Episode 25—

Why It May Be Harder to Start Flossing Than to Stop Smoking

Grace Isn’t Opposed to Works, It’s Opposed to Earning

We all know things that are good for us. So why is it sometimes so difficult to do them?

Using a joke from comedian Mitch Hedberg, we explore the gap between knowing what is good and actually doing it. From everyday habits like flossing to addiction, anxiety, and sin, we examine why changing our behavior requires more than simply having the right information.

How do human beings actually change?

In this episode, we explore the Orthodox understanding of the human person as a unity of body and soul, the relationship between the brain and the mind, and the importance of embodied spiritual formation. We look at the distinction between the intellect (dianoia) and the nous, and consider how Orthodox ascetic practices train our attention, desires, and responses.

We then turn to John 6 and Christ’s teaching about the food that perishes and the food that remains for eternal life. Are we primarily seeking Jesus to improve our mortal lives, or are we learning to recognize that Christ Himself is our life?

Drawing on Scottish Presbyterian minister Thomas Chalmers’s sermon The Expulsive Power of a New Affection, we consider why simply knowing that a destructive desire is bad may not be enough to overcome it. Lasting transformation involves learning to love something greater.

Finally, we examine the relationship between grace and works, the significance of Baptism as participation in Christ’s death and Resurrection, and the role of prayer, fasting, repentance, confession, almsgiving, and the Eucharist in the lifelong process of Christian formation.

The Christian life is not about earning God’s love. It is about learning to live in the grace we have received.

Grace isn’t opposed to effort. Grace is opposed to earning.

And perhaps the deeper question isn't merely What do I believe? or What do I know?

It is: What am I becoming?

Christ is risen!

In this episode

• Why knowing what is good doesn't automatically change our behavior
• Habits, addiction, anxiety, and the embodied human person
• The Orthodox understanding of body and soul
• The distinction between the intellect and the nous
• Orthodox asceticism and the formation of our desires
• John 6, the Bread of Life, and the Eucharist
• Thomas Chalmers and The Expulsive Power of a New Affection
• Grace, works, and the danger of reducing Christianity to a moment of conversion
• Baptism as participation in Christ’s death and Resurrection
• Why Christian formation involves the whole person
• Learning to live in the light of Christ’s victory over death

Scripture references

• Romans 7:19 — The struggle between willing the good and doing it
• Romans 6:3–4 — Baptism into Christ’s death and Resurrection
• John 6:26–35 — The food that perishes and the Bread of Life
• John 6:53–56 — Christ’s flesh and blood as true food and drink
• Hebrews 2:14–15 — Christ’s victory over death and freedom from the fear of death
• Colossians 3:3–4 — Our life hidden with Christ

Mentioned

• Mitch Hedberg
• Thomas Chalmers, The Expulsive Power of a New Affection
• Lecrae, Don't Waste Your Life

The central question: Are we merely trying to preserve the life we have, or are we learning to live in the Resurrection life Christ offers us?