How Can We Obtain Eternal Life?

A Sermon for the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Council of Nicaea

And this is life eternal, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the One whom You have sent (Jn 17:3)

My priestly office moves me to converse with you also on this present Sunday about very important subjects, which all of us absolutely must know in order to please God and to save our souls. Today the holy Church commemorates the holy Fathers of the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, who established the true teaching on the divinity of the Son of God, or on the oneness in essence of the Son of God with God the Father, against the heretic Arius and his like-minded followers, who falsely taught that the Son of God was not of one essence with God the Father and was supposedly not the true God, but was Himself created by God the Father. These blasphemers wanted to shake the Christian faith at its very root and foundation: for if it were granted that Jesus Christ is not the consubstantial Son of God, and not the true God, then our redemption and salvation would be an illusion; we would be the most wretched of all people, for we would all remain in our sins, without cleansing or sanctification, and would have no hope of resurrection from the dead or of eternal life.

The holy Fathers proved the full absurdity of this heretical teaching, for in fact it was impossible for anyone other than the only-begotten and consubstantial Son of God to renew corrupted human nature and cleanse its immeasurable sins, and no one other than the only-begotten Son of God could offer Himself as a sacrifice for the whole world and take its sins upon Himself. Through their impious teaching the heretics wanted to take away from people their hope, their refuge, their consolation, their cleansing, their sanctification, their strength and their glory—that which the Lord Jesus Christ was and is for all believers. This heretical teaching, ruinous for souls, was publicly and most wisely refuted and given over to anathema by the holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, which was held under the equal-to-the-apostles Emperor Constantine and in his presence, in the year 325 after the birth of Christ, in the city of Nicaea—and the Orthodox teaching concerning the Son of God, our Savior, was solemnly renewed; it is contained in the Creed and reads as follows: «I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages; Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one essence with the Father, through whom all things came to be». The Holy Church now gratefully glorifies the Lord because He established on earth the rational luminaries, our fathers, and through them instructed all of us in the true faith; and in the Sunday Gospel she utters, through the mouth of the deacon, the high-priestly prayer of Jesus Christ, which He spoke to God His Father before His sufferings.

This wondrous prayer, from which it is perfectly clear that He is the true Son of God—of one divine essence with God the Father—who redeemed the world by His death—through Whom alone our salvation is possible (that is, through His sufferings and death for the sins of the world, for His sufferings and death for us are His glory, since through His sufferings and death He triumphed over hell and death), reads as follows: Father! The hour has come: glorify Your Son, that Your Son may also glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh — that is, over the whole human race — that He may give eternal life to all that You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ sent by You. I have glorified You on earth; I have accomplished the work that You gave Me to carry out. And now glorify Me, Father, together with Yourself, with the glory that I had with You before the world came into being. I have revealed Your name to the people whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. And all that is Mine is Yours, and what is Yours is Mine, and I have been glorified in them. I am already no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father! Keep them in Your name, those whom You have given Me, that they may be one, as We are[1].

Since even in our own time, both abroad and in our homeland, and even in our own city, there are certain madmen who at times dare in frivolous talk to blaspheme and to speak unworthily of God and our Savior, and since eternal life consists in the true knowledge of God and of Christ, the Son of God, and eternal life must be exceedingly dear to all of us, let us now talk together about how we may come to know God and the Lord Jesus Christ in such a way that through the knowledge of Him we may attain eternal life. For not every knowledge of God can lead to eternal life: very many indeed do know, and still they perish forever. We all know God and call upon His name, but the knowledge of many is a barren, dead knowledge, which will not lead to eternal life.

First of all, for the obtaining of eternal life there is needed a right knowledge of the true God and of Jesus Christ, whom He sent, and likewise of His whole teaching and of His commandments—and not a knowledge distorted by the false reasonings of heretics and schismatics, for there is a chaos of delusions there, raised to the rank of dogmas; otherwise it is impossible for a man to attain eternal life. The holy Apostle Paul says: if anyone preaches to you a gospel other than what we preached to you, let him be anathema[2], that is, forever cut off from the Lord and from eternal life. But in order to have a right, true, saving knowledge of God, one must be a member of the Church of God, into which, as into a rich treasury, the apostles deposited in full everything that belongs to the truth, and which is the door of life, leading into eternal life, according to the words of St Irenaeus; only in the Church can one always hear the true teaching about God and have all the means of salvation and of eternal life, but outside the Church there is no salvation.

Second, in order to receive eternal life, one must not know God with only a cold mind and heart—as though it were no great harm to allow oneself to be carried away by attachment to earthly things, which is absurd—but one must prove one’s knowledge of God by the warmth of feeling and by fervent love of heart for Him, by the amendment of one’s whole manner of life, by the renunciation of the passions and of worldly attachments, of sinful practices or habits, of inclinations and leanings toward sin, by progress in every virtue, and by an unceasing striving toward holiness and perfection. Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy[3]. Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect[4]. In all their epistles to newly converted Christians, the holy apostles exhort them to join the amendment of their lives to the knowledge of God and to make progress in every virtue. Thus the holy apostle Peter writes in his epistle to the Christians from among the Jews: «Beloved, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the former desires that were yours in the days of your ignorance; but, after the example of the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves in all your ways. For it is written: be holy, because I am holy. And if you call as Father the One who judges each one impartially according to his works, then spend the time of your pilgrimage with fear, knowing that not with perishable silver or gold have you been redeemed from the vain way of life handed down to you by your fathers, but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb unblemished and pure. In obedience to the truth through the Spirit, having purified your souls for unfeigned brotherly love, love one another constantly from a pure heart, as those born anew not of perishable seed but of imperishable—the word of God, which lives and endures forever. Having set aside all malice and all cunning and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn infants, cherish the pure milk of the word, that by it you may grow to salvation»[5].

In another epistle the same apostle writes: «Show forth in your faith virtue, in virtue discretion, in discretion self-control, in self-control patience, in patience godliness, in godliness brotherly love, and in brotherly love love. If these things are in you and abound, you will not remain without progress and fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever has none of these things is blind and has shut his eyes, and has forgotten the cleansing of his former sins. Therefore, brethren, strive more and more to make firm your calling and election: in acting thus, you will never stumble. For in this way a free entrance will be opened to you into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ»[6]. The holy apostle John the Theologian writes that from this we can learn that we have come to know God, if we keep His commandments. «Whoever says: I have come to know Him, but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him»[7].

So then, Christian, if you desire eternal life, strive to know God not only with a cold mind but with all your heart, and prove your knowledge of Him by your deeds. You know that God is holy; strive to be holy yourself as well. You know that God is good and merciful; then be compassionate, forbearing, and merciful yourself. You know that God is long-suffering; then endure long yourself: by your patience save your souls[8], he who endures to the end shall be saved[9], says the Lord. You know that God is just—then observe justice in everything. You know that God is exceedingly generous and His bounties are upon all His works[10]—then stop being stingy and stop blaspheming the All-Generous One by your stinginess. You know that God is most pure—then love purity of soul and body and abhor the impurity of sin, especially the impurity of the flesh. You know that Jesus Christ taught the benefit and necessity of fasting for man—strive also to be temperate. Do not contradict yourself, knowing one thing while doing something entirely different. Such knowledge of God and Christ will lead you surely to eternal life. The merciful… shall be shown mercy; the pure in heart… shall see God[11].

If you truly wish to know God and to be known by Him, then at once take the path of action, the path of virtue, and at once abandon the path of lawlessness; otherwise your very deeds will bear witness against you that you do not know God and that you despise your own eternal good—or else you flatter and deceive yourself, imagining that fleshly, sinful deeds can be combined with faith in Christ, and that, while bearing the name of Christian, you can do the deeds of pagans. But the apostle speaks clearly to you and to people like you who dream thus: «Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor drunkards, nor thieves will inherit the kingdom of God»[12].

You see how it is absolutely necessary for one who has come to know God and Christ, the Son of God, to turn around and depart from the path of sin and stand upon the path of virtue. So, I repeat, do not contradict yourself; if you have come to know God, then do not deny Him by your deeds. Be faithful, peaceful, humble in wisdom, simple of heart, meek, self-controlled, hardworking, loving; in the love of brotherhood be lovingly affectionate to one another: in giving honor, outdo one another[13]; be chaste, obedient, patient, aspiring, think on the things above, not on the things of the earth; do not follow the urges of flesh and blood, and do not be worse than the irrational animals, which know the measure and the time for satisfying their needs. Put off the old man, which is being corrupted through deceitful passions, and clothe yourself in the new, created according to God, in the image of God, in righteousness and holiness[14]. All the saints who pleased God, having come to know God, immediately abandoned fleshly lusts and all works of lawlessness, and led a life of active labor, spiritual and virtuous; and if they did fall, they immediately rose again and with greater zeal set to the holy work of pleasing God. And indeed, eternal life, unceasingly blessed in the light of God’s countenance, is worth it to endure in this brief time of our earthly sojourn every kind of toil, deprivation, temptation, sorrow, and illness, for the cleansing and perfecting of ourselves, of our own souls, so that afterward, when the struggle is finished, we may rejoice for eternity. Those who sow in tears will reap with joy. Going, they went and wept as they cast their seed; but coming, they will come with joy, bearing their sheaves[15], says the holy king and prophet David.

This is what I have found necessary to say to you today, under the guidance of the word of God, for the benefit of your souls. Take care to remember what has been said, and to fulfill it in deed, for the salvation of your souls, redeemed by the most pure blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.