Corruption/Incorruption
“…humanity was created immortal and incorruptible, though not inherently immortal and self-sustaining (only God is so). Humanity is sustained by grace. So if God had left humans as they had been created after they sinned, then their disobedience would have fixed them in permanent rebellion, just as it had fixed the rebellious angels. God cut humans off from the Tree of Life, exiling them from Eden, so that they would not be confirmed and crystallized in rebellion the way the demons had been (Gen. 3:22–24).” (Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick)
“…God grants the faithful “to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Ephesians 3:6)…True inner strength is the work of the Holy Spirit. Saint Seraphim of Sarov likens the Spirit’s activity within us to the oil in the lamps of the wise virgins (Mt 25:4). The Spirit “changes souls from one state to another – that is, from corruption to incorruption, from spiritual death to spiritual life, from darkness to light, from the stable of our being…The presence of the Holy Spirit, then, brings us into the presence of Christ “through faith” (Eph 3:17).” (Dynamis 10/13/2021)
“When the heart is occupied with worldly things, especially superfluous ones, it forsakes the Lord - the Source of life and peace - and is therefore deprived of life and tranquillity, of light and strength; but when it repents of its care for vain things, and wholly turns from corruptible things to the incorruptible God, then the fountain of living water again begins to flow into it, and peace, tranquillity, light, strength, and boldness before God and man once more dwell within it. We must live wisely.” (St. John of Kronstadt)
“In this Nativity Fast, we have kept both appearances of the Lord Jesus Christ in mind. We looked backward in time to His first Advent when He came in humility. And we have looked forward in time to His second Advent when He will come in glory. But by today’s reading [2 Timothy 2:1-2, 8-18] we realize that one thing unites our vision of these two epiphanies– these manifestations of Christ. Both appearances conclude with the resurrection of the body. The resurrection of Christ to incorruption was the culmination of His first appearance when He came in humility. And the resurrection of believers to eternal life will be the fulfillment of the second appearance when Christ comes again in glory. As we celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God, may we resolve to live faithfully and joyfully in the light of these two epiphanies of Christ and their promise of the resurrection of the body to incorruption and immortality.” (Fr. Basil)
“After the resurrection, when our bodies will be re-united to our souls, they will be incorruptible; and the carnal passions which disturb us now will not be present in those bodies; we shall enjoy a peaceful equilibrium in which the prudence of the flesh will not make war upon the soul; and there will no longer be that internal warfare wherein sinful passions fight against the law of the mind [nous], conquering the soul and taking it captive by sin. Our nature then will be purified of all these tendencies, and one spirit will be in both...and every corporeal affection will be banished from our nature.” (Saint Gregory of Nyssa)
“Temptations and trials show what hides in the heart of a man. Temptation is similar to the medicine called an emetic. An emetic reveals what is hidden inside the stomach. So temptations and trials make manifest what is hidden inside a man. The Holy Word of God and other Christian books point out the corruption of our nature, but we recognize it by actual experience or deed in temptations and trials. Thus vainglory becomes evident through deprivation of glory, avarice through deprivation of riches, envy through success of one’s neighbor, and anger through disappointment. If, then, you fall into various temptations, O Christian, this all happens by God’s permission for your great benefit, that you may thereby know what is hidden in your heart, and so knowing it, you may correct yourself.” (St. Tikhon of Zadonsk)
“He, the incarnate Son of God, voluntarily assumed the consequences of our sin—corruption and death—without sinning Himself. And He submitted to unjust suffering because of the sinful passions of men and of angels…The Spirit of God always brings transformation wherever He is present…Christ…causes every aspect of our corrupt human nature to be transformed, for whatever divinity touches is healed.” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 Kingdoms 10:9, 2 Corinthians 5:18-21, Luke 23:46)
“You have heard it said that Jesus Christ makes all things news. According to St. Paul “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is passed away, behold, the new has come,” (II Cor. Chapter 5 Vs. 18). Renewal is not simply making something appear as new...That is not renewal in the Christian sense. Renewal is to take something old and worn and weighted down by sin and corruptibility and by the exerting of the Divine Will to recreate it anew so that that which had made it old no longer exists in its character…the human being who is committed to Christ Who, by His Divine Will makes all things new, that creature becomes a new recreated person. That newness in Christ means the total expunging of all that was the old so that one may start again as a new person. Our record is washed clean. All of our sins are wiped away from the slate of our life and we are given a new start.” (Fr. James C. Meena)
“Sometimes, even though we may have confessed our sins, we still hang onto the guilt of our sins, and we may still feel corrupt, unworthy, un-loveable, and unredeemable. It’s so hard sometimes to truly believe that Someone would really voluntarily take on the pain and consequences of our behavior to redeem us out of unconditional love for us. But until we accept this in our hearts through faith, we are subject in our thoughts to the lies of the enemy and true healing and peace of mind and spirit eludes us.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“…we are promised that where sin abounds, grace abounds much more (Rom. 5:20)… corruption will never overcome God’s grace.” (Father Barnabas Powell)