“He that believeth not in the Son of God is condemned already (John 3:18). For what? For the fact that when light is all around, he remains in darkness, due to his love for it. Love of darkness and hatred of the light make him entirely to blame, even without his determining where the truth lies; because he who has sincere love for the truth will be led by this love from the darkness of deception to the light of truth. One example is the holy apostle Paul. He was a sincere lover of the truth, devoted with all his soul to what he considered to be true, without any self-interest. Therefore, as soon as he was shown that the truth lay not in what he considered to be true, that very moment he cast aside the old—which proved to be untrue—and cleaved with all his heart to the new, which was tangibly proven to be the truth. The same occurs with every sincere lover of truth. The truth of Christ is clear as day: seek and ye shall find. Help from above is always ready for one who sincerely seeks. Therefore, if someone remains in the darkness of unbelief, it is only due to his love for that darkness, and for this he is already condemned.”
- Saint Theophan the Recluse
Reference: http://days.pravoslavie.ru/en/Days/20120411.htm
