Theophan suggests how God’s grace works in awakening a person from the sleep of sin. God’s grace achieves this by exposing to the consciousness and feeling of a man the insignificance and dishonor of the things to which he is devoted and which he values so highly. Using some of Paul’s words from his letter to the Hebrews, Theophan states:
As the word of God pierces to the division of the soul and the spirit, of joins and marrow, so also grace pierces to the division of the heart and sin, and divides their illicit joining and union.
Theophan further suggests that a sinner in his entire being is falling into a domain where everything – principles, ideas, judgments and opinions, rules, customs, pleasures, orders – is absolutely and completely opposed to the true spiritual life to which a man is destined and called. We must remember that a sinner is a person who lacks awareness of God and what is required of him for his own salvation. It is not the acts that he commits that makes him a sinner. Sinful acts are the product of a mind and spirit which is unawareness of the meaning and purpose of life and of God, the Giver of Life. Having fallen into this state, a sinner does not stay apart and separate from all these things. He is steeped and permeated with them. Because the sinner is completely in these things, it is natural for him not to know or think about the existence of things which are opposed to this order. If you only think about the things of this world, you do not think about the things of the Kingdom of God. This is why, of course, that we encourage people to regularly come to church. Regular attendance will keep in the forefront of our minds the Kingdom of God. Without reminders, the spiritual realm becomes entirely closed to a person and awareness of God and salvation disappear from consciousness.
The symptom of this condition is seen in a person’s acts – typically acts that are based on selfishness. When a person only things of him/herself, he/she has to know that they are bordering the state of being a sinner. Of course it is the nature of humans to periodically slip into this state. Making ourselves aware of this is the way to progress toward holiness.