Salve and Salvation

Salve, or balm, is an ointment promoting healing when applied to the body. Its effects include the generation of healthy cells, such that without the assistance of the ointment, the body could not escape the cycle of death. Salve has the effect of infusing life by healing the functionality of cells. These cells allow sensory apparati to work effectively, connecting the organism to its world, thereby sustaining it.

Salve, or balm, provides a clear illustration for the Prophet (Jeremiah 8:22). The spiritual state of mankind is such that it cannot perceive the Source of All Life, causing a degeneration of spiritual health. Mankind is disconnected from the Unoriginate One, and as a result she fumbles about with her disordered carnal senses.

Mankind’s spiritual sensory apparati has been badly damaged by sins and passions (Psalm 135:17,18) (Psalm 115:5) (Psalm 36:2) (Isaiah 42:18) (Matthew 13:13). Her spiritual “eye” has been darkened (Matthew 6:23). The Logos of God, functioning as Priest, King, Teacher and Prophet in His Incarnation, fully enlightens and reveals this sobering spiritual reality with His teachings and miracles. All who meditate on His words and worship Him as the God-Man receive from Him the Cure, which He also incarnates for us. Christ Himself is the Salve of our Salvation (Isaiah 12:2) (Psalm 118:14). The Word of God is the Medicine of Immortality.

In the gospel of John chapter 9, Christ heals the man born blind. Being the Incarnation of Divine Generosity, His healing acts reveal the nature of Salvation, which springs from God Himself. Christ teaches that “This man was born blind that the works of God might be displayed in Him”. Prophetically and with Divine Compassion, Christ heals the man’s sight. The eternal significance of this act was further clarified in a conversation with the Pharisees in verse 40. For those who can see their blindness, they become enlightened, those who claim they can see, their guilt remains.

Theoria and praxis

In the Christian East, the concept of theoria, or spiritual vision, is known to have a direct impact on human psychology. This is expressed in the phenomena of human activities of the mind and body, impacting the mindset and ritual of everyday life. According to this ancient Christianity, praxis, or daily practices, are the manifestation of one’s understanding and paradigm, the expression of their truest spiritual reality. Paradoxically, the actualisation of one’s person reveals their spiritual knowledge of the Divine. One’s words, thoughts, and actions, are representative of their personal revelation and vision of God.

The “Knowledge of the Holy”, as described in the bible, is of a different type than the common knowledge of man. This Knowledge, or Sophia, (Wisdom), is a type of spiritual “illumination”, a Ray of Divine Light for the path of mankind (Ps 119:105). It is not transmitted in the same way as theological information. Intellectual knowledge can pass without action. In contrast, Divine Light illuminates humanity with the Light of Christ, the Word, or “Logos” of God. As the Word of God transmits the Knowledge of the Holy, His Incarnation makes it substantive. It was the substance of God touching death (John 19:30) that death was so trampled and made alive (Matthew 27:52). In this way all of creation was filled with the knowledge of God (Habakkuk 2:14).

The Lord Jesus Christ spoke about the “eye” in spiritual terms. “If your eye is good your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). The Light of God, which can be understood as His Nature, can and does fill the Christian when his spiritual vision of God is clear. By maintaining focus upon the Incarnate Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the saving Power of God can flow for the regeneration of man. It is this purifying work of Christ that heals the spiritual vision of mankind, causing the phenomenon of godliness in the Saints. These are the Holy men and women of antiquity and today.

Because mankind’s spiritual vision has been darkened by sins and passions, the Church’s main objective is healing mankind’s sight by the Icon of God in Christ’s life. This is expressed in the sacramental, unifying human life with the Life of Christ, thus receiving the healing and cleansing of the Logos. As theoria is healed, mind, body, and soul are synchronized with the Almighty, bringing all of creation under the authority of the Logos. In this way, human psychology is healed by its theoria, not the other way around.

Many christian esque spiritualities attempt at healing human psychology with psychological reasoning. Their programs are information based, minimizing the value of the Holy Mysteries of the Church, sometimes completely removing them. The One, Holy, and Apostolic Church understands that Christ’s benefits cannot be received from a distance; human life must be immersed into the life, death, and resurrection of the Christ. Under the humiliating obediences to Christ, a broken humanity can enter Christ’s perfect, whole, and Divine humanity. In Christ’s eyes, we can see God.

All human activity on earth is reflective of human theoria, mankind’s spiritual vision of God. Men continually project their vision of God into the world by their everyday life. Unfortunately, because the spiritual eye of man is darkened, this often means hatred, vindictiveness, and noisy psychological chatter. For the Christian, his sight can be restored by the Great Physician, using the Divine medicine of His commands. His life can be made into the likeness of God by beholding the hidden glories of God in Christ. For “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as he is” (1 John 3:2).