问题14：我们原本就没有能力遵行神的律法吗？
答：不，是因为我们的始祖亚当和夏娃的悖逆，一切的受造物都堕落了；我们都生在罪和罪债之中，本性败坏，无法遵行神的律法。
儿童版：不，是因为亚当和夏娃的悖逆，我们都生在罪和罪债之中，本性败坏，无法遵行神的律法。

Question 14: Did God Create Us Unable to Keep His Law?
Answer: No, but because of the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, all of creation is fallen; we are all born in sin and guilt, corrupt in our nature and unable to keep God’s law.
For Kids: No, but because of the disobedience of Adam and Eve, we are all born in sin and guilt, and unable to keep God’s law.


歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《罗马书》5 章12节：

　　这就如罪是从一人入了世界，死又是从罪来的；于是死就临到众人，因为众人都犯了罪。

注解

亚伯拉罕·布斯

　　我相信，起初，神造了天地和其间数不清的一切。最后，祂造了人，使人明显高过其他受造物，并命人治理祂用大能和巧力创造的诸世界。祂按照自己的形像和样式造男造女，使他们正直、无罪、圣洁，并有能力侍奉和荣耀他们慷慨的创造主。我同样相信，这种圣洁、幸福的情形没过多久，人就在自由意志的驱使下违背了他的创造主给他的律法，并由此落入罪、沉沦和毁灭的境地。并且，因为他既是第一个自然人，也是第一个与神立约的人，是他尚未出生的后代的代表，所以他的犯
罪，使他所有的后代在他里面也都犯了罪，与他一同堕落了。他所犯的人类的头一宗罪，在他子子孙孙身上延伸，产生出败坏的本性。因此，所有人在本性上都是可怒之子，反对一切灵性的美好，倾向罪恶；所有人都死在罪中，在公义律法的咒诅之下，应受永远的刑罚。在如此复杂的苦境中，除了耶稣基督（第二个亚当）以外，别无拯救。

默想

大卫·毕思固

　　为人父母，是观察人性光景的最佳位置。比如说，我必须常常提醒鼓励我的孩子说「请」、「谢谢」，教他们与人分享，但从来不需要教导他们说「这是我的！」或拿别人的东西，互相抢玩具，这些也都不需要教。

　　这自私的冲动从何而来呢？这就是圣经能特别帮助我们的地方，因为它清楚地解释了我们与生俱来的自私。一方面，圣经说神造亚当夏娃，祂按自己的样式造他们，这意味着，他们要在受造界中反映神的良善。神造万物说「这是好的」，指着亚当夏娃说「甚好」。亚当夏娃与神有着完美的关系。他们可以爱祂，并全然的顺服。但我们知道撒但试探他们，撒谎说神并不良善、不可信，说自由在神的律法之外才能找到。当亚当夏娃相信这谎言并且付诸行动时，保罗在《罗马书》5 章中告诉我们，就像病毒进入你的身体，罪也进入了这个世界，从那一刻起，全人类都被感染了。这就是为何在我小时候，我孩子们的小时候，和他们未来的孩子们的小时候，我们都会说「这是我的」。

　　这不是说人失去了所有的良善，我们仍有神的形像，因此仍能行出一些很好很美的事情。但罪毁坏我们，使我们再也无法尽心、尽力、尽意爱并顺服神。罪感染我们的方方面面，所以我们完全生在罪孽和过犯之中，本性就是败坏的，并且无力遵守神的律法。

　　给你们举一个这些年我常用的例子。想象一头饥饿的狮子，在它面前放两个有食物的盘子。一盘是新鲜的生肉，另外一盘是煮熟的四季豆，两盘食物让狮子随便挑。因着它的本性，它总是会选择新鲜的生肉。

　　当身为人类代表的亚当犯了罪，我们也变成了罪的奴隶，所以再也没有一个人需要或者寻求神。但基督来了，祂就是第二个亚当。第一个亚当失败，第二个却得胜。第一个亚当，因他的自私和悖逆带来了死亡；第二个亚当，耶稣基督，因祂的顺服和在十架上的舍己带来了生命。

祷告

　　满有怜悯的主，我们的本性是败坏的。作为第一个亚当的儿女，你禁止什么，我们就想要什么。求你在基督（第二个亚当）里使我们重生，让我们成为一个新造的人，使我们靠着圣灵的能力遵行你的律法。阿们。

Scripture

ROMANS 5:12

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Commentary

ABRAHAM BOOTH

I believe, that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, with all their numerous inhabitants. Last of all, and nobly conspicuous amongst the amazingly diversified productions of his almighty power and infinite skill . . . he created man, and constituted him lord of this lower world. Male and female created he them, after his own image and in his own likeness: upright, innocent, and holy; capable of serving and glorifying their bountiful Creator.

On the same warrant, I believe, that man did not long continue in these holy and happy circumstances; but, being left to the freedom of his own will, he transgressed the law which his Maker and Sovereign had given him; in consequence of which he fell into a state of guilt, depravity, and ruin. And as he was not only the natural but federal head and representative of his unborn posterity, he sinning, all his offspring sinned in him and fell with him, the guilt of his first sin being imputed, and a corrupt nature derived, to all who descend from him by natural generation. Hence it is that all men are by nature the children of wrath; averse to all that is spiritually good, and prone to evil; dead in sin, under the curse of the righteous law and obnoxious to eternal vengeance. From which state of complicated misery there is no deliverance but by Jesus Christ, the second Adam.

Devotional

DAVID BISGROVE

Being a parent is a wide-open window into the human condition. For example, I’m constantly having to remind and encourage and cajole my young children to say “please” and “thank you” and to share. But I never have to encourage them to say “mine!” or to grab things that don’t belong to them or to hoard toys from one another.

Now where does this self-centered impulse come from? The Bible is helpful here because it gives us a vocabulary to talk about why we seem to be born with this self-centered disposition. You see, we’re told that when God created Adam and Eve, he created them in his image. That means, among other things, that they reflected his goodness. God affirmed their goodness when he looked at his creation, including Adam and Eve, and said, “It is very good.” So Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship with God. They were able to love and obey him perfectly. But then we’re told that Satan tempted them with a lie that God isn’t good, that he can’t be trusted, that real freedom is found apart from God and his law. And so when Adam believed and acted on that lie, Paul tells us in Romans 5, sin entered the world the way a virus enters the body, infecting all mankind from that time on. This is why from my earliest days, and my children’s earliest days, and, in the future, their children’s earliest days, we all say, “Mine.”

Now this doesn’t mean that people are devoid of all goodness. We’re made in God’s image and therefore we’re still capable of doing good and beautiful things. But sin has corrupted our ability to love and obey God with our whole hearts, strength, and minds. Sin has infected every part of us, so that we’re all born in sin and guilt, corrupt in our nature, and unable to keep God’s law.
Consider one example. Imagine a hungry lion, and imagine putting two plates of food in front of him—one a plate of raw red meat, the other a plate of perfectly cooked string beans. The lion can choose either one, but because of his nature he’s always going to choose the red meat.

See, when Adam sinned as our representative, our nature became enslaved to sin so that we no longer want or seek God. But when Christ came, he was the second Adam, and where the first Adam failed, the second Adam succeeded. Where the first Adam brought death through his disobedience and selfishness, the second Adam, Jesus Christ, brought life through his obedience and sacrifice on the cross.

Prayer

Merciful Lord, we are corrupt in our very natures. We are sons and daughters of the first Adam who desire what you forbid. Give us a new nature through new birth in Christ, the second Adam, that we might be able to keep your law in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.