on to our body, the Body of Christ cannot be perfected. If we want to build up the Body of Christ, we need to provide our body. The question is, do we intend to preserve our own body or do we want to build up the Body of Christ? If we hold on to our body, then there cannot be the Body of Christ. If we hold on to our “I,” then there can be no church. In order for there to be a church, we need to free ourselves from our “I”. We need to offer our body as a living sacrifice. Only then can we become members of the Body of Christ in practice, and only then will the gifts and functions be manifested in us.

Some were saved many years ago, but the function or gift has not yet manifested in them. This is because they are not ready to offer their bodies, they are not ready to live in the Body of Christ. Romans 12 shows that even acts in our daily lives, such as showing mercy and loving our brothers, are gifts. You may not be able to preach and your knowledge is modest, but if you are considerate of others and have love for your brothers in your heart, these are also gifts. In Romans 12, spiritual life and spiritual gifts are mentioned together. The apostle mentions various gifts, including the prophecy of the prophets, the ministry of deacons, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, showing mercy, and loving the brethren. He says these are all gifts. Not only are prophecy, teaching, and leading gifts, but even giving, showing mercy, and loving one's brothers are gifts. These are all spiritual gifts, as well as aspects of spiritual living. Here the Spirit is showing us that if we provide our bodies, then all these gifts and functions will be manifested in the Body of Christ, which is the church, for the edification of the Body of Christ.

Renewed Love

Such dedication must be maintained by a fresh love for the Lord. We need dedication and we also need love. Moreover, this love must be renewed daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. We need to renew this love every morning. We need to renew this love on the first day of every week, which is the Lord's day, we need to renew this love on the first day of the month, and we need to renew this love at the beginning of every year. Moreover, we even need to renew this love in every activity and in every situation. We need to say to the Lord: “Lord, I love You. I want to be the one who loves You." By constantly renewing our love for the Lord in this way, we can maintain our dedication to Him.

Maintain order in the body

As a Body, the church must be vertical, not just horizontal. In this case, there will be order in the church. In the church we cannot be independent and we also cannot neglect order. Whenever we leave order, we leave the Body. Whenever we lose proper order, our communication with the Body is interrupted. The loss of proper order indicates that we are still living an independent life and that we have ceased to live the church life. It also means that we have stopped accepting Christ as our life. Whenever we allow Christ to be our life, our living is necessarily the church and spontaneously we cannot be independent, we maintain order and we have coordination. When we recognize the order of the Body and accept God's dispensation, we will recognize God's authority in the church.