By St. John, Metropolitan of Tobolsk
Our success in the Christian life depends on how much we submit our human will to God’s. The more sincere our submission, the more abundant and fruitful our success in the Christian life will be. The spiritual perfection of a follower of Christ is based on his love for God and his neighbors. The books of Holy Scripture are full of testimonies to this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind: this is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matt. 22:37-40). “And above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col. 3:14).
What does the fulfillment of God’s law consist of?
The fulfillment of the law consists of deeds arising from love for God and for every person as our neighbor. This is the “combination of human will with the Divine”: what God wants, I want, what He does not want, I do not want. There is nothing stronger than such love!
Do all events happen by the will of God, or does chance also play a role?
Absolutely nothing (except sins) in the world happens without the will of God. Favorable or sad chance is a dreamy dream of the pagans, who, due to their foolishness, invented some goddess Fortuna, who supposedly has the power and strength to dispose of the change of happiness and misfortune in the lives of individuals and entire nations. Christian wisdom completely rejects such a “divinity”. Good and evil, life and death, poverty and wealth depend on the Lord. This follows and is made clear to the point of obviousness (like an axiom) from the Holy Scriptures. Everything in the world, even the appearance of evil (except sin), happens by the will of God. Theologians give the following explanation of this fact. The beginning of evil (in its proper sense) is sin. In every sin are hidden both the cause that gives rise to it and the inevitable consequences – punishment, torment.
The cause of sin is the falsehood and self-will of the proud sinner. And the punishments (both corrective and hellish torments) are the bitter consequences. They are allowed by the will of God for the correction or destruction of sin. So: if we remove its cause (falsehood, self-will) from the concept of sin, we do not allow its bitter or evil consequences to follow. Both sinful sorrows (of the individual) and world disasters such as famine, drought, epidemics, which have no direct relation to the sin of the individual, occur by the will of God to achieve the high goals of God’s Providence. Only sin is contrary to God (similar to how evil is contrary to good or lies are contrary to truth), but it is permitted by God so that the free will of man is not violated. And therefore this will of God that permits sin is called the Dispensation or Providence of God.
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First published in this link of The European Times.
