This Sacred Pattern Will Bring You Closer to God
What If Closeness to God Isn’t Achieved by Religion—But Formed Through Participation in His Life? | A Theological Criterion for Union with God
"By their fruit you will know them." (Matthew 7:16)
This foundational declaration from Christ establishes an empirical criterion for authentic spirituality: the manifestation of divine grace through transformed human character.
Genuine faith transcends mere doctrinal adherence or religious identification, manifesting instead through the profound metamorphosis of the human heart.
These spiritual fruits serve both as evidence of divine activity within the believer and as testimony to the world of God's transformative power.
Within the broader theological framework of sanctification, three cardinal virtues emerge as essential markers of authentic faith:
Sincerity (sinceritas cordis)
Humility (humilitas)
Repentance (metanoia)
A similar constitute to what the Patristic fathers termed as the "triplex via" — the threefold path to divine communion with God.
With my variation I am presenting how sincerity, humility and repentance act as a “triplex via” for reaching towards closer union with God.
These virtues transcend mere ethical behaviour or religious observance; they represent fundamental orientations of the human spirit toward the Divine.
Together, they form what might be termed a "spiritual ecosystem" — an integrated matrix of holy dispositions that facilitate authentic communion with God.
I. Sincerity of the Heart: Undivided Devotion
Sinceritas cordis, or sincerity of heart, represents the fundamental integrity of the believer's interior life — what Augustine termed "rectitude of intention." This virtue manifests as an undivided will (voluntas integra) oriented toward the Divine, uncontaminated by ulterior motives or self-serving aspirations. The sincere believer approaches God not through the mediation of religious performance or social validation, but through direct, unfeigned devotion to the Divine Nature itself.
Christ's vehement condemnation of hypocrisy (Matthew 23) stems not merely from its moral repugnance but from its ontological falsity — it represents both an existential self-deception and a theological misrepresentation of divine character. Authentic sincerity, by contrast, manifests as embodied truth, what the Gospel of John terms "walking in the light" (1 John 1:7).
II. Humility of the Heart: Seeing Ourselves in God's Light
Humility (humilitas) in theological understanding represents not self-deprecation but rather accurate self-knowledge in relation to Divine Reality. It manifests as the recognition of one's ontological status as contingent being, utterly dependent upon Divine grace for both existence and salvation. This virtue aligns with what the Eastern Orthodox tradition terms "nepsis" — spiritual sobriety and self-awareness before God.
The kenotic paradigm of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11) — His voluntary self-emptying and assumption of servanthood despite His divine nature — reveals humility as not merely a human virtue but a divine attribute, demonstrating that self-giving love constitutes the very essence of God's nature.
III. Repentance of the Heart: Eternally Returning to The Father
Metanoia (repentance) transcends mere contrition or moral regret; it represents the fundamental reorientation of human consciousness toward God. This transformative process involves both apophasis (the negation of sin) and kataphasis (the affirmation of divine life), culminating in what the Eastern fathers termed theosis — participation in divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).
Trinity of The Heart: The Three Virtues in Holy Motion
The interrelation of these three virtues—sincerity, humility, and repentance—mirrors the nature of the Trinity itself. Just as the Persons of the Trinity exist in eternal, mutual indwelling, these virtues form what the medieval mystics termed a "circumincessio virtutum"— the mutual indwelling and dynamic interpenetration of virtuous qualities. In their cyclical movement, they create a sacred pattern of eternal recurrence that, like Nietzsche's affirmation of eternal reoccurrence, spirals ever upward toward deeper communion with God.
This spiritual ecosystem operates through distinct but unified movements:
Sincerity (sinceritas cordis) initiates authentic self-knowledge, which naturally precipitates humility
Humility (humilitas) creates the requisite void for divine grace, enabling genuine repentance
Repentance (metanoia) purifies the heart, deepening sincerity
With each revolution of this sacred triad, the believer's faith is not merely repeated but transformed, ascending through what might be called a "divine eternal return"—each cycle bringing them closer to God while paradoxically revealing new depths to be explored. This triadic movement reflects the Trinitarian pattern of divine life itself: the Father's truth (sincerity), the Son's self-emptying (humility), and the Spirit's transformative power (repentance), creating an ever-deepening spiral of spiritual growth that affirms life's repetition as a path to transcendence.
The Hidden Christ: The Divine Grace of Cosmic Logos Beyond Confession (Logos spermatikos)
While these virtues find their perfect expression and theological articulation within the Christian revelation, their operation transcends conventional religious boundaries, manifesting what the early Church Fathers termed "logos spermatikos"—the seed of divine wisdom being present throughout creation, and that Christ is its ultimate embodiment. This understanding aligns with the Pauline insight regarding the law being written on all human hearts (Romans 2:14-15).
The universal presence of these virtues demonstrates what Karl Rahner termed "anonymous Christianity"—the hidden operation of Christ's grace beyond the visible boundaries of ecclesial communion. This is not religious relativism, but rather recognition of the cosmic scope of divine activity, what the Fourth Gospel describes as "the true light that gives light to everyone" (John 1:9).
When individuals embody sincerity, humility, and repentance—regardless of their explicit religious identification—they participate in the very life pattern of Christ. Their lives bear witness to divine truth through lived experience rather than verbal profession. As the early Church Father Justin Martyr observed, those who live according to the Logos (Divine Reason/Christ) are "Christians," even if they do not know Christ by name.
This understanding preserves the uniqueness of Christ while acknowledging that his transformative work often precedes explicit recognition of His person. The virtues themselves are not merely ethical principles but living expressions of Christ's character, making those who embody them participants in His life—known or unknown to them. Their lives become what the Orthodox tradition calls "living icons" of Christ, reflecting His truth not through doctrinal confession but through the quiet testimony of transformed character.
For example, the divine Logos manifests as the mathematical harmony of the golden ratio throughout sacred geometry, revealing God's ordering principle in creation. This mathematical beauty points to a deeper truth: divine wisdom (logos spermatikos) is woven into the very fabric of existence, appearing in forms that are self-evident and universally understandable—from the spiral patterns of galaxies to the proportions of a flower. While these natural expressions of divine wisdom speak to our minds and hearts through mathematics, philosophy, art, and human reason, Christ represents the supreme personal embodiment of this Logos, transforming abstract divine principles into living, relational truth. In Christ, we encounter not just the mathematical or philosophical aspects of divine wisdom, but its fullest expression in love, relationship, and redemptive purpose. Through Him, we understand that the same wisdom that orders the cosmos seeks intimate connection with humanity, making the infinite and eternal God knowable and approachable—a reality reflected in both the elegant precision of sacred geometry and the profound depths of personal relationship, all of which are in a dance of outward expression for the highest moral ethic: selfless love.
Christological Embodiment and Universal Application
The triad of sincerity, humility, and repentance finds its perfect embodiment in the person of Christ, who serves as both exemplar and enabler of these virtues:
His sincerity manifests in perfect filial devotion: "I always do what pleases him" (John 8:29)
His humility culminates in kenotic self-emptying: "He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death" (Philippians 2:8)
His repentance-enabling role is cosmic: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us" (2 Corinthians 5:21)
This Christological paradigm provides both the pattern and the power for authentic spiritual transformation, whether explicitly recognized or implicitly operative in human hearts.
The Theological Significance of Spiritual Fruit
The manifestation of these virtues constitutes what the Patristic tradition terms "empirical theology"—knowledge of God verified through transformed human experience. This transformation transcends both moralism and ritualism, representing instead participation in divine nature (theosis) through grace.
The presence of these fruits—sinceritas cordis, humilitas, and metanoia—serves as the authentic criterion of divine presence, revealing where the Spirit of God is actively at work in human hearts, regardless of religious affiliation. This understanding provides a theological framework for discerning genuine spirituality while maintaining the unique revelatory status of Christ.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." — Matthew 5:8
Be Part of The Discussion
One of the central aims of these articles is to spark meaningful conversation around the intersections of religion, theology, and philosophy within the framework of Christianity. I warmly invite readers to share their thoughts and engage in respectful discussion in the comments below, helping to cultivate a space where rigorous thought and sincere belief can meet in pursuit of truth.
Let’s create theological discourse in the comments below!
Beautiful patterns. I like that you make the connection with geometry and nature.
I always hallucinate sacred geometry if I get disrupted and wake up out of a deep sleep like 30 minutes to an hour after going to bed. So one must conclude it's very natural and archetypal.