VIDEO: Salvation is Difficult

22 thoughts on “VIDEO: Salvation is Difficult”

1. Your videos are such an inspiration. Saint Gregory Palamas is truly a great holy Father.

2. I'm such a big fan of your work. As a new convert I appreciate your words and I've watched many videos. Thank you.

3. Dear Father in Christ, thank you so much for your short sermons over Great Lent, they are invaluable to me as a convert going to a non English speaking Church & also as an invalid, please continue this practice, p.s. also I am on the other side of the world…….pps. my husband & I loved your sermon on marriage, thank you for all that you do from the bottom of our hearts

4. Yes – we make salvation too easy – we say a simple prayer with no amending of life and think we are so very spiritual and saved.

5. Lord, help me to keep silent. THANK you Fr.

6. There is always the communal meal after for talking. Should never be acceptable during the psalmody and prayer!

7. Thanks for the videos very inspirational.

8. Love your work Fr.

9. Thank you so much for this, Fr. Josiah! I listened to your counsel just before leaving for church. I am the choir director and it is so hard to keep people from talking in the choir, especially during the long, but beautiful prayers of St. Basil's liturgy. All I can do is lead by example, and not join in. A very timely message indeed! Lord bless.

10. "Salvation is difficult", these words today one can only hear in Holy Orthodox Church.
    To everyone else their own life has become a joke, a party. Hypnotized.

11. I'm looking forward to your next video Father! Thank you for taking the time to make this one!

12. Thank you for posting such wonderful videos and interviews. I've been interested in Orthodoxy for a while and will hopefully visit the church nearest me soon.

13. Palamas was a total theological fuckhead! His energies-essence distinction is a disaster. God is one pure uncreated essence-energy without distinction or hierarchy. And once you have been granted salvation through faith by the triune God you cannot loose it. Salvation is not only difficult for man it is impossible. Only for God is it possible and so He alone works it in His chosen body of believers.

14. One can only do his/her best and God will do the rest.

15. Keep making these videos, Father.

16. Blessings to you and your family, Father. Your meditations are uplifting, thank you!

17. can a baptist, calvanist, eastern orthodox, and a catholic all attain salvation if they believe what each of these branches teaches?

18. Hey Father Josiah! Can you turn on the comments section for your other videos? I would really love to contribute to the awesome conversation and see the reflections of others. Thank you for what you do!

19. Fr Josiah Trenham simply presupposes that "eternal damnation" is a possibility but there is no Ecumenical Council which has infallibly taught this doctrine. I suspect that this will provoke the ire of many of you; but I would remind you that many canonised saints (including some of the most important) have believed in it. St Gregory of Nyssa and St Pavel Florensky are only two such examples. If it is heretical to believe in the possibility of universal salvation then St Pavel Florensky and St Elder Sophrony, inter alia, are also heretics, so be careful about throwing around that accusation. Furthermore, many prominent hierarchs also believe in the possibility of universal salvation: Kallistos Ware, Hilarion Alfayev, Andrew Louth, John Behr, etc. So, again: be careful about throwing around accusations of heresy.  

    There is no "eternal damnation", "eternal fire" or "eternal hell" in the NT. There is "aionios fire" but ainios only means "for an indeterminate length of time". The Greek word "aidios" means "eternal"; but that word is not used in the NT.

20. So my salvation revolves around me not talking in church?
    Like you can’t be serious. 🤣

    What an absolute joke this explanation of salvation is.
    You are saved by his blood and resurrection. NOT OF WORKS .

21. Wrong. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. No works. Water baptism doesn't save you. Being part of a specific church doesn't save you. Only faith in the blood of Jesus Christ saves and washes you clean from all your sin.

    For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. – Ephesians 2:8-9

    For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. – Romans 10:13

    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. – John 3:16

    And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. – Acts 16:30-31

22. I think salvation is easy. It is a free gift of God. We can see in the story of Zaccharus all that it took for Jesus to pronounce him as saved was for him to have a change of heart and our actions flow out from our heart therefore he showed the fruits of repentance because he said he would pay back anyone he had defrauded. We have a change of heart and repent of our sin. That doesn't eliminate the need for baptism, confession or any of the other sacraments but we can choose to repent and we can recieve salvation in that moment. After we grow in knowledge of Christ we come to realize that it is God working in us that cause us to desire God. It can be difficult when people are enslaved to addictive, compulsive tendencies but we have the power to overcome anything that is sin. It is easy to fall into sin especially these days in an increasing secular society but if we encourage one another to continue in the faith it is easier. We are all sinners by our fallen nature but if we are Christians born from above, born of the water and the Spirit; baptism and christmation, we have the desire to live as God designed us to and we don't live in sin as the world does. If we are born of God we cannot continue in sin for our regenerated heart will not allow it. I don't think enough Orthodox Christians see it that way. They see it as a great struggle and it isn't. It does take a healthy discipline to resist the temptations if this world but it doesn't take a super human effort. Ive been practicing for years and I am older but it doesn't seem that hard to me because it is sin that is contrary to our nature and the commands of Christ are not burdensome rather they are freeing and empowering as Jesus says his yoke is easy and his burden is light. What is hard is living a life of sin with all the hardship and misery it brings. Acting as if it a great struggle is an ego trip. If we do the best we can and rest in the fact that Jesus is the propitiation, the satisfaction, for our sins then overcoming sin becomes a lot easier because it is not totally on us. God helps us with our struggles. I think most Orthodox these days try to repent on just their will power alone maybe I don't know but it seems to me from reading the Bible as long as I am trying to live as Jesus teaches then I am saved because our righteousness is as filthy rags and to be honest there is no one that is ever sinless in this life. Odds are whoever is reading this unless they are consciously livinging in outright sin they are probably never going to be any better than they are now. It isn't that hard to simply live in the way that God designed us to. Its not hard at all. As I mentioned living in sin is harder. Sometimes people in the religious world want to make it seem like it is a sin to be human and our human nature is not sinful in the least. What is sinful is the perversion of our nature. And St. Paul gives a list of these things that keep us from the kingdom. If we live as God teaches us and focus on the scriptures God Himself will come to us and teach us and guide and direct our paths into righteousness. If you are living in sin and struggling it is because you are trying to obey as if it is law by keeping rules instead of focusing on the love of God shown to us in Christ. As long as I keep my eyes fixed on His mercy and forgiveness I cam overcome any obstacle that is placed in my way for in Christ we overcome and we already have the victory because it is already done. Most people are just spinning their wheels going nowhere and don't have anybreal victory in their life and thatbis because of their unbelief. Life in Christ is carefree and easy.

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