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Yes, that's pretty much the way I see it.

"It seems to me that any discussion of the various beliefs which Christian people hold must start with a definition of what we mean by salvation since, of course, that is why Christ came and established His Church."

I don't know if there is a moment in this life when one is "saved" in a permanent sense, because there is always the danger of falling into sin and separating yourself from Our Lord.

It seems to me that the goal is to hear Our Lord say, "Yes, this is one of mine." I'm totally unsure what level of effort is sufficient to meet that goal.

That sounds, I know, as though I'm saying we are saved through our own efforts, but that's not what I mean.

Clearly, you can't just say "Lord, Lord" and then go back to your old sinful ways. I think you have to put something into the process -- Ideo firmiter propono de cetero me non peccaturum, peccandique occasiones proximas fugiturm, and all that. Some people call it "cooperating with Grace," but to me it feels more like strenuous effort than cooperation.

Of course, without Grace all our efforts would be futile, but I don't think you can just say, "I'm saved," and stop trying to conform yourself to God's will. As you wrote, it's a continuing process of improvement, "adiuvante gratia tua."

And as I said earlier, I have no idea how much progress one needs to make or how much effort one needs to expend to avoid the torments of Hell.

"Clearly, you can't just say "Lord, Lord" and then go back to your old sinful ways. I think you have to put something into the process -- Ideo firmiter propono de cetero me non peccaturum, peccandique occasiones proximas fugiturm, and all that. Some people call it "cooperating with Grace," but to me it feels more like strenuous effort than cooperation."

The Fathers called this cooperation "syndeesmos", synergy or partnership and it implies a acceptance and action, but this cooperation is initiated by the grace of God. This concept of synergy appears all through the writings of the Fathers. For example, there is said to be a synergy among the hypostasia of the Trinity, a synergy within the Church among the the hierarchy, the clergy and the laity, a synergy within the soul among the nous, or eye of the soul, the logos, or reason and the spirit or love energy and finally a sort of synergy between man and salvic grace. In none of these syndeesmoi is there necessarily any kind of equality present or even implied. In no manner does this concept deny that salvation is from unmerited grace, but what this concept does posit is that by various prayerful practices we can increasingly focus our beings on Christ and thus develop a state of apathia, a state where one is free from the passions, which further opens us to grace and thus progress in theosis.

Is it strenuous? You bet. Its also dangerous. The more one dies to the self, the more the demons, ever more powerful demons, attack. Thomas Merton experienced this; holy monastics contend with this continually. It is also perilous since for most of us, our reach exceeds our grasp, and should we insufficiently prepared approach the uncreated light (as some Western Roman mystics have put it) it can destroy us. For this reason, in both Eastern and Western monasticism, only the most holy, most advanced in theosis of the monks are allowed out to live in a hermitage, and even those, as a general proposition come into or are visited by others from the monastery.

Like you, I have no idea how far up the Ladder we need to go to become like God; to the top I suppose. It has just occurred to me that the way you phrased your final comment fascinates me because it points up a difference in the mindsets of the Church in East and the Church in the West and how completely those mindsets become part of us. You spoke about the amount of effort to avoid the torments of Hell and when I read your comment, I thought of how much effort it takes to become like God. I suspect that that difference in mindset explains many of the practical differences between the Roman and Orthodox Churches, even if the end goal is exactly the same.