Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord!

Today we once again heard an excerpt from the Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans. In the first half of the reading, we heard how the apostle chides the Jews because, although they were very zealous in following the Law (the Old Testament Law of Moses), they did this senselessly and incorrectly. He says this because Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. He is the Fulfillment of the Law because He is the only One who in all respects kept the commandments to the fullest extent. He is also the fulfillment of the Law because the Law was like a guide to Christ, and its purpose was to lead people towards accepting the Lord. The Jews zealously followed the Law so as to acquire righteousness, but they could not accomplish this because it is impossible to fulfill literally all of the points of the Law. Only through faith in Christ, the one and only Person to fulfill the Law, can righteousness be acquired.

After this rather clear beginning, St. Paul uses that same Law to try and prove to the Jews that the Law is incapable of saving them and that they need to come to faith in Christ. First, he quotes from Leviticus: “The man which doeth those things (i. e. the Law) shall live by them.” Each Jew understood perfectly well that he would never be able to fulfill with exactness all of the Law. Thus, with this quote Paul is saying the following: “The Law says that that person who fulfills all its points will live, but you are incapable of this. Therefore, admit that you will never acquire life through the Law!” Following this, there is a quote from Deuteronomy. Paul slightly paraphrases these verses and, in such a way, expresses his idea that the Jews have no need to continue to wait for or seek out the Messiah, who might come from heaven or maybe from the deep, because Christ has already come, He has fulfilled the Law, through Him is acquired righteousness, salvation, and eternal life, and it is about this Christ that He, Paul, preaches to them!

Today’s excerpt closes with the following clear and expressive words: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Let’s take note that to confess Jesus as Lord means not only to say that Jesus is the Lord, the Son of God and God, but to live according to this confession. If we believe in Him in our hearts, then, without a doubt, we have to emulate Him as well.

Like the ancient Roman Jews, we are very much in need of today’s instructive words of the Apostle Paul. Let’s not put all our hope in our own law, in our fasts, prayer rules, and liturgical rubrics, because they are only meant as a helping hand to bring us to Christ. Therefore, let’s use them as such. Let’s not look for a new saviour, be it a fanatical devotion to one of the saints, to a miracle-working icon, to a particular prayer rule, or to an ‘elder,’ because we already have everything necessary for our salvation; we have Christ and His Church. Instead, let’s have in our hearts a simple childlike faith in the resurrected Jesus Christ and with our mouths (i. e. with all our actions) let’s express this faith. In such a manner, and not in any other way, let’s acquire both righteousness and salvation.

priest Alexis