Mans Vocation to TheosisIn the book of Genesis we read: And God said, Let us make man according to our image and likeness (Gen 1.26). The Church Fathers, since ancient times (e.g., St Irenæus of Lyons), have distinguished between the Divine image and likeness. Man was created in the image of God, but he had yet to attain His likeness, to become like God, to achieve full theosis. However, man fell. The first man, Adam, prior to his fall, possessed an internal unity through Gods Grace (charis, gratia). He was turned Godward in love. But when he sinned, he lost this special Grace which had protected and united him. The good order of his soul was corrupted, and an unnatural and sinful man came into existence. The passions that overcame man were not outside forces which entered from without and which must be uprooted. Rather, they are energies of the soul which have been distorted and need to be transformed. In the human soul, there are three faculties: the intelligent (logistikon), appetitive (epithymetikon), and the incensive (thymikon). These three faculties must be directed toward God. When they turn away from Him, they become sinful passions. A sinful passion is therefore a movement of the soul contrary to nature.
The first man did not carry out the task which lay before him, to cultivate and to keep (Gen 2.15), to strengthen himself in goodness and co-operate with Divine Grace to attain full deification and become god by Grace. Because of the fall, the Divine economy for man had to be adapted; however, the goal for which man was created did not change. St. Athanasios of Alexandria states that God became man so that man might become god (On the Incarnation). This teaching about theosis is to be found in the writings of the Church Fathers from the earliest times; it has Biblical origins.
The idea of personal and organic union between God and man God dwelling in us and we in Him is set forth in the Gospel according to St John and the Epistles of St Paul. The latter sees the Christian life mainly as a life in Christ. The same idea is expressed also in the Second Epistle of St Peter: According as His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness... that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature (II Pet 1.3-4). In Orthodox theology, mans salvation and redemption mean his deification. This teaching must always be understood in the light of the distinction between Gods Essence and His Energies. Union with God means union with the Divine Energies, not with the Divine Essence.
An early witness to this teaching about the distinction between the Divine Essence and Energies is provided by St. Basil the Great, one of the Cappadocian Fathers of the fourth century. In Letter 234, he writes: We know our God from His Energies, but we do not claim that we can draw near to His Essence. For His Energies come down to us, but His Essence remains unapproachable. This teaching was later developed by one of the greatest theologians of the Orthodox Church, St. Gregory Palamas. The union between God and man is a true union, in which man retains his full personal integrity and personal characteristics without ceasing to be human.
Deification involves the body also. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, wrote the Apostle Paul (I Cor 6.19). At the Resurrection, the bodies of the Saints will be transfigured by Divine Light, as the body of the Lord was transfigured on Mount Tabor. Even in this present life, some Saints have experienced the beginning of this visible and bodily glorification. In the Apophthegmata Patrum, a collection of sayings of the Desert Fathers, we read of Abba Pambo: Just as Moses received the image of the glory of Adam, when his face was glorified, so the face of Abba Pambo shone like lightning, and he was as a king seated on his throne. The body is sanctified and transfigured together with the soul. The Divine Grace present in the Saints bodies during their lifetime on earth remains active in their Relics after their death, which is the reason behind the veneration of holy Relics in the Church.
By His Incarnation, Passion, Resurrection, and Founding of the Church, the Lord opened for His most precious creature, man, the path to his true goal, to theosis. In the Mysteries of Baptism and Chrismation, a person receives the fullness of the Grace of the Holy Spirit. But he must still make this Grace his own; he must go through the process of acquiring the Holy Spirit. St. Mark the Ascetic says that Christ as Perfect God gave to the Baptised the perfect Grace of the Holy Spirit, which is revealed and manifested insofar as a person lives the Divine commandments (Instructions for Hesychasts).
The call to sanctity and spiritual perfection is directed to all Christians and therefore all true Christians do everything that is in their power to acquire the Holy Spirit and to achieve inner unification and the healing of the passions. They discover that there are various steps of spiritual ascent to purification of the heart and illumination, when the intellect (nous) is united with the heart, in ceaseless prayer, to achieve theosis.
The process of spiritual advancement is not something mechanical or magical, however, as if by certain actions we can force Divine Grace to effect our internal transformation. Divine Grace brings about this internal change when the time is ripe. But it can also be said that it works in correspondence with a persons own struggle and efforts in repentance and humility. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? (Lk 11.13).The co-operation (synergy) of Divine Grace with a persons own free will is thus required.
This is true of the doctrine of Theosis (Sanctification) in any theology -- including the Calvinist. Once we are Made Alive in Christ, we do cooperate in Sanctification.
However, you're quoting an Article about the Celtic Orthodox. If we like, we can just read what the Celtic Orthodox Fathers themselves wrote... I've posted numerous citations above.
Best, OP