What about those outside the true Church? Will they all perish? #

We should not presume to take God’s judgment into our hands. We do not know who will perish or who will be saved—that is God’s domain:

“There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.”
(James 4:12)

We should focus on our own salvation:

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
(Philippians 2:12)

Do not think that you love people more than God does. For their salvation, He came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered on the cross, endured a painful death, and descended into hell.

Those who lived before Christ’s coming or who have never heard of His Church will be judged by the law of their conscience. God looks at a person’s heart. However, the principle of the unity of the Church as the Body of Christ remains crucial. Those who separate themselves from the true Church tear Christ’s robe and alienate themselves from Him. Christ said:

“No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.”
(John 14:6)

Each of us must think in this way: I do not know if heretics or those who have broken away from the Church will be saved—that is not my concern; that is God’s concern. But I know this: if I follow them or abandon the truth, I will perish. I must hold fast to Christ. I must grow in Christ. And Christ is the truth, and to those who love Him and seek the truth, He will always give the opportunity to find and see it—perhaps even through us.

— Priest Evgeny Gureev