Episode 143: Faith; the greatest contribution

In the name of the glorious Trinity, Father and Son and Holy

Spirit, forever Amen. Glory be to the everlasting

mercies which sent you to us, O Christ, the Light of the world

and the life of all. Give us wisdom by your law and

enlighten our impulses by Your knowledge.

Sanctify our souls by Your truth and grant that we may be

obedient to Your words and may fulfil Your commandments at

every hour. O You who enlightens the

rational with the knowledge of Your greatness, do enlight, O my

Lord, our thoughts, that we may meditate upon Your holy and

divine Scriptures at all times. O Lord of all, Father and Son

and Holy Spirit, forever. Episode we left off left off at

verse 21 of Romans chapter 3, but now the righteousness of God

Romans 3 · chapter mention

without the law. That means there was nothing

that you physically needed to do or they needed to do is going

talking about the Jews and the Gentiles righteousness of God

without the law is manifested or you know back then was

manifested and is every day and and the very law and prophets

testified to it. So he's he was talking about

righteousness justification made right righteousness made right

without the law the righteousness of God that we

received and he's going to continue to say who we received

it from was apart from the law. Now, the law, meaning which law,

not what we do today, you know, people say, oh, you know,

there's no justification through the law.

So the laws you have today. No, no, we got to get it right.

We have the law of the flesh and we have the law of the Spirit.

We have the covenant of the flesh.

We have the covenant of the Spirit.

We have the old covenant. We have the new covenant,

leaving aside the new and the Spirit, the law of the Spirit.

Paul is talking about the past BCBC, the law of the old, the

Old Testament law. So the grace of God through his

Son, the Christ he's going to talk about was already foretold

by the prophets that God will make things right through his

Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ through his Son, no one

else through his Son. And all we need to do is what

all they need needed to do, all that was required by them.

And today Paul is going to continue verse 22.

But the righteousness of God is here.

It is by the faith of Jesus Christ to everyone, also to

every man who believes in him. For there is no discrimination.

Now when it says by faith of Jesus Christ, yes, the faith

that Jesus brought our faith in him being obedient to the faith

of Jesus Christ, meaning believing in Jesus Christ.

And it states that it is to all, beloved, the Jews and Gentiles

who are under the law, the Gentiles who are in paganism,

all under the power of the slavery of sin, which Paul was

talking about. We were all under sin.

Now he's going to say we have sin.

So all those who are under sin, all who are unrighteous, not

right, all that was out of whack, caused by sin, the

disarray that man was in because of disobedient and sin,

everything was made right. You know, justification, Steven,

when we justify, you know, those icons on the, you know, you got

the middle justification, the right justifying means to make

it right. Yeah, to put it, to set it as

you want it to to be, if it's all, if your documents all all

over the place, you're going to justify to make it right.

And this is what God did through his Son.

He made things right. And we're going to continue to

read how he made things right and what he made right, made

right by making it in bringing order into a dance.

Saint Paul says our God is a God of order.

There was chaos. There wasn't any order in

mankind. Men were doing what they

pleased, changing their gender. You know, we read in Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1, male becoming a female, changing genders.

You know, transvestites and what have you.

Adultery, fornication, idolatry, it was in disarray, it was a

chaos. God came and made it right

through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

And all that was required was faith.

And all that is required today is also faith to the Christians

who have the new law of the Spirit, the new covenant, who

have left the new law, who have diminished in faith in Jesus

Christ. All you need to do is believe.

Now what do you need to believe in?

Not in Jesus Christ. You believed, you were baptized,

you received the Holy Spirit, you were put to death with

Christ, and you were raised. Believe in what?

Believe that the Lord is waiting for you, just as the prodigal

son who returned to the Father, the God that ran out and that

was God. So believe that God will take

you back, will reinstate you, just as he did with Saint Peter

the Rock. Just believe that God is waiting

for you. God will not turn you away.

When you turn to God. When we turn to God, God will

not turn you away. He will receive you.

But when we turn to God with admission of guilt, A contrite

spirit in remorse, and say, Lord Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on

me, a Sinner, that's what you need to do.

Then you will come back to the House of God, to the church, and

the church will place the ring on you, give you that author,

reinstate the authority of sonship that you have because

you were adopted by God. And these are all from the

Scriptures. I may not be quoting verses.

You go Google adoption of sons and you'll find Saint Paul

talking about that the the church will one more time clothe

you with the grace of God, with the comfort of God, the

acceptance of God. And the church will slaughter

the fattened calf, which is the Holy Eucharist.

And the Church will say to the entire church, let us enjoy

ourselves. For this brother or this sister

was lost and now is found, was dead and now is alive.

That's what you need to do. O Christian who's walked away

from faith, come back, Believe that the Lord will receive you,

and don't let Satan through his demons, be it a friend, a

father, a mother, a brother, a priest, whoever tell you

otherwise. If they do, you rebuke Satan in

the name of Jesus Christ, and you return back to God and he

will come out and embrace you. He will actually kiss you.

That's what the father did. The father started kissing the

prodigal son. But to a Muslim, Jewish,

atheist, Gnostics, Jehovah's Witness, Mormon friends who are

still under the slavery of sin, to the entire world that hasn't

believed and accepted Jesus Christ, to the kings, to the

presidents, to the prime ministers, to the premiers, to

the governors who do not know Jesus Christ and use his name

for political gain, that is blasphemy.

That sin will not be forgiven when you stand before the Lord.

No, no, no, it's time for you to come back, receive Jesus Christ

as your Lord and your Savior and your King.

We're going to celebrate this in a week's time.

The King of kings will be born with well is born.

We celebrate the birth of the King of Kings to the entire

world believe and to those who are in faith, continue

believing, continue in faith. There is something that comes

from us. So faith is not just something

that is just comes in you. You're not poured with faith

like a, a glass of water, you know, water poured in a glass of

water. No, look what Saint John

Chrysostom writes. And again, I'm going to praise

God for the Church Fathers whom the Spirit moved, who were their

4th century, 3rd century, whom today we preach their teachings.

We don't need to reinvent the will.

Don't reinvent the will. Don't come up with all these

interpretations that are sometimes ridiculous.

Don't do that based on one word and one verse, where again, in

that chapter there are 22 verses, not just one verse.

No, no, no, you don't need to do that.

You know, You know, if we are in that predicament, repent from

that. Come back, come back to the

faith that was given by Christ once given to the Saints as

Saint Paul writes to the Church, given to the Church through the

apostles. Look at what Saint John

Chrysostom writes in order to stop anyone from asking how can

we be saved without contributing anything at all to our

salvation? Saint Paul shows that in fact,

we do contribute a great deal towards it.

We supply our faith. We supply our faith through free

will. Faith in who to be made

righteous, to remain in righteousness, to be made right

in the eye of God, to be justified.

Faith in who? Moses, Isaiah Saints Peter and

Paul, The Blessed Virgin Mother Mary, Mother of our Christ Our

God Saints Thaddeus Ade Saint George, St.

Zaya St. Narsai Muhammad, Buddha, Brahma,

Vishnu, Krishna, Rama, Shiva, Shakti, Durga, Kali, Israel

Hindu Gods No, no, no, no no. La La 99 Faith in whom?

In the one whom not only Saint Paul states, but God himself,

Faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ only don't compromise.

Don't you dare, O believer of Jesus Christ, who have claimed

his blood upon them and who have claimed to have been to have

been buried with him through baptism, don't you dare

compromise the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't do it. If you are doing it, stop, pull

to one side, stop your vacuuming, stop your washing

dishes, get on your knees and say, Oh Jesus, Lord Jesus, Son

of God, have mercy on me, for I have sinned.

No, because to no person in the history of the world to date and

in the future has God the Father spoken from heaven and has

claimed and said and has put it right.

This is my beloved Son. At his baptism where the Holy

Trinity was revealed, the Father spoke.

The Son was being baptized, coming out of the waters and the

Holy Spirit descending and, and and being and staying on him.

He said, this is my beloved son. And then this son that we saw

with one tunic, with sandals, humble, being ridiculed, being

mocked, his life in danger while he was in his mother's womb.

And we thought, how can this be the Saviour, as did the Jews?

This is the Saviour talking about love and forgiving and,

you know, striking your cheek and turning to the other.

He took them up to the mountain, Simon, John and James, and he

transfigured. He showed his divinity that I'm

not just a mere man, no, I am perfect man.

And there again God the Father speaks and this time he says,

this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well.

Please listen to Him, no one else, not those names, those

idle, empty, useless names that I just mentioned.

No, listen to his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in the Son of God,

the Son of God by nature, not by grace, not because he was

baptized. He was then adopted as God's

Son, as we do in baptism. No, no, we are adopted by grace

in through baptism be the children of God, our faith in

Jesus Christ first and foremost, and our baptism.

Galatians 3 chapter 2627. No, no, Jesus Christ by nature,

that means He is God. Verse 23 For all have sinned and

are short of the glory of God, for they are freely given

righteousness, freely given righteousness by the grace of

God through the salvation which is in Jesus Christ faith for

all, all have sinned. Jews from among whom salvation

first arose. Also the Gentiles in the Litany

of the Holy Feasts, the seven holy feasts which we celebrate

in the Church. One of them is coming up in a

week's time. The Deacon, the diaconate

litany, Karozouta. Let us all stand up as it is,

right as it is befitting. Withdrawing rejoices.

Let us beseech and say, our Lord have mercy upon us, mercy upon

us, the Deacon proclaims. O Savior of all, especially

those who believe in him, we beseech you, salvation is for

every person, past, present, future, every person.

Salvation has come for the world, but salvation is

specified, and especially for those who believe in who the

Savior of the world, which is Jesus Christ, praise and glory

to be to His name, Right Armin type Armin, honk your horn.

Why 'cause God so loved the world.

That's why the world, not God, so loved the Assyrians, not God

so loved the the different tribes of Assyria or Judea or

Italia or Greece or Russia. No, no, no, no, for God so loved

the world that He gave up His begotten, only begotten Son.

We will be celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do one give one gift to a person that does not have the gift of

God, the Son of God, your neighbor, your friend, whoever,

humbly, gently, with a smile on your face, tell them about Jesus

Christ. Tell them that it's only Jesus

who saves. Tell them that Jesus is alive.

Tell them that all they need to do is believe that Jesus is the

Son of God, is the Savior of the war world, is the the see the

the the article definite article.

The Son of God. There's only one the Savior of

the world is only one the Lord, there's only one.

Tell them give them this great gift and just walk away.

Look what you don't need to go with your Bible and open to

chapter Isaiah verse 7 and Isaiah 53, Isaiah 9 and

Ephesians 2. You don't need to do that.

That's that's showing off. You just want to show that you

know the Scriptures don't do that.

God knows the intent. Just give them that that simple

message. Those who have not believed

Jesus Christ, and then when they ask you why, that's the time to

start expanding on what you have just said, praying that the Holy

Spirit will lead and will speak through you believe.

Tell them to believe. All have sinned, beloved, not

only under slavery, as Paul says, we were all under sin.

Now he's saying that they have all sinned.

They were under the slavery of sin, the power of sin, but they

have now sinned, that is conceded to sin, committed sin,

and fallen short of the glory of God, fallen short of the

righteousness. You weren't right because when

you were in sin, you're not right.

If you are sinning, you're not right.

You're in, You're not in the holiness of God.

What do I need to do? Come back to this God that you

left because you believed in Him.

You just walked away and those who haven't bring them to God

through Jesus Christ, not Allah, not all those other names that I

mentioned through Jesus Christ come back to the holiness of God

and Christ has done God has done everything through his Son

redeemed us. We've been redeemed by Christ.

Now, in some versions, the word propitiation propitiation is is

is mentioned and and there's an understanding in the Western,

you know, theology that God was so angry that to appease him,

there had to be blood sacrifice. You know, like the Pagan gods.

That's how they appease their Pagan gods.

What was that that movie Apocalypt apocalyptic.

There was a film where the, where this this actor, his wife

was pregnant and then he had to put her in a in a hole.

And he was, he had to go in these games and they were

shooting at him. And in in any case, they take

him up to to sacrifice them to their God.

And their heads were rolling. And yeah, he was gooey.

He was gooey, OK. And there was blood sacrifices

like Pagan gods, gods. Now, God is not like that.

A God is not a Pagan God. A God is not our God is not one

that likes to see bloodshed like splash in the Old Testament.

That was different in the Old Testament, in the, the, the,

the, the, the old covenant God was, it was all a, a, a

prototype, a, a, a, a shadow of what Christ was going to do once

and only once on the cross. You know, they say God's anger

had to be appeased with a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice, as

I said, like the Pagan of God. Hence some say we see God's

wrath on the cross. No, we see God's love on the

cross. We see God's victory on the

cross. We see God's deal for dealing,

taking care of sin and Satan and death on the cross.

Why for God so love the world? John 316 not God was so angry at

the world. He was fuming at the world.

He had to see blood shedding and heads rolling and what have you.

No, no, no. We may have angered him at

times, and his anger is a righteous anger, you know.

Let me take you back when mom used to say I'm laughing, but

it's a, an anger laughter. I'm I'm laughing because I'm

angry, right? Because I'm frustrated at you.

It was one of those types, but a righteous anger because mom

would still beat you up, right? You know, when you were at your

friend's house or visiting people and you played up a

little bit and then mom gave you that that look that not only

could kill but judged you to hell at times.

And then when you got home, you think it was all over.

She's forgotten because during the the car trip, you know,

we're all singing. And then when you walk into the

house and then smack comes one behind the back and mum would

say, you thought I forgot, right?

No, not that type of anger, but a righteous, loving anger.

We may anger him, yet it is through His love that He gave

His begotten Son to be the ultimate sacrifice.

In Psalm 51 we read that God is not pleased, is not appeased

with burnt sacrifices. But what a broken spirit, a

broken and contrite heart. Themes are what God does not

despise and this is what Jesus had a Reed, you know like this

the sheep taken to slaughter. He did not his album, his mouth.

He didn't cry out in the in the you know, marketplaces humble

and hence God and he was righteous and unblemish.

He was pure his blood is was is continues being pure beloved.

That's why we partake in the Holy Eucharist, the cup, and I

mentioned this last episode, the cup that we bless is real

appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, all right, because he

was humble, God was appeased. And what he means here by God

demonstrating his just justice is God showing His

righteousness. It is like declaring he's rich

not only for him to be rich himself in righteousness, but he

revealed, he demonstrated it so that we could be like him.

Hence St. Paul says, imitate Christ,

imitate me, for I imitate Christ.

When we imitate Christ, we are righteous.

When we live a Christian life, we are right in the eye of God.

And again, if we fall away, if we walk away, if we step away

from the path, if we sin, if we fall, we come back and believe

that the Lord is waiting for you until he returns the second time

from heaven. But let's not doubt and let's

not forget that righteousness is not The righteousness of God is

through 1 deed that we need to do 1 contribution and that is

faith. And then from that point

onwards, our faith extends to the good deeds that were for

ordained in the beginning before the world, as Saint Paul writes

in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10, those good deeds that were

Ephesians 2:10

ordained, preordained, that was set for us and we continue so

that through those we remain in faith.

You know, when you pray, you're increasing in faith.

When you read the Holy Scriptures, you're increasing in

faith. When you come to church, you

attend church, you fellowship, you worship with your Christian

brothers and sisters, you are increasing in faith When you do

a good deed because Christ has commanded you do it for Jesus

Christ. When you visit the sick, you do

it for Jesus Christ. When you feed the hungry, you do

it for you're doing it for, you're feeding Christ.

That's what he said. Because when you do for these

one of these little ones, you do for me.

When I go to a hospital and I go to pray on as a priest to pray

on the patient, I see two Christs there.

According to the Scriptures, Christ is in bed and Christ is

standing above the person that is in bed and praying.

Because the priest is the icon of Christ, right?

And the, and the, the person that is sick in hospital is

Christ is an icon of Christ. That's what he said.

You do it for me, metaphorically speaking.

Then you see that when you do all these, when you come to

church, when you confess your sins, when you worship, you sing

songs of praise with your fellow Christian brothers and sisters,

and you worship and you praise and you confess and you admit

and you repent and you're absolved by the church and you

partake. See, this is the this is the

end. This is where it concludes it.

Without this, it's, it's, it's, it's void, it's missing, it's

flawed, beloved, it's flawed without partaking in the Holy

Eucharist, the mysteries, the body and blood of our Lord Jesus

Christ, you grow in faith. Because again, let's go back to

the prodigal of the, the parable of the prodigal son when he

returns. Yes, the ring came out, then

the, the, the, the garment came out and then the shoes came out.

And what was the last thing that the Father command and his

servants bring the fattened calf so that we can rejoice, partake,

make merry. We make merry when we come to

the Holy mysteries and the holy Sacraments and partaking in

those in faith, In faith. If you don't believe, if you're

there because your Nana told you, if you're there because Dad

has pulled you out of bed and, and set you there and you don't

want to be there and you have to do it right now.

If you're under 18, yes, great. That's a way to teach you.

But if you're you're 18 and over and you're a grown and you're

there just because, because your friend's baptizing his child,

you never enter the Church of God, but you're there for

baptism because your friend, your best friend, your BFF is

baptizing a child and you're just there for that.

But you don't believe that you're going to be in the

presence of God, his holy angels, the apostles, the

prophets. That's what we read.

If you don't believe in that, well, I pray that the Lord will

instill the faith in you. I pray that maybe that that

attendance will move you somehow.

You will hear a word from the gospels or the readings or the

preaching or the OR the hymnology that you will be moved

to, to a point where you start coming to church in faith,

believing in Jesus Christ and knowing that Christ is amongst

us when we come together. These are all these are all the

deeds that we need to possess and we need to continue to live

in. But again, as I've always said,

when we are made righteousness, first thing we do, we believe in

that righteousness is through Jesus Christ.

I believe, Lord, make me write so that I can continue.

And when we do enter the Kingdom of heaven, notice from verse one

to verse chapter 1 to chapter 3 in Romans, St.

Paul hasn't mentioned the Kingdom of heaven, eternal life.

He hasn't mentioned that he's talking about BC.

Now he's going to continue and then he will speak about that.

All right, So you know we remain, we continue.

So that when the Lord returns and He out of His grace, mercy,

compassion and righteousness declares us to be worthy of the

eternal Kingdom, that's when we proclaim loudly and say, not I

Lord, but through your grace only.

Not to me be glory, not to me be be praise and honor.

No, no, no, but to you alone, Christ, for all of this.

For it began with grace. It began with grace and I

remained in your grace by what I did and how I conducted myself.

Hence St. Paul writes, offer your bodies

as a holy and pleasing sacrifice to the Lord.

And I did, meaning I repented from all these posing in

derogative poses on Facebook and and my social medias.

I repented from all the cussing and the and the foul language

that I was continuing. I repented from adultery and,

and, and you know, fornication and hatred and gossip and what

have you and I continued in the good deeds that you Lord said

for me. Now it's ending with grace.

I will enter your eternal Kingdom again by your grace,

because it began with your grace and it will end and continue in

your grace. And all this through faith in

the One, the Son of God, the Lord, the Christ, the Savior

Jesus Christ, praise and glory be to His name now and of all

times and forever. Amen.

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double edged sword. Until next time, God bless you

all.