Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your longing to understand what fellowship with God means, and your sorrow for your mother, have been heard with care. You ask what osallisuus, that true participation and communion, contains with God and Jesus Christ and the seedlings of the Holy Spirit, and you cry out to the Lord El Elyon, God Most High, with the prayer Kyrie eleison, Lord have mercy.
Fellowship with God is not found by human reasoning alone, but by faith in Jesus Christ. It is through faith that we know Him and the power of His resurrection. No argument can prove the resurrection, only faith receives it, and that same faith opens the way to know how we are born anew and how Christ was born. This fellowship is not empty belief only, but faith that works through a changed life. To have fellowship with Him is to have fellowship in His sufferings, to walk as He walked, to endure with Him so that we may also reign with Him, being conformed to His death in hope of the resurrection from the dead.
This communion is also communion in the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, Christ Himself dwells there, for where one Person of the Trinity is present, the whole Trinity is present, undivided and one. The Scripture teaches that if Christ is in us, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. He makes the body dead to sin, not destroying its nature but its power to rule us, and He keeps what He receives immortal, giving us even now the pledge of the resurrection and power to run the race of virtue with ease. This is the peace Christ left us, His own peace, which is given in the church and is to be received with readiness of heart before communion with Him.
You also ask for your mother who has gone to be with Jesus Christ, with God and the Holy Spirit. If she belonged to Christ through faith, then she is with Him, for to be Christ's is to have Christ, and to have the Spirit is to have life that does not die. Death and error are darkness, but the light of Christ shines in that darkness and is not overcome by it. Even through death He has recovered those held by it. Therefore we do not grieve as those without hope, but we give thanks and we pray for mercy.
Let us pray together to El Elyon, the Most High God, through Jesus Christ our Lord:
Lord God Most High, El Elyon, have mercy and hear this prayer. Grant to this dear one a true understanding of fellowship with You, not by speculation but by faith in Your Son Jesus Christ who died and rose again. Fill this heart with Your Holy Spirit, that Christ may dwell within, that sin may be put to death and righteousness and life may reign. Comfort this heart in the loss of a mother. If she trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, grant her rest in Your presence and keep her in Your peace until the resurrection. If there is any doubt or sorrow remaining, give assurance through Your Word and Your Spirit. Lead this family into that peace which Christ gives, both at home and in Your church, and keep them in holiness and love, that they may be found in Christ, having the righteousness which is of God by faith. Grant that they may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, and attain to life everlasting. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we ask, with whom and the Holy Spirit be glory to You, the Father, now and forever. Amen.
Fellowship with God is not found by human reasoning alone, but by faith in Jesus Christ. It is through faith that we know Him and the power of His resurrection. No argument can prove the resurrection, only faith receives it, and that same faith opens the way to know how we are born anew and how Christ was born. This fellowship is not empty belief only, but faith that works through a changed life. To have fellowship with Him is to have fellowship in His sufferings, to walk as He walked, to endure with Him so that we may also reign with Him, being conformed to His death in hope of the resurrection from the dead.
This communion is also communion in the Spirit. When the Holy Spirit dwells in a person, Christ Himself dwells there, for where one Person of the Trinity is present, the whole Trinity is present, undivided and one. The Scripture teaches that if Christ is in us, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. He makes the body dead to sin, not destroying its nature but its power to rule us, and He keeps what He receives immortal, giving us even now the pledge of the resurrection and power to run the race of virtue with ease. This is the peace Christ left us, His own peace, which is given in the church and is to be received with readiness of heart before communion with Him.
You also ask for your mother who has gone to be with Jesus Christ, with God and the Holy Spirit. If she belonged to Christ through faith, then she is with Him, for to be Christ's is to have Christ, and to have the Spirit is to have life that does not die. Death and error are darkness, but the light of Christ shines in that darkness and is not overcome by it. Even through death He has recovered those held by it. Therefore we do not grieve as those without hope, but we give thanks and we pray for mercy.
Let us pray together to El Elyon, the Most High God, through Jesus Christ our Lord:
Lord God Most High, El Elyon, have mercy and hear this prayer. Grant to this dear one a true understanding of fellowship with You, not by speculation but by faith in Your Son Jesus Christ who died and rose again. Fill this heart with Your Holy Spirit, that Christ may dwell within, that sin may be put to death and righteousness and life may reign. Comfort this heart in the loss of a mother. If she trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, grant her rest in Your presence and keep her in Your peace until the resurrection. If there is any doubt or sorrow remaining, give assurance through Your Word and Your Spirit. Lead this family into that peace which Christ gives, both at home and in Your church, and keep them in holiness and love, that they may be found in Christ, having the righteousness which is of God by faith. Grant that they may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, and attain to life everlasting. Through Jesus Christ our Lord we ask, with whom and the Holy Spirit be glory to You, the Father, now and forever. Amen.
