Man never comes to God through sin, but through repentance.
Or, does man become good on his own (or is that what the Church does?), and then comes to God on his own, even after he has sinned?
Man is restored to his freedom to choose through Baptism. It is not what we do, or what the Church does, but (we believe) it is what the Holy Spirit does, which is called a sacrament.
We don't even have to go to "essentially good", just "good enough" to come to God on his own. I think your side believes that (after the work of Christ made it possible for you to show that goodness you were born with or acquired through merit).
We are never good enough in absolute terms; we are forgiven. Even the best among us are sinners.
What we believe is simple: The Holy Spirit leads and we follow, willingly.
Which of our sides believes in infused righteousness and which believes in imputed righteousness? There's your answer to that!
The Orthodox teach neither to the best of my knowledge.
No, no. We honor Paul. We don't worship him, and we especially do not venerate him.
LOL! Do you even know what veneration means, FK? It is synonymous with honoring! You don't consider +Paul as a worthy model that perhaps you could emulate? You don't think he deserves a little awe at what he did for Christianity? Gees, we give more credit to stupid basketball players who couldn't hold a regular job, and not to mention Hollywood bimbos!
The Orthodox teach neither to the best of my knowledge.
Then what is justification in Orthodoxy? Catholics and Reformers believe it involves an act of Christ, although different acts. :)
FK: "No, no. We honor Paul. We don't worship him, and we especially do not venerate him."
LOL! Do you even know what veneration means, FK? It is synonymous with honoring!
I should have put it in quotes. :) All I meant was to contrast how it is described and how it really seems to us when we see it in practice. :)