Description
Did you know that the Bible is the all-time world’s bestseller?
There is no book so widely read as the Holy Scriptures. It claims to be the Word of God. Though thousands of years old, it speaks to the needs of your life. It can bring hope in times of despair, comfort in times of sorrow, and direction in times of confusion. Best of all, the Bible shows us God’s way of salvation. It contains the answer to the soul’s greatest question: “what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). If you think you can meet God’s perfect standards by yourself, any religion will do. But if you have failed to find peace with God through your own efforts, the Scriptures present to you a wonderful alternative—the best news in the world!
Are Catholics encouraged to read and study the Scriptures?
Of course! The Vatican Council II made a special point of encouraging everyone to read the Holy Scriptures for themselves. The Church “forcefully and specifically exhorts all the Christian faithful…to learn ‘the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ,’ by frequent reading of the divine Scriptures. ‘Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ’” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1994). Let us look carefully at what the Scriptures tell us about our greatest spiritual need, and God’s answer to it.
But is it possible for you to understand it for yourself?
Listen to the Scriptures, quoting the words of Jesus: “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” So that we do not miss this statement, Jesus states it seven times! (See Revelation 2:7; 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, and 22.) What does this mean? The Son of God is telling us that it is the individual that should understand what God the Spirit is saying to the Church in the Bible, not the Church deciding what is being said to you.
If a family member, friend, or church official tells you that you will be all right in the end, that the Church will do your thinking for you, respectfully ask them this: “If I trust your words instead of examining the Bible for myself—and if you are wrong—will you take my eternal punishment for me?” No? Then if there is the possibility that you are going to hell personally, you should check out the Scriptures personally.
Did you know the Bible paints your portrait as God sees you?
Man as God originally made him was good, but since he has rebelled against his Creator, man in his very nature is a sinner. Do we have to teach little children to be selfish, untruthful, or cruel? No, we all arrive in this world as sinners. King David, writer of many of the Psalms, confessed: “Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5).
One reason people view themselves as basically good is that they compare themselves with one another instead of measuring their lives by God’s holy standard. Here are some important verses: “There is no one who is righteous…All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one” (Romans 3:10, 12).
We look on the outside of a person, but God looks at our hearts (see 1 Samuel 16:7). Sometimes we try to clean up our words and deeds, but what about our thoughts and motives? It’s not very helpful to clean up bad apples under the tree; the tree needs new life grafted in to produce good fruit. And this is just what God offers you as a gift, as we will see.
Did you know the Scriptures state it is impossible for anyone to get to heaven by good deeds?
Let me give you a few examples of the many verses which clearly teach the impossibility of being saved by your own good works: “he (God) might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:7-9).
“But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
“yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law” (Galatians 2:16).
Yes, all these clear statements are in your Scriptures, and many more. Of course, good works are taught and encouraged in the Bible, but as a result of receiving new life from God, not as a means of earning a place in heaven.
Not only do our good deeds not merit us a place in heaven, but our sins bring us under the sentence of eternal death.
It was the Lord Jesus Himself who warned us: “unless you repent, you will all perish” (Luke 13:5). And the Apostle Paul wrote: “Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:4-5).
Is there any hope? If there is, it is not found in paying God off with money, as if He were a dishonest judge! The great Apostle Peter stated: “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with…” (1 Peter 1:18-19). But with what?
Nor, says the Catholic Bible, can the repeated celebration of sacrifices take away sin: “And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had…” (Hebrews 10:11-12). What did He do?
The answer to this question is the best news in all the world.
If salvation is not by our good works, by giving money, or by attending the Mass, how can we be rescued from our problem?
Let me repeat the two previous verses and finish the sentences:
“You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.” There is God’s answer!
Now listen to the rest of the sentence in Hebrews 10, “And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God,’”
The answer is repeated many times so we do not miss it. Listen to this wonderful news, but notice carefully that it is never mentioned that the Church can save; only Christ can save:
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God’s wrath” (John 3:36).
“But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
“For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
The Catholic Scriptures clearly state you can know here and now that you have eternal life.
“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:12-13).
Examine these verses for yourself; don’t take my word for it! Be as honest as you can with what you read. In the Gospel of John—a good place to start reading the Scriptures—the Lord said, “Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own” (John 7:17).
Isn’t it wonderful? There is a way for you, a sinner, to be the friend of this holy God.
The good news of the Bible is this: Though you have broken God’s righteous standard so many times, and deserve to be condemned for it, He has shown His love to our fallen race. “For the wage paid by sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31).
Personal salvation has two requirements: “repentance toward God” and “faith toward our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:21). Repentance to God means you agree with Him that you are a guilty sinner and are unable to solve your sin problem by anything you can do. Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is agreeing with God about His Son, the only answer to the problem of your sin. Will you accept Him personally as your Saviour, trusting in Him alone?
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE). Printed in Canada.
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