ORTHODOXY – PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Part Fourteen

THE LAW THAT GOVERNS THE ENTIRE CHURCH

     When Christ asked His disciples, whom do me say that I am, Peter, enlightened by the Father replied: “You are the Christ the Son of the living God.” The Lord blessed Peter, saying: “Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is heaven. And I say unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  The Father starts the work, and reveals the fundamental truth, laying the foundation stone of the edifice, as it is written: “Behold, I lay in Sion a choice stone, a cornerstone, and he who believes on him shall not be confounded.” Peter received his confession from rhe Father and this confession is the rock upon which the holy Church is built, being its chief dogma: “You are the Christ, Son of the living God.”

     The Son continues the building by means of the Mystery of the Eucharist, and with His own Body and Blood, like clay, puts together and cements the stones of the edifice. The Holy Spirit guides the Church, binding and loosening, approving or disapproving those who are accepted and those who are rejected. For the “keys to the kingdom of heaven”, which Christ promised to Peter, are the directive authority of the Holy Spirit who rules and guides the holy Church through Peter and those like him. The authority and power to bind and loose are what is referred to as the governing law of the Church. These laws govern the Church and lead it to its destiny.  The Son sends down the Holy Spirit from the Father, as is written: “When the Comforter comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of me” (John 15:26). The Son imparts the Holy Spirit and its directive authority on those he chooses, saying: “And He breathed upon them saying, Receive Holy Spirit. Whoever’s sins you remit, shall be remitted to them, and whoever’s sins you retain, they shall be retained.” Also: “Whatsoever you lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”  This power and authority is distributed through the apostles and bishops to those who are worthy.  This governing law remains in the Church as a guide to those in authority.

     The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of truth by Christ, for He guides the faithful into all truth, which is always in harmony with the right Logos of God, the truth who came down from heaven, as He says: “The Holy Spirit will testify of me.” Nothing that the Logos has uttered will be overlooked but the Spirit will testify to everything, for He is all-knowing. Christ says: “He shall not speak of himself, but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you the things to come. He shall glorify me, for He shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.” There is perfect agreement with the Spirit’s testimony concerning all that He said and did. 

     The popes of Rome with their invented claims of authority and infallibility have no clue as to the Holy Spirit’s function in the Church. Christ is indeed the head of the Church, divine and human as is His Church. But He established the Holy Spirit to be its mentor and guide, reminding all the faithful of what Christ has said and done, knowledge which the Holy Spirit preserves perfectly. To bind and to loose in Holy Spirit means to forbid and prevent whatever is opposed to the laws laid down by Christ, and to permit whatever is not contrary to these laws. It also means to reprimand sinners in a manner that their sins deserve, and to pardon them when they are sorry and repentant before God.

ORTHODOXY – PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

Part Thirteen

THE EUCHARIST 

THE BOND BETWEEN GOD AND MAN

     The Eucharist has always been the basis for divine worship. Iniquity and sins had separated man from God as well as introducing death, however the virtue and righteousness of Christ has reconciled man and  the holy Eucharist is the bond between God and man!

     Iniquity and sin were committed by the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, who acted contrary to the law and will of God. Christ the Son of God, who is the New Adam, always acted in accordance with the law, and although he was faultless and righteous yet he was unjustly put to death under the law.  However, this unjust death on the Cross became the total overthrow and loss of authority of the devil and his demons.  Christ suffered everything including insults, mockery, slander, spitting, scourging and crucifixion.  They were entirely unaware that the Lord Christ voluntarily submitted to His Passion and death for the purpose of  destroying their illicit authority and the power of the wicked devil who from the beginning had tyrannized the first man and his descendants, in his  rebellion against God.

     According to the divine law whatever was unjustly taken from a wronged person must be returned manifold. Christ’s life was unjustly taken from Him although He was sinless, and therefore was not legally subject to death. And the lives of all  men who ever existed or will exist, are not equal to the life of Christ which is infinte. Under the law, the Lifegiver bestows life upon all those who come to Him in faith and love, and keeping His commandments they gain eternal which is man’s greatest and infinite treasure.   Sadly, although eternal life is offered to all men, relatively few show interest because the pleasures and attractions of this material world holds them tightly in its grips. And wicked unbelief has gripped their hearts.

     The Lord’s death on the Cross, says St. Paul, is proclaimed through the mystery of the Eucharist. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes”

     This assertion signifies that the mystery of the Eucharist commemorates the propitious sacrifice on the Cross, and that the commemoration shall continue until the second coming of the Lord. 

     The celebration of the Mystery and the propitious sacrifice of the Cross are one as the Lord himself said, when He celebrated the first Mystery saying: “This cup is the New Testament in my blood,” that is, this cup contains my blood by which the New Testament is confirmed and the relations between God and man subsist. Accordingly if the true body and the true blood of the Lord lies upon the altar of the Christian Church, exactly as upon the Cross, both sacrifices are essentially one and they although they differ with respect to mode and place, or rather, there is one sacrifice, extending from Golgotha exists in every place, subsisting in the eyes of the Lord until the end of the world. If this be so, and the sacrifice of Eucharist is identical with the propitious sacrifice on the Cross, it follows that it is because thereof that there subsists a relation and connection between God and man, and that the Mystery is the basis of divine worship; for without this Mystery we are unable to  worship God or commune with Him.