Orthodox Christian Topics
Orthodox Christian Ideas III
Written by Greg Pantelidis BSc(Hons)
gregpantelidis@gmail.com

  1. We must erase our every sin by repentance and Confession. Through Confession we are judged and acquitted of our sin. Those who don’t repent now, to be judged and acquitted, will face the Judgment with their sins unacquitted. This later situation is very dangerous because the judgment of Confession is a judgment of forgiveness and acquittal, but the other judgment is a judgment of retribution and eternal assignment.
  2. Repent of your overeating, stealing and overpossessing, disobedience, vanity, and unchastity. Repent, confess to be judged and acquitted, and practice henceforth fasting and canonical eating, charity and canonical possessing, obedience, humility, chastity and canonical romance.
  3. The Cross of Lord Jesus represents the judgment and abolishment of the power of sin and evil. (See John 12:31). We must approach the mystery of the Cross to be judged, acquitted, and freed of sin and evil.
  4. Lord Jesus will free us from all sin and evil. Have perfect hope and trust in the power of Lord Jesus and His victory over sin and evil.
  5. Be just in food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. Never be unjust. Repent and restitute if you are ever unjust.
  6. The Cross of Lord Jesus is the judgment of sin. (See John 12:31). Have you partaken of the power of the Cross, having your sins judged and acquitted?
  7. Are you a vessel of humility or are you a vessel of pride? Are you a vessel of meekness or are you a vessel of wrath? Are you a vessel of mercy or are you a vessel of non-mercy? Are you a vessel of love or are you a vessel of envy and hatred?
  8. Practice self-denial, humility, meekness, frugality, mercy, chastity, and love. These seven virtues are a summary of Orthodox Christian philosophy.
  9. Every true Orthodox Christian is Melchizedek, a King of Justice. Every true Orthodox Christian has inner priesthood being a vessel of grace, gospel virtue, and gospel wisdom. The outer priesthood is given only to a few, but inner priesthood belongs to all true Orthodox Christians.
  10. Do not seek first food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, or romance. Seek first the kingdom of God and His justice: gospel virtue and gospel wisdom. (See Matt. 6:33).
  11. We have all had our share of poverty, disease, and oppression. The good, wise, and just God uses these means to call us to His kingdom and His justice, making us vessels of grace, gospel virtue, and gospel wisdom.
  12. Lord Jesus taught spiritual justice: good for good, good for evil, good for neutrality. Many persons though rejected this spiritual justice and preferred natural justice: good for good, evil for evil, neutrality for neutrality. The spiritual justice taught by Lord Jesus is accepted and practiced by only the chosen. Many are called but few are chosen. (See Matt. 20:16).
  13. The Cross of Lord Jesus is the judgment and acquittal of the sins of all persons. Those who partake of it are judged and acquitted of sin. Those who do not partake of it will remain with the guilt of their sin.
  14. In this life we must seek our betrothal to the Lord. In the other life we will receive our marriage to the Lord. Betrothal and marriage to the Lord are the aim of our life.
  15. Practicing virtue in secret, humility, and knowledge, abolish vanity.
  16. Virtue and knowledge are God’s. Knowing this truth defeats vanity, boasting, and pride.
  17. Live a life of well-being. A life of good thoughts, good feelings, good words, and good practices.
  18. Every person who is a vessel of grace, gospel virtue, gospel wisdom, and spiritual gifts, is a temple of the Trinitarian Lord. Every person who is a vessel of passions, ignorance, and darkness, is a pagan temple, a temple of false Gods.
  19. Are you a vessel of humility, meekness, mercy, and love? Or are you a vessel of pride, wrath, non-mercy, envy, and hatred?
  20. God has ordained two modes of life: married life and the unmarried celibate life. The person who will follow the married life must be celibate from birth to puberty, and celibate from puberty to marriage, abstaining from every form of sexual activity. Once they enter the married life they must observe canonical sexual relations and never commit adultery in action or by looking at other women or men with desire. The person who will follow the unmarried celibate life must be celibate from birth to puberty, and celibate from puberty onwards, abstaining from every form of sexual activity.
  21. Hope in Lord Jesus. Hope in the help of Lord Jesus. Hope in the mercy of Lord Jesus. Hope in the grace of Lord Jesus. Hope in the power of Lord Jesus. Hope in the victory of Lord Jesus. Have all your hope in Lord Jesus, and call unceasingly: “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy”.
  22. Be simple, humble, frugal, just, merciful, loving, prayerful, and quiet.
  23. Reject every unjust thought. (See Prov. 15:26). Reject every unjust feeling. (See Prov. 3:32). Reject every unjust word. (See Prov. 12:22). Reject every unjust practice. (See Prov. 11:20 and Prov. 15:9). Reject every unjust sacrifice. (See Prov. 15:8).
  24. Why live with pride, wrath, non-mercy, and hatred? Why not live with humility, meekness, mercy, and love?
  25. Why be proud, wrathful, and illogical? Why can’t you be humble, meek, and logical?
  26. Are you involved in constant disputes? Be humble and obedient and you will have no disputes.
  27. Humility, self-denial, and obedience, are the secret to a life of happiness, peace, well-being, and eternal well-being.
  28. Be humble and obedient and all your disputes will be resolved.
  29. Be an athlete in body and in soul. Practice athletic asceticism in body and in soul. Be a warrior in body and in soul.
  30. Do you obtain food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance with aggression? Or do you obtain food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance with humility, meekness, and justice?
  31. Be a good rower, practicing virtue well. In time you can become a captain, leading other rowers of virtue.
  32. Who can end aggression and disputes? The humble and obedient defeat aggression and disputes. Aggression and disputing should only be towards our own passions and evil thoughts.
  33. Do everything with the opinion of your spiritual father. Do everything with the opinion and order of your elders.
  34. Are you an aggressive and harsh elder? Do you give orders and rebukes with harshness? A good elder must be non-aggressive and non-harsh. (See Matt. 11:29).
  35. Live according to the opinion and orders of your father and mother. (See Eph. 6:1). Live according to the opinion and orders of your spiritual father. (See 1 Peter 5:5).
  36. True philosophy is Orthodox Christianity. The true teacher of philosophy is Lord Jesus. Orthodox Christian Philosophy consists of three parts: practice or ascesis, natural knowledge, and spiritual knowledge and spiritual gifts.
  37. Practice holiness. Have holy thoughts. Have holy feelings. Have holy words. Have holy and ethical practice.
  38. The sons and daughters of the dragon are proud, wrathful, non-merciful, envious and hating tyrants. The sons and daughters of the kingdom are humble, meek, merciful, and loving logical sheep.
  39. Live the ethical life of holiness, peace, and happiness.
  40. Only the sons and daughters of Lord Jesus will abide in the house of His kingdom. No slave can abide. We must therefore seek to become sons and daughters of Lord Jesus to abide with Him forever. (See John 8:35).
  41. Live the ethical life. Live the life of gospel ethics. Live the life of gospel mitzvot.
  42. The Orthodox Christian life has three aspects: ethics, natural knowledge, spiritual knowledge and spiritual gifts.
  43. Keep the ten ascetic practices: 1) Stillness 2) Obedience 3) Fasting 4) Vigil 5) Prayer 6) Psalmody 7) Charity 8) Study 9) Questioning of the Elders 10) Guarding of the Mind and Heart.
  44. Old Testament ethics say: love your friends, hate your enemies, be neutral to the neutrals. New Testament ethics say: love your friends, love your enemies, love the neutrals.
  45. Have humility of mind. Have humility of heart. Have humility of tongue. Have humility of eyes. Have humility of body. Have humility of dress. Have all round humility.
  46. The dragon and his angels hate ethical practice and ethical teaching and do not cease waging war against them. That is why ethical practitioners are persecuted and ethical teachers are despised.
  47. All our psychological problems will be solved when we become betrothed to our Creator. Through faith and the sacraments we become betrothed to our Creator. Eternal life is to be married to our Creator.
  48. The ethical life is a voluntary life. No one can live the ethical life involuntarily. Vainly therefore do some hope to force an ethical community. An ethical community can only be voluntary, never involuntary.
  49. Live the life of ethical holiness. Practice every virtue. Abstain from every evil.
  50. The world is in ethical decay. The ethical life is more and more being abandoned. Ethical apostasy is being observed. How can we live an unethical life and expect all things to go well? Unless we return to the life of ethical holiness things are going to get worse and worse until we are destroyed. God forbid! 
  51. Who is the true ascetic practitioner? He who practices non-wealth, non-glory, and non-pleasure.
  52. Be a philosopher and theologian not only in tongue, but also in mind, heart, eyes, ears, and body.
  53. The worldly person eats, drinks, gathers possessions, seeks glory, and seeks romance. The philosopher and theologian fasts, gives charity, seeks non-glory, and seeks non-romance.
  54. Where is the land of the philosophers, theologians, and saints? Where is the obedience to parents and elders? Where is the obedience to the bishops, spiritual fathers, and Orthodox Christian teachers?
  55. The sage has no wealth in this world, no glory, and no pleasure. The sage has non-wealth, non-glory, and non-pleasure. The sage practices fasting, prayer, charity, non-glory, and non-romance. The sage is not of this world. (See John 8:23).
  56. The life of gospel ethics is linked with the sacramental life of the Orthodox Christian Church. The sacraments give the grace and power to practice gospel ethics. Therefore, no teaching of gospel ethics will succeed without the Orthodox Christian sacraments. Every Orthodox Christian teacher teaches gospel ethics, gospel dogma, gospel traditions, and gospel sacraments.
  57. What you sow you will reap. (See Gal. 6:7). If we sow goodness we reap goodness. If we sow badness we reap badness. If we sow neutrality we reap neutrality.
  58. Our teacher Lord Jesus was humble, meek, merciful, and loving. Let us also become like our teacher: humble, meek, merciful, and loving. If we practice these virtues we will reap the same, and will live a life of blessedness, happiness, and joy.
  59. Wherever you are have no opinion and no will and you will be content.
  60. Wherever you are have non-wealth, non-glory, and non-pleasure and you will be content.
  61. Wherever you are practice fasting, prayer, charity, non-glory, and non-romance, and you will be content.
  62. Wherever you are hold your tongue, practice humility, practice obedience, and you will be content.
  63. Wherever you are be humble, simple, and obedient, and you will be content.
  64. Wherever you are have no opinion and no will and you will be free and content.
  65. Wherever you are have no opinion and no will, and you will have no anger, no hatred, and no pride.
  1. Say: “My knowledge is not mine, but Lord Jesus’ ”. “My virtue is not mine, but Lord Jesus’ ”. “My soul does not belong to me, but to Lord Jesus”. “My body does not belong to me, but to Lord Jesus”. “My will does not belong to me, I have devoted it to Lord Jesus”.
  2. Always give orders with humility, meekness, mercy, and love. Always give rebukes with humility, meekness, mercy, and love. Never give orders with harshness. Never give rebukes with harshness.
  3. Humility, meekness, mercy, and love, break the power of the dragon and his angels.
  4. If you practice justice, both natural and spiritual, you will have joy. If you practice injustice, both natural and spiritual, you will have sorrow.
  5. Sin, malice, and cunning are self-chosen. We choose to give place to these things, therefore we are fully responsible for them and must repent and be made loose from them.
  6. Be careful not to give rights to the dragon and his angels. If you transgress the Law of Moses and the Law of Lord Jesus, you give rights to the dragon. Never give rights to the dragon, and repent and be loosed if you have.
  7. Resolve all the rights you have given to the dragon through repentance and Holy Confession.
  8. The secular church, that is the world, lives in the world of attachment to food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. The secular church also lives in the five vices that are generated by this attachment: pride, wrath, sorrow, lethargy, envy, (despair and suicide). The Orthodox Christian Church lives in the world of detachment from food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. It also lives in the five virtues generated by this detachment: humility, meekness, joy, diligence, love, (hope and patience).
  9. The eldership of a social group will determine the development of logic and justice in the disciples. Family eldership determines logic and justice in offspring. Parish eldership determines logic, justice, and holiness in parishioners. Work eldership determines logic, justice, diligence, and progress in workers. Monastic eldership determines logic, virtue, and holiness in monks. Political eldership determines logic, justice, honesty, and success in citizens.
  10. Do not offend by word, deed, or facial expression. When we offend we reap sevenfold in return. (See Lev. 26:18).   
  11. Lay up treasures by giving and lending. (See Heb. 13:16).
  12. When a brother comes to you with troubles, sorrows, temptations, or suffering, always seek to comfort him, turning him to joy, hope, and faith in Lord Jesus.
  13. It is with the power of Lord Jesus that we can be saved. It is with the power of Lord Jesus that we can abstain from evil. It is with the power of Lord Jesus that we can practice gospel virtue. Because all depends on the power of Lord Jesus, an Orthodox Christian has all his hope in Lord Jesus, and is always humble and contrite.     
  14. We must love our neighbor as our self. Do we revile our self? No. Neither must we revile our neighbor. Do we do injustice to our self? No. Neither must we do injustice to our neighbor. We must greet, give, lend, serve, and love our neighbor.
  15. The focus of life of the secular church is food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. The focus of life of the Orthodox Christian Church is the kingdom of God, and gospel virtue and gospel wisdom: fasting, charity, prayer, non-glory, non-romance.
  16. Lord Jesus ended circumcision, animal sacrifice, Old Testament festivals, and Old Testament ethics. Instead Lord Jesus instituted Holy Baptism, Holy Confession, Holy Communion, New Testament festivals, and New Testament ethics.
  17. The Old Testament taught natural justice: good for good, bad for bad, neutrality for neutrality. The New Testament teaches spiritual justice: good for good, good for bad, good for neutrality.
  18. In the Old Testament you could hate and not do good to a bad person. In the New Testament you must love, help, forgive, and do good to a bad person.
  19. How can a young person seek advice from an elder who is proud, wrathful, non-merciful, envious, and hating? How can a young person trust and obey an elder who is proud and wrathful? How can a young person become logical and decent when he has elders who order and rebuke with pride, wrath, and harshness?
  20. We can only teach and give advice to our neighbor. We cannot change them or practice for them. These they must do voluntarily, with the help and grace of Lord Jesus.
  21. God works in synergy with man. Man can achieve nothing without the help of God, and God cannot help without man being willing and diligent.
  22. What has reward is fasting, not eating well; charity, not gathering possessions; humility, not worldly glory; chastity, not the accepting of lust.
  23. Have no fear. Have perfect faith in Lord Jesus. All things are possible to him who has faith in Lord Jesus. (See Mark 9:23).
  24. If you can be neutral to the body you will be free of vanity of the body. How many persons there are who suffer from vanity of the body! Be detached and neutral to the body to avoid destructive vanity of the body, and the psychological problems it induces.
  25. To be dispassionate to the four pursuits is to be neutral to them, to neither love them illogically, nor to hate them illogically. It is to be neutral to food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance.
  26. The heart of the kingdom of the dragon is lust. Lust and pride are the two great powers of the dragon. Have no part in pride and lust. Youth and the unmarried have to abstain from lust. Married people tame lust by canonical sexual relations.
  27. You must be neutral towards your body, neither loving it nor hating it. This neutrality keeps you of sound opinion, diligent in gospel virtue and gospel wisdom.
  28. Be neutral to your body and neutral to your soul, neither loving nor hating them, and you will love God and neighbor and increase in grace, virtue, knowledge, and spiritual gifts.
  29. Do not accept negative thoughts which tell you that you have flaws and will not succeed. Everything is possible to him who believes. (See Mark 9:23). You can do all things in Lord Jesus who empowers you. (See Phil. 4:13).
  30. Marriage has three aims: 1) Mutual salvation. 2) Protection from lust. 3) The begetting of children.
  31. Here are some precepts to improve our lives and to live a blessed and happy life.

1)    Never order or rebuke with harshness.

2)    Give charity so that everyone has the food and possessions they need.

3)    In humility rank yourself below other persons and never exalt your opinion and will.

4)    Do not overeat, but have a healthy, balanced diet, combined with canonical weight and physical fitness.

5)    Never accept negative thoughts about your body or soul but believe that with faith in Lord Jesus you can do all things.

6)    Never belittle other persons for their faults of body or soul, but if it is in your power correct and rebuke them with humility, meekness, mercy, and love.

7)    Protect yourself from lust by marrying early or practice self-control if you are called to be an unmarried celibate.

  1. Turn from self and devote your opinion and will to God.
  2. Practice self-denial, renouncing you opinion and will, and living according to the opinion and will of your elder in Christ.
  3. In every place practice self-denial, letting go of self, and have the opinion and will of the Orthodox Christian Church.
  4. In every place let go of self, let go of your opinion and will, and you will be happy and content.

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