“Rightly then has the justification of all the saints been ascribed to faith and not to their works which were also themselves perfected by faith. Believing in the beginning we set out in subjugation to his will, the will of our Christ, and in the course of obedience to him we To the difficult path as David says. But the Lord tells us, “When you have done all that is commanded of you say, we are unworthy servants, we have only done what was our duty”. This shows us that what brings about salvation is not the quantity and quality of the works which are simply a duty, but it is faith that counts and the Lord praises faith saying “Well done good and faithful servant. Abba Mark says that the Lord will repay each one precisely according to his faith or lack of faith.”
Elder Joseph
~Elder Joseph the Hesychast