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Great is God's providence for us and great is His wisdom. The height and depth of this wisdom is incomprehensible. There are some people who, due to weakness of mind, spin - as if their heads are spinning - in the things of this world, and reject this Providence, blaming both virtue and faith itself with wickedness. A sane person, the more he peers into the abyss and heights of God’s love for us, and the more he tries to touch this love to the best of his ability, the more he wants to talk about the visible and the invisible. According to the Providence and economy of God, the works of our Lord Jesus Christ and the God of all become apparent in people. I believe that you want to listen to what I write to you because children want to hear news from their father. While I was with you, laboring in the word, both privately and publicly, I taught you the way that leads to salvation. I did this without hesitation, without being embarrassed that my teaching might seem difficult to someone. So now, being far from you and being overwhelmed by temptations, I write to you without hesitation and remind you that we have Christ - the Living and True God. Not only God the Father and the prophets testify to Christ, but also His very works. So it is right that He requires of us, His followers, that our faith be living and true. We will succeed if we live according to the Gospel commandments. In this way we will receive evidence that we are genuine children of God. And if we are His children, then we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). This is our living faith, which must accompany our deeds. The one whose faith is dead (and it is dead when a person does not do good) is himself dead, because He does not live in God and does not abid in Him, the Only Giver of true and incorruptible life. A person who has made the decision to live with Christ, like the saved prodigal son, understands what it means to deprive himself of true life by moving away from the Father. Returning to God through acts of repentance, he hears the words of the Gospel father from the parable of the prodigal son, addressed directly to him: “This is my son, who was dead and is alive, who was lost and is found” (Luke 15:24). What good is it if a person says he has faith, but his works do not agree with it? Can faith save such a person? Of course not. Do you believe that Christ is the True God? It's good that you believe. But demons also believe and tremble (James 2:19). And with all their faith, demons are completely hostile to God, because they oppose Him with their deeds. Can you explain to me how a non-believer can believe that you really believe in God, born of the Virgin Mary, when you yourself do not live chastely? How can a drunkard and slave of an intemperate womb be a true child of Him who fasted for forty days in the desert and established the law of abstinence with His life? How can a person who is unmerciful to others be like the One who teaches: “Be merciful” (Luke 6:36)? Is it possible for a person who lacks compassion, kindness and humility to follow Christ, who said: “Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:29)? Some of you may object: “But Christ was God and therefore free from all sin.” Yes, this is so, only I ask from you not Divine, but only human virtue. Begin: first show yourself your good disposition, make a good beginning, and God, in His turn, will give you the completion of virtue. Get away from evil and move to the land of virtue. Decide to carry out works of repentance, and miraculously you will acquire divine virtues from the Holy Spirit. This is how a person is deified. He who cleaves to acts of virtue becomes one with God, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, may it be with you all.