Book The Path to Salvation read online for free, author St. Theophan the Recluse

Introduction

The “Outline of Christian Moral Teaching” depicts the feelings and dispositions that are obligatory for us, but this does not say everything that is necessary for arranging our salvation. Our main concern is real life in the spirit of Christ. And just touch on this, how many bewilderments will arise and how many instructions will therefore be needed, and moreover, at almost every step!

True, there the last goal of man is indicated - in communication with God - and the path to it is depicted: this is faith with walking in the commandments, with the help of the grace of God. If only I could add the word: this is the way! Go!

It's easy to say: this is the way, go! But how to do this? Mostly there is a lack of desire to go. The soul, carried away by some passion, stubbornly rejects every compulsion and every call; He turns his eyes away from God and does not want to look at Him. The law of Christ is not to my heart; she has no inclination to listen about him: her soul, as they say, does not lie. The question arises: how can we get to the point where the desire to go to God the way of Christ is born? how to make sure that the law is imprinted in the heart and that a person, acting according to this law, acts on his own, spontaneously, so that this law does not lie on him, but seems to come from him?

But let anyone turn to God, let him love His law; Is the very procession to God, the very walking along the path of the law of Christ already necessary and will be successful only because we have desired it? No. In addition to desire, you also need to have the strength and ability to act: you need active wisdom. Whoever embarks on the true path of pleasing God or begins, with the help of grace, to strive for God, through the predetermined law of Christ, he will inevitably be in danger of straying into crossroads, getting lost and perishing, imagining himself to be saved. These crossroads are inevitable due to the remaining, even in conversion, sinful urge and disorder of forces, which even in this state are capable of presenting things in a distorted form - to seduce and destroy a person. Added to this is flattery from Satan, who is reluctant to part with his victims, and when someone from his region goes to the light of Christ, he chases after him and lays all sorts of nets to catch him again, and often actually catches him. Consequently, the one who already has the desire to follow the indicated path to the Lord must also indicate all the deviations possible on this path, so that the one who goes ahead will be aware of this, see the dangers that may arise and know how to avoid them.

These common inevitabilities on the path of salvation make necessary special guiding rules in Christian life, which must determine how to reach the saving desire for communion with God and zeal to remain in it and how to safely pass to God among all the crossroads possible on this path in all degrees, - otherwise: how to begin to live like a Christian and how, having started, to improve in this. This leadership must take a person outside of God, turn him to Him and then bring him before His face; must trace the Christian life in its phenomena, in fact, from beginning to end, that is, how it is seeded, develops, matures and comes to fullness, or - what is the same - write the history of the active life of every Christian, showing how in what If necessary, he must act in order to maintain his rank.

The seeding and development of Christian life is significantly different from the seeding and development of natural life. This depends on the special character of the Christian life and its relation to our nature. A person is not born a Christian, but becomes one after birth. The seed of Christ falls to the ground of an already beating heart. But just as a naturally born person is damaged and contrary to the requirements of Christianity, then - whereas, for example, in a plant, the beginning of life is the awakening of a seed sprout, the awakening of seemingly dormant forces - the beginning of a truly Christian life in a person is a certain re-creation, the bestowal of new forces, new life. Further, let Christianity be accepted as a law, that is, the determination to live as a Christian is established: this seed of life (determination) is not surrounded in a person by elements favorable to it; and at the same time the whole person, his body and soul, remains unadapted to the new life, disobedient to the yoke of Christ; therefore, from this moment a person’s sweaty labor begins - to form all of himself, all of his strength, in a Christian way. That is why, while growth, for example, in plants is a gradual development of strength, easy, spontaneous, for a Christian it is a difficult struggle with himself - intense and sorrowful, and he needs to tune his strength to something for which they have no disposition: he, like a warrior, must take every step of land, even though it is his own, from his enemies through war - with the double-edged sword of self-coercion and self-resistance. Finally, after much work and effort, the Christian principles are victorious, ruling without resistance, penetrate the entire composition of human nature, displacing from it demands and aspirations hostile to itself, and place it in a state of dispassion and purity, granting the bliss of the pure in heart - to see God in yourself in sincere communication with Him.

This is the state of Christian life in us. It has three degrees, which, according to their properties, can be called this: the first - turning to God, the second - purification or self-correction, the third - sanctification. On the first, a person turns from darkness to light, from the realm of Satan to God; on the second, he cleanses the temple of his heart from all impurities in order to receive Christ the Lord coming to him; on the third, the Lord comes, dwells in the heart and sups with it. This state of blissful communion with God is the goal of all labors and exploits!

To depict all this and define it with rules will mean to indicate the path to salvation. Complete guidance in this matter takes a person at the crossroads of sin, leads him through a fiery path of purification and raises him to the degree of perfection possible for him, to the measure of the age of fulfillment of Christ. Otherwise, it should show:

1) how Christian life begins in us;

2) how it improves – it matures and grows stronger, and

3) what it is in its full perfection.

Preface

Saint Theophan, the Recluse of Vyshensky (in the world Georgy Vasilyevich Govorov) is a great Russian spiritual writer who left us a legacy of dozens of wonderful works and hundreds of letters. Despite the fact that the saint died more than 100 years ago, all of his works are in constant demand, as they have not lost their spiritual benefit. They contain specific answers to very difficult questions: what needs to be done to come to God, how to put your soul in order, how to learn prayer.

Saint Theophan wrote “The Path to Salvation” (1868–1869) for the widest audience. However, the modern reader is in many ways different from those for whom Theophan the Recluse wrote. Firstly, the Russian language has changed noticeably over the course of a century and a half; secondly, what was previously studied in the lessons of the Law of God in a parochial school is now unknown to many people with higher education; thirdly, in the 19th century. they loved slow, measured reading, but our contemporaries sometimes don’t have enough time for this.

In preparing this book for a new edition, we decided to make the path to it easier for the modern reader. Firstly, the text was brought closer to the norms of modern literary language: words that were unclear and had changed their meaning were replaced, and in some places their order was simplified. At the same time, such important terms for the book as “excitement”, “jealousy”, “sobriety”, etc., are left in the text, but in such a way that the author’s thought is clear. It should be noted that Saint Theophan sometimes used scientific vocabulary and foreign words: in the author’s edition of the book we encounter “egoism”, “act”, “copy”, “concentrate”. In this edition we have used some of these words to replace outdated and obscure ones.

Second, Scripture quotations, biblical names, and church terms are provided with explanations and notes.

Thirdly, in some cases we allowed ourselves to make small cuts. In accordance with the tastes of his time, the saint sometimes repeated the same thought in different words and actively used synonyms; from a modern point of view, all this seems to be “lengthy”. To assist the reader, we have shortened lengths in some cases; however, the overall volume of the book has remained almost unchanged.

I would like to mention two features of the saint’s personality. Firstly, he was (in the best sense of the word) a man of his time: he followed scientific discoveries, understood the international situation, etc. He did this not out of curiosity, but for the purpose of successful preaching. For example, in this book you will find comparisons from physics and astronomy, excursions into pedagogy and psychology. Secondly, in the Vyshensky Monastery, Theophan the Recluse was in complete solitude for 22 years, but at the same time he maintained a very extensive correspondence, sometimes answering dozens of letters a day. He did this not out of passion for communication, but in order to help people find the path to God. The publication offered to the reader’s attention serves the same purpose.

Text of the book "The Path to Salvation"

Saint Theophan the Recluse The Path to Salvation

* * *

Preface

Second, Scripture quotations, biblical names, and church terms are provided with explanations and notes.

Introduction

The “Outline of Christian Moral Teaching” describes the feelings and moods that are obligatory for us, but this does not say everything that is necessary for caring about our salvation. Our main concern is real life in the spirit of Christ. And just touch on this, how many questions will open up and therefore how many instructions are needed, and moreover, at almost every step!

True, the last goal of man is indicated there - communication with God - and the path to it is depicted: this is faith with the observance of the commandments with the help of the grace of God. If only I could add the word: this is the way! Go!

It's easy to say: this is the way, go! But how to do that? Mostly there is no desire to go. A soul carried away by some passion stubbornly rejects all compulsion and all appeal, turns its eyes away from God and does not want to look at Him. The law of Christ is not to her heart, and she does not want to hear about it: the soul, as they say, does not lie down. The question arises: how can one achieve the desire to go to God the way of Christ? How can one make sure that the law is strengthened in the heart and a person, acting according to this law, acts on his own, without coercion, so that that law does not rest on him, but as if it came from him?

But if someone turned to God, loved His law - the very path to God, the very observance of the law of Christ, will it necessarily be successful just because we wished it? No. In addition to desire, strength and the ability to act are also needed: active wisdom is needed. Whoever embarks on the true path of pleasing God or begins, with the help of grace, to strive towards God through the predetermined law of Christ, he will inevitably be in danger of straying at crossroads, getting lost and perishing, imagining himself to be saved. These crossroads are inevitable due to the remaining, even in the converted, sinful desire and lack of strength, which even in this state are capable of presenting things in a false form - to deceive and destroy a person. Added to this is the lie of Satan, who reluctantly parts with his victims, and when someone from his power goes to the light of Christ, he chases after him and lays out all sorts of nets to catch him again, and often actually catches him. Consequently, for those who already have a desire to follow the indicated path to the Lord, it is also necessary to indicate all the turns possible on such a path, so that the one walking is warned about this in advance, sees future dangers and knows how to avoid them.

Because of these inevitabilities common to all, special rules of Christian life are needed on the path of salvation: how to reach the saving desire to communicate with God and try to remain in it, and how to safely go to God among all sorts of crossroads along this path. In other words, how to start living as a Christian and how, once you start, to achieve success in this. This guide must take a person living without God, turn him to Him and then bring him before Him, must trace Christian life in its manifestations, in fact, from beginning to end, that is, how it originates, develops, matures and comes to fullness, or - what is the same thing - to write a history of the active life of every Christian, showing how in which case he must act in order to maintain his position.

The origin and development of Christian life differs significantly from the emergence of natural life. A person is not born a Christian, but becomes one later: the seed of Christ falls to the ground of an already beating heart. In a plant, the beginning of life is the growth of a seed, the awakening of seemingly dormant forces, while the beginning of a truly Christian life in a person is a kind of second creation, the granting of new forces, because a naturally born person is damaged and contrary to the requirements of Christianity. Further, when Christianity is accepted as a law, that is, it is decided to live like a Christian: this seed of life (determination) is not surrounded in a person by favorable conditions; the whole person, his body and soul remain unadapted to the new life, disobedient to the yoke of Christ. Therefore, from this moment a person begins hard work - to educate all of himself, all his strengths in a Christian way. That is why, if the growth of a plant is a gradual development of strength, easy, spontaneous, then for a Christian it is a difficult struggle with himself, tense and sorrowful. He needs to tune his powers to what they are not inclined to do; he is like a warrior: every step of his land must be taken from his enemies by war - with the double-edged sword of forcing himself and fighting against himself. Finally, after much work and effort, Christian principles win, dominate without resistance, permeate the entire human nature, displacing hostile demands and desires, and bring it to a state of dispassion and purity, giving the bliss of the pure in heart - to see God in oneself in close communion with Him. .

This is the state of Christian life in us. It has three degrees, which can be called as follows: 1st - turning to God, 2nd - purification or self-correction, 3rd - sanctification.

On the first, a person turns from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God; on the second, he cleanses the temple of his heart from all impurities in order to receive Christ the Lord coming to him; on the third - the Lord comes, dwells in the heart and sups with it. This state of blissful communion with God is the goal of all labors and exploits!

To depict all this and define it with rules will mean to indicate the path to salvation. Complete guidance in this matter takes a person at the crossroads of sin, leads him through a fiery path of purification and brings him to the degree of perfection possible for him. In other words, it should show: 1) how Christian life begins in us;

2) how it improves – it matures and grows stronger, and

3) what it is in its full perfection.

Division I

About the beginning of Christian life through Holy Baptism, with instructions on how to preserve this grace during the period of education

How does Christian life begin in us?

We need to understand for ourselves when and how a truly Christian life begins, in order to see whether such a life has begun in us, and if it has not begun, to know how to begin it, to what extent it depends on us. This is not the main sign of true life in Christ, if someone is called a Christian and belongs to the Church of Christ. Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord! Lord!” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven

(Matt. 7:21).
And not all those Israelites who are from Israel
(Rom. 9:6). You can be among the Christians and not be a Christian. Everyone knows this.

There is a moment, and a very noticeable moment, sharply marked in our lives, when someone begins to live like a Christian. Christian life is the effort and strength to remain in active communion with God, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, with the help of God’s grace, by fulfilling His holy will, for the glory of His most holy name. The essence of Christian life is communication with God, which at first is usually hidden not only from others, but also from oneself. The visible, or felt within us, evidence of it is the heat of active efforts only to please Christian God with complete selflessness and hatred of everything that harms this.

When this heat begins, then the Christian life begins; and in whom it constantly acts, he lives like a Christian: I have come to bring down fire to the earth,

- says the Savior -
and how I wish it would already be on fire!
(Luke 12:49). He says this about the Christian life, and he says it because its visible evidence is an effort to please God kindled in the heart by the Spirit of God, similar to fire, for just as fire burns out the substance in which it appears, so the effort to live in Christ burns out the soul. And just as during a fire the flame engulfs the entire building, so this fire fills the entire being of a person.

Elsewhere the Lord says: everyone will be salted with fire

(Mark 9:49). And this is an indication of the fire of the spirit penetrating our entire being. Just as salt, passing into a spoilable substance, protects it from rotting, so the spirit of diligence, permeating our entire being, expels sin, which corrupts our soul and body, from all even its smallest containers and thereby saves us from moral corruption and corruption.

The Apostle Paul commands: Do not quench the Spirit

(1 Thess. 5:19),
do not weaken in zeal;
the spirit of flames (Rom. 12:11), commands this to all Christians, so that they remember that burning of the spirit, or diligent effort, is an integral property of the Christian life.
In another place he says about himself: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the high call of God in Christ Jesus
(Phil. 3:13-14);
and inspires others: so run to receive
(1 Cor. 9:24). This means that in Christian life there is a certain speed and spiritual liveliness with which they take on godly deeds, neglecting themselves and willingly sacrificing all kinds of labor to God without pitying themselves.

Cold fulfillment of the statutes of the Church, reasonable regularity in affairs, diligence, gradualism and honesty in behavior do not yet indicate that a truly Christian life has begun in us. All this is good, but since it does not carry within itself the spirit of life about Christ Jesus, it has no value before God. These kinds of things will then be like soulless idols. And a good watch runs properly, but who can say that there is life in it?! So it is here: often they only have a name that they are alive, while in reality they are dead (cf. Rev. 3:1). This integrity of behavior can deceive more than anything else. Its true meaning depends on the internal mood, in which, with the right deeds, significant deviations from the essential truth are possible. By outwardly refraining from sinful deeds, you can have affection for them in your heart, but by doing outwardly correct deeds, you can have no heartfelt disposition towards them. Only true effort wants to do good in all its fullness and purity, and sin pursues to its smallest shades. It seeks the former as daily bread, and treats the latter as a mortal enemy.

The enemy hates the enemy not only himself, but also his relatives and friends, even his things, his favorite color, in general, everything that in any way reminds him of him. The same is true of trying to please God: it pursues sin in the slightest reminders or hints of it, because it strives for real purity. Without this, how much uncleanness can lie in the heart!

And what success can one expect when there is no Christian effort to please God? What there is no labor will still be accomplished; but if intense work or any kind of self-sacrifice is required, refusal will immediately follow due to the inability to cope with oneself. For then there will be nothing to rely on to force yourself to do a good deed; self-pity will undermine all supports. If some other desire is mixed in, then it will turn a good deed into an evil one. The spies under Moses were afraid because they felt sorry for themselves[1] 1

Before the conquest of the promised land, Moses sent twelve spies who reported:
we went to the land to which you sent us;
it truly flows with milk and honey... but the people living in that land are strong, and the fortified cities are very large... We cannot go against this people, for they are stronger than us (Num. 13: 28-32).

[Close]. The martyrs willingly went to their death because they were burned by an internal fire. A true Christian fulfills not only the law, but also the advice, and every good thought hidden in the soul; does not only what will work, but is inventive for good, entirely concerned about one lasting, true, eternal good. “Everywhere we need,” says St. John Chrysostom, “zeal and great kindling of the soul, ready to take up arms against death itself; for otherwise it is impossible to receive the Kingdom” (Discourse 31 on Acts).

The work of piety and communion with God is a difficult and painful task, especially at first. Where can I get the strength for all this work? With the help of God's grace - in living effort. A merchant, a warrior, a judge, a scientist go through a laborious and laborious service. How do they support themselves in their work? Inspiration and love for your work. In the same way you can support yourself on the path of piety. And without this, we will find heaviness, boredom, and lethargy in serving God. And the slow-moving vehicle moves, but with difficulty, while for a fast chamois or an agile squirrel, movement and transition are a pleasure. Trying to please God is a joyful, spirit-inspiring path to Him. Without it, you can ruin the whole thing. We must do everything for the glory of God, in spite of the sin living in us; and without this we will do everything only out of habit, out of decency, because this has been done for a long time and this is what others do. We must do everything; Otherwise, we will do one thing and not another, and, moreover, without any regret or even memory of what we missed. Everything must be done with attention and caution as the main thing; otherwise we will do as we had to.

So, it is clear that a Christian without effort is a bad Christian, sluggish, relaxed, lifeless, neither warm nor cold - and life is not life. Knowing this, let us try to truly care about good deeds in order to be truly pleasing to God, having no sin or vice or anything from such.

So, true witness to the Christian life is the fire of active efforts to please God. The question now is, how is this fire lit? Whereby?

Such effort arises through the action of grace, but not without the participation of our free will. The Christian life is not a natural life. This must also be its beginning or its first awakening. Just as plant life awakens in a seed, just as moisture and warmth penetrate to the sprout hidden in it and through them the all-restoring power of life, so Divine life awakens in us when the Spirit of God penetrates the heart and lays there the beginning of life in the spirit, purifies and collects together the darkened and broken features of the image of God. Desire and voluntary search awaken (by action from the outside), then grace descends (through the Sacraments) and, together with freedom, gives birth to powerful effort. No one should even think about giving birth to such a force of life: you need to pray for it and be ready to accept it. The strong fire of diligence is the grace of the Lord. The Spirit of God, descending into the heart, begins to act in it not only with burning, but also with creative effort.

Some people think: why is this an act of grace? Can't we do good deeds ourselves? So we did this and that good deed. Let's live and do something else. Rarely, perhaps, did not dwell on this issue. Some say that we cannot do anything good on our own. But here we are not talking about individual good deeds, but about the rebirth of all life, about new life, about life as a whole - one that leads to salvation. Given the opportunity, it is not difficult to do something even very good, just as the pagans did.

But let someone voluntarily devote himself to the unceasing doing of good, determine its order according to the instructions of the word of God - and this is not for one month or year, but for the whole life - and decide to steadily maintain this order, and then, when he remains faithful to it, let him boast with your own strength, and without this, wouldn’t it be better to remain silent? How many experiences have there been and are there of unauthorized beginnings of Christian life? And they all ended and end in nothing. The person does not carry out the newly chosen order for long - and abandons it. How else? No forces. Only the eternal power of God can always keep us ready, amid the continuous tides of temporary changes. Therefore, we must be filled with this power, ask for it and accept it according to rank - and it will lift us up and get us out of these temporary unrest.

Turn to experience and see when such self-satisfied thoughts come? When a person is in a calm state, when nothing bothers him, nothing seduces him or attracts him to sin, then he is ready for the most holy and pure life. But a little movement of passion or temptation - where are all the promises?! Doesn’t a person who leads an intemperate life often say to himself: now I won’t do it again. But the saturation of passion has passed, a new urge appears, and he again appears in sin. It’s good to talk about tolerating insults when everything goes according to our will, not contrary to pride. Here, perhaps, the feeling of insult or anger that others indulge in will seem strange. But if you happen to be in a similar position, then one look, not just a word, will drive you crazy. When the spirit is calm, one can arrogantly dream of the opportunity to lead a Christian life on one’s own, without higher help. But when the evil accumulated at the bottom of the heart stirs up like dust in the wind, then in his own experience everyone will find condemnation of his arrogance. When thought after thought, desire after desire - one worse than the other - begins to disturb the soul, then everyone will forget about himself and involuntarily cry out to the prophet: the waters have reached my soul. I'm mired in deep mud

(Ps. 68:2-3).
Oh, Lord, save me!
Oh, Lord, hurry up! (Ps. 117:25).

Doesn’t it often happen like this: someone self-confidently dreams of being in goodness. But then a person or thing was remembered, a desire was born, a passion was aroused; a person is carried away and falls into sin.

After that, all you would have to do is look at yourself and say: how bad this is! But then an opportunity for entertainment presented itself, and he was ready to forget himself again. Next, someone insulted: abuse, reproaches, condemnation began; a criminal but profitable deal turned up - he took on this too: he humiliated one, got involved with another, pushed a third out of his place - and all this after he boasted of the opportunity to behave holy himself, without much help from above. Where is the strength? – The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak

(Matt. 26:41).
You see good and do evil: when I want to do good, evil is present with me
(Rom. 7:21). We are in captivity: ransom us, Lord!

One of the first enemy misfortunes is an arrogant thought, that is, if not refusal, then the feeling that there is no need for gracious help. The enemy seems to be saying: “Don’t go there - to the light, where they want to give you some new strength! You’re good enough for me.” The person surrenders to peace. Meanwhile, the enemy will throw a stone (trouble), where he will lead you to a slippery place (deceptions of passions), where he will strew a closed trap with flowers (bright environment). Without looking back, a person strives further and further and does not realize that he is falling lower and lower, until he finally descends to the very bottom of evil - to the threshold of hell. Isn’t it necessary in this case to shout to him, like the first Adam: “Man, where are you? Where did you go? This cry is the action of grace, which forces the sinner to look at himself for the first time.

So, if you want to start living like a Christian, look for grace. The minute when grace descends and unites with your will will be the minute the Christian life is born - strong, solid, fruitful. Where to find and how to accept grace that begins life? Grace comes and sanctifies our nature in the Sacraments. Here we offer the action of God or bring our obscene nature to God - and He transforms it. In order to defeat our proud mind at the very beginning of true life, God was pleased to hide His power in simple matter. We don’t understand how this happens, but the experience of all Christianity testifies that it cannot be otherwise.

There are two sacraments, mainly related to the beginning of Christian life: Baptism and Repentance. That is why the rules about the beginning of a truly Christian life are gathered around Baptism, and others around Repentance.

How does Christian life begin in the Sacrament of Baptism?

Baptism

- this is the first Sacrament in Christianity, making a Christian person worthy to receive the gifts of grace through other Sacraments. Without it it is impossible to enter the Christian world - to become a member of the Church. The Eternal Wisdom created a home for itself on earth: the door to this house is the Sacrament of Baptism. Through this door they not only enter the house of God, but with it they dress in clothes worthy of him, receive a new name and sign, imprinted on the entire being of the person being baptized, by which both heavenly and earthly people later recognize him.

Whoever is in Christ is a new creation,

the apostle teaches (2 Cor. 5:17). The Christian becomes this new creation in Baptism. A person leaves the font completely different from how he entered it. As light is to darkness, as life is to death, so the baptized is opposite to the unbaptized. Conceived in iniquities and born in sins, a person before Baptism carries within himself all the poison of sin, with all the severity of its consequences. He is in the disfavor of God, he is by nature a child of wrath; damaged, hostile to himself. Its parts and forces are directed primarily towards increasing sin; it is subject to the influence of Satan, who acts powerfully in him because of the sin living in him. As a result of all this, after death he is inevitably doomed to hell, where he must suffer along with his prince and his brothers and servants.

Baptism frees us from all these misfortunes. It removes the oath by the power of the Cross of Christ and returns the blessing: the baptized are the children of God, as the Lord Himself gave them the power to be called and be. And if children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ

(Rom. 8:17). The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the baptized person after Baptism itself. He is removed from the dominion of Satan, who now loses his power over him and the power to act arbitrarily in him. Coming to the Church - the house of salvation - does not allow Satan to approach the newly baptized. It's like he's in a safe haven here.

All these are spiritual-external advantages and gifts. What's going on inside? Healing sinful illness and damage. The power of grace penetrates inside and restores here the Divine order in all its beauty, brings order both in the composition and relationship of forces, and in the main direction from oneself to God - towards pleasing God and multiplying good deeds. Therefore, Baptism is rebirth or new birth, bringing a person to a renewed state. The Apostle Paul compares all the baptized with the risen Savior, making it clear that they also have the same bright and renewed being as humanity appeared in the Lord Jesus, through His resurrection in glory (see: Rom. 6:4). The direction of activity in the baptized changes - this is evident from the words of the same apostle, who says in another place that they no longer lived for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again

(2 Cor. 5:15).
For if He died, He died once to sin;
and what he lives, he lives for God (Rom. 6:10).
We were buried with Him through baptism into death
(Rom. 6:4), and
our old man was crucified with Him... so that we would no longer be slaves to sin
(Rom. 6:6). Thus, by the power of Baptism, all human activity is turned from self and sin to God and truth.

The word of the apostle is remarkable: so that we may no longer be slaves to sin,

and another thing:
Sin should not dominate you
(Rom. 6:14).
The power that leads to sin in a corrupted fallen nature is not completely destroyed in Baptism, but is only brought into a state in which it has no power over us, and we do not serve it. She is in us, lives and acts, but not as a master. From now on, supremacy belongs to the grace of God and to the spirit, which consciously gives itself to it. Saint Diadochos (August 31)[2] 2
Here and below, the days of remembrance of saints are given in parentheses. Since in the calendar the lives of the saints are distributed according to the days of remembrance, the date serves as a convenient reference to the biography of the saint.

[Close], explaining the powers of Baptism, says that before it sin lives in the heart, and grace acts outside; Afterwards, grace takes root in the heart, and sin is carried away from the outside. It is expelled from the heart, like an enemy from a fortification, and settles outside, in parts of the body, from where it acts in separate raids. Therefore, he is a constant tempter, seducer, but no longer a ruler: he worries and disturbs, but does not command (Philokalia).

This is how new life is born in Baptism! What is required on the part of a person or how he reaches the point of being renewed in Baptism is depicted in the “Outline of Christian Moral Teaching,” especially in the article “The Norm of Christian Life.” This is not repeated here, because an adult approaching Baptism is the same as a sinner turning to God in repentance; and we will talk about it in detail ahead, in the second section.

Here attention is drawn to how Christian life begins through Baptism in those who are baptized as infants, as is usually the case with us. For here the beginning of the Christian life has a certain characteristic characteristic arising from the relation of grace to freedom.

You already know that grace descends if there is a free desire and quest, and that only from their combination does a new life of grace arise, corresponding to the grace and characteristics of a free creature. The Lord gives grace freely, but requires that a person seek it and willingly accept it, devoting himself entirely to God. The fulfillment of this condition in Repentance and in the Baptism of adults is obvious. But how is it fulfilled in infant baptism? The baby does not use reason and freedom, therefore, cannot fulfill the condition for the beginning of Christian life on his part, that is, the desire to devote himself to God. Meanwhile, this condition must certainly be fulfilled. Because of the manner in which this condition is fulfilled, the beginning of life, through infant baptism, is accomplished with some characteristic feature. Namely.

Grace descends on the infant soul and produces everything in it alone, just as if freedom were also involved, only on the basis that in the future this infant, unaware of himself and not acting personally, when he comes to consciousness, will willingly devote himself to God, He will voluntarily accept grace, having found its effects in himself, he will be glad that it exists, he will thank that this was done for him, and he will admit that if reason and freedom had been given to him at the moment of Baptism, he would not have acted differently and would not have wanted to would be different.

For the sake of such a future free dedication to God and the combination of freedom with grace, all Divine grace is given to the baby and, without him, produces everything in him that is characteristic of it to produce, only on the promise that the required desire and dedication to God will be undoubted - the promise that the godparents give , receivers. They guarantee to God before the Church that this baby, having regained consciousness, will use freedom exactly as required for grace, and they undertake to bring their godson to this.

Thus, through Baptism the baby receives and keeps the seed of life in Christ; but she is still, as it were, not his - she acts as a force that educates him. Spiritual life, generated by the grace of Baptism in an infant, will become his own for a person, appear in its full form, in accordance not only with grace, but also with reason from the time when he, having come to self-awareness, voluntarily devotes himself to God and with joy and With gratitude he will accept the grace-filled power found in himself. And until that time, truly Christian life operates in him, but as if without his knowledge, it is in him, but still as if not his; from the moment of consciousness and election, it becomes his own, not only grace-filled, but also free.

Because of this more or less long interval between Baptism and dedication to God, the beginning of Christian moral life through the grace of Baptism in infants expands for an indefinite time, during which the baby matures and is formed into a Christian in the Holy Church among Christians, as it was previously formed physically in mother's womb.

Strengthen yourself, reader, in this thought. We will desperately need it when determining how parents, foster children and educators should treat a baptized baby who is entrusted to them by the Holy Church and the Lord.

It goes without saying that after the baby’s baptism, a very important task lies before the parents and recipients: to guide the baptized person in such a way that, upon regaining consciousness, he realizes the grace-filled powers in himself and accepts them with joyful desire, as well as the responsibilities associated with them and the image they require. life. This raises the question of Christian education, or education according to the requirement of the grace of Baptism, in order to preserve this grace.

To make it clearer how to treat a baptized baby, we must remember that grace descends into the heart and dwells in it when it turns from sin and itself to God. For the sake of this actively manifested mood, all other gifts of grace are further given: God’s favor, salvation from the power of Satan, from the danger of being condemned to hell. When this mood of mind and heart decreases or is lost, sin immediately takes possession of the heart again, and through sin the shackles of Satan are imposed and God’s favor is taken away. Grace in the baby tames and drowns out sin, but he can come to life and rebel again if he is given food and freedom. So, all the attention of those who have the responsibility to guard the Christian child received from the font must be turned to not allowing sin to again gain power over him, in order to suppress and weaken sin in every possible way, and to excite and strengthen the movement towards God. Such a mood in a growing Christian should grow, albeit under someone else’s guidance, but independently, so that he becomes more and more accustomed to defeating sin and overcoming it for the sake of pleasing God, gets used to using the strength of spirit and body in such a way that it is not work for sin, but service to God. That this is possible is evident from the fact that the whole person who is born and baptized is a seed of the future or an earth filled with seeds. The grace of Baptism infuses a new mood not only in thoughts, but also in deeds, that is, it is also the seed of life. Just as every seed develops according to its kind, so can the seed of grace-filled life in the baptized person develop. If the seed of a conversion to God that prevails over sin is placed in it, then it can also be developed and grown, like other seeds. You just need to use effective means for this or determine an appropriate way to influence the baptized baby.