Spiritual laws of the invisible world — “Many people even now wage war in their homes: one encounters war from his wife, another is besieged by his son, another suffers trouble from his brother, another from a servant, and everyone is tormented, annoyed, fights, causes war, and is amazed by the war, but no one thinks, reasoning to himself that if he had not sowed sins, then thorns and thistles would not have grown in his house; If he had not planted sparks of sin, his house would not have caught fire"
Few people know about this, and yet our whole life is subject to spiritual laws. They act almost as inevitably as a stone inevitably falls on someone who recklessly throws it straight above him. And often we are indignant and grumble about the troubles and adversities that befall us, as it seems to us, "undeservedly", not seeing that these are the very stones that we threw over our own heads.
Deviation from the commandments of the Creator — that is, sin — damages both the soul and the body, and according to the laws of the existence of spiritual nature, it returns to the perpetrator with a “boomerang” of the evil committed. The Word of God speaks about this, and the holy fathers write about this.
True, such retribution is not always inevitable. Spiritual laws are not immutable. Much depends on ourselves. If, in the midst of sorrows, we begin to see clearly and understand that we are reaping the sad fruits of our own deeds, then by repentance we can bend to the mercy of the Creator of those laws, who can change their action or completely abolish them. And therefore it is all the more important for us to know how these spiritual laws work.
Holy Scripture speaks of reward for the souls of the righteous — and also for those who sin:
“Tribulation and distress to every soul who does evil... On the contrary, glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good” (Rom. 2: 9-10).
The Prophet David
The Prophet David confesses the justice of God:
“For evil has taken possession of me, and there is no end to it; my iniquities have overtaken me...” (Ps. 39:13). “In reproof of iniquity you punished man, and you melted away his soul like a spider...” (Ps. 39:12).
St. John of Kronstadt writes about the operation of spiritual laws:
“The edge of sorrow, which you thrust without guilt into someone else’s heart, will also enter your heart, according to the strict law of retribution: 'With the measure you use, it will be measured to you' (Matthew 7:2). If you don’t want grief, don’t do it to someone else”[1].
“The moral law of God constantly operates in the world, according to which every good is internally rewarded, and every evil is punished; evil is accompanied by sorrow and tightness of the heart, and good is accompanied by peace and joy of the heart. This law is unchangeable: it is the law of the Unchangeable, All-Holy, Righteous, All-Wise and Eternal God. Those who follow this moral law will certainly be rewarded with eternal life, and violators (those who have not repented of their violation) will be punished with eternal torment”[2].
Venerable John Climacus
St. John Climacus teaches:
“Listen to me, listen, you evil judges of the actions of others: if it is true, as it is truly true, that by whom you judge, they judge you (Matthew 7:2); then, of course, whatever sins we condemn our neighbor for, physical or mental, we ourselves will fall into, and it cannot be otherwise” [3].
St. Anthony the Great
St. Anthony the Great warns:
“If you see that your brother has fallen into sin, then do not be tempted by him, do not despise or condemn him; otherwise you will fall into the hands of your enemies”[4].
St. Isaac the Syrian
St. Isaac the Syrian speaks about spiritual rewards:
“The gifts of God attract a person to a heart that is stirred to unceasing thanksgiving. Temptation is brought to the soul by a murmuring thought that is constantly stirred up in the heart.… A mouth that always gives thanks receives a blessing from God; and if the heart remains in gratitude, grace descends into it. Humility precedes grace; and conceit precedes punishment. He who is proud is allowed to fall into blasphemy, and he who exalts himself in the goodness of his deeds is allowed to fall into fornication, and he who exalts himself in his wisdom is allowed to fall into the dark nets of ignorance.
A person, far from any remembrance of God, carries in his heart a thought against his neighbor, troubled by an evil memory. Whoever, while remembering God, honors every person, at the behest of God, secretly finds help for himself from every person. He who defends the offended finds God as his champion. He who stretches out his hand to help his neighbor receives God’s arm to help himself”[5].
The Monk Korniliy Krypetsky always warned his spiritual children, as we know from his life: “If you wish something on someone else, you will get it for yourself.”
The Monk Nikon of Optina notes that even if it seems to us that “our sorrows, in appearance, do not resemble our guilt, but spiritually they rightly correspond to them”[6].
St. John Climacus writes about an inevitable pattern:
“Where the Fall took place, pride was first established there; for the herald of the first is the second.”
The Monk St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain spoke about one of the actions of spiritual laws:
“And in spiritual life, the higher a person rises from his pride, the stronger his spiritual fall will be, and in accordance with the height of his pride he will be broken [spiritually]. After all, a proud person rises up to a certain limit, and then falls and suffers complete failure. “Be exalted and humble yourself” (Luke 18:14; Matt. 23:12). This is a spiritual law" [7].
Examples of the operation of spiritual laws
Let us give several examples of the operation of spiritual laws.
The book “The Spiritual Meadow” tells about the life and death of Abba Pimen the Hermit:
Agathonicus, abbot of the Castellian cinnamonium of our father St. Sava, told us,
Once I came to Ruva to the hermit Abba Pimen. Having found him, I told him my thoughts. Evening came and he let me into the cave. It was winter then, and that night it was especially cold, so I was terribly cold. In the morning the elder comes to me and says:
- What's wrong with you, child?
- Sorry, father! I had a very bad night from the cold.
- Is it true? But, child, I’m not cold.
I was surprised by this because he was naked.
- Do me a favor, tell me why you’re not cold? – I asked.
- A lion came, laid down next to me and warmed me. However, I will tell you, brother, that I will be eaten by beasts.
- For what?
- When I was still in our homeland (they were both from Galatia), I tended sheep. One day a wanderer passed by. My dogs rushed at him and tore him to pieces before my eyes. I could have saved him, but I didn't. I left him alone and my dogs ate him. I know that I will face the same fate...
And indeed, after three years, the elder, according to his word, was eaten by beasts.
It would not be superfluous to add here what the Monk St. Paisios said about Abba Pimen, who in addition to feats of repentance, also accepted punishment for his sin: “However, in another life such people will be in the most chosen place.”
Saint John Chrysostom
Saint John Chrysostom reveals the effect of spiritual laws in a conversation on the 3rd Psalm, inscribed “Psalm to David, when he fled from the face of Absalom his son”:
But find out, brother, the reason for such an inscription [the psalm] and save your soul, let this narrative serve you to correct your life, and let this persecution of the righteous be a protection for your mind. Find out why David was persecuted by Absalom, so that you, being established on this as a foundation, may be built up by the fear of God...
Blessed David in this psalm had the goal of teaching a virtuous and chaste life, never doing evil and not despising the laws of God, so that the sinner would not suffer the same thing that he himself suffered.
David fled from his son because he had strayed from purity; fled from his son because he violated a chaste marriage; he fled from his son because he fled from the law of God, which says: “You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery...” (Ex. 20:13,14). He brought a strange lamb into his house, killing its shepherd, and a lamb from his own house began to gore its shepherd; he brought war into someone else's house, and war rose up against him from his own house.
This is not my speculation, but a saying of God; and where God explains, no one can contradict. And that his son really rebelled against David because he killed Uriah and took his wife, listen to God, who said to David through the prophet Nathan: “I anointed you king over Israel and I delivered you from the hand of Saul”; “I gave you the house of your master, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah”; “and if this is not enough [for you], I would add even more to you. Why have you despised the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in His sight? You smote Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you took his wife as your wife. And so the sword shall never depart from your house” (2 Kings 12:7-10). You cut someone else's house with a sword, and I will prepare a sword against you in your house: “Behold, I will bring evil against you from your house,” not from somewhere outside, but “from your house” (2 Sam. 12:11).
Where the source of sin comes from, becomes a scourge of punishment. So, this is why he fled from his son, because he became a fugitive and an exile in relation to the commandment of God.
And further, St. John Chrysostom shows how we should learn lessons from the revealed action of spiritual laws, “so that we, having seen the fall of a righteous man, may ourselves prevent ourselves from falling and avoid such punishment”:
“Many people even now wage war in their homes: one encounters war from his wife, another is besieged by his son, another suffers trouble from his brother, another from a servant, and everyone is tormented, annoyed, fights, causes war, and is amazed by the war, but no one thinks, reasoning to himself that if he had not sowed sins, then thorns and thistles would not have grown in his house; If he had not planted sparks of sin, his house would not have caught fire.
That domestic misfortunes are the fruits of sins, and that God appoints his household as executors of punishment for a sinner, this is evidenced by the Divine Scripture, of which there is nothing more reliable.
Is your wife waging war with you, greeting you at your entrance like a wild beast, sharpening her tongue like a sword? It is regrettable, of course, that the assistant became an adversary; however, examine yourself, did you not plot anything against any woman in your youth? And so a woman’s insult is avenged by a woman, and someone else’s wound is healed by your own wife. Although the actor herself does not know this, the doctor—God—knows.… God, like a doctor, knows what is useful.
And that attacks from children are also punishments for sins, this is witnessed by David, persecuted by his son Absalom for an unlawful relationship, as the above words show.…
But what am I saying about domestic misfortunes also applies to our very body, which is closest and dearest to us. If it is sometimes at enmity against us when we sin, taking revenge on us with fevers and other illnesses and sufferings, the servile body punishes the ruling soul when it sins, not because it wanted it, but because it was commanded to do so.
The difference between spiritual laws and physical laws is not immutable
The operation of spiritual and physical laws is similar, but not the same. There is one major difference. Spiritual laws are not immutable. The Lord is just, but He is also merciful to those who repent. The love of God, His mercy towards the one who brings repentance, cancels the destructive consequences of sin hanging over a person.
St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain
The Monk St. Paisios said:
However, there is a significant difference between natural and spiritual laws. Natural laws are “unkind” and man cannot change them. But spiritual laws are “compassionate”, and a person can change them. Because [in the case of spiritual laws] he deals with his Creator and Maker - with the Most Merciful God. That is, quickly realizing how “high” he has flown with his pride, a person will say: “My God, I have nothing of my own, and I’m still proud? I'm sorry!" - and immediately the careful hands of God pick up this man and gently lower him down, so that his fall remains unnoticed. Thus, a person is not crushed by the fall, because he was preceded by heartfelt contrition and inner repentance.
The same thing happens in the case of the Gospel law: “Everyone who lives by the sword will die by the sword” (cf. Matt. 26: 52). That is, if I hit someone with a sword, then according to spiritual law I must pay for it by having them hit me with a sword. However, if I realize my sin, if my own conscience “beats me with a sword” and I ask God for forgiveness, then spiritual laws cease to operate, and I, like a healing balm, accept love from God.
That is, in the depths of God’s judgments – and His judgments are very deep – we see that God “changes” when people change. If a disobedient child comes to his senses, repents, and is tormented by his conscience, then the father lovingly caresses and consoles him. Man can change God's decision! This is no joke. Are you doing evil? God hits you on the back of the head. Are you saying “sinners”? He gives you His blessings.
Some people repented of their sin and God forgave them. Spiritual laws have ceased to operate... If a person repents, then he is not punished: Christ has mercy on him”[8].
St. John of Kronstadt
St. John of Kronstadt writes that correcting deviations from the Creator’s law also changes the state of the soul:
Your spiritual life, apparently, is divided into two states that differ sharply from each other: a state of peace, joy, and largeness of heart, and a state of sorrow, fear, and narrowness of the soul. The cause of the first state is always the harmonious action of my soul with the laws of the Creator, and the cause of the latter is the violation of His holy laws.… Therefore it always happens that, having destroyed the beginning from which the state of sorrow and distress arose, you also destroy the consequence, i.e. the very sorrow and crampedness of the soul [9].
The Optina elders often revealed to people the reason for their temptations, so that through repentance they could stop the action of spiritual laws.
For example, we read about St. Ambrose of Optina:
“One day a young man from the bourgeoisie came up to him with his arm in a sling and began to complain that he could not cure it. The elder had another monk and several laymen. Before he had time to finish: “It hurts, it hurts a lot...”, the elder interrupted him: “And it will hurt, why did you offend your mother?”[10].
St. Ambrose of Optina
The Monk Macarius of Optina wrote to his spiritual son:
“Why... maybe that’s why you allowed yourself to be tempted, because you had a subtle and secret opinion about yourself that led you to delusion; then, in order to prevent it from happening, sorrows followed you. Don’t blame anyone as the reason for them, but see here the Providence of God, testing you, and people are only the instruments of Providence”[11].
“...You cannot escape sorrows anywhere; for they are the products of our own passions, to expose them, so that we, with the help of God, take care of their healing”[12].
Saint Theophan the Recluse
Saint Theophan the Recluse writes to his spiritual son who has sinned that penance for sin from God depends on the depth of repentance:
“Pray the Lord not to deprive you of your former mercy and help. And He won’t deprive you. But there will be penance. The Lord has His own penance imposed on every guilty person, which consists in the fact that He immediately accepts the repentant person into mercy, but does not return the former to him immediately, but waits for contrition and humility to approach. If someone torments himself mercilessly, he will soon return, but if he gives himself some indulgence, then not soon. Here's the program for you. Please keep all this in mind... and work... Above all, keep yourself in humility and in faith and surrender to the Lord. And everything will return to its order"[13].
Thus, a person can stop the operation of the spiritual law by repentance and humility. That is why Saint Theophan the Recluse writes about the importance of attention and sobriety in spiritual life:
“These temptations are also external - sorrows and humiliation; and internal - passionate thoughts that deliberately descend, like animals from chains. Therefore, how much we need to listen to ourselves and strictly analyze what happens to us and in us in order to see why it is so and what it obliges us to”[14].
How quickly do spiritual laws operate?
They can come into effect in different ways, at different times, or even not act at all during this life, depending on God’s Providence for a person, as well as on his spiritual dispensation.
Since ancient times, if a Christian had no temptations, this always forced him to look carefully at how he lives, to look for what was wrong in his spiritual life, why the Lord retreated from him. And vice versa, if retribution followed soon after the sin, the Christian believed that the Lord was near and carefully guiding his life.
Saint Mark the Ascetic directly wrote that if someone does not have sorrows, then this is an alarming sign:
“What is the need for the devil to fight with those who always lie on the ground and never get up”[15].
“If someone, clearly sinning and not repenting, is not subjected to any sorrows until the very end, then know that his judgment will be without mercy”[16].
“He who wishes to get rid of future sorrows must willingly endure the present. For in this way, mentally changing one thing for another, through small sorrows, he will avoid great torment”[17].
Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov)
Saint Ignatius (Brianchaninov) wrote to his spiritual child:
“Without temptation it is impossible to approach God. Unsophisticated virtue, the holy fathers said, is not virtue! If you see someone who is called virtuous by Orthodox people, but he lives without any temptations and succeeds in worldly matters, know that his virtue, his Orthodoxy, are not accepted by God. God sees in them the uncleanness that He hates! He looks condescendingly at human uncleanness and heals it with various means; in whomever he sees demonic uncleanness, he turns away from him. Loving you and your son, bringing you closer to Himself, He allowed you grief”[18].
St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain explains:
If we have [spiritual] debts and do not pay for them in this life, then this is a very bad sign. This means that God has abandoned us.
– Geronda, do spiritual laws always act immediately?
- It happens in different ways. Often you can only be surprised! Someone, as soon as he becomes a little proud, immediately suffers complete failure, that is, the spiritual law acts with lightning speed…
– Geronda, when spiritual laws act immediately, what does this mean?
- This is a good sign. In such cases, a person must understand that God's love covers him, because he pays for [each of his mistakes] separately, and does not pay for everything together [subsequently]. However, if spiritual laws do not apply to a person, this is dangerous. This shows that man is a child who has moved away from his Father - God, that he does not live in His house. There are people who act with pride all the time and nothing happens to them. This means that their pride is so great that it has ceased to be human. It has reached its highest degree - to demonic pride, to [satanic] exaltation. Such a person also falls, but from the other side of the peak. Falls straight to hell. He falls in a Luciferic fall, but those on this side of the peak do not see his fall. That is, the people in question do not fall under the influence of the spiritual law in this life, but the apostolic saying applies to them: “But wicked men and sorcerers will prosper in evil, by deceiving and by those who deceive” (2 Tim. 3:13) "[19].
“All things work out for good to those who love God”
From all that has been said, it is obvious that knowledge of the operation of spiritual laws helps to resist sin and strengthens the fear of God in us. Let someone be afraid only of punishment, and someone be afraid of being separated from God because of sin. In any case, the fear of sin puts us on the ladder of this virtue, about the heights of which St. Nikolai Velimirovic writes:
“Love for God drives out all fear from the soul, except the fear of sin. Yes, love fears sin. The fear of sin is the fear of God”[20].
The meaning of any temptation is to cleanse the soul from the sins it has committed. For this reason, spiritual laws operate in the world. These are not just laws of fair retribution. These are the laws of healing Love. Love that heals the wounds of sin. They help us realize our sin, repent of it, they correct our path when it deviates from the true goal - from the Kingdom of God. And moreover, as we saw above, these are the laws of merciful Love, changing their effect for those who themselves change in repentance.
Euthymius Zigaben, outlining the patristic interpretation of the verse of the Psalter, says: “In rebuking them of iniquity, you punished man, and you melted away his soul like a spider...” (Ps. 39:12), explains the saving purpose of each of God’s punishments:
“When, he says, You, Lord, reprove a person for healing and correction, then You punish him for his iniquity, and not for anything else: therefore, such punishment is useful and saving... through temptations You cleanse [the soul] from all the coarseness of sin… So, sin makes the soul coarse, and suffering and temptations thin it out”[21].
So, for example, those who have fallen under the power of pride are sometimes tempted beyond their strength, and therefore they are allowed to fall, so that they become convinced of their own weakness and humble themselves, at least in this way.
St. John Cassian the Roman writes about the meaning of the temptations of the proud:
Every proud soul is subjected to spiritual impurities for shame. ...every soul, possessed by pride, surrenders to the mental Syrians, i.e. spiritual lewdness, is entangled in carnal passions, so that, at least, humiliated by carnal vices through the flesh, she realizes herself to be unclean and defiled, whereas during the coldness of the spirit she could not realize that through the elevation of her heart she had become unclean in the sight of God; so that a humiliated person in this way takes care to get out of a state of coldness, and ashamed of the dishonor of carnal passions, tries to arouse in himself an ardent jealousy for spiritual achievements.
We are told about the healing effect of the spiritual law, according to which the condemned one falls into the same sin for which he condemned another:
In one hostel there lived a hermit named Timothy. The rector of the hostel, having learned that one of the brethren had been tempted, asked Timothy for advice: what to do with the fallen brother? The hermit advised him to be kicked out of the monastery. When their brother was kicked out, his abuse (the passionate indignation that was active in him) passed on to Timothy. Timothy understood the reason for the abuse and began crying to God: “I have sinned, forgive me!” And a voice came to him: “Timothy! know that I allowed you to be tempted precisely because you despised your brother during his temptation.”
So, it is obvious that spiritual laws operate in the world for the sake of our salvation. And if we accept their action with gratitude as God’s healing, then they will become for us a pointer to salvation, as St. Macarius of Optina beautifully said:
When we consider that we ourselves are to blame for all sorrow; and the tree from which our cross is made grew on the soil of our heart... So all our sorrows that happen from the outside show the face of our inner man; but to those who love God all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28)”[22].
[1] John of Kronstadt , right. My life in Christ. T. 2. P. 872.
[2] John of Kronstadt , right. My life in Christ. T.1. P. 677.
[3] John Climacus , St. Ladder. Word 10. P. 9.
[4] Ignatius (Brianchaninov) , St. Otechnik.
[5] Isaac the Syrian , St. Word 86.
[6] Nikon Optina , St. Testament to spiritual children: Notes written in the margins of the book of Bishop Ignatius (Brianchaninov). T. 5
[7] Paisiy Svyatorets , St. Words. Volume IV. Family life.
[8] Paisiy Svyatogorets , St. Words. T. IV.
[9] John of Kronstadt , right. My life in Christ. T. 1. P. 90.
[10] Villager Evgeniy . Optina Elder Ambrose.
[11] Macarius of Optina , St. Letters to monks. Volume 2. 85.
[12] Macarius of Optina , St. Letters to nuns. T. 3. 29.
[13] Theophan the Recluse , St. Letters. Vol. 2. No. 314.
[14] Theophan the Recluse , St. Thoughts for every day of the year.
[15] Mark the Ascetic , St. Debate between a scholastic and Abba Mark.
[16] Mark the Ascetic , St. Two hundred chapters on spiritual law.
[17] Mark the Ascetic , St. To those who think to be justified by works.
[18] Ignatius (Brianchaninov) , St. PSS. Volume 7. Selected letters. Letter 197.
[19] Paisius the Holy Mountain , St. Words. T. 4.
[20] Nikolai of Serbia, St. A hundred words about Divine love.
[21] Explanatory Psalter of Euthymius Zigaben.
[22] Macarius of Optina , St. T. 3. Letters to nuns. P. 259.
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