Saint Paul described faith as ‘the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen’ (Heb. 11:1). His life, work and martyrdom are a testament to his Orthodox faith. He had the unshakeable conviction that, as a believer in Christ’s Word, he would enjoy future blessings in those things hoped for that did not exist in the present; the freedom from the tyranny of sin, the resurrection of the dead, the second coming of Jesus Christ, the future judgement and the inheritance of eternal life. Whatever he suffered in the present life was of no consequence in comparison to [...]

Why do we follow Christ? A common answer is “to be saved”. But what does this mean? Is it simply Jesus plucking us out of hell and putting us in heaven?   Protestant groups called Evangelicals believe that a person is saved when they accept Christ as their personal saviour. They may describe the event of this acceptance as being “born again”. They base their teachings on passages such as Galatians 2:16, which says, “a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ”. The Orthodox Church sees it somewhat differently. Without minimising [...]