In this present world... it is possible for the saints not only to be disposed and prepared for that life [in Christ] but also even now to live and act in accordance with it. Paul writes,
"lay hold on eternal life" (1 Tim 6:12), and
"it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me" (Gal 2:20). The divine Ignatius says,
"there is water living and speaking in me" (Epistle to the Romans 7:2). Scripture is full of such passages! Beside all these, when He who is the Life promises the saints to be with them forever, and says,
"Behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matt 28:20), what else should one think? When He had sown the seed of life on the earth
(Luke 8:5) and cast on it the fire
(Luke 12:49) and the sword
(Matt 10:34), He did not forthwith depart and leave it to men to plant and nourish the seed and to kindle the fire and use the sword. He Himself is truly with us and
"works in us to will and to do" (Phil 2:12), as the blessed Paul said. It is He Himself who kindles and applies the fire, He Himself holds the sword. In short,
"neither does the axe boast without him who lifts it" (Is 10:15). Those from whom the Good One is absent will attain to no good.
Yet the Lord did not promise merely to be present with the saints, but to abide with them - nay more than this, to make His abode in them
(John 14:23). What then shall I say? Where it is said that He is united with them, it is with such love that He becomes one spirit with them. As Paul says,
"he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him" (1 Cor 6:17), and
"that you may be one body and one spirit, just as you were called" (Eph 4:4).
+St. Nicholas Cabasilas, from
The Life in Christ, book 1, #2: The life in Christ consist of union with Him.
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