Chapter
Three
In this chapter we want to develop an understanding of the New Testament
gospel message and determine if the Roman Catholic Bible accurately
presents that message. For those who cannot stand suspense, I’ll tell you now.
The answer is an unqualified yes. Again,
all citations are from the Roman Catholic Bible.
Most people in the U.S. have heard the word “gospel.” However, its meaning has been co-opted by the secular world
and largely redefined. Someone will
say, “The boss fired him on the spot and that’s the gospel.”
Thus, even in the secular world, the word gospel is used to mean “the
truth.” It is interesting to note
how God uses unbelievers in a lost world to help get the message to those who
will believe that the gospel is the truth!
All that the word “gospel” entails in Christian doctrine is generally
not understood by unbelievers. First,
the Greek word for gospel is translated into English as “good news.”
We often hear people use an abbreviated version of the gospel, namely,
that Jesus died for our sins. However,
this is not the complete gospel. One
could allege that Buddha, another religious leader, or even the robbers on the
crosses next to Jesus died for the sins of man.
One of the many things that makes the gospel of Jesus Christ unique is
not that He died for our sins, but that He was also buried and
subsequently rose bodily from the dead.
No other religious leader has ever risen from the dead.
Check their graves. Their
bodies are still there! Moreover,
the followers of such religious leaders have not even claimed that any of
their masters have risen. Not only
did Jesus die for our sins and rise on the third day, He did so according to
the Scriptures, as noted by St. Paul in I Corinthians 15:3-4.
The prophecy that Jesus would die for our sins is expressed clearly in
Isaias 53. The prophecy that He
would rise from the dead is expressed clearly in Psalms 15 (16):10.
No one else ever came close to fulfilling these prophecies.
How could they?
It is necessary to specify that Jesus was buried for three days and three
nights before He rose. This is an
important point since certain cults, such as Christian Scientists, teach that
Jesus only “swooned” on the cross. Adherents
maintain that Jesus’ followers removed Him from the cross and secreted Him
away to recover from His wounds. Therefore,
there was no burial and, hence, no resurrection. However, as St. Paul makes clear in I Corinthians 15:14:
“...
if Christ has not risen, vain then is our preaching, vain too is your faith.”
But the complete gospel message has its impact in our lives now and for
all eternity because not only did Jesus die and then rise from the grave, He
tells us that He died for all and offers as a free gift to all who
trust in Him as Savior and Lord an escape from the payment of their sin debt
(an eternity in hell) and the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven.
This is good news.
The salvation message, in its simplest form, consists of five things one
must believe and one thing one must do.
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(1)
“All Scripture is inspired by God ....” [II Timothy 3:16]
This is the first thing one must believe.
If the Scriptures are not the inspired Word of God but are only words of
men, then our faith is indeed in vain. However,
St. Peter assures us that “... no prophecy of Scripture is made by private
interpretation. For not by (the)
will of man was prophecy brought at any time; but holy men of God spoke as they
were moved by the Holy Spirit.” [II St. Peter 1:20-21]
(2)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God; and the Word
was God.” [St. John 1:1]
The second thing one must believe is that Jesus is God in human flesh,
the Son of Man. As St. John tells us, “For God so loved the world that he
gave his only-begotten Son, that those who believe in him may not perish, but
may have life everlasting. For God
did not send his Son into the world in order to judge the world, but that the
world might be saved through him.” [St. John 3:16-17]
(3)
“... all have sinned and have need of the glory of God (and come
short of the glory of God).” [Romans 3:23]
The third thing one must believe is that he is a sinner.
The word sin means to “miss the mark.”
As St. Paul tells us “... as it is written, ‘There is not one just
man; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. All have gone astray together; they have become worthless.
There is none who does good, no, not even one.’” [Romans 3:10-12]
(4)
“... the wages of sin is death ....” [Romans 6:23]
The fourth thing one must believe is that he is going to die and be
judged for his sins. As St. Paul tells us “... it is appointed unto men to die
once and after this comes the judgment ....” [Hebrews 9:27]
(5)
“For our sakes he (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who
knew nothing of sin, so that in him we might become the justice of God.” [II
Corinthians 5:21]
The fifth thing one must believe is that Jesus, as his kinsman
redeemer, died for his sins. He
who knew no sin, Jesus, was made sin for our sakes.
It was our sins that put Jesus on the cross.
This is why one hears believers speak of having a personal relationship
with Jesus. Nothing could be more
personal than someone substituting His own death to spare the death of His
friend. Jesus said, “Greater love
than this no one has, that he lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do the things I command you.” [St. John
15:13-14] St. Paul tells us, “But
God commends his charity (love) towards us, because when as yet we were
sinners, Christ died for us.” [Romans 5:8-9]
Although we cannot understand how, God placed all our sins on
Jesus and imputed Jesus’ righteousness to all who accept His free gift of
salvation and ask Him to be their Lord and Savior, thereby crucifying their
flesh to the ways of this world [see Galatians 5:24].
This of course is not a physical crucifixion.
More will be said about “crucifying the flesh” in Chapters 4 and 5.
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There is one thing one must do after accepting the five beliefs
discussed above.
(1)
“For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” [Romans
10:13]
Calling upon the name of the Lord is the one thing one must do.
It is an action, not a belief. But
what does it mean to call upon the name of the Lord?
In the Trinity there is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit. These are positions, not names.
All members of the Trinity have multiple titles.
However, only one member has a name and that is “the name of the
Lord.” We know Him as Jesus in
the English language. His Hebrew
name is Yeshua. It means “Jehovah
is Salvation.” It is the same
name as the title of the book of Josue in the Roman Catholic Bible.
It is called Joshua in the King James Version.
Some people mistakenly believe that the Old Testament prophesied that the
Savior’s name would be Emmanuel (also spelled Immanuel), rather than Jesus.
However, this is a misunderstanding.
Isaias prophesied that “... His name shall be called
Emmanuel.” [Isaias 7:14] Emmanuel
means “God with us.” Jesus
confirmed the veracity of this prophecy as recorded in St. John 14:9 wherein He
said to Philip and the rest, “... Philip, he who sees me sees also the
Father.” The Father is, of
course, Jehovah God. Thus, Jesus
made His identification with Jehovah God quite clear.
A part of our acceptance of Jesus when we call upon Him to be our Lord
and Savior is to recognize that we need to repent, that is, to agree with God
that we are sinners and turn away from our sins.
We no longer justify our sins. “Oh,
I know it was an R-rated movie, but that’s not so bad. After all, parents let their children see these
movies.” Maybe some parents
don’t mind their children seeing such movies, but God doesn’t want His
children to see them.
Jesus was critical of the Pharisees for two major reasons.
The first was because they had rendered the laws of God void by
substituting their own traditions in place of the law.
Whereas God wanted their hearts so they would perform His works,
the Pharisees withheld their hearts and substituted their own works
largely to be seen and admired by men [see St. Matthew 6:16].
More will be said on this in latter chapters.
The second was because, while the Pharisees knew the law and
castigated others when they broke it, the Pharisees would not repent of
their sins and confess them before God.
Thus, they were hard hearted.
However, God’s Word confirms:
“For
if thou confess with thy mouth that Jesus is the Lord, and believe in thy heart
that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart a man believes unto justice, and with the mouth
profession of faith is made unto salvation.” [Romans 10:9-10]
Notice where the believer is to hold the belief that God raised Jesus
from the dead. In his heart.
Did you ever study for a test where you stored the material learned in
your heart? Of course not.
You stored it in your brain. Thus,
what is meant by “believe in thy heart” is much more than intellectual
acceptance. Heartfelt belief moves
one to action and heartfelt belief that God raised Jesus from the dead moves the
believer to whatever action God calls upon him to do, no matter how seemingly
impossible it may appear when viewed through the eyes of flesh. It is the inward belief that God raised Jesus from the dead
that expresses itself outwardly in the profession that Jesus is Lord.
If one believes Jesus to be as dead as Buddha, there is no use in calling
upon him to be your lord. That’s
why one has to believe in his heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.
The above citation reiterates God’s promise of salvation. Moreover, Jesus tells us “... everyone who acknowledges me
before men, I also will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” [St.
Matthew 10:32] The gospel of the
Jesus of the New Testament, the Christ, certainly is “good news” for every
sinner. Finally, St. Paul tells us:
“... neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:38-39]
These are the things one must believe and do to be saved. The Roman Catholic Bible is quite clear on these matters.
Moreover, the Roman Catholic Bible presents the same gospel message as
the King James Version, the New King James Version, and The Orthodox Study
Bible, New Testament and Psalms. But
what does it mean to be saved? Can
one lose one’s salvation? If
so, what is the meaning of Jesus’ promise of eternal life?
These questions are addressed in the next chapter.
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