Continued 👇🏾
The Three Views of the World
The Different Views of the World Concerning Intercession
There are three main views in the world regarding the mystery of intercession:
👉🏾 First, some claim, “There is no such thing as intercession. No one can intercede for another, for every person can approach God directly.”
This belief denies the communion of the saints and rejects the role of intercession revealed throughout Scripture.
👉🏾 Second, others say, “There is intercession, and it is necessary, but the only Intercessor is Christ.”
👉🏾 Third, there are those who say, “There is intercession, but it is the work of the creature, not the work of the Creator.”
This is the teaching of our Holy Orthodox Church. Intercession belongs to the saints, angels, and all the righteous who have been made worthy by God’s grace. They do not act apart from Him, but through His will. Their intercession is not independent of the Creator, but a reflection of His mercy working through His faithful servants.
Thus, our faith upholds that while Christ is the one true Mediator, the saints, by His grace, share in the ministry of intercession praying for us before the throne of the Almighty.
The Misunderstanding of the Protestants
The Protestant View and Its Contradictions Regarding Intercession
The Protestant faith teaches the following about the intercession of saints:
They claim that there is no such thing as a saint set apart from others; all believers are saints. According to this belief, intercession is only possible when people pray for one another while still alive in the flesh.
However, this teaching stands in contradiction to itself. If, as they say, all believers are saints, then what is the meaning of praying for one another? Why would a saint need the prayer of another saint if all possess equal holiness and standing before God? This confusion exposes the weakness of such reasoning.
Furthermore, they argue that no one can pray for another after death—that prayer is only possible if they are physically alive. Yet this denies the power of God, who is the Lord of both the living and the departed. For in Him, “all live” (Luke 20:38). The righteous who have departed from this world are not dead in spirit, but alive in Christ, and their prayers rise continually before His throne.
Therefore, the belief that the saints cease to pray after death contradicts both Scripture and the living faith of the Church, which confesses that those who died in holiness remain alive in the presence of God, interceding for the faithful on earth.
The Ancient Foundation of Intercession
The teaching of intercession is not new, nor is it a human invention. It is a divine truth revealed and practiced since the beginning of sacred history. From the time of the patriarchs under the Law, through the Torah and the writings of the Old Testament, to the era of the Apostles and the Holy Church, intercession has been a living part of the faith. It continues to this very day and will endure until the end of time.
Our Holy Orthodox Church faithfully upholds this teaching, preserving the traditions of the Holy Scriptures, the Apostles, and the early Fathers. It is not a doctrine born of man’s imagination, but one that God Himself approves and delights in. From the founding of Christianity, the intercession of the righteous has been an integral part of the Church’s prayer and life.
Today, however, the question of intercession has become one of the most debated and misunderstood topics throughout the world. Whether in marketplaces, on buses, in offices, schools, homes, or even among families and friends, arguments over intercession divide hearts and scatter unity. Parents are estranged from children, husbands from wives, neighbors from neighbors all because of confusion over this sacred truth.
Continues 👇🏾