On the Holiness of the Church of Christ

 How do Christians understand the quality of the One Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic (Orthodox) Church of Christ?

 

Christians confess the Church of Christ to be Holy.

 

To accurately clarify this concept, it is necessary first to understand the meaning of the word "holy."

 

The word "holy"—in Hebrew "kodesh," in Greek "hagios," in Latin "sanctus"—in its first and direct sense should be translated into Russian as "cut off," "set apart from the earth," belonging not to people, but to God.

 

Why is it that with us the concept of sinlessness is always primarily associated with the word holy?

 

This is because the word "holy" was always first and foremost applied to God and signified the concept that God is a Being, as it were, cut off from the world, set apart from it, not possessing the imperfections (finite qualities) of the world, but immeasurably higher and more perfect than the world. And since God is sinless, the word "holy" came to be understood in the sense of "sinless."

 

Is there evidence that the word "holy" not only signifies the concept of sinlessness when applied to the sinless God, but also signifies the setting apart of something from the ranks of similar objects?

 

In Holy Scripture, inanimate objects are often called "holy": for example, it speaks of a "place" being holy (Joshua 5:15); a "temple" being holy (Psalm 5:7); a "mountain" being holy (Psalm 48:1; 2 Peter 1:18, and many other places), "water" being holy (Numbers 5:17), "oil" being holy (Psalm 89:20). It is clear to everyone that a place, a temple, a mountain, water, or oil, as inanimate objects, cannot sin. This means the word "holy" is applied to these objects in some other sense.

 

A "place" is called holy because it is set apart by a special appearance of God there to a person (to Moses—Exodus 3:5; Joshua 5:15). A "temple" is called holy because it is set apart from all buildings by the special presence of God, the Lord who "dwells in it" (Matthew 23:21). A "mountain," according to the Word of God, is holy, i.e., set apart from all mountains by particular great events. "Water" is holy because it is set apart from all waters by the grace-filled prayer that sanctifies it. "Oil" is holy because it is set apart by a special prayer over it.

 

In this same sense, first and foremost, the Church (Ephesians 5:27) and the members of the Church (1 Corinthians 1:2) are called holy.

 

There are many religious societies, but the one set apart from them, the true righteous society, is the Church of Christ.

 

How do sectarians understand the word of Holy Scripture that the Church of Christ is holy?

 

They think that the holiness of the Church of Christ consists in the Church being composed of sinless people, but they fail to see that there is not a single sinless person in the world. "We all stumble in many things," says the Apostle James (James 3:2), and the Apostle John writes: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Indeed, the Savior Himself taught us to pray daily to the Heavenly Father: "Forgive us our sins" (Luke 11:4).

 

In what way can one easily accuse the false reasoning of the sectarians and prove to them that the Church, although holy, does not consist of sinless people?

 

We need to show the sectarians that not only the New Testament Church but even the Old Testament Church is called holy in Scripture.

 

When the Lord set apart the Israelite people for Himself, He called them the "people of God" (Judges 20:2) and a holy people. The Lord spoke to the Israelite community thus: "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people" — that is, the Israelites are set apart from all nations, for, the Lord continues, "for all the earth is Mine" (Exodus 19:5).

 

How, then, does the Lord call His community because of this separateness of Israel?

 

"You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation," said the Lord (Exodus 19:6). Also, on another occasion, God confirms: "And you shall be holy men to Me" (Exodus 22:31).

 

Therefore, we also read about the Israelites in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 7:6): "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth" (cf. Deuteronomy 14:2, 28:9).

 

"And all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you" (Deuteronomy 28:10). It does not say that the nations will marvel at the sinlessness of Israel, but testifies that they will fear the separateness and belonging of the Israelites to God, whose name is upon Israel, who is called God's people, a holy community. In the sense of the separateness of the Israelite community, the Psalmist also speaks: "When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion." (Psalm 114:1-2). Also, the prophet Jeremiah says: "Israel was holiness to the Lord" (Jeremiah 2:3), and St. John Chrysostom, explaining this passage, says: "Israel is holy to the Lord," that is, set apart for the Lord (Chrysostom XII, 1147).

 

Can the community of Israelites, everywhere called holy in Holy Scripture, be considered sinless?

 

No, it cannot, because although the Israelites were holy, they sinned a great deal, and everywhere the Lord reproaches them for their sins. "My covenant," the Lord said, "they broke, though I was a husband to them" (Jeremiah 31:32).

 

So, the Old Testament community, although it was a holy community, was not sinless; it was called such only in the sense of its being set apart from all other nations for the Lord. In this same sense of being set apart, the New Testament Church, the community of Christ, is also called holy.

 

Is there a prophecy in the Word of God about the setting apart of Christ's believing community, the Church, from the multitude of other religious societies?

 

There is. The prophet Isaiah, in his prophecy about the Church of Christ, calls it the "mountain of the Lord's house" and says: "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it" (Isaiah 2:2-3).

 

Likewise, in the book "The Song of Solomon," where the Church of Christ is depicted in the form of a bride and a royal wife, it speaks of the exalted position of the Church of Christ: "There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my perfect one, is the only one, the only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her. The daughters saw her and called her blessed, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her" (Song of Solomon 6:8-9).

 

In what, then, is the Orthodox Church set apart from all religious societies?

 

The first property of the Church of Christ that sets it apart from all religious societies is that the Head of the Church is Christ (Ephesians 1:22). In ordinary societies, humans rule, as, for example, in the Latin faith the Pope of Rome rules, in pagan religions the priests rule, but in the Orthodox Church the Head is Christ. This sets our Orthodox community apart from other societies.

 

Secondly, the Church is a society set apart by its teaching, by the law of Christ. Concerning the Apostles, who constituted the initial Church, the Savior prayed to the Heavenly Father: "I have given them Your word... Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:14, 17).

 

The Lord's truth is found "in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). This means that we, in the Orthodox Church, have the teaching, the law of Christ, the truth of the Heavenly Father, while in other societies, we have laws invented by people, e.g., in Latinism (Catholicism), laws are established by the Pope of Rome; in the Baptist society, laws were invented by Nicholas Storch and Thomas Müntzer; among Lutherans, laws were invented by Martin Luther; among the Pashkovtsy (Evangelicals), the teaching was composed by Jakob Spener and V. Pashkov; among Adventists, by William Miller, [among Jehovah's Witnesses—by Charles Russell. — Ed.], etc. With us, it is the law of Christ; by this, the Church of Christ is holy, by this it is set apart from other societies.

 

The third distinguishing mark of the Church is that it is set apart by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who helps the members of the Church with grace. "I will pray the Father," the Lord said, "and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you (i.e., with those who truly, orthodoxly believe in Him) forever" (John 14:16). This Holy Spirit descended upon the Church of Christ on the day of Pentecost, constantly guides the Church, teaching all things and bringing to remembrance all that Christ said (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:13-14).

 

In other societies, the main guidance comes not from the Holy Spirit, whom they do not have, but from the thoughts of sinful people: from the Pope, Baptists, Adventists, etc.; in the Orthodox Church, however, as stated, guidance proceeds from the Holy Spirit; by this, once again, the Church of Christ is set apart from all religious societies.

 

Is the Church called Holy only in the sense of being set apart from other societies, and not in the sense of preeminence in virtue?

 

Undoubtedly, it is in both senses, but this preeminence, as we see, consists not in the sinlessness of the children of the Church, but in that they, as those set apart for God, are called to the gradual attainment of sinless holiness.

 

In that case, how should we define this fourth distinguishing property of the Church?

 

Fourthly, the Church is set apart from all societies by its high purpose. The purpose of the Church of Christ is to perfect its members in the knowledge of God's truth, to strengthen their will in virtue, to free them from sins, passions, and sinful inclinations, and to lead them to higher righteousness and blamelessness. All societies have their own purposes, invented and set for them by people; Latinism (Catholicism), Lutheranism, Baptism, Adventism, and other Protestant sects aim to plant a German-Roman Christianized culture among people, i.e., the best possible arrangement of material life on earth. But the Church of Christ has its teaching from the Lord, and strives through abstinence to lead people to heavenly perfection and love. In this, it is particularly set apart from all societies.

 

What other purposes does the Church have?

 

To preserve the uncorrupted teaching of Christ and the grace-filled source of the sacraments. Its third purpose is to spread true Christianity among unbelievers and heretics, i.e., those who falsely believe in Christ.

 

What instruction is there in the Church of Christ regarding its purpose?

 

The Savior said that believers in Him must gradually perfect themselves until they become like the Heavenly Father: "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect," says the Lord (Matthew 5:48). The Apostle Paul wrote to believers: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (1 Thessalonians 4:3), i.e., that you become more and more blameless, drawing ever closer to a sinless state.

 

Where in Holy Scripture is such an obligation prescribed not just for individuals, but specifically for the Church?

 

This is set forth with complete clarity in the words of the Apostle Paul: "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-13).

 

Are there suitable conditions in the Church for its members to achieve a blameless life?

 

The Savior, as the Head of the Church, provided for this. "Christ," says the Apostle Paul, "loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Ephesians 5:25-27).

 

This means that the Lord has done everything so that the members of the Church may attain blamelessness.

 

How, then, is blamelessness attained by Christians?

 

Sinful people, with a corrupted sinful nature, enter the Church for their perfection and salvation, and there, having received forgiveness of sins, they are strengthened in the faith, progressing from faith to faith, from strength to strength, as if up the steps of righteousness.

 

How should we understand the Apostle's words that the Lord spoke (Eph. 5:27) about the Church: "that it should be holy and without blemish"?

 

This does not mean that all are already sinless now, but that in the Church there is everything necessary for believers to attain blamelessness; i.e., it points not to the present, but to the future perfection of believers.

 

What basis do we have for acknowledging that sinning members can exist in the Church?

 

First of all, this is the teaching of the Savior. The Lord taught about the community of His believers through parables. Through the Parable of the Tares, the Lord showed that in the Church, among the good seed of God, the devil would sow tares, i.e., evil teachings, and would incite to evil, but those sinning according to the devil's teaching would not be cast out of the Church until the Lord comes at His second coming. Then "the Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:41-42).

 

The same is confirmed by the Parable of the Dragnet, by which the Savior meant the Church. Just as a net, when cast, gathers every kind of fish, and they sort them only on the shore, so the Church, until the time, holds within itself all kinds of members: both good and bad. "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:47-50).

 

And in the Parable of the Ten Virgins who went out to meet the Bridegroom, the Lord indicates that there can be both good and bad in the Church, and it even shows that all are not sinless, because all the virgins, both wise and foolish, alike did not stay awake, but all slept, although all should have been watching (Matthew 25:1-13).

 

And in the Parable of the Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother, the Savior showed that God has no perfect people, for the prodigal son sinned, and the elder brother did not remain righteous to the end but fell into envy (Luke 15:11-32). But the Lord revealed this truth most clearly in the Parable of the Wedding Feast, where it is said: "So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests" (Matthew 22:10).

 

Consequently, there can be both more perfect and less perfect members in the Church. In this same sense, the Apostle also says: "But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work" (2 Timothy 2:20-21).

 

Was it the case that from the very beginning of the Church's existence on earth, there were sinful members in the Church of Christ?

 

Everything in the Church has always been in accordance with the Savior's teaching: there have always been sinning members in the community of believers. And the Holy Apostles, in all their epistles to believers, speak of their sinfulness. The Apostle James points out prejudices, people-pleasing, intemperance of the tongue, strife and enmity, and the very purpose of the Epistle of James is the mutual correction of believers (James 5:19-20). The same is true of the epistles of the Apostle Peter and all the epistles of the Apostle Paul. In the brief description of the life of the Church of Christ in the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we see the same situation: here Ananias and Sapphira sinned; here Jewish Christians and Hellenistic Christians argued and neglected the poor widows (Acts 6:1-2); and the Apostles had disagreements (Acts 15:36-41). Likewise, in the Revelation of John the Evangelist, all the churches are described with their falls and sinful shortcomings (chapters 2 and 3).

 

So, how does one reconcile faith in the sinlessness of the Church with the allowance of sinfulness in its members?

 

The Church is holy, i.e., set apart from all religious societies by special mercies of God; however, the members of the Church are not sinless, but "are only walking the sure path of blamelessness" and possess all the effective means to attain perfection.

 

Do sectarians really think they are sinless?

 

Sectarians like Baptists, Adventists, and especially the Pashkovtsy (Evangelicals) almost always shamelessly declare that they are sinless and blameless. When one points out their obvious sins, even then they do not repent, but say that they have no sins, even though they do sin sometimes. This is just like a drunkard saying he doesn't drink, he just has a few drinks. Indeed, that's exactly what some sectarians—drunkards—say.

 

What proof of their supposed sinlessness do sectarians offer?

 

They refer to the words of the Apostle John the Theologian: "Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God" (1 John 3:9).

 

Do these words testify to the sinlessness of the sectarians?

 

Not at all. Here, firstly, it speaks of being born of God, but sectarians are born of the devil, because neither Christ God nor His Apostles created sects; the devil created them. Secondly, with these words, the Apostle John is only speaking about how unfitting sinfulness is for Christians—that they should not allow sin. However, the Apostle John does not deny that Christians do, in fact, sin. He says: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). And if he writes about the sinlessness of those born of God, the Apostle himself explains why he writes thus: "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin" (1 John 2:1).

 

What do sectarians say in their defense when this explanation is given to them?

 

They begin to ask Orthodox Christians questions by which they hope to prove their own righteousness. They ask Orthodox Christians: "Where will your soul be if you die right now?" If the Orthodox person hesitates to answer, the sectarians usually say: "But we know that we will be with the Lord in paradise, because we are already saved," as the Apostle said: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

 

How should one respond to the questions and arguments of the sectarians?

 

To the question, "Where will our soul be after death?", one must answer with the words of the Apostle: "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked" (2 Corinthians 5:1-3). "We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8).

 

Regarding the sectarians' judgment that they are already saved and will enter paradise now, one must answer with the words of the Apostle that "we were saved in this hope" (Romans 8:24). One must wait a while before preparing to go to paradise, because the Last Judgment is yet to come, not only for the sinful but also for righteous Christians: "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now 'If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?'" (1 Peter 4:17-18). Therefore, it is necessary first to concern oneself with freeing oneself from passions, lusts, bad habits, and to learn to live piously.

 

With what do the sectarians try to base their false teaching about their own sinlessness?

 

They incorrectly juxtapose the sayings of the Holy Apostle John: "Whoever has been born of God does not sin" (1 John 3:9) and "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" (1 John 5:1), and they conclude from this that believers do not sin.

 

What is the error in this conclusion?

 

The error is that this must be understood as referring to perfect faith and perfect birth from God, which Christians attain through a long period of ascetic effort, and even then, only a few.

 

How is it evident that this does not refer to every believer?

 

Not every believer can perform miracles, but only a very few who have been perfected in faith, as it is said: "For assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you" (Matthew 17:20). Or again: "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father" (John 14:12). So, if sectarians call themselves believers and born of God in the perfect sense, let them prove these words of the Savior true in themselves.

 

So, are there different degrees of faith and birth from God?

 

Undoubtedly, yes. This is evident from the words of the Apostle Paul: "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith" (Romans 1:17). The Apostle James speaks of Abraham: "faith worked together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect" (James 2:22).

 

Source: A Good Confession: An Orthodox Anti-Sectarian Catechism / N. Varzhansky. - Reprint reproduction of the 1910 edition. - Moscow: Blagovest, 1998. - 350 p. : ill.