https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QKpGTok_K8
Orthodox Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America,
he theme of this Conference—“Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”—is a rather daunting theme to talk about, because it is so vast and all-encompass- ing. It touches on the whole purpose of our lives as Orthodox Christians. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: I have chosen you out of the world (John 15:19). We have been called out of this world in order to be- come citizens of another world: the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom begins now, in this life, continues after we leave this world, and will reach its consummation at the Second Coming of our Savior. In order to dwell in that Kingdom, to be its citizens, we must be transformed.
Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Rom. 12:2). These words from the Epistle of the Holy Apos- tle Paul to the Romans help to introduce a Divinely inspired teaching on spiritual transformation. In this talk, I will speak first about the theo- logical meaning of transformation in the Orthodox Church. -In Orthodoxy, salvation means not simply changing God’s atti- tude, but changing ourselves and being changed by God. Salvation ul- timately means deification; and deification, as we have seen, entails transformation. It is being united with God ever more fully through His Grace, His Uncreated Energy, in which He is fully present. As we participate ever more fully in God’s life through His Grace, we become ever more deified, ever more in the likeness of Christ. Then, at the time of our departure from this life, we can dwell forever with Christ in His Kingdom because we “look like Him” spiritually, because we are shining with the Grace of God.
Orthodox Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America,
he theme of this Conference—“Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind”—is a rather daunting theme to talk about, because it is so vast and all-encompass- ing. It touches on the whole purpose of our lives as Orthodox Christians. Our Lord Jesus Christ said: I have chosen you out of the world (John 15:19). We have been called out of this world in order to be- come citizens of another world: the Kingdom of God. That Kingdom begins now, in this life, continues after we leave this world, and will reach its consummation at the Second Coming of our Savior. In order to dwell in that Kingdom, to be its citizens, we must be transformed.
Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind (Rom. 12:2). These words from the Epistle of the Holy Apos- tle Paul to the Romans help to introduce a Divinely inspired teaching on spiritual transformation. In this talk, I will speak first about the theo- logical meaning of transformation in the Orthodox Church. -In Orthodoxy, salvation means not simply changing God’s atti- tude, but changing ourselves and being changed by God. Salvation ul- timately means deification; and deification, as we have seen, entails transformation. It is being united with God ever more fully through His Grace, His Uncreated Energy, in which He is fully present. As we participate ever more fully in God’s life through His Grace, we become ever more deified, ever more in the likeness of Christ. Then, at the time of our departure from this life, we can dwell forever with Christ in His Kingdom because we “look like Him” spiritually, because we are shining with the Grace of God.
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