Sin, according to the scriptures is “lawlessness” and “wrongdoing” (1 Jn 3:4, 5:17). To do wrong and to be unrighteous is to sin. In the Greek language the word sin originally meant “missing the mark,” that is, moving in the wrong direction, toward the wrong aims and goals. It means choosing and going in the way of death, and not the way of life.
Man, according to the scriptures, is created “in the likeness of God” (Gen 1:26-27). To be like God, through the gift of God, is the essence of man’s being and life. In the scriptures it says that God breathed into man, the “breath [or spirit] of life” (Gen 2:7). This divine teaching has given rise to the understanding in the Orthodox Church that man
A person can abide in Christ, accomplish His: commandments and be in communion with God the Father only by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in his life. Spiritual life is life in and by the Holy Spirit of God. If you love me (says Christ), you will keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give
Christian spirituality is centered in Christ. Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God who was born as a man of the Virgin Mary in order to give man eternal life in communion with God His Father. In Jesus Christ “the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily” (Col 2:9). In Him is the “fulness” of “grace and truth” (Jn 1:16-17) and “all
Christian spirituality is centered in God; in fact, its very goal is communion with God, which is attainable through the accomplishment of His will. To be what God wants us to be and to do what God want us to do is the sole meaning of our human existence. The fulfillment of the prayer “Thy will be done” is the heart and soul of
Spirituality in the Orthodox Church means the everyday activity of life in communion with God. The term spirituality refers not merely to the activity of man’s spirit alone, his mind, heart and soul, but it refers as well to the whole of man’s life as inspired and guided by the Spirit of God. Every act of a Christian must be a spiritual act. Every
