👉🏾👉🏾👉🏾One #Faith, One #Religion, One #Spirit: A Holy Meditation on the Unity of the True Faith
Part 2
Brethren beloved of God, faithful adherents to the Orthodox tradition preserved and proclaimed through the Yohannes Pensa teachings, grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Today, let us give ear to a teaching most solemn and true—concerning faith, and concerning religion. Let us not approach this lightly, but with reverence and trembling, as those who seek to understand the mysteries of divine revelation.
One Religion Given Once for All
Let it be known, O faithful, that religion is one, and it is given once for all. It is not scattered like the seeds of the wind nor repeated like the cycles of the moon. It is not a garment that must be tailored anew for each generation, but a robe woven without seam, handed down from the Apostles to the saints of every age.
Hear now the words of Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, who testifies:
“Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I felt compelled to write to you, urging you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)
This faith, brethren, was not delivered to be updated or modified. It is not like the inventions of men that improve with time. No! It was founded on the rock, as our Lord declared to Peter:
“You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My Church” (Matthew 16:18).
Religion, then, is not a thing maintained by human tradition, nor can it be enriched by modern thought. It is divinely bestowed, pure and eternal. It is the life of the Church, flowing from the pierced side of Christ, and given without shadow of turning. It is unchanging, because its foundation is the unchangeable One.
One Religion Means Imitating One Christ
But what does this true religion demand of us? It demands imitation—not of many, but of One. It is not a system of ideas, but the life of Christ made manifest in His people. For we have been united to Him not only in word but in very being.
As the Apostle writes:
“Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? … If we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His.” (Romans 6:3-5)
And again, the Lord commands:
“Learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29).
What greater religion is there than this—to be united to the death of Christ, that we might also live His resurrection? Religion, therefore, is not ritual alone, nor mere belief, but the imitation of Christ, who is our Lord, our Shepherd, and our Teacher (Matthew 23:8).
Even Paul, the Apostle to the nations, declared:
“Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)
And Peter exhorts us in the words of the Lord:
“Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16)
Thus, if to live by faith means to imitate the One Christ, then faith is one and religion is one, for they are the reflection of the One whom we follow.
One Faith or One Religion?
Now some, in their cleverness, attempt to separate the inseparable. They say: “Is it not true that the Amharic Bible says ‘one religion’, but other tongues say ‘one faith’? Then perhaps we may have many religions, all springing from one faith.”
Let us answer not with the words of speculation, but with the truth delivered to the saints. For what is faith, if not the substance of religion? What is religion, if not the outward expression of faith? If we are one in faith, we must be one also in religion—in our belief, in our worship, in our baptism, in our hope, and in our life.
Continues 👇🏾