The Orthodox Christian approach to salvation is in stark contrast to the Western (Roman Catholic and Protestant) approach. While there is some guilt associated with sins, guilt is not the problem; nor is punishment the solution. Christ did not come to save us from guilt but from sin and death.

In the biblical account, an Angel appears to Cornelius and proclaims exactly how he has found favor with God: "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God" (Acts 10:4). It was his faithful prayer and love for the poor that placed Cornelius in a position to receive the visitation of God's grace. But this grace had still not come to dwell within him, for he was not yet regenerated in baptism.

"For the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18)