Arabic original here.
The Heart is God's Dwelling-Place
What does it mean for us to gather together and perform the divine sacrifice for the soul of a brother of ours who has gone on to God's mercy? What we know about death from the New Testament is that God recompenses each according to his deeds and that one's eternal fate is tied to his actions. What I would like to draw attention to in the saying "Man's actions follow him and God recompenses each according to his deeds" is that it does not mean that God keeps an account, a record in heaven in which man's deeds are accounted to him, whether good or bad. Rather, it is a calling to good work.
The blessed saying that God recompenses each according to his deeds (Romans 5:2-6 and Revelation 22:12) mean that man is purified by his deeds. If you love the Lord and your neighbor and you do good to him, pay attention to him, distract him from his sorrow and distress, are there for him in all situations, and are humble, then your works purify you. It is not that God reckons them. They purify you and lift you up to Him. It is not an issue of recompense or punishment. God does not take revenge and He is not pleased to see people being punished in hell.
The truth that has been declared to us is that God draws man to Himself and that man also approaches God through obedience. Man sees himself loving God and he sees God loving him and it is all love. One who loves is drawn to the face of God. One who does not love goes away from the face of God and remains in his darkness. It is not that God casts anyone into the outer darkness. It is not that God created hell: God did not create hell. Man created hell for himself and he torments himself in his sins. There is no sin that does not bear its own punishment.
God does not punish. Man hates and the hate itself is a torment. Man is not cast into hell haphazardly and arbitrarily, but rather brings hell to himself. It is cast into him and he is not cast into it. Man puts himself in darkness because he does not love, because he does not purify himself. If he loves, he places heaven within himself. Man does not go and come. He does not rise and fall. Man is here in this human heart. He brings God to his heart or he fills it with evil. He rejoices at virtue and it elevates him and makes him beautiful.
If God dwells in the human heart-- that is, if virtue dwells within it-- then it is a heaven. And if we understand that if sin dwells within the human heart and rends it, it becomes a hell, then we have understood everything. There is nothing in this world apart from God. If you love Him, then you are with Him and you are in Him and He is in you. If you love your lust and your sin and you hate people, then you are in hell and hell is in you. You are with the devil and the devil is attached to you and you are far from the face of God because you shrink from Him and because you anger Him with your deeds.
Do not think that a person loves God because he talks about Him and because he prays. This is not the criterion. The criterion is someone loves God if he obeys His commandments and is obedient to his brothers. Prayer, the holy mysteries, fasts and spiritual efforts are all only necessary means for us to arrive at the spiritual beauty within us, which is God's dwelling there.
We gather together in the Divine Liturgy because of our faith that the divine love that was poured out on the cross is poured out in the Divine Liturgy, which is the celebration of the cross that was completed on Golgotha and the celebration of the Resurrection.
The Heart is God's Dwelling-Place
What does it mean for us to gather together and perform the divine sacrifice for the soul of a brother of ours who has gone on to God's mercy? What we know about death from the New Testament is that God recompenses each according to his deeds and that one's eternal fate is tied to his actions. What I would like to draw attention to in the saying "Man's actions follow him and God recompenses each according to his deeds" is that it does not mean that God keeps an account, a record in heaven in which man's deeds are accounted to him, whether good or bad. Rather, it is a calling to good work.
The blessed saying that God recompenses each according to his deeds (Romans 5:2-6 and Revelation 22:12) mean that man is purified by his deeds. If you love the Lord and your neighbor and you do good to him, pay attention to him, distract him from his sorrow and distress, are there for him in all situations, and are humble, then your works purify you. It is not that God reckons them. They purify you and lift you up to Him. It is not an issue of recompense or punishment. God does not take revenge and He is not pleased to see people being punished in hell.
The truth that has been declared to us is that God draws man to Himself and that man also approaches God through obedience. Man sees himself loving God and he sees God loving him and it is all love. One who loves is drawn to the face of God. One who does not love goes away from the face of God and remains in his darkness. It is not that God casts anyone into the outer darkness. It is not that God created hell: God did not create hell. Man created hell for himself and he torments himself in his sins. There is no sin that does not bear its own punishment.
God does not punish. Man hates and the hate itself is a torment. Man is not cast into hell haphazardly and arbitrarily, but rather brings hell to himself. It is cast into him and he is not cast into it. Man puts himself in darkness because he does not love, because he does not purify himself. If he loves, he places heaven within himself. Man does not go and come. He does not rise and fall. Man is here in this human heart. He brings God to his heart or he fills it with evil. He rejoices at virtue and it elevates him and makes him beautiful.
If God dwells in the human heart-- that is, if virtue dwells within it-- then it is a heaven. And if we understand that if sin dwells within the human heart and rends it, it becomes a hell, then we have understood everything. There is nothing in this world apart from God. If you love Him, then you are with Him and you are in Him and He is in you. If you love your lust and your sin and you hate people, then you are in hell and hell is in you. You are with the devil and the devil is attached to you and you are far from the face of God because you shrink from Him and because you anger Him with your deeds.
Do not think that a person loves God because he talks about Him and because he prays. This is not the criterion. The criterion is someone loves God if he obeys His commandments and is obedient to his brothers. Prayer, the holy mysteries, fasts and spiritual efforts are all only necessary means for us to arrive at the spiritual beauty within us, which is God's dwelling there.
We gather together in the Divine Liturgy because of our faith that the divine love that was poured out on the cross is poured out in the Divine Liturgy, which is the celebration of the cross that was completed on Golgotha and the celebration of the Resurrection.
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