Contents:

Introduction.

Prologue of the Epistle. Salutation and intention to visit Rome. Essence of the message.

Outline of the Christian faith. All people are sinners and subject to God's judgement. Sinfulness of the heathen. God is just. Sinfulness of the Jews. Conclusion: All are guilty.

Salvation only in Christ. Necessity of faith. Abraham — forefather of the faithful. Justification through Christ's blood. From Adam — death; from Christ — life.

Power of Christ's grace. Rejuvenating power of Baptism. From slavery to a new life. Internal conflicts. Life in the Holy Spirit. Joy of sonship. Forthcoming glory. God's love — everything for us.

The call to Israel. God's Providence in the fate of nations. Israel's calamity — its unbelief. Future conversion of Israel.

Essence of a Christian life. Utilisation of Christian talents. Obeying the civil authorities. Love is most important. Living in harmony. Christ — an example of tolerance.

Wishes and greetings. The need to retain the purity of faith.

Conclusion.

Among the many holy books of the New Testament, the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans occupies a special place: not one book of the Holy Gospel deliberates so deeply and in such detail on the fundamentals of Christianity as does this epistle.

The combination of extraordinary talents of Saint Paul made his work an invaluable document on Christian teachings. His work reflects a deep knowledge of the Old Testament, an extensive education, enormous oratorical experience, and literary talent. Consequently, his Epistle to the Romans always commanded special attention — in ancient times it was called the "second Testament" — not only by the ordinary faithful but also by thinker-philosophers. That is why it is thought that this particular work is placed first in the Scriptures authored by Saint Paul, ahead of all his other epistles.

As can be seen in the contents of the epistle, Saint Paul endeavoured on many occasions to preach Christ's teachings in the famous and mighty capital city of Rome but was confronted with various obstacles. At this time Rome had a significant community of Christians. It contained not only Jews that had converted to Christianity but also Romans. The circumstances surrounding the formation of this community are not quite clear. It is known that even before the birth of Christ, there were many Jews residing in Rome that used to undertake pilgrimages to Jerusalem for important holy days. Having visited Jerusalem during Christ's presence there, they could not have failed to hear about His miracles and His new, inspirational teachings. Therefore, it is quite possible that the first seeds of Christianity were carried to Rome during the lifetime of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Book of Acts of the holy Apostles relates that on Pentecost, in 33 A.D., among the many witnesses to the miraculous descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles were pilgrims from Rome (Acts 2:10). Reacting to the astonishing miracle of the descent of the Holy Spirit and the fervent sermon by the Apostle Peter, nearly 3,000 people were baptized that day, and another 5,000, a few days later. Thus, right from the beginning, the spread of Christianity was on a grand scale, sending its roots into neighbouring countries — Syria, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Greece, Egypt, and so forth. This spread was not only because of the sermons of the Apostles but also due to the newly christened pilgrims, returning home and recounting the wonderful, new faith. According to Acts, we know that it was indeed in this way that the Christian faith was introduced into Antioch (Acts 11:26). It is also possible that it was in this way that Christianity entered Rome. From the greetings found at the end of the Epistle to the Romans, it can be seen that the Apostle Paul personally knew many Roman Christians, whom he met in Jerusalem during his frequent visits there.

In the first century after the birth of Christ, there were over 50,000 Jews living in Rome, and there were eleven synagogues. The initial Christian community was made up exclusively of Jews. However, over the next few decades the number of converted Romans soon began to outnumber those of Jewish Christians. At the beginning, both the Romans and the Jews lived in harmony, praying and partaking of the Sacraments together. In the middle of the decade, tensions on ethnic grounds began to appear between the two groups. Jealous of Christianity's success, non-believing Jews began to stir up their converted brothers to reject the heathen that had become Christians, on the basis that they were unclean and unworthy to receive the blessings promised by their forefathers. Their intrigues proved to be successful: in mid-decade Emperor Claudius quelled the ensuing religious confrontations by banishing many Jews from Rome (in the years 41-54 A.D.). After this, these conflicts subsided. However, in his Epistle to the Romans, one feels Saint Paul's deep concern for the Judeo-Christian problem. Totally conversant with the Old Testament, Saint Paul both assists the reader to realise the roots of Christianity in it and also shows that to God genuine faith is more important than biological origins.

This epistle was written around 59 A.D. in the city of Corinth, during the Apostle's third missionary journey. After his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Saint Paul was hoping to visit Rome and assist in strengthening the Christian community there. Indeed, at long last in the summer of 62 A.D. — after some big unpleasantness in Jerusalem as described in the Book of Acts (chs. 21-28) — Saint Paul was able to visit Rome. Apparently after this, the Apostle Peter also visited Rome. Some years later (around 67 A.D.), they again went back to Rome, where they met their martyr's deaths at the hands of Emperor Nero.

The basic concept of the Epistle to the Romans is that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Saviour of a sinful mankind. Essentially, neither conscience, nor fear of eternal punishment, nor the beautiful, God-inspired sermons of the Prophets could liberate man from his main affliction — sin. Sin split our nature in two. Having a God-like soul, every person instinctively reaches out toward God, but sin overcomes us and forces us to do that which we don't want to do. The reason that people die, even youths and innocent infants, is because of the sinful nature of man. In essence, Paradise and eternal life is inaccessible not only to the heathen but also to Jews that attempt to live according to the law of Moses. However, our merciful God found a path toward salvation for people: He sent into the world His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who redeemed our sins with His death and through His Resurrection opened the path for us toward the Kingdom of Heaven. Now every human, whether he is Jew or gentile, can receive forgiveness for his sins and divine help, purely from his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and not because of some personal accomplishments. In every person, the turning point from sin to a righteous life is Baptism. In this Mystery, the faithful individual is cleansed of his sinful blemishes, is liberated from his slavery to passions, and receives spiritual strength. From a guilty sinner, he becomes a son of God by grace and an heir to the Realm of glory. This work of salvation is so great and marvellous that all other things are truly petty.

The second part of the epistle (chs. 12-15) is dedicated to enunciating the basic nature of Christian living. The Apostle calls for Christians to display the high ideals of the Christian faith in their lives and to apply their spiritual gifts towards the common good.

In the fourth chapter, the Apostle shows Abraham as an example of faith, while in the ninth and eleventh chapters, Saint Paul examines the spiritual problems of non-believing Israel. Although these topics may be out of date, they nevertheless are important in our time because they assist in understanding the basic precepts of the Christian faith, whose roots go back to the Old Testament.

In the Epistle to the Romans the reader will find exceptionally deep thoughts on a range of spiritual questions that can not be found in any other sections of the New Testament, such as original sin and the moral damage to human nature, the power of the voice of conscience, the meaning of faith and of salvation, the rejuvenating properties of the Mystery of Baptism, the power of Christ's grace, the rejuvenation of the whole of nature, the importance of Israel in the history of mankind, and others.

In the epistle the reader may encounter a few passages that are difficult to understand. These difficulties arise because of the depth of the subject matter, because of their contracted depictions, and because of the richness of the Greek language in which the epistle was written. Even the Apostle Peter noticed in some of Apostle Paul's epistles, "things, in which are some things hard to understand" (2 Peter 3:16). No single translation can meet the demands of accuracy of the written word and an ease of understanding at the same time. For example, the Church Slavonic translation is outstanding in its verbatim accuracy, but it is difficult to comprehend. The Russian translation is much easier to read but is not as accurate.

Apart from the original Greek text and the translation of the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, some English translations were utilised in the preparation of this booklet, as were the major work of Theophane the Recluse (which incorporates opinions of the holy fathers of the Church), the "Interpreted Bible" of Professor A.P. Lopukhin and his associates, and several contemporary studies.

(1:1-17).

Salutation and Intention to Visit Rome

(1:1-15).

The Apostle Paul's salutation was written in accordance with established guidelines that required the author to inform the reader about himself and the substance of his letter:

In order to calm the fears of the Roman Jews concerning the truth of the proffered teachings, the Apostle explains that he is not expressing a new teaching but is elucidating that which has been written by the ancient Prophets.

As Rome was a legislative and administrative center that attracted all the governmental functions of a broad and powerful empire, the identity of a Christian community in it was extremely important for the success of Christianity. That is why Saint Paul was intense in his desire to especially assist the strengthening of the Christian faith in Rome. However, as he was unable to go there immediately, the Apostle wants to at least participate in this activity through the written word.

(1:16-17).

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith' (1:16-17).

While Rome was acclaimed for its political power, military might and earthly riches, Saint Paul was not ashamed of his preaching about Christ crucified. All the material riches of the heathen world are contemptible and insignificant: No physical power is capable of plucking a person from the slavery of sin and the destiny of death. Only the evangelical sermon conveys to people the invincible might of God, which rejuvenates and elevates humanity into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Further in the epistle, the Apostle shifts toward enunciating the teachings of the Scripture in the following order: a) All humans are guilty of sin and are therefore subject to God's judgement and predestined death (1:18-3:30). b) Salvation comes only through faith in Jesus Christ (3:21-5:21). c) Faith provides the access to Divine help and righteous living (6:1-8:39). After some lengthy insertions where the Apostle discusses the problems of Israel's lack of faith (9:1-11:36), he concludes his epistle with an outline of the essence of Christian living (chs. 12-16).

(1:18-8:3911:36).

The reader of Holy Scripture has to get used to the biblical form of expression. The contemporary individual is accustomed to the purported "scientific" method, in which the themes are described in a logically sequential manner. As one issue is concluded, another one flowing from it commences. In scientific literature, a thought must flow in a direct line.

This method is dry, lifeless, and is not suitable for expressing deep religious-psychological topics, in which every revelation is intimately interwoven with a range of other revelations in which an immediate spiritual acceptance is needed rather than an impossible scientific substantiation. Here, a strict "pigeon-hole" classification is not only impossible but is not needed. The Bible in general, and part of Saint Paul's epistle, develops a number of themes simultaneously that are connected centrally with one another. The author explains the relationships among the spiritual events from different perspectives, progressing from one level to another. He does not travel along established norms but rather elevates the reader along a climbing ladder.

Before offering the reader a treatment, the Apostle establishes a diagnosis of the moral ailment common to everyone.

(1:18-3:20).

Sin is not simply an impediment of the will, an error, or a temporary weakness: it is a frightening moral sickness that has poisoned our human nature. All the evils of the world are from sin — forfeiture of moral freedom and the loss of the happiness derived through communion with God. Sin produces all types of physical and spiritual illnesses, ease in inclination toward sin, and diminished ability toward creating good. Sin breaks the harmony between the physical and spiritual forces of a person, resulting in turmoil in family and societal lives, emergence of injustice, mutual vexation, lies, crime, rape, and wars that produced poverty and starvation. Sin is the prime reason for our main misfortune — death, which inexorably destroys all the joyous wishes and noble aspirations of a human being!

The Apostle Paul opens his epistle with an outline of humanity's moral decay. He shows that everyone has sinned. Neither the voice of conscience nor nature's marvellous arrangement (which bears witness to the Creator) nor the written law given to Moses by God nor anything else could spiritually rejuvenate humanity. Everyone — the gentiles and the Jews — were immersed in sin and therefore foreign to God and destined to perish.

(1:18-32).

The Apostle explains that in principle every person — including one who does not have an extensive knowledge of God's teachings — instinctively acknowledges that there is a God, that there is a spiritual world, that some acts are correct while others are sinful. This innate spirituality occurs because God etched His law, which reveals itself through the voice of one's conscience, into each soul. According to God's plan, every human being by nature should aspire towards good. However, in reality the majority of people sin, ignoring the voice of their conscience. In turning away from their Creator, people have strayed into various superstitions and submitted themselves to the pursuit of base and bestial pleasures. And there are consequences:

In principle, all people are capable of knowing God and believing in Him correctly. In examining nature's wonderful arrangement, its grandeur, harmony, and beauty, they cannot but conclude that the omnipotence, wisdom, and generosity of its Creator are real. After all, people in everyday life make judgements on the skills of a master according to the quality of his creation. Nevertheless, instead of trying to find God and to give thanks to Him, they have committed themselves to earthly cares. Pursuing earthly ambitions and physical pleasures, they have reached such a state of irrationality that instead of worshipping God, they are deifying the powers of nature and various monstrosities; and because of their lack of mental illumination, they have immersed themselves deeper into moral decay.

As an example of the depravity of the heathen, the Apostle cites the sin of homosexuality. He explains that this sin is especially repulsive because it goes against nature and is the consequence of extreme sexual depravity. In defiling their bodies, homosexuals reap within themselves their own punishment for their lust: gnawing conscience, internal turmoil and animosity. While in this day and age some people are trying to excuse and legalize this practice and the massive resources of the media are teaching the youth to look upon it as fully normal, it is very important to understand the Apostle's condemnation of the sin of homosexuality. It is bad enough when people sin, but it is worse when they try to justify their sin: "For the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."

If we accept the Apostle's cited reasoning that an incorrect arrangement of thoughts propels a person toward sinful acts, then it follows that the knowledge of God and good thoughts will promote his moral recuperation. That is why it is important to seriously commence the practice of spiritual self-education. Then our internal light will illuminate our earthly path and everything around us (Matthew 5:14-16).

(2:1-16).

Exposing the sinfulness of heathen society, the Apostle is quick to warn the Jews of the temptation to judge. He shows that the degree of guilt before God of one person or another is measured not only by the acts themselves but also by the advantages granted to that person. In general, the Jews knew God's laws better and were more ethical than the heathen, and this gave them the motive to look upon the latter with contempt. The Apostle calls upon the Jews to realize that the demands on them will be more stringent because God had moved them closer to Himself: He gave them His Divine law, His Church, Church services and religious holidays, sent them His prophets, and did everything necessary for their moral improvement. On the other hand, the heathen were left to their own devices. They had no inner motive toward righteous living. Nonetheless, some of the heathen acted in a more moral way than the Jews. In the absence of an external law, they were governed by their internal precept — the voice of their conscience.

In creating man, God etched a moral law into his heart, which prompts through the voice of his conscience what is good and what is evil. Had man remained in his initial, innocent state, then this internal moral law would have been sufficient to manage his life. However, because of the sin-inflicted damage, his moral consciousness was clouded, bringing about the need for a written law that is concrete and in a more distinct form to add to the inner law, which would direct him how to act correctly. It was for this purpose that God gave the Jews their laws, which are written in the Holy Scriptures. In essence, these laws that were revealed by God carry the same teachings as those that are imparted by the voice of his conscience. At the same time, inasmuch as the laws of God express His will with absolute clarity and preciseness, their contravention is manifested as an inexcusable violation of the Creator's will. That is why in comparison, those Jews that knowingly violated God's will deserve greater punishment than those that sin through ignorance.

On the other hand, as God's laws demanded significant moral excellence and, consequently, extensive endeavours, the Jews who succeeded in living righteously expected a great reward in comparison to the heathen who lived by their primitive and undemanding simple inclinations.

Just as a reward may be internal or external, so can punishment. In doing good or fulfilling his moral obligations, a person feels an inner satisfaction, an especial serenity and joy. This is his inner reward — a threshold of the joyous life that he will receive in the Kingdom of Heaven. Similarly, a person indulging in sin will reap his inner punishment through a gnawing conscience, a heavy feeling, disturbances, and sorrows that invariably follow the violation of God-established norms. Once again, the wilful transgression of the written law is regarded as a greater sin than the violation of the dictates of one's conscience. That is why it carries with it great inner sufferings. However, the sinner will receive the full punishment for his sins on God's Judgement Day. If justice is often infringed in this world, in the next it will triumph and each person will receive according to his works. This idea is repeated by the Apostle on a number of occasions: "For there is no partiality with God."

In our analysis of the second chapter of the epistle, we find some very valuable thoughts concerning salvation. Some people think that only those belonging to their faith will be saved, while everybody else that has deviated will perish. For example, Roman Catholics have thought that only Roman Catholics will be saved; Baptists, only Baptists; and so forth. In order to resolve this matter, it has to be understood that here, salvation must be seen as deliverance from eternal condemnation, which is not the same as enjoying different levels of Heavenly bliss. Correct faith and Divine gifts granted by the true Church provide an opportunity for the Christian to attain high levels of spiritual perfection, and through this, a greater nearness to God, and consequently, greater joy. Regarding the salvation in the sense of pardon and deliverance from the agony of Hell, it is evident in the following teaching from Saint Paul that even the heathen, although having no manifest understanding of God but nonetheless acting according to the dictates of their conscience, can be saved: "For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them" (2:14-15).

When a person has acted correctly, he receives approval from his conscience and his mind. When a person has acted incorrectly, he is rebuked by his conscience, and try as he may to justify his act through circumstances, logic, or weakness, he is unable either to convince his conscience of this or force it to keep silent. However, it is true that through repetitive sinning a person's conscience becomes deadened and mute. That is why it would appear that with hardened criminals there is a complete absence of a conscience. In reality they too have a conscience, only in a suppressed state. When God exposes the inner status of every human being on Judgement Day, everyone's conscience will awaken with renewed strength and censure him throughout eternity. Apparently it is this manifestation of the conscience on Judgement Day that the Apostle had in mind when he says: "In the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my Gospel" (2:16).

(2:17-3:8).

In his epistle, Apostle Paul separates humanity into Jews and Hellenes, a term which presumably includes all non-Jews. This separation of mankind into two categories was justified because of the particular situation of the Jewish people in times of the Old Testament. Just as individuals differ from one another in their specific qualities and talents, so are people different among themselves through their nationalistic individualities: For example, some stand out by their discipline and martial character; others, by their generosity and hospitality or their music and romanticism; and still others by their disposition toward the philosophical and precise sciences. Some people established great empires that determined the fate of their neighbouring peoples, while, on the contrary, others entered into history inconspicuously and vanished without a trace.

From very ancient times, the Jewish people were outstanding in their religious fervour. Apparently, because of their special innate spiritual awareness, God selected the Jewish people and predetermined them to be His instrument for the salvation of all other peoples. As mentioned in Genesis and other historical books of the Bible, while the neighbouring heathen peoples were sinking in superstition and every possible form of iniquity, the Jews were honouring one true God, Creator of Heaven and earth. From the midst of the Jews there emerged such great, righteous individuals of ancient times as Abraham, the prophet Moses, King David, and the prophets Elijah, Isaiah, and Daniel. Indeed, these were righteous human beings that prepared the spiritual ground for the coming of Christ the Saviour into the world. Also from among the Jewish people came the Mother of Christ the Saviour — the Blessed Virgin Mary — as well as the prophet John the Baptist, the Apostles, the first Evangelists, the first martyrs and the first Saints. Undoubtedly, God bestowed a mission upon the Jewish people to rejuvenate mankind's morality.

Of course, every person represents a personal, distinctive, and sometimes very complicated world. Every person is free to direct his talents toward good or toward evil, develop or "bury" them. In one and the same family there could be a child who could become an educated genius while his blood brother, a useless loafer. Similarly, while the Jewish people had enormously righteous people among them, they also had hypocrites, criminals, and even those who fought God. Nevertheless, over their lengthy history, the prophets ceaselessly reminded their countrymen about their high calling and demanded that they live righteously. However, many Jews mistakenly accepted their calling as an unconditional selection, ignoring their moral obligations and responsibilities before God. Consequently, many of them developed a high opinion of themselves and contempt for other "unclean" people. The Apostle Paul repeatedly espouses (in this and other epistles) the thought that without faith and chaste living, outer advantages will not only receive no reward from God, but, on the contrary, will also incur His just wrath. The Apostle writes:

Such a stern accusation could only be expected from one who being a Jew understood full well their outlook on the world and their ethics. In general, at that time, the Jews were more virtuous than other peoples. They did not allow themselves to reach such sexual profligacy as that of the Roman heathens. However, they accommodated such moral deficiencies as greed, avarice, conceit, hypocrisy, and pride, justifying them by strictly fulfilling all the customs prescribed by the law. The writings by the Evangelist Matthew (ch. 22) record the speech of the Lord Jesus Christ, where He sternly judges the leaders of the Jewish people for their conceit. The outward characteristic of the Jewish faith was circumcision. The Apostle writes:

The custom of circumcision — i.e., the removal of the foreskin of boys — was practiced in ancient times by a number of peoples. It is known among ancient Egyptians and some Semites (Arabs before Muhammad and others) as well as some African tribes. Some explained the need for circumcision on hygienic grounds, others for enhanced procreation, or simply because of tradition. Beginning in the times of Abraham, circumcision among Jews received a religious character (2,000 B.C.; Genesis 17:9-27). From a formal point of view, circumcision served as a bond or covenant between the Jews and God. However, the prophets explained that the covenant with God is subject not only to rejecting the carnal but also to the "circumcision of the heart," i.e., suppressing sinful desires of the heart (Ezek. 44:7, uncircumsised heart). The council of the Apostles in Jerusalem acknowledged that because Baptism had replaced circumcision, it was no longer necessary for Christians to be circumcised (Acts 15:28-29; Galatians 5:6 and 6:15; Colossians 2:11). Nevertheless, Christians of Jewish descent wishing to preserve their ancient customs continued to circumcise their newborn boys. Saint Paul reminds them that this custom is pointless when they are violating that which it symbolizes.

Further on, the Apostle explains that in judging the deficiencies of the Jews, he is not trying to demean the faith itself that was given to them by God. The Holy Scriptures taught the Jews how to believe correctly and lead pious lives, which in turn gave them an advantage over other peoples, who dwelt in dark ignorance. However, the majority of Jews were unable to take advantage of the preference shown them.

The fundamental thought of the cited text is that God does not back away from His promises. Even though the Jews violated their union with God and had not fulfilled their mission, nonetheless God's great wisdom found another way to save mankind. Nevertheless, the good results derived from God's intervention do not excuse the sinner from his responsibility for his stubbornness and evil volition. Good emerged not because of them, but despite them.

(3:9-20).

Lashing out against the self-opinionated Jews, the Apostle further writes:

The Jews applied the above-mentioned censure of iniquities to the heathen and not to themselves. Because they were descendants of Abraham and fulfilled their canonical customs, they regarded themselves as being righteous. The Apostle proves to the Jews that they too are sinful, because the prophets accused specifically them — the Jews, and not the heathens. God's laws are wonderful things when they guide a person. However, when a person consciously violates them, then this knowledge only increases his culpability.

(3:21-5:21).

Having shown that neither being a member of the Jewish people nor the knowledge of the law and the fulfillment of customs can justify the sinner before God, the Apostle moves on to the main theme of his epistle, which is: Salvation can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

(3:21-31).

In outlining the Christian teachings about salvation, Saint Paul applies conceptions and terminologies that his contemporaries are accustomed to. In those days, both the Jews and the Romans had formed precise judicial perceptions. Such terms as law, truth, guilt, absolution, and the like were common and understood by all. Because every human being had violated God's law — from a formal-judicial point of view — everybody was guilty and subject to God's punishment. While the heathen violated their innate moral laws, the Jews violated the written law as revealed by God.

But how do you vindicate yourself before God if kinship with Abraham, circumcision, and even fulfillment of the law does not help? The Apostle explains that the all-merciful God, in seeing the people's helplessness, took pity and through the most unexpected and miraculous means, gave them salvation through Christ. The largest part of the Apostle's epistle is dedicated to explaining this main thesis. In referring to the salvation that Christ offered to humanity, the Apostle applies the then society's established idiom and calls it truth or vindication. He writes:

In other words, justice demanded that God, as an impartial Judge, punish all sinners. But seeing the moral weakness of people, God withheld His wrath during the whole of the pre-Christian era, while preparing the people for their salvation through His only Son. Through the prophecies about the Messiah-Redeemer by prophets of ancient times, the Jewish people were receiving the foundation for their faith in Him. As the people were in no position to redeem their guilt before God, His Son voluntarily took it upon Himself to accept the blame for all the sins of mankind by offering Himself as the Sacrifice, thereby averting the punishment that they deserved. In essence, the Apostle expounds this incomprehensible mystery of God's rightful judgement and mercy in somewhat formal-judicial terms. Here we have to take into account that basically, Christ's redeeming Sacrifice is a mystery, unfathomable even to the Angels (1 Peter 1:12; Revelation 5:2-5). That is why no applied terminology can explain it. This Mystery is understood more with the heart than with the mind.

In as much as redemption was accomplished fully and completely by our Lord Jesus Christ, God doesn't demand some kind of outward formal acts of justification from sinners. The only condition for justification that is placed on a person is that he believes in Christ as the Saviour sent by God. Faith is the minimal and at the same time essential condition for the redemption from sin.

The Jews' boasts of their outward superiority and customary acts of the law were useless. In reality, because of their conscious violation of God's laws, they were in greater need of God's mercy than the heathen that they despised. Because all are guilty without exception — after our Lord Jesus Christ's ordeal of crucifixion — God saves all sinners by one means — faith. The Apostle explains that faith doesn't revoke the religious-moral aspect of the Holy Scripture. In as much as the law of God teaches piety, it continues to be needed even though it is unfeeling and formal. It leads but does not strengthen the traveller. It is faith that warms and transfuses strength.

In order to convince the Jews of the superiority of faith over the works of the law, in his epistle to the Romans, the Apostle devotes his fourth chapter to the example set by Abraham.

(4:1-25).

Abraham, progenitor of Jews, Arabs, and some other Semite peoples, appears as one of the greatest righteous figures of ancient times. He lived some 2,000 years before the birth of Christ — during those times in which people were forgetting their true God and worshipping various pseudo-gods. Idolatry began to come into fashion, enriching itself with pompous rituals and permeating deeper into the private and community life of the Middle Eastern peoples. The temptation of idolatry was so great that even Abraham's relatives (who lived in Chaldea at the mouth of the Persian Gulf) began to succumb to it. In order to preserve the true faith in at least one people among all humanity, God appears to Abraham and directs him to abandon his tribe and relocate to a land that is totally foreign to him — the land of Canaan (the future Israel).

Obeying God, Abraham (already advanced in age) leaves his relatives and his possessions, resettles with wife Sarah and nephew Lot to Canaan, where he begins his nomadic life. The life and deeds of Abraham are described in the Book of Genesis (11:27-25:11). Only those that were forced to leave their country and wander as refugees in different countries are capable of understanding the difficulties that Abraham had to endure. His deed is all the greater because in those times there were no roads, no guesthouses or restaurants, no civil law or keepers of order and no humanitarian organisations. Minimal order and welfare existed because people lived as large families, in which everyone supported and protected one another. To be separated from your own family and to appear among foreigners was very risky. Through his unequivocal obedience to God, Abraham displayed enormous faith.

For Abraham, life in this foreign land among people with a language not known to him, with alien customs and morals, was very hard and sorrowful. Some of the Canaanite tribes, like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, had morally decayed to such an extent that God destroyed them by fire. Realizing his defencelessness, the heathen princes took away his beautiful wife Sarah on several occasions. Abraham's life was in danger several times. However, in every difficult situation, God successfully protected Abraham. In this way, God fulfilled His promise to assist Abraham.

However, God's main promise — to give Abraham a son and heir — was apparently slow in coming. Some twenty-five years had gone by since Abraham resettled in Canaan, and Sarah, being infertile by nature, could not conceive. Although during this period Abraham had established large flocks of sheep and other animals, as well as other significant possessions, all this could fall into foreign hands. One night, Abraham, at the age of seventy-five years and deep in thought, stepped out for a walk. Unexpectedly, God appeared before Abraham and said: "Look up at the heavens and count the stars. That is how many descendants you will have." Further, the denominative words stated in the Book of Genesis are used as an example by Saint Paul to the Jews: "And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to Him for righteousness" (Genesis 15:5-6). According to human logic, it was absolutely impossible for infertile Sarah to bear a child. If she couldn't conceive when she was young, how could she now when she was old? However, Abraham had no doubts, and God ascribed this to him as an achievement.

Nonetheless, over the next twenty-five years God continued to test Abraham's faith by not sending Sarah any children. When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God appeared to him in the form of three travellers (Genesis ch. 17) and confirmed His promise regarding the birth of a child to Sarah. It was here that God concluded His covenant (union), and as a mark of this union, all his offspring were to be circumcised. Indeed, shortly after and contrary to all the laws of motherhood, Sarah conceived and after the normal period, gave birth to a boy who was named Isaac. There was indescribable joy: faith had conquered the laws of nature!

In his Epistle to the Romans, the Apostle Paul omits many details of this event (well known to the Jews) but pauses to explain the main moment. Abraham became righteous not because he was circumcised or because he fulfilled the customs, but because of his faith.

The Jews regard their superiority as originating from Abraham. Saint Paul explains that apart from a physical relationship, there is a more important spiritual relationship. People are brought closer together through spiritual, rather than physical relationships. Albeit all Jews came from Abraham, many of them were spiritual strangers to him because they refused to believe in God and even opposed Him. On the other hand, heathen that had no kinship with Abraham were becoming his spiritual heirs thanks to their faith. In this, God's promise that many nations will come from Abraham was fully realized. This would be not so much physical as spiritual offspring (see similar thought in Galatians 3:7). It was this spiritual kinship that our Lord Jesus Christ had in mind when, motivated by the Centurion's faith, He said to the Jews: "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 8:11-12).

Further on, the Apostle Paul brings up the more astonishing example of Abraham's faith shown when God demands that he bring his son Isaac as a sacrifice. This touching occurrence is described in the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. At that time, Isaac was twelve years of age, and human sacrifices were unheard of in the Jewish faith. These were performed by some heathen during periods of extreme religious degeneracy. Notwithstanding this and the frightful abnormality and personal tragedy of such a demand, Abraham obeyed God. Loading his son with firewood for the sacrificial offering, he began to climb to the top of Mount Moriah. According to tradition, this was the place where subsequently the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. When they had reached the top of the mount, the unsuspecting Isaac asked his father: "Here is the fire and firewood, where is the sacrificial lamb?" Holding back tears, Abraham answered: "God Himself will provide a lamb for sacrificial burning, my son." Only when Abraham raised his dagger to slay Isaac did God's Angel stay his hand from sacrificing his son, for whom he had pleaded to God for so many years and whom he loved so much. Then God said to Abraham: "By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the Heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore. . . And in thy Seed (your Descendant, i.e., Christ — see Galatians 3:16) shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed My voice" (Genesis 22:16-18). From this event, Saint Paul makes the following deduction:

Here, the Apostle explains that in preparing to carry out God's directive, Abraham believed that God would fulfill his promise regarding his offspring and resurrect Isaac from the dead. This was such a strong faith that it can serve as an excellent example of the New Testament in our days!

The Apostle explains that he writes this so that we Christians believe in the power of Christ's redeeming death, Who was resurrected so that we could be exonerated and become the heirs to His promise, given to Abraham.

Saint Paul returns to the example of Abraham's faith in his epistles to the Galatians (third chapter) and to the Hebrews (eleventh chapter). The Apostle James presents Abraham as an example of living faith — faith that reveals itself in good deeds: through his act, Abraham submitted himself to God's will (James 2:20-23). In trying to weaken Saint James' argument, the Protestants present faith in opposition to deeds. The founder of Protestantism — Martin Luther — even argued against the authenticity of the Apostle James' epistle on the basis that it underlines the necessity of good deeds — which went against Luther's assertion of justification by faith alone.

Here, of course, their lack of understanding of the Apostle's cardinal thoughts regarding faith and works can be seen. In stating that legalistic obedience is useless, the Apostle does not repudiate good deeds, but customs. In the total context of the Apostle's dissertation on Abraham's faith, it can be seen that all its potency and greatness is revealed in Abraham's actions. This was not a theoretical but a living faith. For over fifty years, he suppressed within himself all doubts regarding the genuineness of God's promise as to his having an heir. Even when God demanded that he bring his long-awaited son as a sacrifice, he did not permit himself to complain but humbly submitted himself to the will of the Almighty. Abraham reveals his faith in God through his obedience and devotion to Him. God awaits from us not an unfeeling mental acknowledgment, nor a passing inspirational surge, but a total dependence on Him — as the ruler of our thoughts, aspirations, and acts. One must aim to establish harmony between one's inner convictions and outer actions. Undoubtedly, genuine faith acts through love (Galatians 5:6). It cannot be placed in opposition to good deeds — because together they make a complete whole, just as a body and soul go to make a live human being.

(5:1-11).

Having explained the necessity of faith, the Apostle returns to the main theme concerning the fruits of Christ's redeeming works. Through His death by crucifixion, our Lord Jesus Christ not only liberated us from condemnation but also brought us immense blessings — reconciliation with God, access to the grace of the Holy Spirit, and eternal joy in the Kingdom of Heaven. In filling the heart of the faithful with ineffable peace and love toward Him, God's blessing gives us spiritual strength to overcome life's ordeals. The Apostle expresses it this way:

For a spiritually immature person, at times it is difficult to reconcile himself with his sorrows. He is perplexed by the thought: if God truly loves and cares for me, why did He allow this misfortune to overtake me? The Apostle explains that sorrows are indispensable for our spiritual growth, and as a consequence, they play a role in God's plan for our salvation. In the first instance, patience is developed through sorrows. A Christian becomes more steadfast, resolute, and intrepid. Along with this, he becomes enriched with spiritual experience and becomes more proficient in his spiritual life. Growing in spiritual stature, he starts to experience the nearness of God and His warming love more evidently. This feeling in his soul will then engender a reciprocal deep love of God as he becomes tranquil and enlightened. Whereas before these spiritual treasures were only known to him in theory — by word of mouth — they have now become his personal possessions. If not for these sorrows, he would have remained an inexperienced spiritual child. The Apostles James (James 1:2-4) and Peter (1 Peter 1:7 and 2 Peter 1:6) speak of the necessity for sorrows in this plan of spiritual growth of a Christian. In articulating on spiritual statures, Saint Paul brings forth our Lord Jesus Christ as an example:

Further on, the Apostle returns to the problem of sin, not in the context of a personal violation of God's will but from the point of view of its destructive power, which has permeated into the very core of the human being, corrupting it from within.

(5:12-21).

The Apostle explains that the prime reason for our mortality is not our personal sins but our corrupted nature that we all inherited from Adam.

He expounds on this theme:

The Jews presupposed that people died because they violated God's laws. The Apostle refutes this by pointing out that before the Prophet Moses there were no laws and consequently no laws to violate. Because many people did not have serious laws of conscience, they did not deserve to be punished by death. Yet everybody without exception died sooner or later, including infants. This shows that the death of people is a consequence of their being born with a mortal nature. They inherited this mortality from Adam.

The association between death and sin was established in Eden. Having created Adam and settled him in paradise, God directed: "Of every tree of the Garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). It is true that biological death existed among animal and plant life before the appearance of the first human and, consequently, before the first sin. One can surmise that as humans have a great deal in common with the animal kingdom, they too are subject to the physical laws of mortality. However, the Bible shows that in creating man in His likeness and image, God intended to free him from the customary laws of decay by creating in Paradise the Tree of Life. Evidently, the fruit from this mysterious tree possessed properties to rejuvenate the organism in such a way as to either remove or compensate for the natural ageing process of cells. Incidentally, modern biology knows that not all organic cells are subject to the normal ageing process and subsequent death. So, for example, while normal body cells age every time they split and multiply and eventually become worthless to the organism after this cycle had been repeated sixty times, cancer cells can split and multiply a seemingly unlimited number of times. It is possible that by eating the forbidden fruit, something was injected into the human organism that accelerated the ageing process of cells. Nevertheless, from the Book Genesis, it is possible to conclude that even after violating God's commandment, Adam could have continued to prolong his physical life by eating of the fruit from the Tree of Life. However, God did not allow this (Genesis 3:24) — as Saint Gregory the Theologian explains it, "so that sin would not become immortal." Sin that resides inside a human being dies with his physical death. In this way, through the Creator's marvellous arrangement, punishment becomes medicine — albeit in part. The complete cure of our nature is dependent upon Christ's Resurrection.

The problem of heredity is quite complicated and the science of biology is only now able to penetrate some of its mysteries. The primal sin damaged the human being not only physically but also more importantly, spiritually. Consequently, after violating the Commandments, the soul yielded its authoritative position to the flesh, which made the human morally impotent and easily submissive to its disorderly physical inclinations. Only a few individuals like Abraham, Moses, the Prophet Elijah, and the like, had the heroic spirit to rise above the moral level of their surrounding environment. Still, as we learn from the Bible, even these righteous figures were not irreproachable in all matters. Without Christ, all mankind would remain doomed to slavery and decay.

However, just as there is a physical inheritance, so is there a spiritual one. Christ became the Forefather of the new, rejuvenated humanity. And the grace of rejuvenation is stronger than the enslaving nature of sin. The Apostle writes:

In other words, Christ's rejuvenating grace reveals its supremacy over sin in that it not only releases a person from his inherited primal sin but also from all his personal sins, as well as curing him of all his spiritual illnesses. From the above, the Apostle goes on to make the following conclusion:

During the times of Moses, moral levels had fallen so far that people ceased to comprehend clearly what was right and what was wrong. The purpose of the Commandments given to the Prophet Moses by God was to assist people to sort out their moral problems and commence to live righteously. However, the Commandments were able to teach and advise only but were incapable of giving a person moral strength to combat temptation. Acting through the very essence of human nature, sin compelled a person to sin consciously in spite of the Commandments. That is why after the era of Moses, the moral condition of humanity became even worse than it was before him, and instead of weakening, sin became even stronger.

But this is all in the past! In the New Testament, the grace of rejuvenation conquers every sin and every passion: ancient Adam gives way to the new Adam — Christ. Before, people lived by the laws of physical inheritance, were moral prisoners of sin and doomed to die. From the New Adam, people are born spiritually rejuvenated, free from the shackles of sin and filled with the power of grace to live righteous lives. Further on, the Apostle explains the way a person unites with the grace of Christ.

(6:1-8:39).

From chapter six through to chapter eight of the epistle, the holy Apostle describes in detail those deep changes that occur in a believer under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Beginning with the moment of baptism, the Christian is inducted by God into a new — previously unknown — sphere of existence, where His life-giving power is active and not formal Commandments. God's grace enlightens the Christian's mind with bright thoughts, rejoices his heart with pure and noble feelings, inspires his will toward works of love. The Mystery of Baptism serves as the turning point from old to new.

(6:1-14).

In rejecting the Jews' incorrect conclusions that Christianity, in promising freedom, ostensibly weakens the moral norms, the Apostle explains that for a Christian to sin is a total contradiction to that which happened to him in Baptism: in Baptism he became dead to sin and was reborn for a holy life.

Adam died because he sinned. Naturally, having inherited his sinful nature we too must die. But Christ, being sinless was not subject to the laws of mortality and could have lived forever in His human form. However, He voluntarily died for us. His death was not a consequence of a personal sin but a most immense act of love to rid others of sin. That is why, having died on the Cross, Christ gave a new meaning to death: from that point on, it was not to be a retribution for but abolition of sin. While in the first Adam, sin and death were friendly fellow travellers, in the second Adam — Christ — sin and death became irreconcilable enemies. Immersed into the baptismal waters, a person unites with the redeeming death of Christ and becomes dead to sin himself.

In this way, Baptism has two sides: outer-symbolical and inner-spiritual. The triple immersion symbolises interment with Christ and the surfacing from the water — resurrection with Him. Together with these outward actions of Baptism, God's invisible power of rejuvenation cleanses the individual from all moral corruption, injects new moral strength and makes the newly christened a son of God by grace and a member of His Kingdom. Here the faithful truly changes internally for the good and not just symbolically. From this moment he begins to feel the need to have communion with God, to desire to create good, and to thirst for justice. He receives a flow of spiritual energy that draws him toward the Heavenly. That is why it is important for people preparing for Baptism to approach this great Mystery with complete seriousness — and having being christened, to refrain from past sinful habits and endeavour to retain and entrench the power of grace within themselves for as long as possible. The Apostle writes:

The meaning here is that every human act of an individual leaves its mark on his character. Good deeds create good habits while sinful acts engender vices. While Baptism cleanses of moral corruption and heals sinful ulcers, it does not eradicate ingrained sinful habits immediately. This is because they have been grafted onto our character and interwoven into our minds. That is why even after Baptism evil habits can continue to push a person towards his past sins, albeit without their former compulsion. While the grace of Baptism gives a Christian spiritual strength to conquer evil habits, it demands one's own exercise of willpower as well as steadfastness, so that the soul is rid of all traces of former vices. In order to receive help, we must avail ourselves of the medicine that God offers us.

(6:15-7:12).

Further on, the Apostle calls on the newly christened to substitute their former repulsive practices with righteous ones. The nature of sin is to enslave a person. Before Baptism, even though the person suffered from and was remorseful for his unrighteous behaviour, he could not find the strength to liberate himself from his enslaving vices. The Apostle summons the faltering faithful to go from slaves of sin to slaves of righteousness. Here he explains that submission to righteousness is, correctly speaking, not slavery but an enormous inner freedom:

The Apostle's fundamental thought is that it would be senseless for a Christian to again enslave himself to past vices. In examining the question of good and evil in an abstract sense, it becomes doubtlessly clear that a choice has to be made between the two. The tragedy here lies in the fact that being a skilled hypnotist, the Devil is able to hide the lethal consequences of sin under the guise of its seemingly attractive delights. He instills into the person that such gratification does not present any danger: God is merciful and in the end everything will turn out all right. When the person is hooked, the Devil hangs on to him, dragging him into graver sins by implanting thoughts that he is too weak to stand up against his own basic nature. Thus, through his own negligence a person can again be entangled in the web of sin.

The Jews could not but agree with the Apostle Paul's conclusions concerning the destructiveness of sin. Nevertheless, it was not completely clear to them in what way Christianity was superior to the law of Moses, because they too condemn sin and call for righteous living. Why be baptised when the law of Moses can lead to the same results? They looked upon the enactments in the laws of Moses as everlasting norms, but Christianity, as a new and untried teaching.

The Apostle explains that the law of Moses had an obligatory meaning only up to the coming of Christ. The law existed for a sufficient time to help people rejuvenate morally. But as it was incapable of achieving this, God decided to abolish it and now offer people a new path to salvation. The Apostle illustrates his reasoning by referring to matrimonial laws:

In other words, Christ liberated us from slavery to sin and from the ties to the law of Moses. Now we can serve God with a rejuvenated soul and not blindly fulfill ancient and outdated rules.

The Apostle cautions against a possible false conclusion that the reason for sin lies within the law — as though there would be no sin if there were no law. No, the cause of sin lies within a person. By itself, the law is holy — as are its commandments that are just and lead toward good.

As we can see, the Apostle returns to the problem of sin. At the beginning of his epistle (1:18-3:20), he established the fact of mankind's sinfulness, and in the second part (5:12-21) he explained that everybody was born with their nature damaged by sin. Now, with great persuasion, he explains that no one is capable of freeing himself from sin and its destructive effects by their own innate powers.

(7:13-25).

The Apostle points to the glaring contradiction: when God gave people His holy commandments, their sins not only did not abate but actually increased. The reason for this is that sin has conquered our nature.

It is one of the few passages in the Holy Scripture where, before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, Man's moral impotence is exposed with such tragic clarity.

The last phrase sums all that has been said up to this point, and that is: Man has a dual personality — physical nature forces him to sin while his soul, although it reaches out toward good, is powerless to overcome the flesh.

Thus, in the whole of the seven chapters, the Apostle presented with great detail all the power and destructiveness of sin, with the aim of convincing the reader of the necessity to seek supernatural help in the battle against evil within one's self. Not the inner voice of conscience, not the straightforward directives of the law, nor the fear of eternal punishment were able to restrain a person from acting sinfully. This can only be achieved through God's power, which comes to a person through faith in Jesus Christ.

It is necessary to note here that the Apostle's directives are more pertinent to our times than those of some 2,000 years ago. Human society continues to suffer from its moral problems: injustice, deception, rape, wars, and every conceivable crime. Public activists do not understand that the main reason for all these woes lies in the damaged moral character of man. You can write — as many as you like — fine laws and establish organisations to combat crime and other social ills. But these measures are as ineffectual as applying a bandage to cancer. What is needed to destroy the very roots of evil in man is a radical and powerful medicine. Our Lord Jesus Christ offers this medicine. In essence, this mistake of the ancient adherents to the law of Moses is being repeated. Having rejected God's help, in their attempts to achieve righteousness with their own strength, their self-delusion made them so cruel that they condemned to death, the Righteous of the righteous!

Our spiritual soul can only be saved by Him Who created it. Our Lord Jesus Christ eradicates the very roots of evil within us and gives us strength to live righteously. The greatest hindrance toward resolving social problems appears to be the current, fashionable pseudo-intellectual and religious-philosophical instructions that reject the very existence of sin and teach that all our desires are natural and normal. If someone is wrong or does something incorrectly, it is because of ignorance or immaturity. Just wait a while — he will understand it himself, and he will reform. Indeed, this is the type of approach the devil needs! Let everybody think that evil is an illusion or a temporary divergence on the path of spiritual evolution. Without understanding the problems of sin and without a contrite supplication to Christ, all will remain the devil's slaves, destined for destruction. Without God, what will happen is not evolution but degeneracy!

In the next chapter, the Apostle deals with God's grace and spiritual life in a rather detailed manner.

(8:1-11).

Having explained the redemptive feat of Christ our Saviour, the Apostle convinces the Christian to live — with the help of Christ's grace — by spiritual struggles. He writes:

This part can be paraphrased thus: Before the coming of Christ and inasmuch as man submitted himself voluntarily to the devil by sinning, satan rightfully felt that he had the prerogative to manipulate people. He assumed the mantle of an executioner of the guilty; and from an academic point of view, he was correct because in torturing and executing sinners, he was destroying those who deserved destruction. Then Christ appeared incarnate. Instead of giving way to the holiness of Christ, satan rebelled against Him with all his ferocious hate and eventually, through his subordinate sinners, achieved the death of Christ, who was without sin and therefore not subject to his authority nor to the physical laws of mortality. The devil violated all sense of justice by openly exceeding his rights. For this, God's justice deprived him of his former authority over human flesh, which was united with Christ through the Mystery of Baptism, and earned the devil his defeat — specifically through Christ's flesh. It is specifically through Christ's Resurrection that people were liberated from satan's power and received access to a spiritual lifestyle. The Apostle writes:

(8:12-17).

Being God's children and led by the Holy Spirit, we therefore become inheritors of His glory on the condition that we do not refuse to participate in His sufferings:

(8:18-30).

Just as it is easier to slide down an incline than walk up a hill, so it is easier to become corrupt than virtuous. We know from personal experience that to obtain something good requires effort and determination. Therefore, there is no need to be afraid of trials and tribulations as though they were abnormal. It is better to accept them as steps by which we ascend into the Kingdom of Heaven. The Apostle explains this in the context of the forthcoming rejuvenation of nature:

In other words, all created living matter — all animal and plant life — is burdened by its current futility and is waiting for its rejuvenation. Of course it is waiting unconsciously, although it is possible that some more-developed animals, may have an obscure gravitation toward a more complete life. The fundamental thought of the Apostle is that in as much as man, being the crown of God's creation, still had to apply personal exertion in order to achieve perfection, nature was created by God incomplete. When the Christian part of humanity — with God's help — achieves this aim, then the whole physical world will be rejuvenated and transformed into a new land and a new heaven (see 2 Peter 3:13). Then, with the general resurrection of the dead, all of nature will be rejuvenated, and its creatures, together with man, will be liberated from their former laws of corruption and decay. What appearance will nature take on then — will there be animals and plants that are familiar to us? The Apostle leaves these questions unanswered. However, there are hints in the Bible that in the new world there won't be anything similar to what we are seeing now (Isaiah 11:6-9, 65:17-25; Revelations chs. 21 and 22). But all this is a supposition, because in that ethereal world time, distance and all nature's laws will take on completely new configurations.

Every step of our way toward God is accompanied and assisted by the Holy Spirit. He teaches us what we should aim for, what to aspire to and what to ask from God; it is He Who conveys our prayer to God's altar.

The Apostle reminds us that God had pre-determined to save us right from the beginning. He constantly cares for us, directing everything toward our benefit and our salvation — pleasant as well painful.

Unlike the teachings of some sects that this is an unconditional predetermination, here the predetermination is based on the all-seeing power of God. God did not arbitrarily and without regard to the individual's will, predetermined some for salvation and others toward destruction, but being All-seeing, knew in what manner each individual would apply his given freedom.

(8:31-39).

In concluding his teachings on justification through Christ's grace, the Apostle raises the thoughts and feelings of the reader toward the perception of God's all-powerful love in the following victorious hymn:

(9:1-11:36).

The Apostle Paul deeply loved his people, and his soul ached because many of his countrymen opposed the sermons of the Gospels. Here, the Apostle witnessed the tragic contradiction between what should have been according to the promises of the prophets and what was transpiring in reality. In preparing the Jews for the coming of the Messiah, God bestowed upon them the honour of being the first citizens of His Kingdom and preachers of the true faith among other people. In reality the Apostle was becoming more convinced daily that his countrymen were acting not like God's chosen people but more like His opponents (theomachists). On the other hand, the heathen that up to that point in time were distanced from everything spiritual were now very receptive to the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul agonized over the question of whether it is possible that God summoned the Jewish people and promised them such great mercies needlessly. The saint found the answer in that there are two categories of Israelites: ethnic Israelites and Israelites in spirit. Everyone that accepts the New Testament — Jews as well as heathen — become real Israelites and children of Abraham. Faith is the specific catalyst that brings people of various nationalities together — unifying them into one chosen people called Israel. Jewish non-believers, by their very nature are completely alien to Abraham and to the Lord God Himself. Notwithstanding the fact that the majority had become obdurate, the Apostle noticed that within the Jewish people there still exists a living part that is capable of turning to Christ. This will occur at the end of our time.

In the next three chapters of his Epistle to the Romans (9-11), the Apostle deliberates in detail over this vexatious question. This part of the epistle presents itself as a complete and independent analysis of God's providence in people's destinies. The Apostle emphasizes his conclusions by many references to the Holy Gospel, especially to the Prophet Isaiah.

(9:1-33).

Saint Paul laments for his people whom he tried to convert to Christ over so many years:

How can one understand that a people, selected by God and who were to receive so many blessings, turned away from Him? The Apostle searches for answers in the Bible and comes to a conclusion that God's selection is based on spiritual qualities rather than physical ones. He writes:

The key thought here is that God selects a person for his inner and not outer qualities. In emphasizing this point, the Apostle cites an example in Abraham, who apart from Isaac had other children — among them being Ishmael, son of the servant Hagar. The Apostle points out that God's blessing by-passed all the other children of Abraham and was transferred to only one of them — Isaac. Similarly in the next generation, from all the children of Isaac God blessed only his youngest — Jacob — rejecting the eldest — Esau — who had primacy by law.

The Apostle brings forth "negative" selections where God utilises the callousness of famous people so as to reveal His omnipotence for the spiritual benefit of others. Thus, during the days of Moses, God permitted the proud Pharaoh to oppose His directive to free the Jewish people from bondage. As a result of this resistance, God punished Egypt with terrible disasters, revealing His superiority over the heathen gods, who were incapable of protecting the Egyptians. The purpose of all these miraculous events, described in the Book of Exodus (chs. 7-14), was to convince the Jews as well as the Egyptians and the rest of the people that there was only one true and omnipotent God, Creator of heaven and earth. God could have defeated Pharaoh and his associates in an instant, thereby liberating the Israelites. But He chose a slower path so as to bring people a bigger spiritual benefit. In the language of the Holy Scripture, God hardened the heart of Pharaoh — as though purposely making him stubborn and cruel, although in fact, God just allowed Pharaoh to oppose His will. However, the ancient prophets did not differentiate between an independently active and a sanctioned will: to sanction — is the same as to do it yourself. The Apostle Paul adheres to this terminology:

God, being Sovereign King of the universe, decides Himself whom to pardon and whom to punish. Just as His right hand holds the destiny of every human being, so does it hold that of whole nations, and He does not have to give account of His actions before anyone. Nevertheless, being supremely just, God sends to everyone precisely that which he deserves. The Apostle explains it this way:

On the one hand, these quotations foretell the conversion of the heathen to the faith, and on the other, the rejection of the Jewish people because of its unfaith. From this, it can be concluded that God's promise is subject to the future behaviour of the person. Those Jews that have believed will receive that which was promised, and those who have refused to believe will be rejected. At the same time God preserves the "remnants" or the minority of the Jews, who have not lost the ability to believe. Indeed, throughout the whole period of Christianity, individual Jews converted to it and joined the Church — despite the opposition from their relatives and friends.

In the eleventh chapter of his epistle, the Apostle foretells of massive numbers of Jews converting to Christianity before the end of the world.

The Apostle sees that the reason for Jewish callousness lies in their insistence that righteousness comes through customs, and their unwillingness to submit to righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus Christ:

According to God's plan, believers from all nations had to merge into one spiritual family — the Messiah's Kingdom. The prophets likened this Kingdom to a magnificent dwelling, towering on top of Zion (Zion was the hilltop on which the temple of Jerusalem and the king's palace were located), while the Messiah — being founder of the Kingdom of Heaven — was likened to a cornerstone. In emphasising the meaning of faith, the Apostle cites one of these prophesies: "He that believeth shall not make haste" (Isaiah 28:16). The 118th Psalm speaks of this miraculous Cornerstone-Christ: "The Stone which the builders rejected Has become the Chief Cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; It is marvellous in our eyes." The meaning here is that despite the fact that the spiritual and political leaders of the Jews did not take a meaningful, active part in establishing the Kingdom of Heaven and then rejected its founder, God still made Him the Cornerstone.

Further on, the Apostle shifts towards analysing the spiritual crisis confronting the Jewish people.

(10:1-21).

The aim of the law of Moses was to prepare the Jewish people to receive the Messiah. The concept of customs, holidays, and church services was to serve as an outer shell for a better preservation and assimilation of the spiritual substance of the law. But the Jews were so engrossed in these outer formalities that they lost their sensitivity for the spiritual, so that when the Messiah eventually arrived, they did not recognise Him as the promised Saviour. While Christ was summoning them to faith and moral renovation, they were insisting on the strict observance of all the established traditions. The Apostle articulates this:

The teachings of Christ to the Jews seemed new and strange. Besides that, it must have been very close and familiar to their souls because it emanated from God, Who created the soul in His image and likeness. Words brought from Deuteronomy — "Do not speak in your heart" — speak of the regeneration of spiritual feelings. A person genuinely yearning for righteousness cannot be satisfied with just the outer customs: he craves for a living communion with God. In principle, a person of any nationality is capable of believing in God and loving Him because in the Messiah's Kingdom, all types of racial, social, cultural, and other differences lose their meaning as all the faithful merge into one people of God — a new Israel. It is this new Israel to which all the prophets' promises refer.

In order to believe in the teachings of Christ, it is essential to hear them, and in order to hear them, it is essential to have preachers. The Apostle brings quotations from the Bible that foretell of a universal evangelical sermon. The Jews are guilty before God not because they did not hear of Christ but because they refused to believe and therefore fell away from faith. Meanwhile, the heathen, who were free of any prejudices regarding the customs of the law, proved to be more receptive to Christianity.

All these quotations from Scripture confirm Saint Paul's conclusions that the Jews themselves are to blame for falling away from God.

(11:1-36).

Like an eagle soaring in the sky, the Apostle observes with his prophetic eye the future of humanity. He sees that along the historical path of the Jewish people, there will be a sharp turn toward belief in Christ.

The Jews' stubborn unbelief prompted the Apostle to turn to the heathen with his sermons. However, there is a live branch of faith — not visible to the physical eye — that has been preserved among the Jewish people, which with time will bring forth fresh growth. The Apostle gives a reminder that similar spiritual obscurity occurred during the times of the Prophet Elijah, some 700 years B.C., when the vast majority of Israelites succumbed to the temptation of worshipping heathen gods that were popular at that time. The profane Jezebel, wife of Israel's king Ahab, began to persecute the faithful of the true God and exterminate His prophets. In saving his life, the Prophet Elijah hid in an impenetrable wilderness. In a most depressed state, he complains to God about his people. It seems to him that everything is finished and that from that point on, Israel will be ruled by the false Sidonite god Baal. But God consoles him and reveals to him that within the Israelite people, He has reserved "seven thousand men who have not kneeled to Baal." The Apostle foresees that just as in the past history of Israel, there were periods of spiritual decline and then rebirth of faith, the Jewish people will turn to God in the future.

The opposition of the Jews to Christianity led the Apostles and the following missionaries to direct all their exhortational energies toward converting the heathen to Christ. These sermons had an enormous success among them, and the heathen turned Christian entered the ranks of the new Israel. Utilising picturesque speech, the Apostle likens God's people, the real Israel, to the noble olive tree that over many centuries had brought God bountiful harvests. Initially, this good tree was made up exclusively of righteous people of the Old Testament, descendants of Abraham, while the heathen nations remained unproductive — like a wild olive tree. Now, having believed in Christ, many branches of the wild tree are "grafted" on to the existing "noble olive tree," while the unbelieving Jews were as though dried up and fallen away from their own tree.

At the same time, the converts should not boast before the unbelieving Jews, because their fall is not total. Beside that, no one is insured against disbelief or sin.

The Apostle foretells that the time will come when many Jews will turn to Christ and then, being enlivened, God will once again graft them back to the olive tree to which their righteous ancestors belonged. To emphasise this, he quotes the Prophet Isaiah's prophecy. Unfortunately, the circumstances themselves and the details of prevailing historical changes remain unclear to us. In all probability, this conversion to Christ will occur not long before His Second Coming. Then, the converted Jews will replace those that have withdrawn from Christ. The Apostle foresees in his Epistle to the Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 2:3) the falling away of various peoples from Christianity.

The words "all Israel will be saved" refer to the true sons of Abraham — those Jews who have inherited Abraham's high spiritual qualities. The words "The Deliverer will come out of Zion" — or "to Zion," according to the Jewish text — are unclear. Some assume that the word "Deliverer" is supposedly the Prophet Elijah, who has to come before the Second Coming of Christ and "restore all things" (Matthew 17:11).

In these designated world events — the falling away of Israel and the conversion to faith of the heathen peoples and then the return to faith of the Jews — the Apostle sees God's great wisdom, where through incomprehensible destinies, He leads all those that are capable of being saved, toward salvation. "With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him?" (Isaiah 40:14). "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen" (11:36).

(12:1-15:13).

After describing the foremost truths of the Christian faith, in the second part of his epistle Saint Paul turns to outlining Christian morality. The Apostle persuades Christians to live for Christ, for the good of their neighbour, and to fervently strive for the Kingdom of Heaven. He calls upon Christians to liken themselves to Christ through self-control, indifference to material things, humility, patience, and other virtues. The main aspiration of a Christian should be to love everyone — just as Christ loves us.

In this temporary life temptation, obstacles, and doubt are unavoidable realities. So as not to weaken in your Christian endeavours, it is necessary — right from the beginning — to condition yourself for your undertaking. Obstacles may be inner or outer. Inner ones arise from weakness, from vanity, and from sinful wishes. Outer ones are from the Devil, from an accumulation of unpleasant circumstances, and from people. The Apostle summarises his instructions on Christian living in the following:

In the middle of his epistle, Saint Paul prevails upon Christians to "be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord" and "by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body," i.e., not to submit to sinful cravings. Now he repeats this in somewhat different words and asks that "you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God." Through this, the Apostle is attempting to say that Christian faith undoubtedly includes in itself active undertakings of self-restraint, a pure and chaste life, indifference to material things, constancy in prayers, discharging family and social obligations, and an active display of love toward loved ones. With this, the Apostle advises us to be attentive, so that our undertaking or service to God is sensible — conforms to His will and to our abilities and circumstances — because blind and inappropriate zeal could bring more harm than good.

At that time, as with the majority of Christian congregations in other cities, the Roman Christians were not a monolithic community. The community was made up of people from different nationalities and social origins, as well as different cultural levels. It is natural that when a mature person accepts Christianity, he retains to a certain degree his former outlook on the world and is unable to instantly free himself from his developed practices and habits. Often, much of the intellectual and practical "baggage" from the person's former environment is alien to Christian teachings and must be cleansed and corrected. That is why the Apostle persuades the Christian to regenerate mentally — free himself from a former non-Christian outlook, from Jewish and heathen prejudices, and to adopt a pure, Christian form of thinking — in other words "have the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). The Apostle states that the more a Christian succeeds in his internal renovation, the more receptive he becomes to what the Lord instils in him. In this way, he becomes a conveyor of God's holy will.

As we will see later, in his instructions concerning Christian life, Saint Paul returns several times to the theme of love, explaining its qualities and its manifestation. According to the Apostle, our actions acquire their value specifically from our level of feelings of love. Without love, even the greatest feats are nothing (details in 1 Corinthians ch. 13).

(12:1-21).

If love is the highest of all virtues, then meekness appears as the foundation of all virtues. Meekness is having a modest opinion of yourself — acknowledging your moral weaknesses, not trusting the strength of your own virtues but combining it with hope in God's help and readiness to submit to His holy will in all things. Just as conceit destroys everything good in a person, meekness assists in one's spiritual development. That is why our Lord Jesus Christ established the first commandment of His Beatitudes as spiritual poverty, i.e., meekness. The deeper the foundation, the larger a structure can be erected on it. And the deeper the meekness, the higher a person can elevate himself morally. That is why Saint Paul begins his instructions on Christian living with meekness:

These pronouncements contain two important deliberations. The first is that God gives every believer a certain amount of talents; the second is that these given talents should be applied for the good of all. St. Paul the Apostle develops this theme in his First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians ch. 12). Here, as in that epistle, he compares the Church of Christ with a human body in which every member has its own specific designation. Just as a body does not have any superfluous parts but all are essential and complement one another, so it should be in Christ's Church — every believer is summoned to serve for the good of his congregation.

Although every believer is given his special spiritual talent corresponding to his service within the Church, everyone without exception is given a common and great gift of love. These are the attributes and indications of this Heavenly gift:

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be

in hospitality — zealous (12:9-13).

The Apostle persuades Christians to forgive their offenders — whoever they may be — because love cures not only one's personal spiritual sores but also those of strangers.

If a conflict has occurred, it is important not to succumb to evil, vindictive feelings. Although our initial reaction is to respond accordingly — to teach him a "lesson" so to speak — we must remind ourselves that the main danger is not the offender but our own malicious and vengeful feelings. If we permit these feelings to take root, they will begin to destroy us from within and we may lose all our God-given spiritual riches. It is possible that externally we will overpower our enemy, but internally we will suffer a great defeat. That is why God gave us only one weapon against evil — good! "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." This is a very powerful weapon even though sometimes it takes a while before it achieves the desired result. If the offender continues with his hostility toward us, then in accordance with the Apostle, the righteous Judge Himself will avenge us.

(13:1-7).

Every society — be it family, commercial enterprise, organisation or country — is naturally made up of seniors and juniors, executives and subordinates, rulers and citizens. Without such a pyramid structure, no society can exist. That is why no prophet or Apostle ever ruptured any existing societal structures. Instead, they condemned anarchy and rebellion.

Apparently, the Apostle writes here about obedience to civil authorities because to the Jews of his time, having lost their national independence, this was a very sore point. It is known that the Roman rulers frequently abused their authority over the Jews by wounding their national-religious feelings, without any need for it. Undoubtedly, with the obvious contrast between the elevated Christian teachings and the teachings of the dissolute ruling class, not only Jewish Christians but also those of other nationalities could have been concerned with the question of whether or not it seems to be a betrayal of God to obey those that legalise profane and heathen practices and do not acknowledge His authority. In his Epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul explains that the very principle of authority has been established by God and, therefore, civil rulers have to be obeyed even when they are non-believers.

We find similar instructions in the Apostle Peter's writings: "Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men — as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God" (1 Peter 2:13-15).

Of course the Apostles' description of civil authorities is more of an ideal than what is realised in practice. Nonetheless, it is known that legislature — of ancient and subsequent times — was established on principles that attempt to reflect equality, justice, and concern for the good of its citizens.

The ruler in Rome during the writing of this epistle was Nero, who a few years later initiated a savage persecution of the Christians. As a result of this, thousands of believers died (including the Apostles Peter and Paul) in Rome and its neighbouring lands. It is difficult to visualize such a cruel and depraved ruler like Nero as a just servant of God that encourages the good and punishes the wicked. Nonetheless, in accordance with Christian teachings, in spiritually neutral earthly matters, all legal rulers have to be obeyed — even those that are hostile towards the Christian faith. One has to remember that Jesus Christ and His Apostles taught this not only in words, but through personal example. When Pontius Pilate boasted to our Saviour that he had the authority to either crucify Him or set Him free, Christ calmly replied, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above" — i.e., at this given moment, God has allowed you to control My destiny (John 19:10-11); and immediately added: know this, that "the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." meaning that the Jewish leaders are guiltier than you because they are committing this evil deliberately. But you too will answer to God for abusing the authority that was given to you.

So as not to be perplexed over the need to obey unjust authorities, it is necessary to remind ourselves that we are citizens of the Heavenly King. Earthly life is but a path toward the Kingdom of Heaven. Here, we are temporary wanderers and there we will be permanent citizens. In this light, the words of the Apostle become clear: "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence" (1 Timothy 2:1-2; Titus 3:1) — i.e., the important thing now is to draw closer, without any impediments, to our ultimate goal. So let us beseech God to enlighten our rulers that they may maintain the necessary order and lawfulness in our society.

The only time a Christian is allowed to disobey his rulers is when a spiritual conflict arises, i.e., when the demands of civil authorities contradict the teachings of our faith. Thus, for example, when the members of the Sanhedrin demanded of the Apostles that they cease preaching Jesus Christ, Saint Peter and the other Apostles boldly replied: "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). In occurrences of religious conflict, a Christian must remain faithful to God right up to giving up his life, as the Lord taught: "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). Consequently, the general rule is: "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mark 12:17).

The Apostle concludes his epistle with a call to have respect for every person — corresponding to his position, rank and age — as well as to have consideration for existing laws and societal order.

(13:8-14).

It was Jesus Christ that explained to the Jewish scribes that love of God and love of your neighbour were the two commandments on which "hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:40). In other words, all the teachings of the Holy Scripture lead to this — that you need to love God and your neighbour. He who loves has realised all the demands of God's law; and conversely, he who does something without feelings of love, is wasting his effort.

Further on, the Apostle reminds Christians that they have stepped out of the sphere of darkness into the sphere of light. This is why their lives should mirror their high Christian beginnings (Matthew 5:14-16), so that their concerns for natural needs did not turn into excess and sinful distortion.

Earlier, the Apostle said that in Baptism a person is resurrected with Christ; now he urges those baptised to clothe themselves with Christ — to liken themselves to Him with their spiritual qualities. In his Epistle to the Romans, Saint Paul speaks primarily about those qualities that are so essential to a Christian congregation: all-forgiving, non-judgemental, mutual harmony, accommodating to the weaknesses of others, and concern for the salvation of loved ones.

(14:1-23).

The Christian community in Rome presented itself as quite a variegated ethnic and social amalgam. For example, the Jews scrupulously differentiated between clean (kosher) and unclean foods. They held to ancient Judaist traditions and observed biblical holidays. Some of them fasted on certain days. Christians of heathen backgrounds were more liberal. However, some of them — as for example, former adherents of Orpheus and Pythagoras — were vegetarians and did not drink wine; former Stoics adhered to completely special dietary observances.

Christianity liberated the faithful from the blind observance of dietary decrees and various earthly rules. It taught that in principle all food was clean because it was created by God, especially when it is blessed by prayer (Colossians 2:21; 1 Corinthians 10:23-33).

Having adopted the principle of freedom from man-made conditions, some Christians were inclined to look condescendingly upon those that continued to retain old predilections. They, in turn, whom the Apostle describes as feeble in faith, criticised those that did not conform to established rules, regarding them as reformists that trampled everything holy.

The Apostle calls for the Christians to live in peace among themselves and not argue over petty disputes. In essence, it is not who the person is or what customs he observes but the aim of his actions. If his practices do not inflict harm on anyone, then let him continue to do that to which he is accustomed. Sometimes, behind fine works hide unholy motives, and conversely, seemingly useless and bizarre occupations may express a heartfelt desire to achieve something good. God accepts our labours not only for their objective value, but more importantly, He also considers our intentions. That's why:

Thus, each of us shall give account of ourselves to God. Let us not start to judge one another, and instead, condemn that which may create an obstacle or temptation for our brother.

We should try to ensure that our actions are not only objectively correct, but that they also do not harm anyone. This dominant rule is expressed in a more detailed format by Saint Paul in his Epistles to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10:23-33). Some Corinthian Christians, realising that idols were nonentities, looked upon heathen sacrificial offerings as harmless superstitions of the unenlightened masses. Some of these "sages" even allowed themselves to visit the temple and partake of sacrificial food offered to the idols. This behaviour caused great agitation among the most inexperienced of new converts, who saw this behaviour as betrayal of the Christian faith and an open recognition of heathen gods. The Apostle explains to the Corinthians that the problem does not lie in the food itself that is consumed with prayer, but specifically in the provocation that such behaviour produces. The general rule should be: "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offence, either to the Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."

(15:1-13).

In concluding his directives, Saint Paul calls for spiritually mature Christians ("strong in faith") to be tolerant and understanding toward their spiritually immature fellow members. He presents Christ as an example of forbearance:

Here the Apostle is citing an excerpt from the sixty-ninth Psalm, in which the Messiah's suffering and humiliation are foretold. The prophecy expressed in the ninth verse: "Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me" — was fulfilled when our Lord Jesus Christ first visited Jerusalem at the very beginning of His service to mankind. Seeing the lively trading activity within the temple, His spirit became agitated. Making a whip out of ropes, Christ drove the traders and moneychangers out of the temple, telling them: "Take these things away! Do not make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" (John 2:16). Because of Christ's action in blocking the material interests of the traders, as well as the Jewish leaders, they unanimously rebelled against Christ and denigrated Him in the eyes of the people.

From that day on, the Jewish leaders came to hate Christ and used every opportunity to belittle His standing among the people. During the trial at Caiaphas' house, they reminded Him of this event. Through this, Christ subjected Himself to denigration from those who by desecrating the temple dishonoured its Owner. Saint Paul brings up this incident in the form of an example so that Christians, in emulating their Saviour, should not be strangers to humiliation and sorrows when this is demanded for the defence of God's glory and the spiritual benefit of their relations. In his epistle, Saint Paul repeatedly returns to the example of Christ, Who, through His compassion for us, left His Heavenly glory and descended into our world darkened by evil. By right, the Jews regarded themselves to be citizens of the future Kingdom of the Messiah. But the Apostle, having shown that the Jews are as guilty as the heathen, now explains that God extends His mercy to all people — excluding no one from His Kingdom. In confirming this foremost mystery of the New Testament, the Apostle brings up the witness of the ancient prophets:

(15:14-16:24).

The Apostle concludes his epistle with some supplementary thoughts and greetings. This segment of the epistle is quite clear and needs no clarification:

Already in the first year of Christianity's emergence, Jerusalem became the centre for warring Judaism, where from time to time Christians were subjected to cruel persecutions (Acts 8:1). Taking advantage of the Christians' non-legal status, some of the more aggressive Jews plundered their property with impunity (Hebrews 10:34), impoverishing the Jerusalem church and leaving it in need of outside help. While preaching in various countries, Saint Paul did not forget his mother-Church and from time to time collected financial assistance for her (1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians chs. 8-9). The Apostle writes about one of these contributions, which he had hoped to deliver personally.

The Apostle had a premonition that his imminent visit to Jerusalem could see him facing persecution — and he was not mistaken. As we know from the Book of the Acts of the holy Apostles (Acts 22:27-24:1), a crazed mob of Jewish fanatics nearly killed Saint Paul when he arrived there. Later they arrested him and wanted to try him in Caesarea. However, being a citizen of Rome, he demanded to be tried before the Roman emperor. Thus, after many mishaps, Saint Paul finally got to Rome. However, here we have gone ahead of ourselves. The Apostle writes:

(16:17-20).

Even during the times of the Apostles, heretics had already begun to distort the Christian faith. Motivated by greed, these false teachers used Christian terminologies and rhetorical means with great success to entice simple souls into their heretical sects. Concerned with the purity of faith, the Apostles, through their epistles and by their preaching, exhorted Christians to ignore the false teachers (see Acts 20:28-31; James 3:1; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 1:9-11; 2 Corinthians 2:17 and 11:13-15; Galatians 1:8-9; Philippians 3:2; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12; 1 Timothy 1:5-7 and 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:16-19 and 4:3; Titus 1:9-11 and 3:10; Hebrews 13:9).

Bearing in mind the constant danger from these false teachers, Saint Paul begs the Christians of Rome not to be tempted by their eloquence and sophism but to hold to their own original professed belief and church unity. He writes:

In his other epistles, Saint Paul comes out more definitively against the false teachers. He writes:

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8). "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Timothy 4:1-2). "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Timothy 4:3-4). "But even if we, or an Angel from Heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8-9).

Without immersing ourselves in the complicated subject of heresy, it is essential to mention one of them, which lies at the base of contemporary sectarian teachings. These assert that by depicting the importance of faith in his Epistles to the Romans, the Apostle Paul rejects the need for good deeds.

As we have mentioned before, the Jews in Apostolic times — under the excuse that they have been justified because of their lineage to Abraham and their conformity to the law — refused to believe in Christ. In refuting their incorrect understanding of justification structured on formal grounds, Saint Paul shows that in essence, justification was always found in faith and not the external works of the law. As an example, he presents the faith of Abraham. From the context of his speech and the example of Abraham's faith, it can be seen that under justification by faith, Saint Paul had in mind a live and active faith and not just an acknowledgment of Christ being the Messiah. He taught that faith should transform the Christian's whole life from a self-centred sinner and make him akin to Christ. In all of six chapters of his Epistle to the Romans (7-8 and 12-15) the Apostle explains what is entailed in the life of a genuine Christian.

In asserting that a person supposedly is saved by faith alone — independent of his way of life — the sectarians in essence are returning to the former Jewish formalism, which the Apostle so energetically opposed. This lofty phrase "believe, and you are saved" transforms faith into a magical means, similar to the formal acts of the law. The Jews adhered to external, while contemporary sectarians — to intellectual determinism. In reality, salvation cannot be separated from the inner transformation of a person, which with the help of faith occurs during the course of his life. God wants for each Christian to be transformed from the "old" (conceited, vain, and dissolute) to a "new creation" (self-controlled, humble and altruistic). That is — the aim is to change the moral essence of a person, which is no small endeavour, requiring an active Christian love and an effort to eradicate the passions/lusts. Like that of the ancient Jews, the sectarian formalism appears to be nothing but an attempt to by-pass Christ's narrow path and automatically — without effort — enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Christ taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is taken "by force" (Matthew 11:12). It is because the path to the Kingdom of Heaven is narrow and thorny that a Christian requires the almighty help of the Holy Spirit — in accord with what Saint Paul wrote (8:11).

It is bad enough when a Christian violates God's laws, but it is worse when he gratifies his laziness and vanity by distorting Christ's teachings, taking from the Scripture that which is pleasant and profitable and rejecting that which he does not like. This is an unforgivable trampling of truth.

The only Saviour of a mankind that is perishing in its sins is the Son of God, Jesus Christ. The Apostle showed that not the voice of conscience, not the fear of eternal torment, and not the magnificent precepts of God-inspired prophets are capable of saving mankind from its main misfortune — sin, which enslaves man's will and forces him to do what he does not want to. That is why before the coming of Christ, Heaven and eternal life were inaccessible both to the well-intentioned heathens and to the Jews striving to live according to the law of Moses. Salvation from sin and the Devil's tyranny came from Christ.

Descending into our sinful world, our Lord Jesus Christ not only taught mankind faith and how to live righteously, but also took upon Himself people's sins and eradicated them on the Cross with His blood. Subsequently, He was resurrected from the dead and vanquished death, opening a path toward eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven for all who believe in Him. Now, every person — Jew or heathen — has access to God's mercy and eternal salvation. And this is not because of some personal merit but exclusively from God's mercy.

The turning point in the life of one who has believed in Christ occurs in the Mystery of Baptism. Here the newly baptized becomes dead to sin and is born for righteous living. God leads him into a new, hitherto unknown sphere of living in which the life-giving power of Christ is active and not the formality of the law. This power — not visible to the naked eye yet sensed internally — enlightens the mind of the believer with bright thoughts, makes his heart joyful with pure and elevated feelings, and inspires the will toward acts of love.

From the context of the Apostle's precepts, it can be seen that faith has to be alive and active. Undoubtedly, it has to exhibit itself in the act of self-restraint, in a chaste and pure life, in philanthropy, in constancy of prayer, in fulfillment of family and societal responsibilities, and mainly in acts of compassion and love. In his directives on Christian living, the Apostle repeatedly returns to the example of Christ and urges Christians to strive to be like Christ in all things.

We should rejoice ceaselessly and thank our Lord Jesus Christ for everything that He has done and is doing for our salvation.

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