Theosis

"Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; In whose heart are the highways to Zion." -Ps 84:5

"Even so, every good tree produces good fruit;" -Mt 7:17

"Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything, this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have attained." - Phil 3:7-16

Do Something Positive

"Do not be surprised if you fall back into your old ways every day. Do not be disheartened, but resolve to do something positive about it; and, without question, the angel who stands guard over you will honor your perseverance." - St. John Klimakos

Why God Became Man

"God became man so that man could become like God." -- St. Athenasios

Hank Hannegraaff on Theosis

"It’s not just Eastern Orthodox [who have a concept of Theosis]. It is something that is prevalent in the Church in the West as in the East, and in fact right up until the time of the Reformation pretty much everyone believed in Theosis... That we become Christ bearers since his body and blood are distributed throughout our limbs, as St. Cyril of Jerusalem said. And Augustine said, 'As God became man; man becomes God.' Or as Luther said, 'Word became flesh, so flesh becomes Word.' The whole idea being, is that we become by grace what God is by nature. So we partake of the means of grace God gives to us, then through the means of Grace, which center around the Eucharist, or the Mass, or the Lord’s Supper (but is not exclusive to that) by partaking of the graces we can become as Peter put it, 'Partakers in the Divine Nature.' And that’s been the teaching of the Church throughout its history, again, right up until the time of Luther, who taught it and said that if he could disagree with the papists on anything it would have been this very thing, that the Eucharist is the primary means by which you become a partaker in the Divine Nature." -- Hank Hannegraaff, The Bible Answer Man radio broadcast, March 21, 2017, Video Link

Bear Good Fruit

"Christ knew it was not yet the season for figs. Yet in such an "inappropriate" time, He looked for figs on the fig tree!

"By this action He wanted to teach all of His servants, who believe in Him, that we should not behave like the fig tree, which only bears fruit once a year, and the rest of the year is without fruit and even without leaves.

"We should be different from the fig tree. Our thoughts, our feelings, our actions, our works, everything should point to Christ, and we should always bear fruit, not only towards the end of our lives or just once a year, for example, during Holy Week.

"Because we do not know the time of our death! And then what? 'Every tree that does not bear good fruit, is cut down and thrown into the fire' (Matt. 3:10).

"Let us fear the curse, brethren, of the withered fig tree for its fruitlessness, bringing to Christ fruits worthy of repentance, Who grants us the great mercy" -- Archimandrite Vasilios Bakogiannis, Ph. D

Unity With God

In Orthodox Christianity we search for unity with God. Really it is a community, that is, we retain our individuality, but are in communion with God. It is more like a good marriage, and indeed, the Church uses this imagery; describing the Church as the "bride" and Christ as the "bridegroom". It is a unity of purpose, yet not in essence. -- Wcrowe 15:56, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Knowing God

The renowned physicist, Richard Feynman, once articulated the difference between knowing and understanding in this way, "See that bird? It's a brown-throated thrush, but in Germany it's called a 'halzenfugel', and in Chinese they call it a 'chung ling teng', in Japanese it's a 'taha atara', and even if you know all the names in all the languages for that bird, you still know nothing -- absolutely nothing -- about the bird. You only know something about people; what they call the bird. Now that thrush sings, and teaches its young to fly, and flies so many miles away during the summer across the country, and nobody knows how it finds its way." You can't just bone up on a bunch of facts about God; quoting scripture by chapter and verse, and so on. To truly know God, you have to spend time with him. Knowing things about God is just trivia. It's somewhat helpful, but there is a reason that trivia is called trivia... Wcrowe (talk) 19:44, 19 March 2018 (EDT)

Spiritual Chastity

"The heart must be purified. Man must acquire spiritual chastity; that is: sincerity, honesty, selflessness, humility, goodness, forbearance, sacrifice. This is how man becomes akin to God, and how divine Grace comes to dwell in him. When someone has physical chastity but lacks spiritual chastity, God cannot dwell in him; because he harbors cunning, pride, evil and so forth. Then this person's life is a sham. This is where you must begin your struggle: acquiring spiritual chastity, spiritual purity." -- Elder Paisios of Mt. Athos

Mary Chose The Good Part

"To cling always to God and to the things of God-this must be our major effort, this must be the road that the heart follows unswervingly. Any diversion, however impressive, must be regarded as secondary, low-grade and certainly dangerous. Martha and Mary provide a most beautiful scriptural paradigm of this outlook and of this mode of activity. In looking after the Lord and his disciples, Martha did a very holy service. Mary, however, was intent on the spiritual teaching of Jesus, and she stayed by his feet, which she kissed and anointed with the oil of her good faith.... In saying "Mary chose the good portion," he was saying nothing about Martha, and in no way was he giving the appearance of criticizing her. Still, by praising Mary he was saying that the other was a step below her. Again, by saying "it will not be taken away from her," he was showing that Martha's role could be taken away from her, since the service of the body can only last as long as the human being is there, whereas the zeal of Mary can never end." -- St. John Cassian, Conference 1.8

Reaching God

"At the heart of both events [Tower of Babel and Pentecost] was the revelation of humanity's motivations. At Babel humanity pridefully attempted to do what humanity pridefully always tries to do: Reach God without God.

At Pentecost, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and declared to everyone how to reach God with God.

Notice, both goals were to reach God, to be with God. But one motivation was to show that humanity didn't need God to reach God and Pentecost showed the world what would happen if humanity, in humility, desired God because they loved God." -- Fr. Barnabas Powell, Orthodox On Purpose blog, June 21, 2013

(see Pentecost)

Be Holy, For I Am Holy

"He himself says, 'Be holy, for I am holy,' that is to say, choose me and keep away from what displeases me. Do what I love; love what I do. If what I order seems difficult, come back to me who ordered it, so that from where the command was given help might be offered. I who furnished the desire will not refuse support. Fast from contradiction, abstain from opposition. Let me be your food and drink. None desire in vain what is mine, for those who stretch out toward me seek me because I first sought them." -- ST. LEO THE GREAT, SERMON 94.2

Racing to the Sepulchre

"Keep the Feast of the Resurrection. Be a Peter or a John; hasten to the Sepulchre, running together, running against one another, vying in the noble race (John 20:3-4). And even if you be beaten in speed, win the victory of zeal; not looking into the tomb, but going in." -- St. Gregory the Theologian

The Process of Theosis

"The non-Orthodox Churches have as their emphasis the forgiveness of sins in order that one might not go to hell, and [instead] go to Heaven. Because of this, the understanding of what salvation is, has become a more of a juridical or legal issue, where the goal of the Gospel and the goal of everything is forgiveness of one's sin. In contrast, we as Orthodox view forgiveness of sins only as the first step in the process of salvation. We're forgiven; indeed we are forgiven, but so that we may be purified and healed, so that we can be transfigured, so that we can become God-like. The goal is not for us to make it to heaven, the goal really is God Himself. The goal is the mystical union, and communion with Him. This is Theosis, divinization, deification, transfigurement -- whatever we want to call it. It's a forever process of becoming by grace what God is by nature, without ever becoming God." - Fr. James Bernstein, The Illumined Heart Podcast, May 22, 2008

Theosis Is A Continual Process

In Orthodoxy the goal is theosis, or becoming like God. That is to say, becoming like Christ. It is a continual process. This is why we always ask Christ to save us. We never assume that we are saved once and for all, because we continue to sin throughout our lives. And sin is that which separates us from God, making our journey to theosis more difficult.

The problem with the juridical concept of sin, is that it places God in the position of father carrying a big hickory stick, who punishes us for being bad. This can make us feel persecuted and resentful of God. It also causes us to be more resentful of others. Because we are aware of our own sins, we tend to deflect our shortcomings onto others. We seek out the sins of others, looking for sins greater than our own, and become smug in the knowledge that their sins are somehow worse than ours, and deserving of punishment. Then, when bad things happen to others, we rejoice in their misery, confident that they "deserve it."

However, if we treat sin as a sickness, we are inclined to become more compassionate towards others. Compare it to physical sickness: Imagine being pleased about someone suffering the pain of arthritis. It would be a particularly cruel person indeed, who delighted in the ailments of others, especially if we have ailments of our own. When we know the difficulties of overcoming our own spiritual flaws, we become more forgiving of the flaws in others. We realize that all of us are struggling in our spiritual walk with God. God does not punish us for our sins, but rather sees our sickness, and provides spiritual exercises, teaching, and encouragement to help us heal ourselves. - Wcrowe 17:46, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Theosis is Transformation not Acceptance

"The love of Christ is never a love that 'accepts people as they are': it is always a love that takes people as they are, and changes them into something new, precious, and divine." -- Archimandrite Irenei Steenberg

"We avail ourselves of God’s grace in the Mysteries (sacraments) of the Church. The church services in combination with the spiritual disciplines prescribed by the Church comprise a therapeutic regimen designed to restore us to spiritual health. Through them we learn to pray, to be still before God, to deny the passions of the flesh, to acquire wisdom, in short we attain “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). This is not works righteousness but rather a synergistic process in which we are transformed by the Holy Spirit into the likeness of Christ." -- Robert K. Arakaki, Orthodox-Reformed Bridge Blog, 20 Oct, 2012

The Foundation of Our Hope

"In a world where our struggles often seem hopeless, where our life seems meaningless because death is ever present, the good news and foundation of our hope is that Christ has overcome death and granted life in the tombs. The Incarnation of the Logos offers us a "life in Christ" empowering us to live as Christ, to love as Christ, to serve as Christ and to be one with Christ." -- Mr. Philip Kariatlis

Longing for that Terrible Beauty

"I am longing for that beauty which terrifies the mind of the one who looks upon it." -- St. Gregory the Theologian, Poem 1.2.1, In Laudem Virginitatis

(NB: As we draw closer to Christ, we become more aware of the enormity of the gulf that separates us from him) -- Wcrowe (talk) 05:52, 8 February 2016 (UTC)

Ordinary Doings

"The power of man's virtue should not be measured by his special efforts, but by his ordinary doings." -- St. Blaise

We Are Not Saved Alone

"This understanding shares the glory of God with mere mortals. But, interestingly, St. Paul says that man is the “image and glory of God” (1 Cor. 11:7). Apparently, we were brought into existence in order to have such a share.

"The failure to understand this and the effort to re-invent the Christian story with diminished roles for angels and saints, or Christians themselves, comes very close to setting forth a different gospel altogether.

"The Word became flesh of the Virgin Mary. The flesh of the Virgin is also the flesh that is nailed to the Cross (when her soul was itself mysteriously “pierced”). The flesh which we eat in the Eucharist is also the flesh of the Virgin – for there is no flesh of God that is not the flesh of the Virgin.

"And it does no good to protest that the Word merely “took flesh” of the Virgin. For Adam cried out concerning Eve, “This is truly bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.” And St. Paul noted concerning the wife of a man that a man should love her, “For no one ever yet hated his own flesh." -- Fr. Stephen Freeman, Glory to God for All Things, March 9, 2017

See Also:

Pentecost (unity of purpose)