It is very important to remember that the Lord humbled himself and became one of us, that he went to great suffering for us, being sinless, that he laid down his soul for us - he did all this precisely because neither our good deeds nor ours knowledge of God, nor anything else could or can save us.
“Christian faith is the only way revealed by God to true bliss for people. And the Savior says that He is the door to the Father, that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life; and the Holy Apostle Paul declares that every knee of heaven should bow before the Name of Jesus earthly and underworld: therefore, there is no salvation outside of the crucified Jesus Christ, and without faith in His Name, as the True God, who appeared in the flesh, no one can be cleansed from sin, enlightened and enter the Kingdom of Heaven. “
This is how the Venerable Macarius (Gluharev) expressed the sacred truth that salvation is possible only in the Lord Jesus Christ, only in His Orthodox Church. This is evidenced by the words of Christ, which he said in the Gospel: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16) and the words that “unless one is born of water and the Spirit” , he cannot enter the kingdom of God “(John 3: 5). The words of the Apostle Peter, who testifies that apart from the Name of Jesus Christ, “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we can be saved … and there is no salvation in any other” (Acts 4: 11-12).
This truth is confirmed by official church decisions. In particular, the Epistle of the Patriarch of the Eastern Church on the Orthodox Faith of 1723 states: “We believe that holy baptism commanded by God and performed in the name of the Holy Trinity is very necessary. Because without it no one can be saved, as says the Lord: He who is not born of water and the Spirit cannot enter the Kingdom of God (John 3: 5) … The Lord points to this and said simply: “He who is not born”, that is, after the coming of Christ the Savior, all who want to enter the Kingdom of Heaven must be reborn … And those who are not reborn and therefore do not receive the forgiveness of ancestral sin, are inevitably subject to eternal punishment for that sin and therefore are not saved. “
Moreover, the service on the Sunday of the Victory of Orthodoxy, whose text was adopted by the Holy Synod in 1764, clearly declares: “To those who do not receive the grace of redemption preached by the Gospel, as the only means of our justification before God – anathema!” That is, the church condemnation of those who do not accept the gospel teaching that it is possible to be saved only by the redemptive deed of the Lord Jesus Christ has been officially announced.
Nevertheless, unfortunately, in our time there is a misconception among some Orthodox Christians that, ostensibly, salvation is possible outside the Church created by God, both without Baptism and without faith in the Gospel – it does not matter whether you believe in God or no, whether you acknowledge Christ as Savior or not, whether you live the Gospel or not, the main thing is to be a relatively good person, do good deeds and God will save you because of that. Rebuking this terrible delusion, St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) said that “he who acknowledges the possibility of salvation without faith in Christ, renounces Christ and, perhaps reluctantly, falls into the grave sin of blasphemy.”
It is not surprising that St. Ignatius called the thought that possible salvation without Christ was a renunciation of Christ. Because if salvation is possible without Christ, it means that salvation was possible even before Christ. If salvation is possible before Christ, it means that Christ came in vain, it means that Christ is not the Savior, although even the very name “Jesus” translates as “God who saves” and was given to him because “He will save His people from their sins ”(Matt. 1:21). And He Himself said that He came “to save the souls of men” (Luke 9:56) and that “whoever enters through Me will be saved” (John 10: 9).
Aware that the question of accepting or not accepting Christ was a matter of life and death, the Venerable Macarius, like other holy missionaries, could not remain indifferent and, sacrificing themselves, went to distant lands to save the infidels who lived there. On the contrary, the belief that “good infidels” are saved even without faith in Christ, in addition to other destructive influences on the souls of people who profess this belief, paralyzes any desire to become a preacher of God’s word and sows indifference in the hearts of such people. Because, if it is possible to be saved without the Church, then why invite anyone to the Church? Why try, take risks, and sacrifice? Bad infidels would not listen anyway, and good ones will be saved because of their good deeds.
However, that is a lie. The Apostle Paul said, “For if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Gal. 2:21). The apostle is not simply talking about unbelief or other religions, but about the revealed Old Law – even salvation was not possible, even though God Himself gave it. Therefore, after the death, the souls of the ancient righteous descended into hell, from where the Lord brought them out, who, after the crucifixion, descended into that dark place with His spirit, “by whom He descended and preached to the spirits in prison” (1 Pet. 3:19). If in spite of the truth, it is acknowledged that salvation was possible by fulfilling the Law, then Christ’s death is in vain, because everything He did was not for our salvation, which we could have obtained by keeping the Law.
If even acknowledging and keeping the Law given by God could not save us, what about other religions that do not come from God but from man and the devil? As is well known, in apostolic times, almost the entire human race, with the exception of a negligible number of Christians and Jews, lived in idolatry. This, however, did not prevent the Apostle Paul from testifying that idolaters “will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Gal. 5: 20-21), that “what the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God; and I do not want you to be sharers with demons “(1 Cor. 10:20) and it did not bother the apostle John to write:” To the idolaters and to all lies, to them, there is a share in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone “(Rev. 21: 8).
It is very important to remember that the Lord humbled himself and became one of us, that he went to great suffering for us, being sinless, that he laid down his soul for us – he did all this precisely because neither our good deeds nor ours knowledge of God, nor anything else could or can save us.
Hieromartyr Danilo Sisojev