St. Mark the Ascetic: We are not forgetting the blessings of the life...
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Lessons by our Holy Fathers
In saying this we are not forgetting the blessings of the life to come or limiting the universal reward to the present life. We are simply affirming that it is necessary in the first place to have the grace of the Holy Spirit energizing the heart and so, in proportion to this energizing, to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
The Lord made this clear in saying: 'The kingdom, of heaven is within you' (cf. Luke 17:21). The Apostle, too, said the same: 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for' (Heb. 11:1); 'Run, that you may reach your goal' (1 Cor. 9:24); 'Examine yourselves whether you are in the faith. ... Do you not know . . . that Jesus Christ is in you unless you are worthless' (2 Cor. 13:5).
St. Mark the Ascetic
On Those who Think that They are Made Righteous by Works
Two Hundred and Twenty-Six Texts
