As to the question of who is saved and who is not, you are right in saying we have no confirmation of who is in heaven and who in hell, for the most part. There are the select few saints that so outshined most of us in life that the Church formally declares them such, but these are certainly not all the saints of heaven. And as for those in the foretaste of torments, there is still time, until Christ's Second Coming, for repentance--little chance though there might be for some of those there. But "Does God punish people for thousands of years with infinite, eternal torment for things they did in their few finite years of life?" Well, the question in itself shows a legalistic view of things. If justice is that every bad thing has an equal and opposite good, then punishing infinitely for a finite evil is impermissible. But this is not so--darkness is not the opposite of light, but the absent void thereof; cold is the absent void of warmth--and so is sin the absent void we necessarily turn to when we turn from God [for there is nothing else than God Himself, and His creation, and if we turn from this natural order and worship something nonexistent, or even some part of creation as if it was God, it at least does not exist as God, and thus we have turned to something not real, not existent--void itself]. But also, if thinking in a legalistic way, any finite good (small though it be in comparison with our sins) cannot be rewarded infinitely. Rather, we must realize this life is merely a testing-ground. God gives us Goodness, indeed His Very Self, but also allows us to turn away if we wish--and this life becomes a testing ground as we go back and forth until we choose to make our lives truly founded in One or the other (that is, Good, or Its absence) and we advance in whichever it is that we chose. God does not wish to torment any of us, and He never does--we do it to ourselves. We have heard the Truth, if not in words then in our hearts alone (Rom 2:12-16; Jer 31:34), and when we choose to turn from Good, we choose to turn from God. But God does not leave His good children, thirsting for Truth, in darkness, but had promised a time when all will be revealed and "every knee will bow" (Rom 14:11, Php 2:10, Is 45:23).
As such, those who deluded themselves into thinking they loved goodness will see their deception and their hatred of the God fully revealed and extended to them--and this Love will be a burning flame tormenting them for eternity because God gave them their choice to love evil rather then Him, in His Love. And to those who love Him, this Love will be a flame of Warmth and Grace for all eternity. So the "why this person and not that one" question has nothing to do with our actions or intellectual beliefs of themselves (though these are proofs of love or the lack thereof, generally speaking), but is answered in whether we love the God Who is Love or not. But we can't think that because we like warm fuzzy feelings it means we love--nor even are a few good deeds proof of salvation, in our great ability to turn to ourselves first and become prideful or vainglorious over the vast minority of good things we do for others. Just as such, just because we say Christ is Lord in mind is not enough--some that said "Lord, Lord" to Him still yet did not know Him (see Mt 7:21; Mt 25:11). It is true, it is much more than either of these, found in distrusting one's own will and despising every passing comfort as something which makes us draw closer to love of self and worldliness instead of the surpassing God above all Creation [while loving all the gifts He gives us, when enjoyed in the proper way and with thankfulness]. (To make things painfully clear, though Orthodox Christians believe that the Orthodox Church is the one true Church, they are very clear on saying that not all Orthodox Christians are saved, and not all saved are Orthodox--we even have a couple saints that were not part of the canonical Orthodox Church, few though they are that we have canonized formally (one example that comes to mind is St. Isaac the Syrian--he was a bishop in the Persian church, which was not necessarily technically split from the Chalcedonian Church (or at least, not at the time that he was bishop; my history on this is not perfectly well-informed, I'll freely admit), but often was somewhat Nestorian in its theological tendencies).)
As for the age of accountability question, this is a good point. As I stated, we are here for a test of what we want--purity and love, or corruption and decay. We are born, though in fallen nature, without sin, and pure. As a child we emulate our parents and others, and do not fully understand--and if we do bad things, it is not of evil intent, and any ill done is to the fault of those who taught us to act thus. But we do reach a time--around 7 years old--when we begin to understand truly the difference between things done from love and for God and that which is foreign and alien to Him. Then we begin to make our choice, and then can we begin to be held accountable.
But, of course, we cannot draw from that that the loving thing to do is kill them and send them pure to God [as pure, cold logic might sometimes want to do, in ignoring the Law written on our hearts and in our consciences]. Firstly, God is more powerful than us, [indeed, being Power itself, in an ineffable way, whereas we have absolutely no power whatsoever without Him, all power being from and a part of Him,] and can take them when He wants--to kill someone in order to send them pure to God is to ignore God's will and infinite wisdom for our own, which cannot be better than waiting for His will to be done. Secondly, the child could grow up to do great good and help many souls toward God--if we could not grow toward God as adults, and help others toward Him, there would be no hope, and it would be better to be slain as infants--but we see that this happens when we grow, and give glory to God there for.
In a sense, yes, there is a time window for us in which to make our choice--[primarily] our lives here on this Earth. We come to see, in our pure formative years, what evil and goodness are; in all our remaining time, we make a choice. Maybe we live short lives and never find the Church. Maybe we're so turned off from Christianity by bigoted or hate-filled so-called "Christians" that we can't see the true purity and love of the real message (for a very real example of this, listen to the episode "The Story of Joe" on the Steve the Builder podcast on Ancient Faith Radio [I can also note that he has an episode complimentary to this series, in the episode "Love Wins: An Orthodox View of Salvation," visually representing the Orthodox view of salvation, in a nutshell, versus some of the same sort of mainstream protestant theologies Rob Bell is also arguing against (remember to listen to the audio introduction before watching the video)]). But the fundamental choice between God and void is more simply fundamental than this--the Church is not the end, but the perfect means and guide to the true end, union with God by His abundant Grace. If one dies young, we cannot wonder what would have otherwise happened--God knows, and perfectly. He takes some people in sin and hatred--though not wishing the death of any sinner, but rather that he turn and live (Ez. 18:21-32)--knowing that some will not turn truly to Him, given all eternity. Satan saw God past any means by which most of us do, yet he chose not to love Him. Further, death is a gift, that humanity see an end, fear, and turn toward the true reality which will be revealed to us then. [It is a limit to the possibilities of our estrangement form Him and sinfulness on this Earth, to our oppressive influence upon others, should we choose to hate God, and is further given that we may not be stuck in this banal reality forever, but move to real union with Him (hence why Adam was cast out of Paradise, that he could not eat of the tree of Life and thus live eternally in this corrupted state (" 'Now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'--therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden" (Gen. 3:22-23), and all after him thus, but that he would have a chance to shrug it off at death and take the new Life given to him in the grave 5000-some-odd years later by Christ Himself).] He gives it that we may have an end and limit to sins, that we not grow fainthearted, seeing the years we still have to endure. So some who would later grow faint of heart are taken sooner; some truly able to persevere stay longer; but even in this latter case, He is not cruel, as to keep forever from Him those who wish to depart to Him. Some are taken in sins, either because they would never turn to Him, because they would otherwise mislead many away from Him, or both. But His Judgment reigns supreme, and is not according to what we deserve, but is lovingly merciful, a Father granting embrace to those who wish, and to those who hate Him reluctantly (to use human imagery) giving them even these base desires, after they have proven that is truly what they want.
As for salvation in a moment, being "born again" once and for all with no chance of change, or its similar counterparts in certain Protestant denominations--according to Orthodox Soteriology, it's heretical. [There is also an interesting article online, based on "The Heresy of Salvation in a Moment" by the Coptic Orthodox (this is Oriental Orthodoxy, not the same as the one Church of the Eastern Orthodox) Pope Shenouda (who fell asleep March 17 of this year), about the works that proved the saving faith of the good theif, as a related subject.] First of all, this sort of salvation in a moment would suggest that "getting into heaven" is all that's important, and that it's either impossible or unimportant to improve beyond this--this generally being combined with a rather earthly, pleasure-seeking view of what "salvation" really is. This is just as self-centered as earthly living, with only a different time frame. Rather, we should pray,
Be it unto me according to Thy will, O Lord! If Thou wouldst grant me light, be Thou blessed; if
As such, those who deluded themselves into thinking they loved goodness will see their deception and their hatred of the God fully revealed and extended to them--and this Love will be a burning flame tormenting them for eternity because God gave them their choice to love evil rather then Him, in His Love. And to those who love Him, this Love will be a flame of Warmth and Grace for all eternity. So the "why this person and not that one" question has nothing to do with our actions or intellectual beliefs of themselves (though these are proofs of love or the lack thereof, generally speaking), but is answered in whether we love the God Who is Love or not. But we can't think that because we like warm fuzzy feelings it means we love--nor even are a few good deeds proof of salvation, in our great ability to turn to ourselves first and become prideful or vainglorious over the vast minority of good things we do for others. Just as such, just because we say Christ is Lord in mind is not enough--some that said "Lord, Lord" to Him still yet did not know Him (see Mt 7:21; Mt 25:11). It is true, it is much more than either of these, found in distrusting one's own will and despising every passing comfort as something which makes us draw closer to love of self and worldliness instead of the surpassing God above all Creation [while loving all the gifts He gives us, when enjoyed in the proper way and with thankfulness]. (To make things painfully clear, though Orthodox Christians believe that the Orthodox Church is the one true Church, they are very clear on saying that not all Orthodox Christians are saved, and not all saved are Orthodox--we even have a couple saints that were not part of the canonical Orthodox Church, few though they are that we have canonized formally (one example that comes to mind is St. Isaac the Syrian--he was a bishop in the Persian church, which was not necessarily technically split from the Chalcedonian Church (or at least, not at the time that he was bishop; my history on this is not perfectly well-informed, I'll freely admit), but often was somewhat Nestorian in its theological tendencies).)
As for the age of accountability question, this is a good point. As I stated, we are here for a test of what we want--purity and love, or corruption and decay. We are born, though in fallen nature, without sin, and pure. As a child we emulate our parents and others, and do not fully understand--and if we do bad things, it is not of evil intent, and any ill done is to the fault of those who taught us to act thus. But we do reach a time--around 7 years old--when we begin to understand truly the difference between things done from love and for God and that which is foreign and alien to Him. Then we begin to make our choice, and then can we begin to be held accountable.
But, of course, we cannot draw from that that the loving thing to do is kill them and send them pure to God [as pure, cold logic might sometimes want to do, in ignoring the Law written on our hearts and in our consciences]. Firstly, God is more powerful than us, [indeed, being Power itself, in an ineffable way, whereas we have absolutely no power whatsoever without Him, all power being from and a part of Him,] and can take them when He wants--to kill someone in order to send them pure to God is to ignore God's will and infinite wisdom for our own, which cannot be better than waiting for His will to be done. Secondly, the child could grow up to do great good and help many souls toward God--if we could not grow toward God as adults, and help others toward Him, there would be no hope, and it would be better to be slain as infants--but we see that this happens when we grow, and give glory to God there for.
In a sense, yes, there is a time window for us in which to make our choice--[primarily] our lives here on this Earth. We come to see, in our pure formative years, what evil and goodness are; in all our remaining time, we make a choice. Maybe we live short lives and never find the Church. Maybe we're so turned off from Christianity by bigoted or hate-filled so-called "Christians" that we can't see the true purity and love of the real message (for a very real example of this, listen to the episode "The Story of Joe" on the Steve the Builder podcast on Ancient Faith Radio [I can also note that he has an episode complimentary to this series, in the episode "Love Wins: An Orthodox View of Salvation," visually representing the Orthodox view of salvation, in a nutshell, versus some of the same sort of mainstream protestant theologies Rob Bell is also arguing against (remember to listen to the audio introduction before watching the video)]). But the fundamental choice between God and void is more simply fundamental than this--the Church is not the end, but the perfect means and guide to the true end, union with God by His abundant Grace. If one dies young, we cannot wonder what would have otherwise happened--God knows, and perfectly. He takes some people in sin and hatred--though not wishing the death of any sinner, but rather that he turn and live (Ez. 18:21-32)--knowing that some will not turn truly to Him, given all eternity. Satan saw God past any means by which most of us do, yet he chose not to love Him. Further, death is a gift, that humanity see an end, fear, and turn toward the true reality which will be revealed to us then. [It is a limit to the possibilities of our estrangement form Him and sinfulness on this Earth, to our oppressive influence upon others, should we choose to hate God, and is further given that we may not be stuck in this banal reality forever, but move to real union with Him (hence why Adam was cast out of Paradise, that he could not eat of the tree of Life and thus live eternally in this corrupted state (" 'Now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'--therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden" (Gen. 3:22-23), and all after him thus, but that he would have a chance to shrug it off at death and take the new Life given to him in the grave 5000-some-odd years later by Christ Himself).] He gives it that we may have an end and limit to sins, that we not grow fainthearted, seeing the years we still have to endure. So some who would later grow faint of heart are taken sooner; some truly able to persevere stay longer; but even in this latter case, He is not cruel, as to keep forever from Him those who wish to depart to Him. Some are taken in sins, either because they would never turn to Him, because they would otherwise mislead many away from Him, or both. But His Judgment reigns supreme, and is not according to what we deserve, but is lovingly merciful, a Father granting embrace to those who wish, and to those who hate Him reluctantly (to use human imagery) giving them even these base desires, after they have proven that is truly what they want.
As for salvation in a moment, being "born again" once and for all with no chance of change, or its similar counterparts in certain Protestant denominations--according to Orthodox Soteriology, it's heretical. [There is also an interesting article online, based on "The Heresy of Salvation in a Moment" by the Coptic Orthodox (this is Oriental Orthodoxy, not the same as the one Church of the Eastern Orthodox) Pope Shenouda (who fell asleep March 17 of this year), about the works that proved the saving faith of the good theif, as a related subject.] First of all, this sort of salvation in a moment would suggest that "getting into heaven" is all that's important, and that it's either impossible or unimportant to improve beyond this--this generally being combined with a rather earthly, pleasure-seeking view of what "salvation" really is. This is just as self-centered as earthly living, with only a different time frame. Rather, we should pray,
Be it unto me according to Thy will, O Lord! If Thou wouldst grant me light, be Thou blessed; if
Thou wouldst grant me darkness, be Thou equally blessed. If Thou wouldst destroy me
together with my lawlessness, glory to Thy righteous judgment; and if Thou wouldst not
destroy me together with my lawlessness, glory to Thy boundless mercy! (St. Basil the Great,
[It further makes it easy for us to say or think of ourselves that our sins are "nothing special;" that "I am sinful like everyone [else]" (from a leaflet published on Mount Athos, given on page 23 of this document on confession from St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church), when instead our sin needs to be taken extremely seriously, as the mortal ailment which turns us from God that it is. God would not ask for sinlessness if it was impossible, and certainly not punish because of falling short of it. And if Christ was truly man, in his fulfillment of sinlessness, then it is possible for us as well--through Him able to live in the perfected nature He gives after our baptism, which is His Resurrected body, and as a gift able to abide in His Grace, His Very Self as God--to live without sin.] Salvation is based not on something said or done, but how we are, and thus what we truly want.
As for the message of the Gospel, it is love, simply put--but not an earthly love. Heaven is a big part of it, but heaven is not about a place (though it can accurately refer to one, or even distinctions therein, e.g., being in rapture in the "third heaven" (2 Cor 12:2)) as much as it is simply abiding totally in in God and Him in you. This is the message--not just going to a happy place without pain, but pure abode in God Himself. As such, we can have heaven to a powerful extent even here on earth--this life and the next aren't polar opposites, but distinct parts of a contiguous whole--but its full consummation does indeed await the good hour appointed by God for His Second Coming. That's why we mush strive always for closer union with Him here--that's what it's all about, and if we are negligent in it, it's a sign of illness which needs to be fought off--for if we don't fight it, we'll have it revealed to us in the end that we loved earthly comfort and distractions more that Love--i.e., God Himself. If that's not enough, we always have the motivation of not knowing if we're going toward heaven or hell, not being able to trust ourselves to give an answer, but Christ the True Judge alone. We have the examples of the saints--the more exalted they are now, the more they debased themselves as the worst of sinners in their lives. This is not a coincidence. [I should note that this does not mean we should loathe ourselves, as this is hatred of part of God's Creation, and leads into despair and the egotistical thought that our sins are greater than God's mercy. However, we should realize that we can do nothing, but only God can do good in us, and that whatever we do that is good is from Him alone (the most we can say of ourselves is that we agreed to be used as instruments of good), and that of ourselves we do only evil, for all done without Him is inherently evil, even if good in appearance. Thus we should loathe our own wills, doing our own thing, and not following only His will. There is never room to boast in ourselves--even if we become sinless, we are only doing what we were created and commanded to do, and furthermore, what is natural to our originally created nature, the one we have taken on, perfected, in rising from the waters of baptism. There is no amount of sinlessness we can accomplish that can erase a single sin we have done, and only the gift of remission from He Who sacrificed Himself, though sinless and not needing to die, can cleanse and perfect us. Thus we can boast in the Lord, even if not knowing we personally are saved yet, knowing He is good and perfect, and will do what should be done in all things. But we can never boast in ourselves, nor love ourselves or our gifts from Him more than as good creations of God, which we have unfortunately corrupted by sin as the bad stewards we are; we must stop corrupting them, turn to Him, and without any defense of our own, but trusting in His mercy, ask for cleansing.]
Now, the point of false christs is a good and very important one. There are so many antichrists and false religions and interpretations of Christ that it's amazing that amid all these there are any true Christians left--that's God's Grace alone, and a proof of His love and perpetual efforts at guiding us aright.
As for our salvation being in other's hands, it is--in God's. But we are responsible, in how we respond to His call. Our salvation is also in other people's hands, and theirs in ours. There's no such thing as "just me and Jesus," for as the Body of Christ we are all connected, helping our weaker members as a part of ourselves (the real meaning of "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mk 12:31; Mt 22:39; Lev 19:18)--not to love them like you love yourself, but because they are a part of your very self, and you of them). And we must trust God that when we need help, He will give us the aid we seek, whether directly or by giving the needed strength to those here on earth who can help. Thank you, Mr. Bell, for--though Protestant and without the guidance of the True Church that you are--noticing that most obvious fact which so very many Protestants ignore: the "personal relationship" with Jesus paradigm is modern and alien to the Bible and Biblical thought.
Now, as for salvation being a gift versus our works, it's both, in a sense. Believing and confessing faith are works in a sense, and loving is also so--and it most necessary, at least a measure thereof and want for more--for true salvation. But the gift is this--we have only to realize that nothing we could do, even this very confessing of faith or love, could give us salvation, but only His free gift alone. And when we know this and truly want this gift, He gives it freely, even though all the love we pitiful creatures can muster still makes us not a bit worthy of salvation in itself. As to works in general, despise them not--as long as you don't put your hopes in your works, you're fine. Without works, faith is dead, as St. James says (James 2:14-26, and in general the spirit of the epistle as a whole, which is all about the different works which prove or perfect our faith, or which do the opposite). Don't even put your hopes in your faith--for one thing, it is a work, in a sense, and further, it's not pure--even if it was, it wouldn't be enough to remit your sins and grant perfection and salvation. If you're saved, it's a free gift. And debasing yourself in this way, and putting all your hope in Him, you're already beginning to understand what salvation really means, truly understanding that all goodness is God's action, and that we are nothing in anything we do apart from that; further, better seeing and understanding His Goodness, Love, and Mercy--drawing closer to the real salvation that is union with Him, becoming by grace all He is by nature.
As for saying about Jesus and the centurion that He's "amazed" (the text of the Bible says "marveled," in the NKJV and RSV, for comparison (Lk 7:1-10)), we should note that this can only be as far as in His humanity, or as an expression using human terms to speak of something beyond our understanding in His divine approval; for how could an Omniscient God not know this beforehand, lack of knowledge and surprise being essential to "amazement"? But I am not one to talk with much knowledge or eloquence about how Christ's two natures worked and interacted in synergy, and fear lest I fall, using my fallen reasoning; I direct you to the saints of the Orthodox Church for better understanding of this, from those who truly and more fully experienced Him.
Who you are is what saves or destroys, but what we say stems naturally from this. [St. James, in his epistle, is very clear on this:
If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
As for the message of the Gospel, it is love, simply put--but not an earthly love. Heaven is a big part of it, but heaven is not about a place (though it can accurately refer to one, or even distinctions therein, e.g., being in rapture in the "third heaven" (2 Cor 12:2)) as much as it is simply abiding totally in in God and Him in you. This is the message--not just going to a happy place without pain, but pure abode in God Himself. As such, we can have heaven to a powerful extent even here on earth--this life and the next aren't polar opposites, but distinct parts of a contiguous whole--but its full consummation does indeed await the good hour appointed by God for His Second Coming. That's why we mush strive always for closer union with Him here--that's what it's all about, and if we are negligent in it, it's a sign of illness which needs to be fought off--for if we don't fight it, we'll have it revealed to us in the end that we loved earthly comfort and distractions more that Love--i.e., God Himself. If that's not enough, we always have the motivation of not knowing if we're going toward heaven or hell, not being able to trust ourselves to give an answer, but Christ the True Judge alone. We have the examples of the saints--the more exalted they are now, the more they debased themselves as the worst of sinners in their lives. This is not a coincidence. [I should note that this does not mean we should loathe ourselves, as this is hatred of part of God's Creation, and leads into despair and the egotistical thought that our sins are greater than God's mercy. However, we should realize that we can do nothing, but only God can do good in us, and that whatever we do that is good is from Him alone (the most we can say of ourselves is that we agreed to be used as instruments of good), and that of ourselves we do only evil, for all done without Him is inherently evil, even if good in appearance. Thus we should loathe our own wills, doing our own thing, and not following only His will. There is never room to boast in ourselves--even if we become sinless, we are only doing what we were created and commanded to do, and furthermore, what is natural to our originally created nature, the one we have taken on, perfected, in rising from the waters of baptism. There is no amount of sinlessness we can accomplish that can erase a single sin we have done, and only the gift of remission from He Who sacrificed Himself, though sinless and not needing to die, can cleanse and perfect us. Thus we can boast in the Lord, even if not knowing we personally are saved yet, knowing He is good and perfect, and will do what should be done in all things. But we can never boast in ourselves, nor love ourselves or our gifts from Him more than as good creations of God, which we have unfortunately corrupted by sin as the bad stewards we are; we must stop corrupting them, turn to Him, and without any defense of our own, but trusting in His mercy, ask for cleansing.]
Now, the point of false christs is a good and very important one. There are so many antichrists and false religions and interpretations of Christ that it's amazing that amid all these there are any true Christians left--that's God's Grace alone, and a proof of His love and perpetual efforts at guiding us aright.
As for our salvation being in other's hands, it is--in God's. But we are responsible, in how we respond to His call. Our salvation is also in other people's hands, and theirs in ours. There's no such thing as "just me and Jesus," for as the Body of Christ we are all connected, helping our weaker members as a part of ourselves (the real meaning of "love your neighbor as yourself" (Mk 12:31; Mt 22:39; Lev 19:18)--not to love them like you love yourself, but because they are a part of your very self, and you of them). And we must trust God that when we need help, He will give us the aid we seek, whether directly or by giving the needed strength to those here on earth who can help. Thank you, Mr. Bell, for--though Protestant and without the guidance of the True Church that you are--noticing that most obvious fact which so very many Protestants ignore: the "personal relationship" with Jesus paradigm is modern and alien to the Bible and Biblical thought.
Now, as for salvation being a gift versus our works, it's both, in a sense. Believing and confessing faith are works in a sense, and loving is also so--and it most necessary, at least a measure thereof and want for more--for true salvation. But the gift is this--we have only to realize that nothing we could do, even this very confessing of faith or love, could give us salvation, but only His free gift alone. And when we know this and truly want this gift, He gives it freely, even though all the love we pitiful creatures can muster still makes us not a bit worthy of salvation in itself. As to works in general, despise them not--as long as you don't put your hopes in your works, you're fine. Without works, faith is dead, as St. James says (James 2:14-26, and in general the spirit of the epistle as a whole, which is all about the different works which prove or perfect our faith, or which do the opposite). Don't even put your hopes in your faith--for one thing, it is a work, in a sense, and further, it's not pure--even if it was, it wouldn't be enough to remit your sins and grant perfection and salvation. If you're saved, it's a free gift. And debasing yourself in this way, and putting all your hope in Him, you're already beginning to understand what salvation really means, truly understanding that all goodness is God's action, and that we are nothing in anything we do apart from that; further, better seeing and understanding His Goodness, Love, and Mercy--drawing closer to the real salvation that is union with Him, becoming by grace all He is by nature.
As for saying about Jesus and the centurion that He's "amazed" (the text of the Bible says "marveled," in the NKJV and RSV, for comparison (Lk 7:1-10)), we should note that this can only be as far as in His humanity, or as an expression using human terms to speak of something beyond our understanding in His divine approval; for how could an Omniscient God not know this beforehand, lack of knowledge and surprise being essential to "amazement"? But I am not one to talk with much knowledge or eloquence about how Christ's two natures worked and interacted in synergy, and fear lest I fall, using my fallen reasoning; I direct you to the saints of the Orthodox Church for better understanding of this, from those who truly and more fully experienced Him.
Who you are is what saves or destroys, but what we say stems naturally from this. [St. James, in his epistle, is very clear on this:
If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle the whole body.
Indeed, we put bits in horses’ mouths that they may obey us, and we turn their whole body.
Look also at ships: although they are so large and are driven by fierce winds, they are turned
by a very small rudder wherever the pilot desires. Even so the tongue is a little member and
boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The
tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the
course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and
creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. But no man can tame the
tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father, and with
it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth
proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring
send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear
olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh. (James 3:2-
12).
So who you are is what saves or destroys, but our confessions of faith or lack thereof, or our words that prove love or hatred, stem from this choice and want of our soul, and prove us.] Or rather, Grace alone saves, for what we are--sinners; everyone imperfect, even if having been granted, by much sweat and tears and longing, sinlessness here on earth--has no power to do this. But if we realize our lowliness and His Perfection and want to turn to Him, then we have salvation. Forgiveness is indeed the fast track to salvation, for if we achieve perfect forgiveness, the God who cannot lie will forgive us all (Lk 6:37). And so with judgment--for He told us we will be judged with the judgment by which we judge (Lk 6:37). [The Orthodox have a very real example of this in one of our saints, an unnamed monk:
This monk was lazy, careless, and lacking in his prayer life; but throughout all of his life, he did
not judge anyone. While dying, he was happy. When the brethren asked him "How is it that
with so many sins, you die happy?" he replied, "I now see angels who are showing me a letter
with my numerous sins. I said to them, Our Lord said: 'stop judging and you will not be
judged' (St. Luke 6:37). I have never judged anyone, and I hope in the mercy of God that He
will not judge me." And the angels tore up the paper. Upon hearing this, the monks were
astonished and learned from it. (Saint Nikolai of Ohrid and Žiča, The Prologue from Ochrid,
This monk was lazy, careless, and lacking in his prayer life; but throughout all of his life, he did
not judge anyone. While dying, he was happy. When the brethren asked him "How is it that
with so many sins, you die happy?" he replied, "I now see angels who are showing me a letter
with my numerous sins. I said to them, Our Lord said: 'stop judging and you will not be
judged' (St. Luke 6:37). I have never judged anyone, and I hope in the mercy of God that He
will not judge me." And the angels tore up the paper. Upon hearing this, the monks were
astonished and learned from it. (Saint Nikolai of Ohrid and Žiča, The Prologue from Ochrid,
March 30.)
Or another account, perhaps of the same saint, from the Gerontikon (as given in the Evergetinos, Vol III):
Near a certain Elder there dwelt a negligent brother who had lived in asceticism for only a
short time. When he was about to die, some of the brothers came to sit beside him in order
to comfort him, while the Elder, seeing him departing from the body cheerfully and joyfully, and
wishing to edify the brothers who were present, said to him: "Brother, we are all aware that
you were not very zealous in your asceticism, and so how is it that you are making your final
journey so eagerly?" The brother replied: "Believe me, Father, what you say is true.
Nevertheless, since I became a monk, I am not conscious of having judged or harbored a
grudge against anyone. And if I ever did have a disagreement with anyone, I immediately
reconciled with him. Therefore, I plan to say to God: 'Master, Thou didst say: "Judge not,
and ye shall not be judged; forgive, and ye shall be forgiven" ' (St. Luke 6:37)." The Elder
said to him: "Peace be with you, my child, for you have been saved without effort, by not
condemning others." (p. 20).
I can also say that personally, this is where I put all my hope. I am still not assured of my salvation, for I know that my forgiveness is imperfect. But I ask always for real forgiveness and lack of judgment, as they are true measures of love. And even if I am damned by my lack of forgiveness, I now know why, I know that real forgiveness that I do not show fully, which He gives to us and asks us to accept. This gives me great joy, knowing truly His forgiveness, and hope, as I know that if I really want it, it will be given; if I do not, He does not give it, in His perfect Judgment and Love for us, and it is only because of my own choices that it could be withheld.] For most, perfection in either of these (lack of judgment or forgiveness) is lacking, and we must fall down in contrition over our inability to attain to these. [But even so, it gives us great hope, and we, though contrite and penitent, can never become despairing or despondent if we keep this in mind, for it reminds us of the perfect love of God, and allows us a reprieve from any torment; simply stop, and forgive all, truly being at peace with all. From Saint Theophan the Recluse,"You read [in your prayers]: 'forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors'--forgive all in your soul, and having forgiven everyone everything in your heart, ask for forgiveness for yourself from the Lord[...] then you will be truly praying" (On Prayer, Homily 1 (the other homilies in the series can be found online by typing "Theophan" into the "Author Filter" of the "Patristic Texts" page of Monachos.net). Also from St. Theophan:
"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt.
6:14–15). What a simple and handy means of salvation! Your trespasses are forgiven under
the condition that you forgive the trespasses of your neighbour against you. This means that
you are in your own hands. Force yourself to pass from agitated feelings toward your brother
to truly peaceful feelings--and that is all. Forgiveness day--what a great heavenly day of
God this is! If all of us used it as we ought, this day would make Christian societies into
heavenly societies, and the earth would merge with heaven. (Thoughts for Each Day of the
Year: According to the Daily Church Readings from the Word of God, "Cheese-fare
(Forgiveness) Sunday.")
And even if we aren't saved, we can still give glory to God for His righteous judgment in our case, and even more so for the many who will be saved through so handy a means, those who truly chose to make their lives center around love, indeed living the life of love that Love Incarnate commanded for us. We can give glory to Him for giving this easy yoke equally and freely to all, this easy means of salvation which is a constant joy and comfort here, and abiding in which we can abide in Him, giving glory in Him giving us all the opportunity in this, and the choice to reject or accept it. And if we can constantly give glory to Him in this, likely we put it into practice, and thus save ourselves, loving others, living in complete humility, and rejoicing always in the Lord (Philippians 4:4).]
You have many questions on how we are saved--if we were perfect we would fulfill all the virtues and many of the paths to salvation simultaneously. But each being different, the battle of each is different, and so each person's way of life toward salvation, if indeed the soul chooses salvation. But in the end, all these paths and methods [and truly, if we look in the lives of the saints, we see a plethora of different modes of life, all of them holy in the end, in the very same holiness, as God is One,] are all the same--all God, all Love, all Light--and infinite virtues coming forth from Him, sanctifying this multiplicity of different lives and making many paths acceptable to Him, even while they are all one straight and narrow way (Mt 7:14), Christ Himself, the only Gate to Salvation (see Jn 10:1-10).
As you note, the demons know who God is. But only in mind. Those who do not love cannot really understand what love is, sadly enough. We choose, and when we choose evil, we delude ourselves so badly in order to be able to continue in the ill choice and not see the obvious error that we forget what good really is--and evil is to us good, and good evil (Is 5:20-21; see also the many Biblical quotes shown forth on this webpage illustrating the same). Ah, how we delude ourselves! But though intellectually we may have no clue as to who Christ is, our heart knows its Father and maker (see Rom. 2:12-16; Jer. 31:34 and its quotations in Hebrews; think of the simple fact that we're created in His image, and called to move toward His likeness; and that we are called to understanding of God through all Creation as a testimony to Him; all of which the Bible and the saints of the Church affirm (e.g., St. Athanasius the Great's On The Incarnation of the Word of God, or the readings in the Wisdom of Solomon about the perversion of idol worship, creation being made to lead us up to Him)). Do we know Him perfectly? No, not yet--but let none say that he chose evil in ignorance. It is in our heart, and indeed the choice of evil is incredible in that it is against nature, a choice of void over substance, a choice of alien nature over the only nature we were created and began life with. [Even if we grew up in this earthly life knowing only pain, and we cannot think to bring forth any purely good actions, there is always an inward choice between two things, that more evil and that more good; even if life has made it nearly impossible to live out the virtues--because of some sort of childhood abuse, for example--one can still choose to move toward goodness or greater evil, and regardless of the impossibility for other people, in such a situation, to judge this inclination based on such a one's actions, this inclination of the heart toward or against Him is what will be laid bare and will condemn us before the Judge Who sees all--or it will justify us there.] But even though our nature screams out to us to choose good, oh how we let this void that is evil into our hearts!
But there's always hope, because Love, God Himself, is also Pure Power over all difficulty, and is ready to help us, should we start to turn to Him.
And with that thought I conclude my response to the first chapter of the book.
In Christ,
Teopile/Theophilos Porter
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