On Faith

Above all, one must believe in God, “that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him” (Heb. 11:6).

Faith, according to the teaching of Venerable Antioch, is the beginning of our union with God: the one who truly believes is a stone of the temple of God, prepared for God the Father’s building, raised to a height by the power of Jesus Christ—that is, the Cross—with the help of a rope, that is, the grace of the Holy Spirit.

“Faith without works is dead” (James 2:26); and the works of faith are: love, peace, patience, mercy, humility, rest from all works—as God also rested from His works—the bearing of the cross, and life according to the spirit. Only such faith is counted as righteousness. True faith cannot be without works; whoever truly believes will necessarily also have works.