The Church: The Place of Man's Theosis Those who wish to unite with Jesus Christ, and, through Christ, with God the Father, recognise that this union is realised in the body of Christ, which is our Holy Orthodox Church. Of course, this Union is not with the Divine essence, but with the deified human nature of Christ. But this union with Christ is not external, nor is it simply moral. We are not followers of Christ in the way that one might perhaps follow a philosopher or a teacher. We are members of Christ's body, the Church. The Church is the body of Christ, the real body, not a moral one, as some mistaken theologians have written, not having looked deeply enough into the spirit of the Holy Church. Despite our unworthiness and sinfulness, Christ takes us Christians and incorporates us into His body. He makes us members of Himself. We become real members of Christ, not just followers of a code of morality. As the Apostle Paul puts it, ‘We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones’ (Eph. 5:30). Certainly, depending on the spiritual state of Christians, they are sometimes living members of Christ's body, at other times they are dead. Even as dead members, we still do not cease to be members of Christ's body. For example, someone who is baptised has become a member of Christ's body. If he does not confess, does not take Communion, does not live a spiritual life, he is a dead member of Christ's body, but when he repents, he immediately receives divine life. This permeates him and he becomes a living member of Christ's body. Someone like this does not need to be re-baptised. Someone who has never been baptised, however, is not a member of Christ's body even if he lives a moral life according to human standards. In order to become a member of Christ's body, in order to be incorporated into Christ, he needs to be baptised. Since we are members of Christ's body, Christ's life is offered to us and becomes our life. So we are enlivened, saved, and deified, yet we could not be deified if Christ did not make us members of His body; we could not be saved if the Holy Mysteries of the Church did not exist. These make us one body with Christ, and as, according to the Church Fathers, we share the same body and the same blood as Christ … we are in fact one body and one blood with Christ. |
