Arabic original here.
The Grace of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the third hypostasis of the Holy Trinity. The grace of the Holy Spirit, or God's grace, is the uncreated energy that comes from the divine hypostasis.
It is within man's ability to participate in this uncreated energy, but he cannot participate in the divine essence.
This energy is what sanctifies man, enlightens him, divinizes him and makes him a temple of God. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Apostle Paul distinguishes between the natural, earthen man and the spiritual, heavenly man. He says, "The first man Adam became a living being and the last Adam, a life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45).
Here we recall that the spiritual, heavenly man is the one who lives by the Spirit of God and not by the spirit of the world.
Someone who is baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is supposed to live according to the Spirit of Christ God and His commandments, while one who is not baptized, who does not know Christ or does not want to know Him, remains a natural man who has lost the divine grace of the Holy Spirit.
Divine grace is like an electrical current which we do not see, of which we only see the effects. It is what gives us tears of repentance, for example, it is what gives us tears of joy, tears of peace and love, and all these things are fruits of the Spirit, as we have previously mentioned.
Here there is an important question to ask: how do we distinguish between the Spirit of God and a spirit that is not of God, that is, for example, from the devil? The Bible says, "By their fruits you shall know them" (Matthew 7:20).
If there is disturbance rather than peace, anger rather than kindness, confusion rather than light and clarity, this means that it is not from God's Spirit.
The most difficult question is how do we know that a person is a deciever? This is known by his not confessing Jesus Christ, by his lack of love and lack of humility: humility is the distinguishing characteristic of men of God and pride is the distinguishing characteristic of people who deceive. Heretics rely first of all on their egotism and pride. The spiritual man confesses his sinfulness at every necessity.
Beloved, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit and His grace takes place according to the commandment of our holy fathers, by preserving the Lord's commandments.
Divine grace is given, first of all and especially, to practicing members of the Church. The Church does not monopolize divine grace, but she does confirm it. One who participates in the divine mysteries in fear, love and repentance has, more than others, the grace of salvation. This is by keeping God's commandments in his entire life.
+Ephrem
Metropolitan of Tripoli, al-Koura and their Dependencies
The Grace of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the third hypostasis of the Holy Trinity. The grace of the Holy Spirit, or God's grace, is the uncreated energy that comes from the divine hypostasis.
It is within man's ability to participate in this uncreated energy, but he cannot participate in the divine essence.
This energy is what sanctifies man, enlightens him, divinizes him and makes him a temple of God. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).
The Apostle Paul distinguishes between the natural, earthen man and the spiritual, heavenly man. He says, "The first man Adam became a living being and the last Adam, a life-giving spirit" (1 Corinthians 15:45).
Here we recall that the spiritual, heavenly man is the one who lives by the Spirit of God and not by the spirit of the world.
Someone who is baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is supposed to live according to the Spirit of Christ God and His commandments, while one who is not baptized, who does not know Christ or does not want to know Him, remains a natural man who has lost the divine grace of the Holy Spirit.
Divine grace is like an electrical current which we do not see, of which we only see the effects. It is what gives us tears of repentance, for example, it is what gives us tears of joy, tears of peace and love, and all these things are fruits of the Spirit, as we have previously mentioned.
Here there is an important question to ask: how do we distinguish between the Spirit of God and a spirit that is not of God, that is, for example, from the devil? The Bible says, "By their fruits you shall know them" (Matthew 7:20).
If there is disturbance rather than peace, anger rather than kindness, confusion rather than light and clarity, this means that it is not from God's Spirit.
The most difficult question is how do we know that a person is a deciever? This is known by his not confessing Jesus Christ, by his lack of love and lack of humility: humility is the distinguishing characteristic of men of God and pride is the distinguishing characteristic of people who deceive. Heretics rely first of all on their egotism and pride. The spiritual man confesses his sinfulness at every necessity.
Beloved, the acquisition of the Holy Spirit and His grace takes place according to the commandment of our holy fathers, by preserving the Lord's commandments.
Divine grace is given, first of all and especially, to practicing members of the Church. The Church does not monopolize divine grace, but she does confirm it. One who participates in the divine mysteries in fear, love and repentance has, more than others, the grace of salvation. This is by keeping God's commandments in his entire life.
+Ephrem
Metropolitan of Tripoli, al-Koura and their Dependencies
No comments:
Post a Comment