Tag: salvation as a process

The Gift of the Holy Spirit: An Outward Sign of Saving Faith (Tues. Sept. 12)

· Fr. Basil
The word of the day if faith  In our reading of Galatians 2:21-3:7 St. Paul asks an urgent  question:  “Did you receive the Holy Spirit by works of the Las or by the hearing of faith. (OSB vs. 2:2). He is so adamant that he asks the same question again (OSB vs. 2:5). Salvation is a Process That powerful question seems a bit off track. Why didn’t Paul say, “Were you saved by faith?” The answer is that “salvation” is a process. The Greek Archdiocesan Website states, “The reception of the gift of salvation is not a one-time event, but a lifetime process. St. Paul employs the verb “to save” (sozesthai) in the past tense (‘we have been saved,’) [Rom


The Gift of the Holy Spirit: An Outward Sign of Saving Faith (Tues. Sept. 28)

· Fr. Basil
The word of the day is “Spirit.” Paul emphasized that we are saved through faith as he wrote in Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (OSB Ephesians 2:9).  Yet, despite its critical importance, many mistake faith for something less.  They substitute what is essential for salvation for something inferior that cannot save. In Paul’s day, the primary rival to faith was the works that the law of Moses prescribed.  In today’s reading of Galatians 2:21-3:17, Paul attacks this challenger.  He writes, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (OSB vs. 2).  He is so adamant that he