Paradise Of the Spirit Vol.3

In his second epistle to the believers, St Peter mentions that our Lord Jesus called us to glory and virtue: “Who called us by his own glory and goodness, through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature” urging them to: “add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge” (1 Peter 1: 3-5)

Virtue is, no doubt, the fruit of true faith. You may also say: it is the living evidence of such faith. Sadly, we live in a time in which virtue has become scarce. Faith has become theoretical to many Christians. Such theoretical faith has no fruits. We read about virtue in the Bible. We also read about it in the life of the saints. We ought to apply what we read and make it a hallmark of our life. That way, virtue becomes manifest in us and not just a theoretical object that we perceive with our minds.

For this reason, Our Lord Jesus emphasized this since the beginning of his ministry through his eternal sermon on the mount. He demanded that we become salt for the earth and light to the world, so that when men see our good works they would glorify our Heavenly Father (Matthew 5). He concluded by asking us to become witnesses for Him unto the nethermost parts of the earth through His final words prior to His ascension to heaven (Acts 1:8). How can we witness for Christ? Is it by words that do not describe our life? How useful is talking?

For this reason we chose to discuss in this final part of “The Paradise of the Spirit” the great Christian virtues and some of its fruits. We also addressed a very important principal on the spiritual path which is the “narrow gate”. Such was Christ’s commandment as well. We also concluded that topic by dealing with the topic of the Kingdom. It is the goal that all of us seek and where we will spend our joyous eternity: Amen come Lord Jesus.