Three common themes of Orthodox Christian spirituality are, condemnation of "self", spiritual and physical asceticism (discipline), and God's mercy; a puzzling blend of teachings to many observers of the Orthodox Church. In our "age of specialization" the trend to isolate and evaluate often leads people to incorrect conclusions about what the Orthodox Faith believes are God-inspired (and humanly proven) teachings necessary for the salvation of one's soul.

It is not hard to understand the difficulty of embracing Orthodox Christian thought. The Mind of the Church is very distant from the scientific rationalism and moral relativism utterly rampant in our "post-modern" society. This distance is also seen in the emphasis many of our Western Christian brethren place on the phrase, "By grace, faith and scripture alone we are saved." This teaching, unfamiliar to the Orthodox Christian mind, somehow divorces the movement of the Holy Spirit(Tradition) from two thousand years of unbroken Christian experience in the Orthodox Church. Tradition teaches us that there is an integration of need as we "work out our salvation in fear and trembling" (Phil. 2:12). It is the cooperation (synergia) between God's complete and freely given salvation and grace, and our freely offered response and voluntary obedience that fulfills our salvation and keeps us in pursuit "of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it" (Eph. 1:14).

Orthodox Christian spirituality asserts that our salvation is holistic in nature. It affirms God's perfect redemption and demands man's free (albeit imperfect) response. It forces us to never be content with God's mercy and to zealously seek the virtues and that which "produces a repentance that leads to salvation" (2 Cor. 7:10). Tradition concludes that spiritual labor does not earn us our salvation, rather through its necessity, reveals and demonstrates the fruit of it!

The questions are then, what does God expect from us? What is the purpose of this work of sanctification(theosis)? The easy answers are, to glorify God and to save our souls.

St. Seraphim of Sarov further illumines the directive of our labor in his often quoted phrase, "The true aim of our Christian life consists in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God." St. Paul asserts, "And we all, [who have turned to the Lord, where the Spirit of the Lord is] are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another..." (2 Cor. 3:12-18).High expectations! High goals! Indeed!

What is so beautiful in all of this is that it is God Who has given us these challenges and it is only by His grace that they are attained! It is God Who has set the standards of spiritual and physical discipline and it is God Who is merciful, allowing us to serve "according to our strength."

It is God Who has communicated the difficult balance of knowing our infirmity and our need for total dependence on Him and trusting in His complete and unconditional love for us. It is God Who desires us to know the fruits of repentance and the freedom received in His gift of total forgiveness in the life, death and resurrection of His Son. It is God Who has given and preserved this fullness in the life of the Orthodox Church.