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The Holy Spirit is God

Our Church believes that the Holy Spirit is God. He is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. He is equal to the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son. This belief of our Church is based on both the Holy Scriptures and on Holy Tradition.

In the Old Testament it is mentioned that the Prophet Isaiah talked with the Holy Spirit (Isaiah, 6:1-10). This is confirmed when St. Paul says, "Well spoke the Holy Spirit by Isaiah the Prophet to our Fathers" (Acts, 28:25). A similar passage is found in the Prophet Jeremiah. And again we have the witness of St. Paul, who confirms that "the Holy Spirit" speaks (Hebrews, 10:15-17). There are many more similar passages in the Old Testament that bear witness that the Holy Spirit is God.

In the New Testament many passages bear witness. When Christ was resurrected, He said to His Disciples, "Go you and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit" (Mark, 16:15). Here the Holy Spirit is equal to the Father and to the Son. There is no doubt that He is God. Saint Peter categorically calls the Holy Spirit, "God" (Acts, 5:4). And St. Paul characteristically says, "Now the Lord is that Spirit" (II Corinthians, 3:17). In very many other places in the New Testament the Divinity of the Holy Spirit is revealed. It is not necessary, however, to mention them all here.

In opposing the heresy of Macedonios against the Holy Spirit, the Second Ecumenical Council, which took place at Constantinople in the year 381 A.D., produced the eighth article of the Creed, which states, ". . . and [I believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Giver of Life, Who proceeds from the Father, and is worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son, Who spoke through the Prophets." This is a teaching that is absolutely based on the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition. Pay attention to these words: "worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son." Who is worshipped and glorified? God. God alone. And so, since the Holy Spirit is worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son, He is also True God.

Many opposed this Orthodox belief. In the Fourth Century, it was Macedonios and his followers. They said that the Holy Spirit is not uncreated God, as is the Father and the Son. They said that He is a creation, and therefore no different from all other created beings; no created being is God, and so the Holy Spirit cannot be God. This arbitrary opinion cannot be supported by Holy Scripture or Holy Tradition.

In our times there are others who are worse than the followers of Macedonios. The Jehovah's Witnesses deny the existence of the Holy Spirit. The worst is that they call themselves students of the Holy Scriptures. Even a brief glimpse at the Holy Scriptures would show them not only the existence of the Holy Spirit but also His Divinity.

With the use of the word spirit, The Holy Scriptures frequently refer to the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son. Why? As Theodoritos the Compiler says, "To show us that the divine nature of the Three Persons is one and the same, spiritual and immaterial, unembodied and indescribable." And he adds, "Nevertheless, the Spirit is Holy, and only the Third Person is called the Holy Spirit."

There is much to be said in interpreting the many passages of the Holy Scriptures that refer to the Holy Spirit. However, it is not our intention to interpret all of these passages here. But we do find it necessary to look at a particular passage that is often misunderstood. St. Mark writes, "All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewithsoever they shall blaspheme. But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit has never forgiveness but is in danger of eternal damnation" (Mark, 3:28-29). Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin. The problem is that this passage seems to forgive blasphemy against the Son but not against the Holy Spirit. The passage can be very easily misunderstood to mean that the Holy Spirit is superior to the Son. The correct interpretation, as it is given to us by the Church Fathers, is this: blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the denial by man out of hatred of God's power to save him. Even more simply, the man who does not believe that the grace of God--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--can save him, closes his heart to the actions of the Holy Spirit; he does not accept Grace. He does not proceed to repentance. He fights against the sanctifying and saving act of God. He creates within himself a sorrowful and incurable condition.

"Heavenly King and Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who are everywhere and fill all things, come and abide in us and cleanse us from every stain and save, O Good One, our souls." Relieve every man of sorrowful incurable non-repentance and the denial of Your sanctifying and saving action. Make us aware of our shortcomings and sins. Grant us faith in the Trinitarian God, sincere repentance, a returning to You. Grant us the salvation of our Souls and that of all the world.

source: http://biserica.org/Publicatii/Catechism/catspirit.htm

The Son is God

All Orthodox Christians today believe that the Son, that is to say, Jesus Christ, is God. With a profound comprehension of soul, they repeat the words of the Creed, "I believe . . . . and in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages. Light of light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in essence with the Father, from Whom all things were made."

Orthodox Christians believe quite correctly. Their belief is supported by Holy Scripture. John the Evangelist tells us, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God." In this way he calls the Son and the Word of God, God. He further informs us that the Son and Word of God existed from the Beginning, that is, before Creation, before Time. He always existed, together with the Father. He was and is inseparable from God the Father. And He is Perfectly God. St. Paul complements this by saying, "Great is the mystery of godliness--God appeared in the flesh." How? By the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son, Jesus Christ. Elsewhere, St. Paul calls Christ Lord and God, Great God, Blessed God. But first St. Thomas, after Christ's Resurrection, had called Christ, "My Lord and my God."

In other places in Holy Scripture, the same Divine attributes are ascribed to Christ that are also ascribed to the Father. He is called The One Who Existed Before All Time, the All-mighty, the All-Knowing, Equal to the Father, Creator of the World.

From what we have said, from the Creed and Holy Scriptures, it becomes very clear that the Son is Perfect God as is the Father. Christ Himself teaches that "All must honour and worship the Son as they do the Father. He who does not revere the Son, does not revere the Father." In other words, he who denies the divinity of the Son, denies the divinity of the Father and, therefore, is an unbeliever.

What we have said above is the Orthodox faith. However, there are heretics. Sadly, the heretics who deny the divinity of Christ insist that they are supported in their heresy by Holy Scripture. They are the Arians of the period of the First Ecumenical Council, the Jehovah Witnesses of today, and certain Protestants.

Let us see how and why they are mistaken. In the Gospel of St. John, at the Lord's Supper, Christ says, "My Father is greater than I." What does this mean? According to the heretics it means that since Christ regards the Father as greater than Himself, He therefore is not equal to the Father and truly God. But these words of Christ refer to His human nature and not to His divine nature. As a man, Christ cannot really be equal to the Father. He is Perfect Man, but no man, no matter how perfect he may be, can be God. What we should keep in mind is that while the Son became man and took "the form of a servant," He did not cease to be God, to remain always "in the bosom of the Father." Never did He cease to be Perfect God. The real meaning of the above words of Christ, "My Father is greater than I," is that He is greater than I because you see Me now as a human being in the form of a servant; however, I remain God "in the bosom of the Father," but I will return to the Father also as human. At that time, My human nature will be granted unlimited glory.

Another passage of the New Testament that is misinterpreted by the heretics to support their deceptions is the discussion that Christ had with the wealthy young man. The young man called Him "Good Teacher," and Christ replied, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except One, that is God." Heretics ask how could the Son, Jesus Christ, be God since when the wealthy young man's question was directed to Him, He Himself accepted by His answer that He was not good, but that only God was good? Here we find again the same misinterpretation. Why? Most simply, because Christ knows that the young man sees Him as strictly human and nothing more. It is as if He were saying to the young man: "Yes, you want to seem to be clever, but at least have some respect for yourself. You know that the Perfect Good is God, and therefore you do not believe in what you are saying." Here once more Christ regards Himself as human in comparison with God, because that is how the young man perceives Him, as human only. The interpretation given by St. John Chrysostom of this passage is quite interesting, and so we will present it here. St. John Chrysostom writes, "Attend more to the Lord's answer." He did not say "No one is good except One, the Father," but rather, "No one is good except One, God." He said this so that we might understand that He is God and the Son of God, equal to and as good as God the Father." Consequently, the Lord as God is unlimited Good, All-good, as is the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Lord Jesus Christ, You were and are True God, God always "in the bosom of the Father" before all ages. You accepted and received the form of a servant. You became man for our salvation and You humbled Yourself all the way to the Cross and death without ever ceasing to be the Perfect God. With all of the ways in which You endured and suffered for us, show Your compassion still and Your unlimited Love and Mercy for mankind, Your Creation. Do not forsake us who believe in You and bear Your witness. Lead us near to You. Elevate us spiritually daily. Forgive those who deny You and blaspheme You. Enlighten them to recognize You. To live and to feel the warmth of Your Love and everlasting happiness. Condemn no one. Save Your people, O Lord.

source: http://biserica.org/Publicatii/Catechism/catson.htm

God the Father

We all know that God is called Father. It will serve us well to look at a few of the passages from the Holy Scriptures where God is called Father.

In the Old Testament the psalmist says, "As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him." In another place he says again, "Father of orphans and judge of widows."

In the New Testament St. Paul says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." When His Disciples asked Christ Himself to teach them how to pray, He taught them "Our Father Who art in Heaven . . . ," and in this way He calls God Father. Again we find in the Gospel of St. John, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have ever-lasting life."

Although there exist many other passages in the Holy Scriptures that call God the Father, those that we have referred to are sufficient to convince every well-intentioned listener.

However, at this point we must clarify something. God is called Father in two senses: the moral and the doctrinal sense. God is the Father of all of us in a moral sense and meaning. This is how He is presented in the Lord's Prayer, in the parable of the Prodigal Son, and in many other places in the Old and in the New Testaments. He is a Father with infinite love for His creatures. A Father Who sends the sun and the rain and all His other gifts to all people. A Father Who always receives with open arms all sinners; those who have taken the wrong path; even criminals, as long as they repent. He is our Father, our Creator, and our Protector. He accepts us when we repent and reinstates us in our former glory. He is our Father because He intends us to be heirs of His Own Kingdom. For all of these reasons, He is our Father. But all of us, and the angels, too, are children of God "by grace."

This does not apply to Christ. He is not the Son of God "by grace;" He is the Son of God "by nature." He is the Son of God by His nature and substance before all ages. In many instances when Christ speaks about God as Father, He makes this same distinction. In order to understand this beyond any doubt, we have only to remember what He said to Mary Magdalene after His Resurrection: "Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, `I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God and to your God.'" He did not say, I am ascending to our Father; He made the distinction. In order to avoid the error of thinking that this distinction is not important, let us point out that it was because Jesus called God His Father in a distinct and separate sense that the Pharisees sought to condemn Him. John the Evangelist says it clearly. He says that they sought to kill Him because He called God His own Father and made Himself equal to God. The Pharisees understood correctly what He was saying, but they did not want to believe it. They forgot and did not want to hear about the voice of God that was heard at Epiphany and at the Transfiguration, when, in a sense entirely distinguishing Him from others, God called Jesus Christ "His beloved Son in Whom He was well pleased."

Unfortunately, there are people today who speak very irresponsibly, having personal benefit for themselves as their standard and aim. At least they think so; actually they are working for the benefit of Satan. They are people--yes, they are Protestant Christians--who assert that they can call God Mother. This has grown out of the feminist movement, and it has no bearing upon theology or religion. We cannot find God called "Mother" anywhere in Holy Scripture or in the writings of the Holy Fathers. Those who persist in this are deceived by Satan, and they are deceiving themselves and others. They would do well to study Holy Scripture and examine their deception. By remaining deceived, they act diabolically and their reward will be eternal damnation.

Our Heavenly Father, You know that we are Your children by Grace. We do not claim to be Your children by our nature. Only our Saviour, Christ, is Your Son by nature. We fervently beseech You: accept us as the Prodigal, as the Thief, as the Tax- Collector. As Peter, who denied You. Open the eyes of our mind and soul to acknowledge You as our Father by Grace and the Father of Christ by nature. Give us Your Grace abundantly, not only to acknowledge You as our Father by Grace, but also to act as Your true children and as brothers among ourselves. You have destined us to be heirs of Your Kingdom; help us to inherit it. We wish it. We seek it. We desire it. If our path is not straight, it is because Satan deceives us. Our evil self is drawn toward sin, but, Father, we do not want this to happen. We want Salvation. Save us, through Jesus Christ, our Deliverer and Saviour.

source: http://biserica.org/Publicatii/Catechism/catfather.htm

Serving Doesn't Have to be Excotic

As I sit in my humble office at the headquarters at FOCUS North America, I reflect on what it means to serve.

When I was young, it was always my dream to go overseas and serve the poor and needy. It seems that we are always inundated with images of the need overseas and a call of action to remedy it. It is great to be informed of the need overseas and have a desire to help. However, it is easy to get the idea that serving has to be an exotic adventure to a foreign land.

I was blessed to have been able to spend a total of 12 months in Ukraine and a couple of weeks in Romania. A few months ago, I felt like I wanted to do even more overseas traveling. However, certain circumstances prevented me from going overseas again.

Through my disappointment, God introduced me to FOCUS North America and the need in America. It was almost like a veil had been lifted from my eyes. I had always been vaguely aware of the need around me but never really took any initiative to participate in alleviating it. Now, I know that by volunteering with FOCUS North America and Reconciliation Services,one of its partner ministries, I can make a difference in some way in the lives of people in America.

I have also become more aware of the different levels of serving. Right now, my main work is office work like entering donors in the data base, research, and the average office tasks. However, this is still a form of serving. By helping Fr. Justin with the basic office tasks, I am freeing his time up to do the more important tasks of getting this ministry off the ground. When I can, I am also helping out with Reconciliation Services and their work of actively helping the poor and the needy. My volunteer office work is also helping the poor and needy because FOCUS North America can put the money that may have paid someone to do office work directly towards helping people.

In service work, all work is important. We must never get discouraged because we can't do “great things”. Any work, whether it is volunteering to sweep floors or taking out the trash, is a vital service. God looks at the heart and anything and everything that is done through love as unto Him is real service.

However, “love” is the key word when it comes to service. Service without love is nothing. The old adage, “Charity begins at home” is most definitely true. People need to learn how to first serve their family and the people with whom they interact on a daily basis first. If we can't show love and humility towards these people, how are we going to show love and humility to the “least of these”?

I encourage you to look around you and find a way to serve someone today even if that someone is a co-worker who gets on your nerves. After that, go deeper and find out whom you can serve in your community. And, yes, one person doing one small thing does makes a difference in this world and in the spiritual realm as well.

source: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/note.php?note_id=91145230731&ref=nf

Some attributes of the Holy Spirit

As we previously observed, it is difficult for us to understand the Holy Trinity completely. However, it is necessary to say certain things about the Holy Trinity and about the special attributes of the three Persons.

The first thing to keep in mind is that the Holy Trinity is always united. Christ in His high priestly prayer prayed for the unity of the world and gave us an example and a model: He said, "That they may be one, even as We are One" (John, 17:22). What does We mean? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Three Persons of the Holy Trinity.

And what does this mean? Is it possible that the three Persons are really the same Person and that Person presents Himself, appropriately to the situation, as the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit? No. The Holy Trinity is one in essence and inseparable, one undivided Being. It is of one substance. The three Persons are undivided, but distinct. We must not confuse Them or separate Them. They co-inhere in one another; that is to say, One fits inside the Other. The Father fits in and is always inside the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Son fits in and is always inside the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit fits in and is always inside the Father and the Son. Can the human mind grasp this? No. That is why we previously said that there are things "beyond logic," above our own logic. However, just because it is beyond logic and above our own mental capacities does not mean that what has been revealed to us by God is not true. It is precisely as God has revealed it to us, because He alone knows Himself. This is seen more clearly in the words of Christ, when He said, "He that has seen Me has seen the Father. . . . I am in the Father and the Father in Me" (John, 14:9-10).

Although this is the way things are, there are nevertheless certain individual qualities of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. The Father is unborn. The Son is born of the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The Father is the beginning, but the Son is co-existent and the Holy Spirit, also. In other words, the Father did not exist before the Son and the Holy Spirit, nor is the Father superior to the other two Persons of the Holy Trinity. The three Persons are equal. This is all very difficult to comprehend with human rationality. St. John of Damascus manages to explain matters. He says that because the Son is born of the Father does not mean that He is separate, as the light is not separated from the fire. The fire gives birth to light simultaneously. That is why we cannot say that the fire existed before the light. The Son is born of the Father but simultaneously and eternally and is never separate. The same is true of the Holy Spirit, proceeding from the Father but simultaneously and eternally and never separated.

Let us pay attention also to this. When we say that the substance of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity is the same, we do not mean that this substance is divided. It is not cut up into three pieces, for each Person to take one piece. No. The Father is infinite, and He has all of the infinite divine substance. And the Son is infinite and has all of the infinite divine substance. And the Holy Spirit is infinite and has all of the infinite divine substance. We cannot say that the substance of the Father exists up to a certain point and that it ends there; and that from there begins the substance of the Son; and that from where the substance of the Son ends, there begins the substance of the Holy Spirit. No. That would all be heresy. Wherever the substance of the Father exists [i.e., everywhere] there exists the substance of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Wherever the Father exists [everywhere], there exists the Son and the Holy Spirit, and vice-versa. Wherever the Son exists [everywhere], the Father and the Holy Spirit exist. Wherever the Holy Spirit exists [everywhere], there exist the Father and the Son.

Such are the particular characteristics of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity. The Father is without beginning and is the beginning. The Son is co-existent with the Father, as we have previously explained, but is born of the Father simultaneously and eternally. The Holy Spirit is co-existent with the Father, but proceeds from the Father simultaneously and eternally.

Here we have to add that the Holy Spirit proceeds only from the Father, not "and from the Son" as the Roman Catholics and the Protestants say. Christ has told us this: "The Spirit of Truth that proceeds from the Father" (John, 15-26). And so the Second Ecumenical Council decreed, "[I believe in] the Holy Spirit . . . Who proceeds from the Father." The Third Ecumenical Council decreed that no one can add or delete anything from the Creed. Pope Leo III had the Creed engraved on silver plates without the addition "and from the son," and at the bottom he added, "Let him be anathematized who adds even a small jot to this Creed." However, the Roman Catholics and Protestants added "and from the Son" to the Creed, contrary to the teaching of Christ and the decision of the Second Ecumenical Council and the anathema of Pope Leo III. But they will return to the Orthodox faith.

Father without beginning, Son co-existent, born of the Father, Holy Spirit co-existent and proceeding from the Father, Trinity of One Essence, Undivided, United, Inseparable, and Distinct, hear our prayer and the groaning of our souls. Keep us in our Orthodox faith. Have those who have adulterated our faith recover and return. Make them accept the complete teaching of the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition. Have them follow the infallible decisions of the Ecumenical Councils. Make all people become one flock under One Shepherd, Christ. Have us be one as You are, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, One True God.

source: http://biserica.org/Publicatii/Catechism/catsome.htm

St Andrew the Fool-for-Christ - October 15th (Oct.2nd old calendar)

A rich man named Theognostus, was serving as a bodyguard in Constantinople under the Emperor Leo the Great (886-912). Among his slaves there was Andrew, a Slav by birth. He was a calm and kindhearted young man. Theognostus liked him and took care of his education. Andrew frequented the church of God, studied the Scriptures diligently and liked to read the lives of Saints. Gradually the desire to devote himself totally to God grew stronger in him and following a sign from above he took upon himself a very difficult and unusual ascetic feat of fool-for-Christ, that is he started acting as if he was insane.

Acting insane, Andrew was brought to the Saint Anastasia church to be taken care of. Saint martyr Anastasia appeared to him in a dream and encouraged him to continue his ascetic feat. So Andrew was faking madness to the extent that he was regarded hopelessly insane and they drove him away from the territory of the church. After that Saint Andrew lived in the streets of the capital going around hungry and half-naked. Most people shunned him, some would mock and beat him up. Even the beggars to whom he gave his last coins would despise him. But Saint Andrew endured all his sufferings humbly and was praying for those who hurt him.

Yet, it was not always that Andrew pretended to be insane; talking to his spiritual father or to his disciple - a wealthy young man Epiphanus - Saint Andrew would remove the mask of folly, and then his holy wisdom and extraordinary spiritual beauty would be revealed. For the life of deepest humbleness and spiritual purity, God endowed Saint Andrew with the gifts of discernment and prophecy. Epiphanus learned a lot from his saint fool-for-Christ teacher who also predicted that with time Epiphanus would become an Archbishop and a famous preacher. The prophecy came true.

Once Saint Andrew, like the Supreme Apostle Paul, was taken to the third Sky and heard the unspoken words there that cannot be heard by people (1Cor. 2:9). There he had the honor of seeing Lord Jesus Christ himself, angels and many Holy Saints, yet he was surprised not to see the Most Holy Virgin. He asked where She was and they told him that She went down to the world of many sufferings to help people and to console those in sorrow.

Some time later Saint Andrew was also blessed with the vision of Most Holy Theotokos in the Vlahern church of Constantinople. This significant event of Her appearance is commemorated during the feast of the Protection of Holy Theotokos. When Saint Andrew and Epiphanus were praying in church, all of a sudden the dome of the church seemed to be opened and Saint Andrew saw the Holy Virgin surrounded by many angels and Saints. She was praying and extending Her homophor over those in prayer. "Do you see the Sovereign Lady of all?" - Andrew asked his disciple as if he could not believe his eyes. "I do, holy father and I am awed" - said Epiphanus.

Andrew, the fool-for-Christ, went into rest at the age of 66 in the year 936. His life was described by the presbyter of Saint Sofia church, who was a spiritual father to Saint Andrew and his disciple Epiphanus.

Ref: http://www.fatheralexander.org