问题1：无论是生是死，我们唯一的盼望是什么？
答：我们无论是生是死，身体和灵魂都不属于自己，而是属于神和我们的救主耶稣基督。
儿童版：我们不属于自己，而是属于神。

Question 1: What Is Our Only Hope in Life and Death?
Answer: That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.
For Kids: That we are not our own but belong to God.


歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《罗马书》14 章7 节至8 节：

　　我们没有一个人为自己活，也没有一个人为自己死。我们若活着，是为主而活；若死了，是为主而死。所以我们或活或死，总是主的人。

注解

约翰·加尔文

　　如果我们不属自己，而是属乎主，那么，我们必须避免什么样的错误，我们当用什么来指导一切的行为也就很清楚了。因为我们不属自己，所以不要让我们的理性或情感来影响我们的计划和行为；因为我们不属自己，所以不要把一己之私作为我们追求的目标……因为我们不属自己，所以让我们尽可能的忘掉自我和我们所有的一切。但因为我们是属主的，所以让我们为祂而活，也为祂而死；因为我们是属主的，所以让祂的智慧和旨意统管我们一切的行为；因为我们是属主的，所以让我们的全部生命竭力地得着他，让祂成为我们唯一的满足。当人听到这样的教导说他不再属于自己，要将主权从自己的理智中夺回并交给神时，他将获得怎样大的益处啊！自私自利仿佛瘟疫一般，能最直接导致我们的灭亡。我们得救的唯一保障是在任何事上都不去倚靠自己的聪明，不随自己的意思，而是单单跟随主的指引。

默想

提摩太·凯勒

　　约翰·加尔文曾在他的书中定义了基督徒生活规则的本质。他说他完全可以写一份清单，列出我们也当持守的一切规则，或者关于我们必须表现出什么样的品格。但他最终还是回到了基督徒生活最基本的动机和最基本的原则。基督徒生活最基本的动机就是：神差祂的爱子，靠恩典拯救我们并使我们得到神儿子的名分。所以现在，因为这恩典，我们心存感恩，我们盼望与父亲相似。我们希望与天父如同一家人。我们想效法我们的救赎主，令我们的父亲喜悦。所以，最基本的原则是这样的：我们活着不再是为了取悦自己，正如我们的生命不再属于自己。这意味着：首先，我们不再为自己定善恶的标准。我们放弃定善恶标准的权利，完全倚赖神的话语；再者，我们也放弃自己制定的日常生活准则，不再把自己放在第一位，而是把取悦神、爱邻舍放在首位。这也意味着我们要彻底地舍己，必须将自己完全地献上，包括身体和灵魂。这也表示我们无论祸福，无论得时不得时，或生或死，都要信靠神。

　　基督徒生活的动机和原则之间有什么关联呢？因为我们是因恩典蒙拯救，所以我们不再属于自己。一位女士曾对我说，「我若因我所做的得救，我若在救恩上有功劳，那么神就无法对我提任何要求，因为我是有功劳的。但我若是因恩典蒙拯救，完全出于恩典，那祂就能要求我做任何的事了。」没错，你再也不属于自己了，你是被用重价所赎买回来的。

　　几年前我听到一个传道人说，「你怎能不向一个为你全然付出的人做出同样的回报呢？」

　　主耶稣全然为你付出，所以现在，我们也必须向祂全然付出。

祷告

　　基督，我们的盼望！无论生死，我们都仰赖祢仁慈的爱。祢爱我们，因为我们是属祢的。我们的好处不在祢以外，也没有比属乎祢更好的事了。阿们。

Scripture

ROMANS 14:7–8

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

Commentary

JOHN CALVIN

If we, then, are not our own but the Lord’s, it is clear what error we must flee, and whither we must direct all the acts of our life. We are not our own: let not our reason nor our will, therefore, sway our plans and deeds. We are not our own: let us therefore not set it as our goal to seek what is expedient for us. . . . We are not our own: in so far as we can, let us forget ourselves and all that is ours. Conversely, we are God’s: let us therefore live for him and die for him. We are God’s: let his wisdom and will therefore rule all our actions. We are God’s: let all the parts of our life accordingly strive toward him as our only lawful goal. O, how much has that man profited who, having been taught that he is not his own, has taken away dominion and rule from his own reason that he may yield it to God! For, as consulting our self-interest is the pestilence that most effectively leads to our destruction, so the sole haven of salvation is to be wise in nothing and to will nothing through ourselves but to follow the leading of the Lord alone.

Devotional

TIMOTHY KELLER

At one point in his writings John Calvin lays out the essence of what it means to live the Christian life. He says that he could make us a list of the commandments we should be keeping or a list of all the character traits we should be exhibiting. But instead, he wants to boil it down to the basic motive and the basic principle of what it means to live the Christian life.

The basic motive is that God sent his Son to save us by grace and to adopt us into his family. So now, because of that grace, in our gratitude, we want to resemble our Father. We want the family resemblance. We want to look like our Savior. We want to please our Father.

The basic principle then is this: that we are not to live to please ourselves. We’re not to live as if we belong to ourselves. And that means several things. It means, first of all, we are not to determine for ourselves what is right or wrong. We give up the right to determine that, and we rely wholly on God’s Word. We also give up the operating principle that we usually use in day-to-day life; we stop putting ourselves first, and we always put first what pleases God and what loves our neighbor. It also means that we are to have no part of our lives that is immune from self-giving. We’re supposed to give ourselves wholly to him—body and soul. And it means we trust God through thick and thin, through the good and the bad times, in life and in death.

And how do the motive and the principle relate? Because we’re saved by grace, we’re not our own. A woman once said to me, “If I knew I was saved because of what I did, if I contributed to my salvation, then God couldn’t ask anything of me because I’d made a contribution. But if I’m saved by grace, sheer grace, then there’s nothing he cannot ask of me.” And that’s right. You’re not your own. You were bought with a price.

Some years ago I heard a Christian speaker say, “How can you come to grips with someone who has given himself utterly for you without you giving yourself utterly for him?”

Jesus gave himself wholly for us. So now, we must give ourselves wholly to him.

Prayer

Christ Our Hope, in life and in death, we cast ourselves on your merciful, fatherly care. You love us because we are your own. We have no good apart from you, and we could ask for no greater gift than to belong to you. Amen.