The Diocese
Posted: 02/21/2025
What is the Core of True Christian Faith?
The core of true Christian faith is the liberation of humanity from sin and death and the granting of salvation (Romans 3:15-16). This fundamental teaching is also called the "Mystery of Redemption." This mystery involves a person's clear understanding that, like all people, they are a sinful being (Psalms 52:3-4) and, as a human, are caught in the torrents of a sinful life (St. Gregory of Narek, Book of Lamentations, Song 42). Recognizing this, they urgently need a helping hand to save them from imminent death.
Who is the Core of the Mystery of Redemption?
Jesus Christ, whose very name, when translated from Hebrew, means "Anointed Savior." According to Christian faith, our Lord is the Almighty Savior, who, being the perfect God, "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness, and being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:6-8). The mystery of the Savior's coming into the world and becoming human is called the "Mystery of the Incarnation" (the word "incarnation" is derived from "man" and "to become"). The Lord Himself explained the primary purpose of His coming into the world, saying, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).
The Orthodox Fathers of the Universal Church clearly understood this concept and recorded it in the Nicene Creed of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, which states: "For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, was incarnate, became man, and was born perfectly of the Holy Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Does Humanity Need God's Salvation?
This question is particularly relevant today when people ignore the importance of salvation and not only fail to recognize themselves as sinners but consider themselves righteous and omnipotent.
The Holy Bible clearly states that humanity, the crown of God's creation, which was made in God's image (Genesis 1:26-28), sinned against God (Genesis 2:6-13) and inherited death, for "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Consequently, through human sin, the direct relationship between God and humanity was severed, a separation that deepened over time and spread to all: "Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12-13).
Despite humanity's sinful nature, the merciful and kind God (Mark 10:17) had already determined the way of salvation (2 Timothy 1:9).
What Were the Pagan Concepts of Overcoming Death and Attaining Salvation?
Pagan peoples did not know the true God and, just as they imagined their false deities, they also based their beliefs about death and salvation on human thought and imagination. For example, the Egyptians believed that after a certain period, a person’s soul would return to its former body. Because of this, they considered it necessary to preserve the human body through mummification.
It is because of such misconceptions, found among the Egyptians and many other pagan nations, that Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children" (meaning those with humble hearts, true Christians) (Matthew 11:25-26).
Ultimately, pagan people failed to understand that salvation is not found in imaginary concepts but in knowing the true God, for "the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight" (1 Corinthians 3:19).
What Were the Jewish Understandings of Salvation?
Unlike pagan peoples, the Jewish nation was the only one that partially recognized the true God and saw a glimpse of divine reality (Hebrews 10:1) because God Himself revealed His existence (Exodus 20:1-4) and also declared that He alone grants salvation: "I am God, and besides Me, there is no one who saves" (Isaiah 43:11).
Unfortunately, the Jewish people were also unable to fully grasp the complete meaning of God's redemptive work and often associated salvation with the Jewish individual or nation, failing to distinguish between spiritual and physical salvation (Exodus 14:12-13).
Later, within Jewish tradition, the idea of the Messiah and salvation through Him emerged (Isaiah 53:12), but this idea was also misunderstood in its true and complete sense—that salvation is first and foremost through Jesus Christ alone and that it is universal, not merely national.
