So, those who love, against such there is no law, they are no longer debtors to the flesh and various sinful fleshly desires, they are no longer under the law, but in the Holy Spirit, having the law written not on paper-stone, but in their heart by the Holy Spirit! No rules of behavior (religiosity, various religious and secular laws, all kinds of “Sabbaths,” taboos, divisions into “clean” and “unclean,” into “holy” and “not holy” and so on) are needed for them; for Christians, this is “skybala.” Yes, “not one jot or one tittle will pass from the law until all is fulfilled,” that is, until everything reaches the goal—deification. As long as this world stands, the law and laws must act in it, but in the Church (the Kingdom of God), there is no law, more precisely, there is one Law—the Law of Love and Freedom in the Holy Spirit. There is no law against Christ’s own! Even today, “Christians” of the Pharisaic leaven (“spiritual elite”: modern Pharisees-monks, scribes-“theologians,” high priests—priests of varying degrees of severity…) perceive the Scriptures (and indeed all kinds of forms (canons, rules, rites, rituals…), the Tradition of God-knowledge, life in the Holy Spirit, the Tradition of the Holy Spirit Himself—Freedom and Love) as normative Law, not as the living Word of God, full of Divine Spirit of Freedom (and Love), in which there is no compulsion. This is despite the fact that, as the Apostle Paul wrote, believers and baptized (Christians) “have died to the law” of Moses (Romans 7:4), to live by another “law”—”the law of the Spirit of life in Christ” (Romans 8:1-2). Being free Himself, Christ has made us believers in Him free too! But who today, in this disobedient, rebellious generation, is able to hear these simple truths?!
So, salvation (faith-knowledge of God, God-knowledge) comes from hearing, from the ability to hear (therefore the Church cares primarily to make a person capable of listening), for to those who can hear, God will reveal His will and lead them into the Church, where they will enter the school of catechumens, preparing for the Mystery of Marriage-Baptism (for example, the Roman centurion, see Acts 10). If a person is sincere, loves the truth and seeks it, is merciful, not deceitful, not double-hearted, does not live by double standards, is impartial, rejects lies, does not deceive themselves, watches over themselves, loves silence…—in due time, they will hear the voice of God, and will embark on the path of salvation: Catechumenate → Baptism → Eucharist! Therefore, we first talk about listening, the ability to hear, without which catechumenate is inconceivable, as it presupposes: hearing-understanding God’s commandments and, most importantly, fulfilling them with all one’s might, with the foundation of the whole process of catechumenate being trust in Jesus Christ. The more a person fulfills God’s commandments, the greater this trust becomes, until it reaches perfection in faith-knowledge, which is bestowed in Baptism-Chrismation by the Holy Spirit! And then in the Eucharist, the Christian moves from faithfulness to even greater faithfulness.
We are created for communion-prayer-union-unity—”that they all may be one” (see John 17). We are created for Good, for good-deeds. And a good deed is only that which leads to the goal, to the unity of all and everything, to communication, the most important component of which is the ability to listen. And this (listening) no one teaches anyone! Everyone teaches (and learns) to speak well, beautifully, politely, competently… to tell, but the teaching of obedience, listening, the ability to hear Another, to understand Him (and not oneself)—this, unfortunately, is not there (if it is, it is very, very little).
The Holy Fathers paid great attention (and still pay! Christians are and will be until the end of the age) to the ability to listen (to Another) to another person. To be able to listen and hear is a science-art! (Therefore, if we have not learned this science, this art (to listen, to obey), we must admit to ourselves that we do not know how to listen (unless someone is a wunderkind—but such are rare), that we do not hear our neighbors! To admit to oneself that I am deaf, blind, I do not hear, I do not see my neighbor and, as a result, I do not understand him—this is the beginning of healing!). To be: all attention, all ears, open, unbiased…—this must be learned! All conflicts, quarrels, problems between people (in families especially) stem from the inability (where there is no desire to hear, it is clear; we are talking about those who want to live harmoniously) to listen to each other! Everyone talks about their own thing, like a disc placed in a player (computer drive), and two “interlocutors” begin to repeat all (each their own) arguments for and against, like two players that perfectly transmit what is recorded on their discs. But players will never enter into communication with each other. Everyone will transmit what is in their heart (pain, sorrow, fears, worries…). To hear Another, one must first be silent, and then accept (Another) another person as they are (here and now), not as (selfishly) they should be, to give the interlocutor freedom to be themselves—free them from us, our prejudices, stamps, frames, pictures-fantasies-imaginations… One must put oneself in the place of Another to hear, realize, understand Him; then we can, hearing Another, enter into communication with them. For example, in marriage (we intend to talk about marriage separately, but now we will say something for illustration of what we are talking about), a husband should put himself in the place of his wife, penetrate her psychosomatic (soul-body) world, and the wife should try to understand the psychosomatic world of her husband. This is how husband and wife should interact. He ceases to be a man (only a man), and she ceases to be a woman (only a woman), and they both become “one flesh,” become one person, perichoresis-unity “I in You, and You in Me,” “all Mine is Yours, and Yours is Mine.” Listening is the mystery of accepting Another! The husband shares with his wife male gifts, and the wife with her husband—female gifts, and they both represent a new person blessed by God in marriage…