Faith in Christ pertains to the inner content of the life of Christ. It is not just a collection of religious ideologies and moralisms which ignore Christ and His message in order to return to bondage to the law, as if we were without Grace.
It is said by the Saviour that "not one jot or tittle of the law shall pass away until all things be fulfilled." How is it that anyone (even Orthodox clergy) turn to this saying, yet never, ever pay heed to the prayer we say at the Proskomedia, just after the prayer before the Amvon, and before the final blessing? It begins with the theological statement, "Thou who art Thyself the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets ..."
If Christ Jesus did not "fulfill all things," what did He accomplish?
Of course, if you believe in the 'Atonement' heresy--that Christ was tortured to death to satisfy the bloodlust of a cruel and unforgiving deity, and died to save us from God--then you might not realize that Christ did indeed, fulfill all things so that every jot and tittle of the law may pass away, so that the "manuscript that was against us is torn up," as Paul says, and the "middle wall" (Eph. 2:14) is broken down.
We live under Grace and are called to repent because of love. Indeed, to repent out of fear is merely a fraud, since no one repents from fear, but rather attempts through some sort of penitence, to self-atone in order to avoid punishment.
However, seeking to avoid punishment is mere pragmatism; it is not repentance. Repentance is a sincere, heartfelt turning around, changing one's perspective and seeking the spiritual healing of the whole person, which comes about by opening oneself fully to the love, grace and embrace of God, as did the prodigal son: to turn around and find that the Father's forgiveness does not come about when we turn to end our alienation, but that it has followed us, nay pursued us, from the moment we turned and walked away from Him.
We have only to begin the journey, and we suddenly discover the Father running down the road toward us, bearing a robe of love and a ring of grace. We are not striving to fulfill laws, but for a transformation of the inner person into a likeness of the life of Christ. This cannot be done through laws, moralisms or ideologies, but only through striving toward unselfish love, toward a full comprehension of what it is to love your neighbour as yourself, how our desire, together with the action of His Grace, can bring about a true morality, not through fear, but through a return from our alienation that leads us to do by nature those things which pertain to true morality, not through constraint of law, but by means of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Thank you...thank you for the message of freedom this article delivers. I can't express how helpful it has been for me to be contemplating Jesus' life and message in light of his victory over alienation. Turning towards God with understanding that there is not one ounce of alienation remaining between us is an incredible feeling...a true feeling of the wondrous depth of connection that is truly possible with Him. That feeling is freedom...it is lungs breathing fully in a way not thought possible...it is both exhilarating and somewhat daunting as I realize this immense Presence is receiving me as I am in total Love and with a powerful Grace that can only change me...transform me into that which I've always longed for: both my truest Self and into the image of the One I love so dearly, Jesus. Repentance, as you say, is done from a place of Love and I am learning ever so slowly, leads us into the incredible freedom of the Life of Jesus. His own statement that 'whom the Son sets free is free indeed' means much more to me today than it did not so long ago.
Posted by: Eric H Janzen | January 08, 2017 at 11:41 PM