Life in the Holy Spirit

Source: Notes on Arab Orthodoxy

October 24, 2015

St. Seraphim's conversation with Motovilov in which he showed him the light of the Holy Spirit St. Seraphim's conversation with Motovilov in which he showed him the light of the Holy Spirit
    

In the Epistle to the Galatians, Paul says that Christ is alive in him. In our dogma, we say that Christ is alive in us through the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit is in Christ's body in His death and resurrection, He came to be in us through baptism, which is putting sin to death and a new life in the Holy Spirit.

Our unity with Christ is not through another incarnation. Our participation in Him is through the Holy Spirit, in the sense that He is in Him and in Us. He is in His corporeal being that lives after death. The Holy Spirit is not only in the divine being in Christ, but also in His body and so in the Church. The Holy Spirit descended upon Christ's body and He descends upon the Church and dwells within.

God's unity with Christ is a unity of essence because Christ is uncreated in His divine being. He is in the Church, giving Himself to us. We become one with Him by His grace. That is, He makes us one with Him. You are not His partner in essence because your essence is created, but you are with Him by the grace that He sends down upon you. What is this togetherness between you and God? It is that the Holy Spirit, who is one in essence with Christ becomes one with you by His grace. That is, by your sharing in the grace that is in Him. And grace is uncreated.

Here we are in the perfect mystery. We cannot humanly understand how the uncreated dwells in the created without becoming it. How does God enter into us and remain above? How does God's unity with man occur?

A question with no human answer. The divine given is that Christ dwells in us and we do not know how. Christianity says that love is God's dwelling-place with people and that Christ's only word to us is "Love one another even as I have loved you."

In my contemplations, it occurred to me that baptism, marriage and death are all words for one love and that this love is Christianity in the sense that any ecclesiastical order or church hierarchy adds nothing to love. The priesthood, marriage, burial, etc. are all ways of expressing one love.

But in the world, there's need for language. You do not need a language to speak with God. He is your language. In the world, you are forced to write theology because people speak. But fundamentally, if you love you have entered into dialogue. It is all speech.

God's speech to you is in the Gospel and in your spirit He gives you true speech, which is in accordance with God's speech. This is a mystery, how you can say words that theologians regard as belonging to God when they come out of you. The truth is that God speaks in you through the Holy Spirit. Your meaning conforms to His meaning. This is a mystery, how it can be both God's and yours. The answer is that the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit is in you in splendor. He inspires you and the words come from your heart which is filled with the Holy Spirit. This means that your heart is sanctified through the Spirit of God who speaks in words which in reality come down to you from above.

See also
If I am the church of the Holy Spirit If I am the church of the Holy Spirit
Hieroschemamonk Julian (Lazar), George Kryshnyan
If I am the church of the Holy Spirit If I am the church of the Holy Spirit
Hieroschemamonk Julian (Lazar), George Kryshnyan
He has a pure heart, which reflects the heavens like a mirror, thanks to the goodness of his heart. When he is joyful his entire face begins to radiate. It is a great joy to find oneself nearby him then, because a feeling arises as if you are sitting on your knees by a grandfather with a snow-white beard, looking with love upon the inner child of your soul.
Holy Fathers on the Holy Spirit Holy Fathers on the Holy Spirit
St. Theophan the Recluse, Met. Philaret (Voznesensky)
Holy Fathers on the Holy Spirit Holy Fathers on the Holy Spirit
St. Theophan the Recluse, Metropolitan Philaret (Voznesensky)
The Holy Spirit is an immaterial fire: the light of faith, the warmth of love, the tongues of fire that speak in the heart of God’s Law. He awakens us from the world’s charms, leads us to hope in God, and encourages us toward repentance. If we do not prevent His action, He directs us along the narrow path of self-denial. Grace transforms everything it touches into a priceless treasure.
On the Descent of the Holy Spirit On the Descent of the Holy Spirit
From the Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles
by St. John Chrysostom Homily I. Acts 1:1–2
On the Descent of the Holy Spirit On the Descent of the Holy Spirit
From the Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles by St. John Chrysostom Homily I. Acts 1:1–2
But why did the Holy Ghost come to them, not while Christ was present, nor even immediately after his departure, but, whereas Christ ascended on the fortieth day, the Spirit descended when the day of Pentecost, that is, the fiftieth, was fully come (Act. 2:1)? And how was it, if the Spirit had not yet come, that He said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost (Jn. 20:22)? In order to render them capable and meet for the reception of Him.
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