Discover Orthodoxy: Personal Devotion and Salvation
Class 4: The road to Heaven is paved with faith, ascesis, and love
The following is a summary of a class presentation at Saint Mark Greek Orthodox Church in Boca Raton, Florida. The video of the class is embedded below. This is the first of a 5 part series on the basics of Orthodox Christianity. For part 1, click here; for part 2, click here; for part 3, click here.
The Essence of Orthodox Spirituality
At its core, Orthodox spirituality, or piety, is a way of living that seeks oneness with God. This unity is achieved through the great commandments that Christ taught: loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This love forms the foundation for all spiritual development.
It's important to understand that spirituality transcends mere morality. While a strong moral character is admirable, there is much more to being a true Christian believer. Morality is not the goal in and of itself, but rather a fruit—a natural byproduct—of authentic Christian spirituality.
Relationship, Not Religion
Since spirituality is fundamentally a quest for loving union with God, the Christian life is about deepening this relationship. Just as true friendships aren't measured by social media “likes”—or a mother's love by the number of gifts given—our relationship with God is far more than our good deeds.
The path of Orthodox spirituality leads to sainthood—what we call holiness or theosis. This is humanity’s true potential. As one saying goes, to see a Saint is to see someone who is more fully human than you are!
The Three Dimensions of Human Life
The Orthodox understanding recognizes three dimensions of human existence:
1. Active Life - Life in the Body: Based on our actions and governed by morality
2. Contemplative Life - Life in the Mind: Based on our thoughts and governed by reason
3. Mystical Life - Life in the Spirit: Based on love and faith, governed by divinity
What makes the Christian life unique is that it reaches its fulfillment in this third level—the mystical life—but not without the cooperation of the other aspects. When we achieve access to the Mystical life, we become capable of living simultaneously according to our physical deeds, cognitive theology, and sacramental communion: Action < Dogma < Liturgy.
However, entering this mystical dimension requires a certain “death”—a detachment from worldly attachments to focus on our true purpose. Like a man who must forsake all other romantic relationships to marry one woman, we must let go of what distracts us from God. This doesn't mean abandoning the Active or Contemplative life but rather completing and perfecting them through mystical union.
Here is a recording of a presentation made in person at Saint Mark Greek Orthodox Church in Boca Raton, Florida. The final portion of the presentation is an extensive Q&A covering many inquirer questions. Disclaimer: We mistakenly said this was recorded on Forgiveness Sunday, but rather it was on Sunday of the Last Judgment:
Faith and Works: A Living Faith
In Orthodoxy, we affirm the clear teaching of St. James that “faith without works is dead” (2:26). A true saving faith is never alone—it is always accompanied by works of love and mercy. As St. James explains, "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds" (James 2:18).
We do not teach justification by faith alone as it is commonly understood in among Protestants—”a man is justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24). While we affirm that salvation is entirely by God's grace—we can never earn it—we also recognize that we must cooperate with this grace. This cooperation, or synergy, is essential to our salvation. God extends his grace, and we respond through faith made active in works of love. God will not save us without our consent and participation.
Sin, Death, and Salvation
Humans were created to live in communion with God. As finite beings, we were never meant to taste death until we chose it over God. Sin leads to death and is an affront to God's perfect creation.
Salvation is the restoration of perfect life with God and liberation from sin and death. Our constant struggle is to embrace this salvation while being surrounded by sin and distractions. It's a continuous journey of repentance—of falling and rising again!
Salvation as a Race to the Finish
Unlike some perspectives that view salvation as a singular event, Orthodox Christianity understands salvation as a process—a lifelong race that requires endurance. As St. Paul writes, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Cor. 9:24).
Paul continues this metaphor when he tells Timothy near the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7). Salvation is not complete until we cross the finish line of our earthly life in faithfulness to Christ.
Baptism is not salvation itself but the beginning of salvation—much like a wedding is the beginning of a marriage. Just as we must continue to love and serve our spouse to maintain a marriage, we must continually strive spiritually to be saved. The Apostle Paul urges us to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Phil. 2:12-13). This beautifully illustrates the synergistic relationship between God's grace and our cooperation.
Repentance: The Path to Salvation
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” Jesus commanded (Mt. 4:17). Repentance is not a one-time event but a way of life—the first step toward salvation, the first of many steps of repentance. While sins may have different consequences, the only distinction that truly matters is between sins we repent from and those we do not.
The beauty of repentance is twofold: it humbles us through confession of our weaknesses, and it raises us by restoring our place as God's children and heirs to Heaven. Salvation is more a relationship than a destination—we never “arrive” full in this life, we only draw closer, climbing the Ladder of Divine Ascent.
Importantly, repentance is distinct from how many see “penance.” It's not about “buying” God's mercy with good deeds but about personal contrition born from love for God that reconnects our relationship with him. Salvation is God's free gift, allowing us to participate in his divine life.
Grace, Faith, and Good Works
God saves us by grace, but we must be receptive to it through faith. We must believe in him before we can hope to be saved by him. Good works are not themselves the cause of grace but rather its fruits—expressions of thanksgiving for the salvation we've received and the means by which our faith remains alive and active.
As previously noted, St. James teaches, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead" (2:26). We are justified by a living, working faith—not by intellectual assent alone. Abraham was counted righteous not merely because he believed God's promise but because his faith was completed by his actual works when he offered Isaac (James 2:21-22).
Spiritual Practices
Almsgiving
Almsgiving is a means of loving our neighbors as ourselves. It involves freely giving something of yours to someone else without expecting anything in return—whether donating to charities or giving a coat to someone in need. It's giving freely to others as God has freely given to us. “Water extinguishes a blazing fire: so almsgiving atones for sin” (Wisdom of Solomon 3:30).
Almsgiving is not to be confused with stewardship—just like a mortgage payment is not a donation to your bank, but rather a fulfillment of a duty, so stewardship is distinct from alms.
Fasting
While fasting technically means refraining from certain foods on prescribed days, it's much more than just dietary restriction. It's a sacrifice and spiritual preparation that helps us grow closer to God by sharing in Christ's selflessness.
Fasting purifies us and strengthens our will against disobedience. It helps make us spiritually receptive by creating space for God's grace—just as you cannot add water to a full glass, we cannot receive God's blessings when we're already full of other things.
Perhaps most importantly, fasting reminds us that “man shall not live by bread alone.” It helps keep our desires in check, placing God's will above our own and putting our genuine spiritual needs back into perspective.
“But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6:17-18). Notice that Jesus says “when you fast,” not “if you fast.”
Prayer
Prayer is the unwavering connection to God and attentiveness to His will. It's not merely "talking to God" but also listening for and obeying his direction. Christ himself demonstrated this by retreating in prayer before every major event in the Gospels.
Prayer is where self and personal desires are lost—and where communion with God begins. It’s a dialogue with God that doesn't always require words—it can be any thought or action dedicated to him. Traditional prayer isn’t only in our liturgical prayers, but also occurs in silence and stillness, requiring us to “descend into our hearts” where we combine our intellect with love and devotion.
The Jesus Prayer—”Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”—offers a path toward the ceaseless prayer St. Paul describes in 1 Thessalonians 5:17: “Pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Through repetition—and if under guidance of a spiritual father, synchronizing with breath—this prayer becomes part of one’s natural state.
Heaven and Hell
The Orthodox understanding of the afterlife differs from many popular conceptions. Heaven and Hell aren’t separate “places” with harps or pitchforks. One way of looking at it is like this: All souls are together with God but experience his presence differently—like athletes at the World Cup finals, with winners rejoicing at the sight of the trophy while losers feel sorrow.
We will experience God's Kingdom as either "heaven" or "hell" based on our response to his presence. Those who have prepared themselves through repentance and spiritual practice will rejoice, while those who lived in sin and faithlessness will feel fear and shame—like the same sun warming those with sunscreen while burning those without.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10).
The Age to Come
Throughout the Old Testament, the Hebrew people awaited the Messiah, fulfilled in Christ's incarnation. Now, after Christ's Ascension, we await His return—the Second Coming (Parousia), when our bodies will be raised and reunited with our souls in the age to come.
This journey of spiritual growth and preparation is challenging but worthy. We do not lower our standards or compare ourselves to others—Christ is our only standard. The race of salvation requires endurance, faith, and works of love until we cross the finish line. As St. Paul reminds us, we must continue “forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead” as we “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14). He desires to share himself and his glory with those who love, follow, and cooperate with him on this path of theosis, the ultimate fulfillment of our humanity.