Sanctification "the spiritual life"
"The truly Christian life, begins, developes and rises to perfection (for each in his own measure), through the good will of God the Father, by the action of the grace of the Holy Spirit present in all Christians, and under the guidance of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, Who promised to abide with us for all time.Here we see a very clear explanation of the Orthodox view of Sanctification-- here we see the Orthodox view that it is not man alone who picks up his cross each day, rather, we see his picking up his cross is, by necessity, tied to Divine Will, Grace, and Action. (Sounds almost Calvinistic to me.)God's grace calls all men to such a life; and for all men it is not only possible but obligatory, for it is the essence of Christianity." ~~E. Kadloubovsky and G.E.H. Palmer taken from the Introduction to the Russian translation of the Philokalia.
Based on this passage above, and numerous other writings, prayers, liturgies, et cetera, it seems to me, to attack Orthodoxy on grounds that Orthodox theology diminishes God's sovereignty while it elevates man's independence would be to attack Orthodoxy with "spurious and misguided arrows."
Granted Orthodox will deny the hardline Calvinist view on Sanctification: where man is seen as merely co-operating with what is essentially a work of God-- but the Orthodox will only deny that view is so far as the Orthodox apply a different emphasis.
As I see it, the Orthodox will emphasize man's responsibility to live a faithful life, while it seems the Calvinists emphasize God's activity in the Christian's faithful life.
"[Sanctification] consists fundamentally and primarily in a divine operation in the soul, whereby the holy disposition born in regeneration is strengthened and its holy exercises are increased. [Sanctification] is essentially a work of God..." ~~Berkhof Systematic Theology pg. 532; Italics my own.Having stated a difference as to emphases between Calvinists and Orthodox, I believe it is important to point out that the Orthodox will not deny the ontological necessity of God's grace in the sanctification of us Christians; it is just that the Orthodox are more concerned with explaining man's responsibility in sanctification-- stressing the truth "faith without works is dead", being less concerned with the ontology of sanctification.
I fear such emphasis placed upon ontology within Reformed circles leads to neglect of the Christian walk-- the Reformed Christian usually understands full-well his forensic justification in the blood of Christ, but it seems the Reformed Christian too often forgets that the Christian life is so much more than that one decision on that one day. By contrast, I have experienced the benefits of the Orthodox emphasizing our call as Christians to "be holy" each and everyday.
In short, let it be said that the Orthodox do take very seriously God's grace and activity in our lives, as do Reformers-- if Orthodoxy is "deceptive human tradition" then it is so in an area other than sanctification.
Posted by at May 16, 2002 02:05 PM