The effects of Holy Scripture.
The effects of Holy Scripture.
§ 366. The effects of Holy Scripture, therefore, are the same as those of the divine Word, from which, we proved above, it differs not at all in a real and material manner. There are excellent, heavenly, and truly divine benefits that God communicates to humans through His Word and thus also through Scripture. These are: (1) A true and salutary recognition of Him. Matt. 11[:27]: “No one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” John 1:18: “No one has ever seen God; the Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, has revealed Him to us.” Jun., bk. 4, c. 10: “Because it was impossible to learn about God without God, He teaches men to know God through His Word.” Ps. 36:9: “In this light we see light,” that is, the light of divine knowledge lies in the light of the Word.
(2) Instruction for those who err. Through His Word He instructs us in truth and strengthens us against harmful errors. Ps. 119:105: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet.” Isa. 2:3: “Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and He will teach us His ways.”
(3) The conversion of sinners. Acts 20:20-21: “I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance to God,” etc. Acts [26:17-]18: “I send you to open the eyes of the Gentiles, that they may turn from darkness to light.” Acts [26]:20: “I declared to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God.”
(4) The kindling and strengthening of faith. The light of faith rises in people’s hearts from the light of the Word. Rom. 10:17: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of God.” 2 Cor. 4:6: “For it is God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts.”
(5) Spiritual rebirth. 1 Cor. 4:15: “I fathered you in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.” James 1:18: “Of His own will He brought us forth by the Word of truth.” 1 Pet. 1:23: “You have been born anew, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the Word of the living God.”
(6) The salutary invocation of God. Rom. 10:14: “But how are they to call upon Him in whom they have not believed? Or how are they to believe in Him of whom they have not heard?” From the contrary sense, then, faith comes from hearing the Word, and from faith comes the salutary, God-pleasing invocation.
(7) Food for our soul. Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4: “Man will not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds through the mouth of God.” Amos 8:11: “I shall send a famine of hearing the Word.” Therefore from the contrary sense, the Word takes away the hunger of our soul.
(8) Comfort for the afflicted. Ps. 23:4: “Your rod and Your staff, they will comfort me.” Ps. 94:19: “Your consolations have cheered my soul.” Ps. 119:50: “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your Word has given me life.”
(9) Guidance for pilgrims. Ps. 32:8: “I shall make you to understand and shall teach you in the way you should go.” Ps. 119:105: “Your Word is a light to my paths.”
(10) Strengthening for those in warfare. 2 Cor. 10:4: “The weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but are the power of God.” Eph. 6:17: “The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit.”
(11) The crowning and glorification of those who conquer. John 6:68: “You have the words of eternal life.” Acts 13:26: “The Word of salvation.” Rom. 1:16: “The power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Phil. 2:16: “The Word of life.” As Hector Pintus says (on Isaiah 8, p. 92):
Therefore let us flee for refuge to the Holy Scripture where we shall find it to be the teaching of salvation, the investigator of virtue, the expeller of vices, the physician for souls that summons people back to their own high station. It is the rich and abundant fountain with whose draughts we quench the thirst and extinguish the heat that stir within our flesh. It is the flame that Moses saw burning but not consuming the bush, where God kindles our hearts and fires them with a desire for everlasting blessedness. It is the ladder that Jacob saw, which touched the heavens with its top, by which the ascent from earth to heaven stands open. It is Jacob’s storehouse in Egypt, established for this world, to which we must run from all directions to drive away our hunger. It is the manna from heaven, small but white and sweet, refreshing all who are going to the true fatherland of promise. It is David’s well-fortified tower, built with ramparts from which hang a thousand shields and all the weaponry of the brave. It is the mirror of the mind. It is the treasury of wisdom. It is that which bestows tranquility on life, that which is a lamp to our feet. Finally, it is that by which we battle against the devil, the world, and our flesh, for the Word of God is the sword of the Spirit with which we strike and beat down our foes and with which we daily gain victory over them. This is the pool by the Sheep Gate, about which John speaks [5:2], which, when stirred by God’s angel, would cure any illness.