Part One.

About sins

Article 1.

What you need to know

Chapter 1.

On the Word of God

Search the Scriptures, for you think by them to have eternal life, says Christ.

(John 5:39)

§ 1. The Word of God is contained in the prophetic and apostolic books, which in Greek are called: "The Bible", that is, books. These books are otherwise called "Scriptures," as Christ says, Search the Scriptures, and so forth. And the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy: "Thou hast known the Holy Scriptures from childhood, and so forth" (2 Tim. 3:15). They are also called books of the Law of God, since they contain the law of God.

§ 2. The Word of God is called and is God's because it has been announced and transmitted to us from God through the prophets and apostles, as messengers, as the holy Apostle Peter wrote: "Prophecy was never uttered by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21). And the Apostle Paul says: "Having received the word of God which you have heard from us, you have received it not as the word of men, but as the word of God, as it is in truth" (1 Thess. 2:13). And to Timothy he says: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16).

The Holy Scriptures are the message of the Heavenly King to His servants, to us, the unworthy, who, through His faithful and wise servants by the Holy Spirit, He deigned to send His holy and merciful will to reveal His merciful will. Therefore, it has in itself a certain wondrous and divine power and action, so that in a short time, as we see in the apostolic preaching, not through many, but through twelve people, not wise, but simple and unlettered, it swept through the whole world, as it is written: "Their proclamation went out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world" (Psalm 18:5; Romans 10:18). And not only did it pass, but it bore such fruit, that the nations, mired in the delusion of idolatry and ossified, having abandoned the superstition of idolatry, to Christ crucified, who died such an honorable death, clung to Him and recognized Him as Saviour and God in their hearts.

And although the devil's cunning and intrigues worked in such a way that the wise men and the mighty of this age strongly opposed their preaching, they did not succeed in anything. And just as the wind could not hinder the sun's rays, so the apostles, as the rays from Christ, the Sun of Righteousness, sent to the heavens, could in no way be hindered by the stormy devil's wind. And, what is more surprising, many of those who considered these preachers to be violent and violent, wanted to be their disciples, and the teaching, which was laughed at as at madness, was recognized as the truest wisdom. Therefore the word of God can be called fruitful (Col. 1:6), for it, sown in the hearts of men, bears fruit: one a hundredfold, and another sixty, and some thirty times (Matt. 13:8, 23). True and true is the word of God, spoken through the prophet: "As rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return thither, but waters the earth, and makes it able to bring forth and bring forth, that it may give seed to him who sows, and bread to him who eats, so also my word, which proceeds out of my mouth, it does not return to me in vain; but he does what pleases me, and does what I sent him to do (Isaiah 55:10-11).

It follows that a Christian:

1) The Word of God, as a great and heavenly gift, we must revere and love, as St. David did (Psalm 118).

2) For this great gift, thank the Heavenly Father from the heart.

3) To learn in it day and night.

4) According to his rule, to correct his life and morals.

5) Ungrateful and senseless are those who cease to read or listen to it; who do not have time to read the word of God, but have time to read funny books; who are trying to find out what is happening in Italy, in Rome, in Asia, in Africa and other places, but do not want to know from the word of God what is going on in their souls and to what end they are going, to eternal life or eternal torment, which is undoubtedly a sign of a lost soul.