mediators between God and man. Are patron saints needed?

In many ways, the veneration of the saints and turning to them for help is connected with the wrong idea of ​​​​people about the remoteness and impregnability of God. Many believers are looking for an intermediary (intercessor), so that through him they can turn to the Creator with a prayer and be more confident that their requests are brought to the Lord. Meanwhile, the Bible says that the Creator is next to each of us. Moreover, he understands in everything our business:

“The Lord looks down from heaven, sees all the sons of men ... He created the hearts of all of them and delve into all their affairs» (Ps. 32:13,15).

"Whether I go, whether I rest - You surround me, and all my ways are known to you... Behind and in front You embrace me, and lay Your hand on me. ”(Ps. 139:3,5).

“So that they may seek God, whether they feel Him and whether they find Him, though He and close to each of us» (Acts 17:27, see also 1 Chron. 28:9, Ps. 15:8, Prov. 24:12).

Jesus says that people even "the hairs on the head are all numbered"(Matthew 10:30, Luke 12:7).

The Bible nowhere mentions mediators (intercessors) that are needed to communicate with God. On the contrary, all of Holy Scripture teaches that believers should address their prayers directly to the Creator. Neither the Old Testament nor the New describe how believers came to a priest or minister to communicate with God through him.

Old Testament:

"And call to me and go and pray Me and I will hear you» (Jer. 29:12).

"People! trust in Him at all times; pour out before Him your heart: God is our refuge"(Ps. 61:9, see also Lamentations Jer. 2:19, Jer. 33:3, Is. 1:18, Zech. 10:1, Ps. 49:15).

New Testament:

"Don't worry about anything, but always in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, reveal your desires before God» (Philippians 4:6, see also Acts 8:22).

In accordance with the teachings of the Bible, a person does not need any saints for intercession:

“Call out if there is someone who answers you. And to whom of saints will you apply? But I would turn to God I would give my cause to God."(Job 5:1,8).

« Intercede vouch Himself for me before Himself! otherwise who vouch for me?"(Job 17:3).

« Pardon does not depend on who wants not from the ascetic, but from a merciful God» (Rom. 9:16).

Even Angels cannot answer people's prayers and forbid themselves to worship, directing believers only to God:

“I, John ... fell at the feet of an Angel ... to worship him; but he said to me: look, do not do this; for I am your servant and to your brethren the prophets, and to those who keep the words of this book; worship God» (Rev. 22:8,9, see also Rev. 19:10).

The Bible says that Angels only do the will of the Creator:

“To which of the angels did God ever say, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool? Not all whether they essence service spirits sent out to serve for those who are to inherit salvation?”(Heb. 1:13,14, see also Col. 2:18, Ps. 103:4, Heb. 1:7).

Although the smallest Angel is larger than any person on earth, including the great prophet John the Baptist:

"Of those born of women there is no prophet greater than John the Baptist; but the least in the kingdom of God is greater than him» (Luke 7:28).

That is, we see that, in general, the Bible does not teach to turn to intermediaries (intercessors). Even the angels, who are above all holy men, guide the believers directly to God.

However, the New Testament differs from the Old Testament Scripture in this matter. The gospel made adjustments to the Old Testament relationship between God and man. Previously, people repented before God in prayer for a sin they had committed (see Ps. 50:6), and then offered a sacrifice. Sin through the blood of a sacrificial animal through mediation priests, he got to the sanctuary, where through the rite of purification on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) he was “parted” by God. The sacrifice of the Son of God changed the situation. Now, for the forgiveness of sin, we only need sincere repentance (see 1 John 1:9 in the next chapter) and remembering the cross of Calvary, where Jesus died for this sin. The blood of the Son of God reconciled and reunited the Creator and man. Now people have a true intermediary - The great high priest who passed through heaven(see Heb. 4:14), who, also being a man, can sympathize with us in our weaknesses(see Heb. 4:15). Today, Jesus is for people a substitute for sins and at the same time the High Priest, that is, the Intercessor and United mediator before God the Father. The Bible says this directly and it is very difficult to interpret these verses in any other way:

"For there is only one God, single and mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"(1 Tim. 2:5).

"This one, as one who abides forever, has and priesthood imperishable, and therefore can always save who come to God through Him being always alive to intercede for them"(Heb. 7:24,25).

Attention! Even being one High Priest, Mediator and Advocate Jesus taught to pray to God the Father directly and not through Himself. See what this tutorial looks like:

“One of His disciples said to Him: Lord! teach us to pray"(Luke 11:1). Jesus replied: "When you pray go into your room and shut your door, pray Father yours, which secretly; and your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you openly ... Pray like this: Father ours, who is in heaven…”(Matthew 6:6,9). Next comes the famous text of the prayer "Our Father". At the same time, in prayer, Christ allowed refer to myself: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, give you"(John 16:23). Look, Jesus Himself takes part in answering our calls and, in spite of this, He still asks us to turn in prayer not to Him, but directly to the Father: “If you ask the Father for anything in my name, I'll do it» (John 14:13). What then to say about the alleged "protectors" if Jesus Christ being on the basis of the Bible true and unified Mediator, High Priest, Intercessor and at the same time the Lord, ordered people to pray not to Him, but directly Father.

So, calling today to intermediaries (intercessors), the believer does not do what the Holy Scripture teaches - in prayers to turn directly to God the Father, and Single Mediator between man and God to consider Jesus Christ (see above 1 Tim. 2:5).

Thus, today offering their priests and saints as mediators (intercessors) for communication with God, the churches partly claim the role of Jesus - His priestly mediatory, intercessory ministry in the heavenly temple (see above Heb. 7:24,25, and also Heb 8:1,2, Heb 9:24). In their self-exaltation, some churches have gone so far as to believe in delegation they have the right by God to take part even in the forgiveness of the sins of people.

Main Topics

Wed, 10 Jun 2009, 10:06

It is known that the priest serves the liturgy, confesses, delivers a sermon. What is the sacred meaning of each of these ministries?

The priest is the mediator between God and people

Priesthood - people chosen to serve the Eucharist and pastor - care, spiritual nourishment of the faithful. The Lord chose first 12 apostles, and then another 70, giving them the power to forgive sins, to perform the most important sacred rites (which became known as the Sacraments). The priest in the Sacraments does not act by his own power, but by the grace of the Holy Spirit, bestowed by the Lord after His Resurrection (John 20, 22-23) to the apostles, transferred from them to the bishops, and from the bishops to the priests in the Sacrament of ordination (from the Greek. Heirotonia -- consecration).

The very principle of the organization of the New Testament Church is hierarchical: just as Christ is the head of the Church, so the priest is the head of the Christian community. The priest for the flock is the image of Christ. Christ is a shepherd, He commanded the Apostle Peter: "...feed my sheep" (John 21:17). To feed the sheep means to continue the work of Christ on earth and bring people to salvation. The Orthodox Church teaches that there is no salvation outside the Church, and salvation can be achieved by loving and fulfilling the commandments of God and participating in the Sacraments of the Church, in which the Lord Himself is present, giving His help. And the assistant and mediator of God in all the Sacraments of the Church, according to the commandment of God, is the priest. And therefore his ministry is sacred.

The priest is a symbol of Christ

The most important Sacrament of the Church is the Eucharist. The priest celebrating the Eucharist symbolizes Christ. Therefore, without a priest, it is impossible to serve the liturgy. Archpriest Sergiy Pravdolyubov, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Troitskoye-Golenishchevo (Moscow), master of theology, explains: “The priest, standing before the Throne, repeats the words of the Lord Himself at the Last Supper: “Take, eat, this is My Body ...” Of the Cherubic Hymn, he pronounces the following words: “You are the One Who Offers and the One Who Offers, and the One Who accepts this Sacrifice, and the One Who is distributed to all believers, - Christ our God ...” The priest performs the ritual with his own hands, repeating everything that he did Christ. And he does not repeat these actions and does not reproduce, that is, he does not “imitate”, but, figuratively speaking, “pierces time” and is completely inexplicable for the usual picture of space-time connections - his actions coincide with the actions of the Lord Himself, and his words - with the words of the Lord! That is why the liturgy is called Divine. She's served once by the Lord Himself in the time and space of the Upper Room of Zion, but outside time and space, in the abiding Divine Eternity. This is the paradox of the doctrine of the Priesthood and the Eucharist. Orthodox theologians insist on this, and this is how the Church believes.

A layman cannot in any way be replaced by a layman, not only “because of his human ignorance”, as it is written in ancient Slavic books, let a layman be an academician - no one gave him the power to do what he cannot dare to do without receiving the gift of the grace of the Holy Spirit through ordination coming from the apostles themselves and the men of the apostles.

In some modern Protestant currents, the church hierarchy and episcopacy have been abolished, that is, there is no priesthood as a Sacrament. However, the Bible also mentions the first Protestants. : “There is in the history of people a burning experience of protest and an irresistible desire for a universal priesthood in the story of Korah, Dathan and Aviron, who rebelled against Moses and Aaron and declared that “the whole society, all are holy ... Why do you put yourself above the people of the Lord?” (Num. 16, 1-4). Moses did not argue with them, but gave judgment to God. It ended up that the earth opened up and swallowed up all the "reformers" with sacred vessels and incense smoking in their worldly hands.

The Orthodox Church attaches exceptional importance to the holy dignity. The Monk Silouan of Athos wrote about the high dignity of the priesthood: “Priests bear in themselves such great grace that if people could see the glory of this grace, the whole world would be surprised at it, but the Lord hid it so that His servants would not become proud, but would be saved in humility.” ... A great person is a priest, a servant at the Throne of God. Whoever offends him offends the Holy Spirit who lives in him ... "

The Priest is a Witness in the Sacrament of Confession

Without a priest, the Sacrament of Confession is impossible. The priest is endowed by God with the right to pronounce forgiveness of sins in the name of God. The Lord Jesus Christ told the apostles: “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). This power to "bind and loose" passed, as the Church believes, from the apostles to their successors, the bishops and priests. However, the confession itself is brought not to the priest, but to Christ, and the priest here is only a "witness", as it is said in the order of the Sacrament. Why do you need a witness when you can confess to God Himself? The Church, establishing confession before a priest, took into account the subjective factor: many are not ashamed of God, because they do not see Him, but confess to a person ashamed, but it is a saving shame that helps to overcome sin. In addition, as explains, “the priest is a spiritual mentor, helping to find the right path to overcome sin. He is called not only to become a witness of repentance, but also to help a person with spiritual advice, to support him (many come with great sorrows). No one demands submission from the laity - this is free communication based on trust in the priest, a mutual creative process. Our task is to help you choose the right solution. I always encourage my parishioners to feel free to tell me that they failed to follow any of my advice. Perhaps I was mistaken, I did not appreciate the strength of this man.

The priest performs the duties of a bishop during a sermon

Another ministry of the priest is preaching. To preach, to carry the Good News of salvation is also Christ's commandment, a direct continuation of his work, and therefore this service is also sacred. True, as stated Archpriest Sergiy Pravdolyubov, “To be dogmatically and canonically accurate, preaching is not a part of priestly, but of hierarchal service. During the consecration of a bishop, grace is given to preach, and to us, as the clergyman Athanasius (Sakharov) writes, the bishop delegates this grace. That is, he instructs him to speak for himself, because he cannot simultaneously preach in dozens and hundreds of churches in the diocese. During the sermon, we perform the duties of a bishop. Personally, this crushes me, I feel that this is not mine, my priestly gift is insufficient. But if a priest gives an unsuccessful, clumsy sermon, it is only to his advantage. You understand your place in the hierarchy - you can say well only if God blesses you. A sermon is an impromptu creativity, and sometimes a co-creation of God and a priest.”

The priest cannot exist without the people

In the Old Testament Church, the participation of the people in worship was reduced to passive presence. In the Christian Church, the priesthood is inextricably linked with the people of God, and one cannot exist without the other: just as a community cannot be a Church without a priest, so a priest cannot be such without a community. The priest is not the sole performer of the Sacraments: all the Sacraments are performed by him with the participation of the people, together with the people. It happens that a priest is forced to serve alone, without parishioners. And, although the rite of the liturgy does not provide for such situations and it is assumed that a meeting of people participates in the service, nevertheless, even in this case, the priest is not alone, because the angels, as well as the saints and the departed, offer a bloodless sacrifice with him. Archpriest Sergiy Pravdolyubov: “About thirty-five years ago, in the city of Kirzhach, Vladimir Region, one priest, during a proskomedia, sadly thought that there was no one in the church again. He began to read the notes (mostly about the repose) and take out the particles, and when he turned around after a while, he saw that the temple was full of people. These were those whom he mentioned at the proskomedia. After the liturgy, matushka asked why he was so pale, and he told her about the vision. That is why the liturgy is served even with a small number of people, and even when there is not a single person! Everyone for whom the priest takes out particles is invisibly present in the temple.”

Who can become a priest?

In ancient Israel, only people born to the tribe of Levi could become priests: for everyone else, the priesthood was inaccessible. The Levites were consecrated, chosen to serve God - they alone had the right to offer sacrifices, offer prayers. The New Testament priesthood has a new meaning: the Old Testament sacrifices, as the apostle Paul says, could not deliver mankind from slavery to sin: “It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins…” (Heb. 10:4-11). Therefore, Christ sacrificed Himself, becoming both the Priest and the Sacrifice. Not belonging by birth to the tribe of Levi, He became the only true “High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Ps. 109:4). Melchizedek, who once met Abraham, brought bread and wine and blessed him (Heb. 7:3), was an Old Testament type of Christ. Having given His Body to death and shedding His Blood for people, having given this Body and this Blood to the faithful under the guise of bread and wine in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, creating His Church, which became the New Israel, Christ abolished the Old Testament Church with its sacrifices and the Levitical priesthood, removed the veil, separating the Holy of Holies from the people, destroyed the insurmountable wall between sacred Levitism and the profane people.

Priest of the Orthodox Church, explains Archpriest Sergiy Pravdolyubov, "any pious virtuous person who fulfills all the commandments and rules of the Church, who has sufficient training, is married by his first and only marriage to a girl of the Orthodox faith, who is not disabled with a physical obstacle to use his hands and feet (otherwise he will not be able to celebrate the liturgy, take out the Chalice with Holy Gifts) and mentally healthy.

Copyright 2004

What is the BIBLE

CAN SAY

ORTHODOX

And know the truth

and the truth will make you

free.

Ev. John 8:32

Bulyshov Igor Evgenievich

What the Bible Says to the Orthodox

Release date 06/01/98

Who can be worshipped?

For thou shalt not worship any god but the Lord. (Ex. 34:14)

Then Jesus says to him: Get away from Me, Satan; for it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone." (Mat. 4:10)

When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and bowed, falling at his feet. his. But Peter lifted him up, saying, Get up; I am also human. (Acts 10:25-26)

But when everyone prophesies, and someone who does not believe or does not know enters, then he is reproved by everyone, judged by everyone, and thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and he will fall on his face, worship God and say, "Truly God is with you." (1 Corinthians 14:24-25)

I fell at his feet to worship him; but he said to me: look, do not do this; I am a co-servant with you and your brothers who have the testimony of Jesus; Bow down to God. (Rev. 19:10)

I John saw and heard this. When I heard and saw, I fell at the feet of the angel, showing me this, to worship to him. But he said to me: look, do not do this; for I am a fellow-servant with you, and with your brethren the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book; Bow down to God. (Rev. 22:8-9)

Is there a mediator between God and people?

Therefore, I will give Him a share among the great, and He will share the booty with the strong, because He gave His soul to death, and was numbered among the wicked, while He bore the sin of many and became an intercessor for transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)

So again Jesus said to them: Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door to the sheep. All, however many of them come before Me, are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door: whoever enters by Me will be saved, and will go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:7-9)

Jesus said to him: I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

My children! I am writing this to you so that you do not sin; and if anyone sins, then we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous. (1 John 2:1)

Likewise the Spirit strengthens (us) in our weaknesses; for we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings inexpressible. But he who searches the heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to will God's. (Rom.8:26-27)

Who will blame the elect of God? God justifies them. Who condemns? Christ (Jesus) died, but also rose again: He is also at the right hand of God, He also intercedes for us. (Rom. 8:33-34)

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. (1 Tim. 2:5)

Therefore, he can always save those who come to God through Him, being always alive to intercede for them. (Heb. 7:25)

Because He is the Mediator of the new covenant, so that by His death, which was for redemption from the crimes committed in the first covenant, those who are called to the eternal inheritance receive the promised. (Heb. 9:15)

From the first centuries of Christianity, the memory of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was highly revered. Although then even the thought of worshiping her as a "fourth hypostasis" was not allowed, and no one turned to her with prayers. And only in the 4th century in some communities they began to call the Virgin Mary - the Mother of God, attributing Divine attributes to her and referring to her as seated on the left side of God the Father.

However, such views are contrary to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. The Virgin Mary was called by God to give human flesh to His only begotten Son, since Christ, being God, was one with the Father and the Spirit from eternity.

"Jesus" is an earthly name, translated into Russian means "Savior".

"Christ" is the name of God, meaning "Anointed" or "Messiah".

The Virgin Mary became the mother of Jesus, His human nature.

But she, being a human being, could not become the mother of Christ, the Messiah, God's Son.

In 431, the Council of Ephesus approved the naming of Mary as the Mother of God. As a result, the worship of the Virgin Mary began to spread freely throughout all the churches of the west and east. The Virgin Mary began to be addressed with prayers as a "mediator", "intercessor", "intercessor" of the human race before Christ and the Heavenly Father.

Oddly enough, the slightest deviation from such a view is considered "heretical" and even "blasphemous" in Orthodoxy and Catholicism in our time. But is it? What does the Holy Scripture say about this?

It says that only living people, by no means dead, could always be mediators between God and people. In the Old Testament we meet many mediators: Moses, Aaron, priests, prophets, etc. But they remained mediators as long as they were alive. No one even thought of turning to the deceased intermediary for anything.

With the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we have only the One Mediator and Advocate of the New Testament. Christ bought this place at a high price: His sufferings on the Cross and death.

So there is only "There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men - the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all"(1 Timothy 2:5-6).

We have no right to elect or supply other intermediaries than the One.

The Virgin Mary, the saints and saints did not redeem us sinners by their death and cannot claim New Testament mediation. Being only human, they themselves were saved by the atoning blood of Christ and needed the mediation of Christ.

All other mediators have become superfluous since Christ ascended and sat at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us.

Therefore, every believer now has the opportunity and the right to turn to Christ personally, always and in every place. The Apostle Paul writes:"This (Jesus Christ), as he who abides forever, also has an eternal priesthood, therefore he can always save those who come to God through Him, being always alive to intercede for them"(Hebrews 7:24-25).

Turning prayers to the dead saints, including the Virgin Mary, is devoid of any reasonable basis. Omnipresent - only the Creator, only He can hear and answer prayers rushing to Him from all corners of the earth and sky. In addition, Scripture strictly forbids giving divine honors to anyone other than God:

"Then Jesus said to him, Get away from Me, Satan; for it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.' Matthew 4:10.

"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen." Romans 1:25

“I John saw and heard this. And when I saw and heard, I fell at the feet of an angel showing me these things, to worship him; but he said to me: Look, do not this; for I am a fellow servant with you, and with your brothers the prophets and keepers words of this book: worship God. Revelation 22:8-9

From Pavel Rogozin's book "Where did all this come from?"

Key Verse 2:5:"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus"

In 1:3, Paul spoke of going to Macedonia and asking Timothy to stay in Ephesus. In effect, Paul appointed Timothy to be the chief minister in the Ephesian church. There were serious problems in this church, and it was not easy for the young and inexperienced Timothy to cope with them. In today's passage, Paul teaches Timothy how to serve God, that is, to conduct worship services, and how it is necessary for men and women to relate to worship and prepare themselves for worship. Today we are gathered for worship. May God teach today how to worship and serve Him through the Holy Spirit.

I. One God and one mediator (1-7)

Let's read verses 1,2: “So, first of all, I ask you to make prayers, petitions, supplications, thanksgiving for all people, for kings and for all those in authority, in order to lead us a quiet and serene life in all piety and purity” . Here Paul tells Timothy that in the church the first thing to do is to pray. Church is a place where people pray. When Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple, He said: “My house will be called a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves" (Matthew 21:13). If people do not pray in the church, then it turns into a den of robbers. God wants people in His house, in the church, to pray to Him. When Solomon finished building the temple, he asked God to make this place a place of prayer (1 Kings 8). It is impossible to do without prayer in the church. Of course, God is sovereign and does everything according to His will. But He does it at the prayer of His servants. Verse 1 lists the different types of prayer: simple prayer, supplication, supplication, and thanksgiving. A request is a specific request for something. This prayer is best understood by people. They ask God for health, good grades, and good work. Petition also includes praying for the conversion of others. Prayer is when a person pours out his soul before God, as King David often did in the Psalms. Perhaps at this time he does not know what to ask God for, but he wants to tell God about his joy, but more often about his experiences or his grief. Thanksgiving is thanksgiving. We need to learn to thank God. Many people take what they get for granted. They think that they themselves do not owe anything to anyone, but everyone else is obliged to help them. Such people do not know how to be grateful. Therefore, it is always good to set aside time in our prayer for gratitude, to remember what God has done for us and give thanks to Him. Our programs for Sunday worship also have sections "General Themes of Prayer", "Current Topics of Prayer" and "thanksgiving themes". Probably the person who compiled them had previously read 1 Timothy 2:1.

Paul also said to pray for all people, including kings and those in authority. At that time, most kings and rulers were enemies of Christians, so the mere mention of their name caused hatred. But praying for another person does not mean bless them for everything they do. If he does evil, then you need to pray that he repents, stops doing evil and starts doing good. We also need to pray that our rulers will have the fear of God and not think they can do whatever they want because they have power and money. All people have sinned, and they all need a Savior Jesus. People who have power and money need a Savior just as much as those without power and money. We also learn that as long as a person lives, there is always hope for his repentance and salvation. We cannot preach to all people - sometimes we cannot reach them, sometimes they do not want to listen to us. But we can always pray for them. No one can forbid us to pray for a person, even he himself. We all came to God because there was one or more people who prayed for our conversion.

Read verses 3-4: “for this is good and pleasing to our Savior God, who wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” . At that time, some Jews taught that only the elect would be saved, and all other people were fuel for the fire. But Paul says that God wants all people to be saved. This is God's deep desire for all people to be saved. Therefore, we need to pray not only for the solution of our problems. We need to pray "for all nations" so that all people will be saved.

How do people get saved? In verses 5-6b it says: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.” . Jesus is the only mediator who can bring a person to God. He said: “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6). The Christians in the Ephesian church were mostly Greek, and the Greeks had many gods. In particular, the goddess Artemis was worshiped in Ephesus. But Paul makes it clear that other gods and religions don't stand a chance - the only way to God is through Jesus.

In verse 5 Jesus is called the mediator. The mediator is needed when the conflict between two parties is out of control. This is the situation between God and man. God is holy and man is sinful. The gap between them cannot be bridged. Of course, most people consider themselves good people. Few people consider themselves bad. But even such "good ones" people will not be able to cross this abyss. But if this abyss is not overcome, then a person will go into eternal condemnation, because the payment for sin is death. But Jesus, the mediator, resolved the conflict between God and people by paying the wages of sin. The wages of sin is death, and Jesus died on the cross for our sins. When Jesus was judged, punished, and crucified, God poured out His righteous wrath on Him, and the price of sin was paid. Jesus opened the way to God for people. He is our only mediator.

Verses 6b-7 say: “[Such was] at one time the testimony for which I was ordained a preacher and an apostle—I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.” . Ap. Paul once experienced and received God's grace in his life. And now God has used him greatly as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher to the Gentiles. Like Paul, God wants to work through everyone who has experienced His grace. Therefore, we need to find our place in God's work. Of course, Pavel was a great man, a specialist "wide profile"- Apostle, preacher, teacher. Still, he didn't do everything himself. Part of the work he entrusted to other people, for example, he entrusted Timothy with the leadership of the church. We need to know not only the shortcomings of others. But we also need to know the strengths of others to help them find their place in God's work. In any team there are people who do most of the work. And there are people who disappear somewhere in the beginning, and appear only at the end, when everything has already been done. There are people who think they need help and even promise to help, but do not help. There are also those who do not understand what is happening at all. God wants each of us to become a person who does his job faithfully.

II. Men and women in the church (8-15)

In Part II, Paul teaches how men and women need to prepare themselves for service in the church. Let's read verse 8: “So I desire that men pray in every place, lifting up pure hands without anger and doubt.” . The Greeks, as you know, live in hot countries, and their character is also hot. They are quick-tempered and start up easily. For example, in Acts 19 it is described how the income of the silversmith Demetrius was significantly reduced due to the preaching of St. Paul. People repented and stopped buying his silver temples of Artemis. He gathered other artisans and they opposed Paul. It is written that they "They were filled with rage and began to shout" and filled the whole city with confusion. Those are hot Greeks. They're probably as hot these days as they used to be. Probably in the church, these hot Greeks waved their hands, banged them on the tables in anger and argued loudly. It was difficult to pray in such an atmosphere. The women retreated in fear, and the children were crying, everyone was afraid that they would start fighting now. There is something wild about every man. Paul tells such men that God did not give them hands to swing them in heated arguments, to be furniture or to fight. Hands are given to us for hard work. And prayer is hard work. He encourages them to control their emotions and direct their power to prayer rather than anger and argument.

In verses 9-15, Paul is addressing women. What he says here for women may not please many and may even spark a sisters' resistance movement. But Paul does not say this because he does not like women, or does not understand women, or wants to offend them. On the contrary, he wanted women to find their place in God's work and be happy, joyful and fruitful. Read verses 9-10: “so that women, in decent attire, with modesty and chastity, adorn themselves not with braiding [hair], not with gold, not with pearls, not with clothes of great value, but with good deeds, as befits women who devote themselves to piety” . Some women in the Ephesian church dressed luxuriously and provocatively. Before coming to the meeting, they spent a lot of time near the mirror, putting on make-up, doing their hair, trying on various gold and pearl jewelry and outfits. In church, they distracted other women from worship. Instead of praying and listening to the sermon, they thought, “I wonder where this sister bought herself such a beautiful dress? Why don't I have this?" They also kept the men away from worship. Moreover, with their expensive clothes, they had a bad effect on the poor members of the church with their expensive decorations. Of course, the desire of women to be beautiful is understandable, and is inherent in them from birth. Often, women take better care of themselves than men, allowing themselves much less grooming and slovenliness. But very often this concern develops into lust and pushes women to window dressing and the sin of vanity, to the desire to show themselves better than they really are. Ap. Paul brings such women to clean water. He tells them to dress decently, with modesty and chastity. When they gather for Divine Service, they must remember that they are going to Divine Service, not to a ball. When we go to play sports, we put on a tracksuit. And when we have to work in the garden, we put on work clothes. Accordingly, when we go to church, we must wear church clothes. And what are those clothes? These are clothes with modesty and chastity, adorned with good deeds. Pavel in no way sets strict dress-code rules for women. He also certainly does not mean that women should come to church in dirty and torn clothes and with their hair loose. But he wants women to have the right attitude towards worship. Very often the way a woman dresses shows her heart and relationship with God. People come to church for worship, not for a fashion show, and worship cannot be turned into a fashion show. The God we serve is great and deserves the greatest respect, honor and devotion.

Read verses 11-12: “Let the woman study in silence, with all humility; but I do not allow a woman to teach, nor to rule over her husband, but to be in silence ” . What does AP want to say here? Paul? That women generally should be silent in church? But then we won't be able to hear the beautiful singing of our sisters! Elsewhere in the Bible, women are allowed to teach children (2 Tim. 3:15) and young women (Tit. 2:4). Timothy himself received great influence from his believing grandmother and mother (2 Tim. 1:5). Jesus sent Mary Magdalene to preach to the disciples about His resurrection. And Philip the evangelist had four daughters who prophesied (Acts 21:9). Of course, women can be taught, but Paul is saying here that a woman should know her place in the church and not seek leadership and power. He gives 2 reasons for this.

Firstly, order of creation. Read verse 13: "For Adam was created first, and then Eve" . It doesn't seem to matter who is created first and who is second. But in this case it matters. Before the appearance of Eve, very important events had already taken place in the world created by God. The order in the Universe and in the Garden of Eden was already established, Adam received dominion and assignments from God. The names of all the animals have already been given. Everything was decided and done before the appearance of Eve, without her participation, knowledge and consent. And she, being created by God, just had to accept the current situation as a fact, that is, to obey. Eve had to believe Adam that God really spoke to him, that he is the one who is responsible for all creation around, that she was created for him as a wife. Eve had to start learning from him, because from the moment she appeared, she immediately became dependent on Adam in the field of knowledge, she had to ask him about everything she did not know: “Adam, dear, why did you call a tree a tree? Sounds like a strange name to me, isn't it? I would name it differently!” “Adam, what did you call this beautiful fish that swims in the lake?” etc. Of course, man and woman were created equal, but with different roles. God gave the man a role to lead, and the woman to obey and help him.

Secondly, the woman was the first to fall into temptation. Read verse 14: “And it is not Adam who is deceived; but the wife, seduced, fell into a crime. . Satan tempted the woman to break the commandment of God and eat the forbidden fruit. For this he promised her that they would "like gods knowing good and evil"(Gen. 3:5). This teaching was new to the woman and she should have gone and talked about it with her husband. But she didn't and decided to eat the forbidden fruit herself. Moreover, she tried to gain power over her husband, gave him the forbidden fruit to eat, and this all had terrible consequences. Therefore, a man should manage and make final decisions. Here we learn that a woman should be a woman and a man should be a man. When a woman wants to be a man, she has to take on a huge burden of responsibility and decision-making, for which she was not created and not intended, and this burden destroys her personality, gives her a lot of stress, makes her nervous, irritable and angry. The opposite is equally true: when a man refuses to be a man, but wants to be a woman, refuses to make important decisions and take responsibility for himself, for his family, society and country, refuses to work hard and take risks, then he causes much suffering to himself and others.

It should not be thought that if the ministry of a woman is not as visible as that of men, then it is less important. They say that "the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world". May this strengthen the hands of our sisters who rock cradles daily and those sisters who only plan to rock cradles. Before God, it is not the scale of the ministry that matters, but our loyalty to Him in what He has entrusted to us.

Today we learned that Jesus is the only mediator between God and people. God wants all people to be saved, so we need to pray for all people and bring this message to them. We also learned that there are men and women in the church, and each of them has their own unique and important work. Let's pray.