The Church and Salvation III ~ Fulfillment: Ephesians 3:8-21, especially vss. 14, 16: "I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man."
It is urgent that we speak of salvation, search out how we participate in the saving work of Christ, and emphasize the essential role of the Church in eternal salvation - both salvation for the members of the Church and for the whole cosmos. Furthermore, it is important for each member of the Church to acquire an accurate image of the completed nature of human beings, and specifically to see how salvation can fulfill and restore one's own life to "that pristine beauty."
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Such consideration leads one to think of the Saints, the rich legacy in the lives of actual persons who were fulfilled in Christ, who revealed the rich potential of deification. In today's reading, the Apostle identifies five marks which God grants to His beloved "according to the riches of His glory" (vs. 16), goals that encourage us in our own struggles in the Faith.
First, the Apostle says that God grants the Faithful "to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man" (vs. 16). A sure mark of all the Saints is inward, spiritual strength, unearthly power to stand up against the assaults of the world, the flesh and the devil. Observe from St. Paul that such inner strength is the work of the Holy Spirit. St. Seraphim of Sarov likened the Spirit's presence and activity to the oil in the lamps of the wise virgins (Mt. 25:4), for He "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 (where the passions are tied up like dumb animals and wild beasts) into a Temple of the Divinity."
The second indication of salvation in the Saints is the indwelling presence of Christ in the heart "through faith" (Eph. 3:17), something the Lord Jesus Himself promised: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (Jn. 14:23). St. Hesychios the Priest affirms this: "He who with all diligence keeps his purity of heart will have Christ, Establisher of that purity, as his Teacher, and Christ will secretly communicate His will to him. Giving expression to God's sharing of His will, David says, ‘I will hear what God the Lord will speak in me' (Ps. 84:8: LXX)."
Third, the Apostle teaches that those who have Christ dwelling in them are "rooted and grounded in love" (Eph. 3:17). St. Nikolai of Zica attests to the same: "With the presence of Christ comes the presence of love and, with love, inexpressible good things." So it was that the risen Lord asked Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" (Jn. 21:15-17), awakening in the chief Apostle full consciousness that the roots of his heart and soul were grounded in Love Himself.
Fourth, the Saints are able to comprehend "what is the width and length and depth and height" (Eph. 3:18). These dimensions describe the Mystery of Christ! For the Lord Jesus reveals the width of God's love for all men, the length to which God is willing to go in His love for us, even death on the Cross. Moreover, the Mystery discloses the depth of God's humility in Christ, as well as the height of His exaltation above "every name that is named" (Eph.1:21).
Finally, because the Saints know "the love of Christ which passes knowledge," they are "filled with all the fulness of God" (Eph. 3:19). We are incomplete, unable to know and do all things, powerless to see and attain perfectly. On the other hand, God is omniscient, all-seeing, almighty, and wholly complete. We were created incomplete, to be fulfilled in God, for when He dwells within us, He bestows wisdom, power, insight, and "the riches of His glory" (vs. 16).
O Lord Jesus, Thou goal of all our journeying: draw near to us and save us.