Behind these words of the apostle Paul stands his sense that the process of creation is not yet complete, and that since the creation of man two creative forces have been acting in the world: God's and man's. This is very consonant with the picture described in the first two chapters of the book of Genesis (Gen. 1-2), where all creation is shown as directed toward the human being created in the image of God: it is the human being who is entrusted with cultivating and preserving the whole created world (the "garden"), it is the human being who gives names, that is, gives meaning to the existence of all other living creatures; but it is also the human being who, falling into sin, brings distortion into creation, which God intended as the co-creation of the Creator and man.

Therefore Paul notes in one of the following verses (v. 22) that "the whole creation has been groaning together and suffering together until now." But it is not only suffering; it "waits with hope." What does it wait for? For what Paul speaks about in the previous verse and here: that glory will be revealed in us, that there will be the revelation, our manifestation as sons of God. For when this happens, these two creative forces will begin to act hand in hand, and the grace of God will freely fill the whole world. It follows that in the light of these words our turning to God, our knowledge of His will in Jesus Christ, and the transformation of life by the action of the Holy Spirit acquire truly cosmic significance.

What exactly so outraged the Pharisees when they saw Jesus beside a tax collector? Association with a sinner? But the Torah too knows conversion and repentance. More than that, it even knows special purification rituals performed by repentant sinners to be cleansed from the impurity caused by that sin. In essence, nothing more was required of the sinner: he had only to repent of it, then perform a purifying washing and bring a purification sacrifice, otherwise called a sin offering or guilt offering. At the same time, however, one indispensable condition had to be observed: it could concern only a sin committed involuntarily, through ignorance or weakness. If the sin had been committed consciously and voluntarily, no purification at all could be in question, even if the sinner repented of his sin deeply and sincerely. God, as was believed, could of course forgive a person even such a sin, but it was impossible to be freed from the consequences of a deliberate sin; they weighed on the person his whole life.

The tax collector's sin was exactly such a sin: everyone who took up this work entered into conscious cooperation with the Roman authorities, and not forced cooperation but voluntary cooperation. In the synagogue environment this was considered betrayal, a terrible and unforgivable sin, so that the one who committed it was forever cut off from his people, losing everything he could count on as a representative of his people, including the covenant and all the promises connected with it. Jesus, meanwhile, considers that even such a sinner, if he repents and turns, can be saved.

So what, then: was the pre-Christian approach too rigorist and completely without mercy? Hardly. Rather, one can think that with the coming of Christ the spiritual situation in the world in general, and among the people of God in particular, changed radically. Previously the inner intention with which an action was performed completely determined its consequences, and a conscious sin committed once, or rather its consequences, truly weighed on a person for his whole life, so that even God could not change it: for then, in essence, the world would have had to be created anew. But in the Kingdom one can begin with a clean slate, even one who has sinned consciously and voluntarily: repentance for what has been done is enough. And not because the world has become different, but because the laws of the Kingdom entering the world differ from the laws of this untransformed world. And the chance for salvation is now given to everyone who wants to be saved.

Is sacrifice not an expression of love? After all, every sacrifice means giving up part of one's life: in the form of possessions, money, or time. Giving up one's life - is that not love?

Let us look from another side. A certain husband gives his wife a magnificent bouquet of roses every year on their wedding anniversary, while on all the other days he cheats on her shamelessly. Does the wife not have the right to exclaim, "I want love, not a bouquet!"? Worst of all is if the husband also thinks that everything is fine with him and does not understand why his wife is dissatisfied - after all, he gives bouquets! So it is in the spiritual life: it is impossible to call to repentance someone who does not see his sin and justifies himself.