分类： 《新城要理问答》

问题34：既然我们是单单靠着恩典、借着基督得救，那么我们还必须行善、遵守神的话吗？
答：是的，因为基督用祂的宝血救赎了我们，也用祂的灵更新了我们，这样我们的生活才能表明对神的爱和感恩，以便我们透过果子得着信心的确据；而且这样，我们就能通过敬虔的行为赢得别人归向基督。
儿童版：是的，这样我们的生活才能表明对神的爱和感恩；而且这样，我们就能通过敬虔的行为赢得别人归向基督。

Question 34: Since We Are Redeemed by Grace Alone, Through Christ Alone, Must We Still Do Good Works and Obey God’s Word?
Answer: Yes, because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, also renews us by his Spirit; so that our lives may show love and gratitude to God; so that we may be assured of our faith by the fruits; and so that by our godly behavior others may be won to Christ.
For Kids: Yes, so that our lives may show love and gratitude to God; and so that by our godly behavior others may be won to Christ.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《彼得前书》2 章9 节至12 节：

　　惟有你们是被拣选的族类，是有君尊的祭司，是圣洁的国度，是属神的子民，要叫你们宣扬那召你们出黑暗、入奇妙光明者的美德。

你们从前算不得子民，
现在却作了神的子民；
从前未曾蒙怜恤，
现在却蒙了怜恤。

　　亲爱的弟兄啊，你们是客旅，是寄居的。我劝你们要禁戒肉体的私欲，这私欲是与灵魂争战的。你们在外邦人中，应当品行端正，叫那些毁谤你们是作恶的，因看见你们的好行为，便在鉴察的日子归荣耀给神。

注解

司布真

　　亲爱的朋友们，基督徒必定有好行为，但这不是救恩的根，而是果实。好行为不是信徒的得救之路，而是表明他已经走在了得救的路上。好树会结好果子。所以，如果神使我们的本性变好了，我们所结的果子也会是好的；但如果果子不好，那是因为这棵树本来就不好。在基督里新造的人会想要脱离一切的罪。我们会犯罪，但我们不爱罪。令人悲伤的是，罪有时会胜过我们，而且自己犯罪后的那种感觉就像死了一般；尽管如此，罪却不能辖制我们，因我们不在律法之下，乃在恩典之下；所以我们要攻克它，并且得胜。

默想

里根·邓肯

　　如果救恩是唯靠恩典，唯借信心，唯在基督里的；如果我们得救、被赦免、蒙神接纳，不是基于我们的善行，也不是我们应得的，而是单单凭借耶稣为我们所成就的得到的。那么，基督徒生命中还需要顺服与行善吗？圣经给了我们明确的答案：是的。

　　首先，救恩使我们不只是免于罪的惩罚，还脱离了罪的权势。借着耶稣基督所成就的救恩，我们不只是已被赦免，我们也被改变，在耶稣基督里成为新造的人。祂在我们的生命中，将我们从罪的捆绑中释放了。但因恩典得到救恩并不意味着基督徒就不需要再改变了。因着神使圣灵在我们里面工作，所以，基督徒的生命不断地成长和改变就成了可能。

　　在基督徒的生命中要顺服神的话语，那么律法在其中的角色是什么呢？就是感恩、确据与见证。
在基督徒的生命中，我们所有的顺服，都是以感恩回应上帝在耶稣基督里对我们的施恩。还记得保罗在《以弗所书》2章说了些什么吗？祂说：「你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信，这并不是出于自己，乃是神所赐的，也不是出于行为，免得有人自夸。我们原是祂的工作，在基督耶稣里造成的，为要叫我们行善，就是神所预备叫我们行的。」（弗2:8-10）听清保罗说的了吗？祂并没有说，通过善行得救。事实上，祂特别排除了这一点。但祂说我们得救，是为了叫我们行善。是为了善行。所以基督徒生命中的善工，并不是为了拯救我们，或者让神爱我们，而是为了把我们的感谢呈给神，回应祂在耶稣基督里对我们的爱，以及在耶稣基督里白白赐给我们的救恩。我们对神话语一切的顺服都是为了表达对祂的感恩。

　　顺服同时也是救恩的确据。在保罗给帖撒罗尼迦的第一封书信，1 章3 节至5 节中，保罗向他们说，我知道你们是蒙神拣选的。这样说是很大胆的。你如何知道这人是神所拣选的？保罗在第三节对帖撒罗尼迦人说：「你们因信心所作的工夫，因爱心所受的劳苦，因盼望我们主耶稣基督所存的忍耐。」他其实是在说，「我看见了你们因信，圣灵在你们生命中工作，我由此而知，你们是神的孩子。」而在第五节，他解释了他们的确据是什么。看到神在我们里面工作，改变我们，我们就有了得救的确据，这体现在我们顺服神的命令上。

　　但主在基督徒生命中的工作，除了善行与顺服外，还有第三种方式，那就是个人的见证。我们遵守神的话，我们行善，我们就荣耀了我们的天父。而那些看到我们如此行的人，他们也会归荣耀给天父。彼得在他的书信中解释道，神要我们活出敬虔的生命，静静地展示在世人面前，所以当世人看到我们的好行为，就归荣耀给爱我们、施恩拯救我们的天父。（参彼前2:12）

　　因此，我们蒙恩得救，我们得以活在喜乐地行善与顺服神的生活中。行善不是为了让神爱我们，而是因为神已经爱了我们。我们要像祂的儿子一样说：「我的食物就是遵行差我来者的旨意。」（约4:34）

祷告

　　天父，祢已经救我们脱离罪恶。求祢不要让我们继续陷在罪里，仿佛我们仍是它的奴隶。祢给我们的命令就是生命之道。让我们珍爱这些命令。愿所有认识我们的人，因看到我们的好行为就归荣耀给祢。阿们。

Scripture

1 PETER 2:9–12

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Commentary

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

So, then, dear friends, these good works must be in the Christian. They are not the root, but the fruit of his salvation. They are not the way of the believer’s salvation; they are his walk in the way of salvation. Where there is healthy life in a tree, the tree will bear fruit according to its kind; so, if God has made our nature good, the fruit will be good. But if the fruit be evil, it is because the tree is what it always was—an evil tree. The desire of men created anew in Christ is to be rid of every sin. We do sin, but we do not love sin. Sin gets power over us sometimes to our sorrow, but it is a kind of death to us to feel that we have gone into sin; yet it shall not have dominion over us, for we are not under the law, but under grace; and therefore we shall conquer it, and get the victory.

Devotional

LIGON DUNCAN

If salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone—if we are saved and forgiven and accepted based not on our good works, not on our deserving, but on what Jesus has done for us—is there still a place for good works and obedience in the Christian life? The Bible gives an emphatic answer: yes.

First, there’s a place for good works because, in salvation, we’re saved not only from the penalty of sin, but also the power of sin. In salvation, through the work of Jesus Christ, we not only find forgive- ness, but we also find transformation. We are made new creations in Jesus Christ. He liberates us from the dominion of sin in our life. And so, salvation by grace does not mean that change or growth is unnecessary in the Christian life. It means that change and growth are now possible by God through his Holy Spirit working in us.

So what is the role of obedience to God’s Word, of God’s law in the Christian life? Gratitude, assurance, and witness.

In the Christian life all of our obedience is an act of gratitude to God for the grace that he has shown us in Jesus Christ. Remember what Paul says in Ephesians 2: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (vv. 8–10). Now, did you hear what Paul said there? He didn’t say that we were saved by good works. In fact, he explicitly excluded that. But he did say that we were saved to good works, for good works. So the role of works in the Christian life is not to save us. It’s not to get God to love us. It’s to express our gratitude to God for the prior love that he’s shown us in Jesus Christ and for the salvation that he’s freely given us in Jesus Christ. And so all of our obedience to God’s Word in the Christian life is an act of gratitude.

Second, good works done in faith also serve to assure us. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul explains that he knows that they are the chosen of God (1 Thess. 1:3–5). Now that’s a striking thing to say. How would you know people are chosen of God? In verse 3, Paul speaks of the Thessalonians’ works of faith, their labor of love, and their patience of hope. He’s essentially saying, “I see the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, and that lets me know that you are the children of God.” And then he explains how that serves their own assurance (v. 5). We are given assurance in the Christian life when we see God at work in us to change us, and that’s expressed in our obeying God’s commands.

A third way that the law works in the Christian life and that good works and obedience work in the Christian life, is in the area of witness. When we obey the Word of God, when we do good works, we glorify our heavenly Father. And those who see us are given reason to glorify our heavenly Father. Peter explains that when he says that he wants us to live godly lives quietly before the world so that the world will look at us and glorify our loving heavenly Father who saved us by grace (1 Pet. 2:12).

So, though we’re saved by grace, we’re saved to a life of joyful good works and obedience. Not to get God to love us, but because God does love us, and we want to be like his Son, who said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me” (John 4:34).

Prayer

Heavenly Father, you have saved us from sin. Let us not continue in it as if we were still enslaved to it. You have given us commands that are the path of life. Let us treasure those commands. May all who know us see our good works and glorify you because of them. Amen.

问题33：信基督的人需要通过自己的行为或其他途径来寻求拯救吗？
答：不，他们不应该这样做，因为得救所需的一切都在基督里。借着善行来寻求救恩，就等于否认基督是唯一的救赎主和救主。
儿童版：不，因为得救所需的一切都在基督里。

Question 33: Should Those Who Have Faith in Christ Seek Their Salvation Through Their Own Works, or Anywhere Else?
Answer: No, they should not, as everything necessary to salvation is found in Christ. To seek salvation through good works is a denial that Christ is the only Redeemer and Savior.
For Kids: No, everything necessary to salvation is found in Christ.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《加拉太书》2 章16 节：

　　既知道人称义不是因行律法，乃是因信耶稣基督，连我们也信了基督耶稣，使我们因信基督称义，不因行律法称义，因为凡有血气的，没有一人因行律法称义。

注解

约翰·加尔文

　　我们坚持认为，无论一个人做什么样的工，祂在神面前得称为义都单单是基于神无偿的怜悯；神不看人自己的功劳，而是将基督的义加在人身上，仿佛这义是这个人自己的一般。神在基督里无偿地接纳祂，这就是我们所说的因信称义，也就是一个人失去了所有对自己功劳的信心，转而相信祂得以被神接纳，是单单基于祂里面从基督而来的义。几乎在每个时代，这一点都令当时的世界误入歧途：人虽有一定的缺点，但借着善工，仍可在某种程度上配得神的恩惠……不！神使我们与祂和好不是基于我们的功劳，而单单是因着基督才无偿地接纳我们做祂的孩子，我们就不再是忿怒之子了。如果神看我们的行为，祂就找不到爱我们的理由。所以祂必须除去我们的罪，将唯一可以通过祂审查的基督的顺服加在我们身上，并因着基督的美德称我们为义。这是圣经中明确的、一致的教义，就如保罗所说：「有律法和先知为证」（罗3:21）。

默想

提摩太·凯勒

　　你若把信心和行为混为一谈，你这样说：「我信耶稣为我所成就的大工，但还要再添加些什么，不然我就没有得救。」那么，其实你所要表达的是，真正有效的、真正关键的、真正拯救你的，不是耶稣所成就的工，而是你加上去的那些，那你就成了自己的救主。

　　这个比喻可以帮助我们理解：A 先生和B 先生是好朋友，A 先生问B 先生愿不愿意帮祂做个柜子，因为B 先生是个好木匠。因此B 先生心想，我要做个好的、完美的柜子。因此祂很努力做工，不断修饰细节，抛光到极致完美。然后祂带A先生到工作室来看，A 先生拿起砂纸说：「这里我想再帮忙打磨一下。」B 先生说，「不可以，这已经完工了，这是完美的。你加上什么都是一种破坏。」
耶稣基督的工也是这样，祂死的时候说：「成了！」没有什么可以添加了，已经是完美了。你添加什么都是在毁坏，祂已经做好了，但如果你还要加上其他的，你加的这个东西，就变成了你得救的基础。这样，你就成了自己的救主。

　　新教改革宗人士基于圣经，强烈反对在信心中掺杂行为；他们认为称义、成圣和救赎必须唯独借着信心。这些教义我不必再提。对我个人来讲，若不是唯独靠着信心我就无法生活。靠自己，没有盼望，除非我每天起来，心中有坚如磐石般的确据。

「我心所望别无根基，
唯主宝血并主公义。
除此之外虚空无凭，
我独靠主耶稣圣名。」

　　这就是我唯一的盼望。

祷告

　　独一的神，求祢不要让我们信靠善工或让我们觉得善工是我们得救的根基。让我们以全心信靠来荣耀祢的恩典，祢是我们救恩的创始成终者，让我们将生命系于祢恩典的应许之上。阿们。

Scripture

GALATIANS 2:16

Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Commentary

JOHN CALVIN

We maintain that of whatever kind a man’s work may be, he is regarded as righteous before God simply on the ground of gratuitous mercy; because God, without any respect to works, freely adopts him in Christ, by imputing the righteousness of Christ to him as if it were his own. This we call the righteousness of faith, that is when a man, empty and drained of all confidence in works, feels convinced that the only ground of his acceptance with God is a righteousness which is wanting in himself, and is borrowed from Christ. The point on which the world goes astray (for this error has prevailed in almost every age), is in imagining that man, however partially defective he may be, still in some degree merits the favour of God by works. . . . God reconciles us to himself, from regard not to our works but to Christ alone, and by gratuitous adoption makes us his own children instead of children of wrath. So long as God regards our works, he finds no reason why he ought to love us. Wherefore it is necessary that he should bury our sins, impute to us the obedience of Christ which alone can stand his scrutiny, and adopt us as righteous through his merits. This is the clear and uniform doctrine of Scripture, “witnessed,” as Paul says, “by the law and the prophets” (Rom. 3:21).

Devotional

TIMOTHY KELLER

If you mix faith and works, if you say, “Yes, I have to have faith in what Jesus has done for me, but I also have to add this or this or this, or I’m not saved,” then you’re saying that what actually saves you is not what Jesus has done, but what you add. It makes you your own savior.

This illustration might help. Mr. A asked Mr. B to make him a wooden cabinet because Mr. B was a great cabinetmaker. Mr. B and Mr. A were friends, and therefore Mr. B said, “Well, I better make this really good . . . perfect.” So he worked and worked and worked on the cabinet till he got it to the place where it had been buffed and polished to perfection. He brought Mr. A into the workshop to see it, and Mr. A picked up a piece of sandpaper and said, “Let me just add one little stroke.” Mr. B said, “No! It is finished. It’s perfect. And there’s no way to add to it without subtracting from it.”

It’s the same with Jesus Christ’s work. Because when Jesus died, he said, “It is finished.” There is nothing else to add to it. It’s perfect. And if you add to it, you subtract from it. If you say, “He did this but I have to add this,” anything you add becomes the real basis of your salvation and makes you your own savior.

The Protestant Reformers made strong biblical arguments that you cannot mix faith and works, that justification and righteousness and salvation must be through faith alone. I won’t make any more of those arguments; I’ll just say this: Personally, I couldn’t live if that wasn’t the case. I don’t have any hope unless I can get up every day and stand on the bedrock knowledge that

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

That’s my only hope.

Prayer

One and Only God, keep us from trusting in good works or living in such a way that we imply they are the grounds of our salvation. Let us glorify your grace by leaning our whole weight upon it, staking our lives on the promise that you are the beginning and the end of our salvation. Amen.

问题32：称义和成圣是什么意思？
答：称义是指借着基督为我们死和复活，使我们在神面前被称为义；成圣是指借着圣灵在我们里面的工作，使我们的义逐渐成长。
儿童版：称义是指我们在神面前被称为义；成圣是指我们的义得以逐渐成长。

Question 32: What Do Justification and Sanctification Mean?
Answer: Justification means our declared righteousness before God, made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection for us. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness, made possible by the Spirit’s work in us.
For Kids: Justification means our declared righteousness before God. Sanctification means our gradual, growing righteousness.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《彼得前书》1 章1 节至2 节：

　　耶稣基督的使徒彼得写信给那分散在……就是照父神的先见被拣选，藉着圣灵得成圣洁，以致顺服耶稣基督，又蒙祂血所洒的人。愿恩惠、平安多多地加给你们！

注解

亚伯拉罕·布斯

　　虽然称义和成圣都是恩典的祝福，是不可分割的，但神在其中的作为却截然不同，两者在各方面都有很大的差异。或许可以这样解释：称义代表法律意义上的人，是恩典一次性的工作，终止于本质的改变，即免受刑罚和享有生命权；成圣代表肉体意义上的人，是恩典持续性的工作，终止于真实的改变，即习惯和行为的改变。称义是因着我们所没有的公义，成圣则是借着我们里面从基督而来的圣洁。一个是因，一个是果。称义是以基督为祭司，注重罪的问题；成圣是以祂为君王，被祂所支配。前者剥夺的是咒诅的权势，后者剥夺了罪的支配权。称义是即时完成的，而成圣是逐步完善的。

默想

约翰·派博

　　「称义」是神的主动之工，借此称我们为义、完全或完美。因为，唯独借着信心我们与耶稣基督联合了，而祂是完全的、公义的。所以，「称义」是在神面前的合法地位，唯独借着信心在灵里与耶稣联合。你不能靠着行为或努力得着这地位，神宣告你是完全的，是因为你与基督的联合，这是唯独借着信心才会发生的事。

　　「成圣」也是神的主动之工，借着祂的圣灵和道一点一滴地改变你。有时是大幅度的改变，使你成为祂独生爱子的样式。所以我们在行为上会越来越公义，真实的在成圣过程中胜过自己的不完全。
「称义」与「成圣」的关系是什么？这是一个关键性的问题。关键的经文是——我爱这节经文——《希伯来书》10 章的14节：「因为祂一次献祭，（基督）便叫那得以成圣的人永远完全。」想一下这是什么意思，永远完全的是谁？已经完全，已经做成了，已经永远完全了，就是那得以成圣的人。被认可，成为圣洁，祂使你成为完全圣洁。是谁？这个「你」是谁？就是那得以成圣的人。也就是说，你在神面前成为圣洁、完美、公义的确据，就是你借着信，已经得以成圣了。我知道听起来有点矛盾，但这就是基督徒生命的关键所在。

　　或者这样说，你每天有能力和自己的罪、软弱争战，就是你已经完全的确据。你若把它反过来这样想：「神要我成为完全，我要在行为上完全，神看了说我做得不错，然后视我为完全。」不，实际上正好完全相反！我们得以完全是因为基督，我们信祂在十字架上所成就的，祂是一生完全的人。我们信祂，借着这信心，神使我们与基督联合。祂的完全现在成为我们的完全，因此我们在基督里已经是完全的了。而我们已经完全的证据，就是我们恨恶自己的罪。我们每天借着信，借着祂的应许，为要胜过自己的不完全而争战。

　　所以我要强调的是：请不要弄反了。因为全世界都弄反了，其他宗教也都弄反了，想要借着我们所行的、我们的努力，去胜过不完全，来取悦神，你做不到的。神认我们为可被接纳的，接纳我们成为祂的儿女，算我们为义。因这样的义，我们要用一辈子来成为我们已经成为的样子。这个名下，那么我们都需要去了解三位一体的实质。三位一体之所以很重要，是因为上帝很重要。

祷告

　　我们的救主和生命的主，祢已经做成使我们称义的工。祢也开始了使我们成圣的工，我们深信祢会带领我们完成。求祢日日更新我们，让我们能有祢的样式，遵行祢的道。阿们。

Scripture

1 PETER 1:1–2

To those who are elect exiles . . . according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

Commentary

ABRAHAM BOOTH

Though justification and sanctification are both blessings of grace, and though they are inseparable, yet they are distinct acts of God; and there is, in various respects, a wide difference between them. The distinction may be thus expressed—justification respects the person in a legal sense, is a single act of grace, and terminates in a relative change; that is, a freedom from punishment, and a right to life; sanctification regards him in a physical sense, is a continual work of grace, and terminates in a real change, as to the quality both of habits and actions. The former is by a righteousness without us; the latter is by holiness wrought in us. That precedes as a cause; this follows as an effect. Justification is by Christ as a priest, and has regard to the guilt of sin; sanctification is by him as a king, and refers to its dominion. The former deprives of its damning power, the latter of its reigning power. Justification is instantaneous and complete in all its subjects; sanctification is progressive and perfecting by degrees.

Devotional

JOHN PIPER

Justification is the act of God by which he declares us to be just or righteous or perfect because by faith alone we have been united to Jesus Christ, who is perfect, who is just, who is righteous. So, justification is a legal standing before God, owing to a spiritual union with Jesus, which is owing to faith alone. You don’t work yourself into or perform your way into this standing with God. He declares you to be perfect because of your union with Christ, and that happens by faith alone.

Sanctification is the act of God by which he, through his Spirit and his Word, is conforming you little by little—or in big steps—into the image of his Son. So we are really becoming in our behavior righteous, really overcoming imperfections in our sanctification.

Now here’s the key question: How do these two relate to each other? The key verse is Hebrews 10:14: “By a single offering, [Christ] has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Think of what that says. Who has been perfected for all time? Has been. It’s done. Has been perfected for all time. Those who are being perfected. Being sanctified. Being made holy. He has made you perfectly holy. Who? The ones who are becoming holy. Which means that the evidence that you stand holy or perfect or just before God is that you are by faith becoming holy. Sounds kind of paradoxical, I know. But it’s the key to the Christian life.

Another way to say it is like this: The power by which you daily strive to overcome the imperfections in your life is the confidence that you’re already perfect. If you get these switched around, if you think, “Okay, God demands perfection; I’ve got to become in my behavior perfect, and then God will look at me and say, ‘He’s doing pretty good; we’ll let him be perfect or count him to be perfect.’” It’s just the opposite. Because of Christ, we believe in him and what he did on the cross and his perfect life. We believe in him, and by that faith, God unites us to Christ. His perfection is counted as ours. And the evidence that we stand perfected in Christ is that we hate our sin, and we daily, by faith in his promises, strive to overcome the imperfections that exist.

So my exhortation would simply be, please don’t get these backward. The whole world gets it all backward. Other religions get it all backward, where our works and our efforts to overcome imperfections might make us pleasing to God. You never can get there that way. God reckons us as acceptable, makes us his children, counts us as righteous; and because of that righteousness we then spend a lifetime becoming what we already are.

Prayer

Our Savior and Lord, you have completed the work of our justification. You have begun the work of our sanctification, and we trust that you will carry us through to its completion. Transform us day by day into your likeness, conforming us to your ways. Amen.

问题31：真信心是相信什么？
答：福音中教导我们的一切。《使徒信经》对我们信仰的告白如下：我信上帝，全能的父，创造天地的主；我信我主耶稣基督，上帝独生的儿子；因圣灵感孕，由童贞女马利亚所生；在本丢彼拉多手下受难；被钉于十字架，受死，埋葬；降在阴间，第三天从死人中复活；升天，坐在全能父上帝的右边；将来必从那里降临，审判活人死人；我信圣灵；我信圣而公的教会；我信圣徒相通；我信罪得赦免；我信身体复活；我信永生。
儿童版：我信上帝，全能的父，创造天地的主；我信我主耶稣基督，上帝独生的儿子；因圣灵感孕，由童贞女马利亚所生；在本丢彼拉多手下受难；被钉于十字架，受死，埋葬；降在阴间，第三天从死人中复活；升天，坐在全能父上帝的右边；将来必从那里降临，审判活人死人；我信圣灵；我信圣而公的教会；我信圣徒相通；我信罪得赦免；我信身体复活；我信永生。

Question 31: What Do We Believe by True Faith?
Answer: Everything taught to us in the gospel. The Apostles’ Creed expresses what we believe in these words: We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.
For Kids: We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《犹大书》1 章3 节：

　　亲爱的弟兄啊，我想尽心写信给你们，论我们同得救恩的时候，就不得不写信劝你们，要为从前一次交付圣徒的真道竭力的争辩。

注解

约翰·卫斯理

　　什么是信仰？信仰不是一个观点，也不是一种表述形式；信仰不是若干观点的集合，无论它们多么的正确。一连串的观点并不是基督教信仰，就像一串珠子也不能代表基督徒的圣洁。信仰不是认同某个或某些观点。一个人可以认同三个，或二十三个信条：他可以认同全部新旧约（至少照他所理解的），却根本没有基督教信仰。

　　「基督教信仰」是存在于心里的有关神的确据或信念，即相信神已经借着祂的儿子与我和好；与此密不可分的是对神的信心：在一切事上，尤其在那些无形、永恒的美好事物上相信这位满有恩典，已经与我们和好的父。因此，从基督徒的角度来说，相信就是在永恒的光中行走，就是对至高者已经借着祂的爱子与我和好有清楚的看见和信心。

默想

唐·卡森

　　「我信上帝，全能的父，创造天地的主」，这就是公认的《使徒信经》的开头。严格来讲，这并不是使徒们写的，这是在二世纪才出现的。「使徒信经」的意思，不是使徒亲口陈述，但总结了使徒的教义，以归纳的方式反映新约的教义，是早期的基督教信仰告白。因为它在很早就被广泛地使用，并且跨越了全世界基督教各宗各派，成了少有的、联合基督徒的共同信念。

　　你若细心看、慢慢读，你会发现其中提到了圣父、圣子、圣灵、创造、童贞女的感孕、基督降临、死里复活、基督徒是什么样的人、什么是圣灵在我们心中运行，等等。语言非常精简，成千上万的基督徒都会背诵，或在主日背诵，或在个人灵修时使用。

　　我们必须记住一件重要的事，信条，从某种程度上来讲，是在那个时代中所形成的。不是因为圣经改变了，而是随着时间的推移，我们对圣经所问的问题会改变。比如在十六世纪宗教改革时期，也形成了其他的信经，所问所答也略有不同，但全世界基督徒都接受《使徒信经》，这是因为它在很多重要教义产生分歧之前就已经形成了。在这个框架下，它用很精简的几句话浓缩了福音。这是在二世纪的一种尝试，试图总结我们所读到的内容，比如在《哥林多前书》15 章开头的经文，那也是极其简洁的信条。保罗问福音是什么？第一，就是基督照圣经所说，为我们的罪死了，再加上其他部分不断地增补，就成了好消息，就是福音的内容。在这个框架中，神在日期满足之时，差遣爱子，死在十架上，并从死里复活，使一些人成为属祂的人。保罗称这些人是新造的人。

　　当你在主日参加公共崇拜，背诵《使徒信经》时，你要记得在这背后，是两千年的基督教历史。这信经跨文化、空间、时间，将基督徒连结在一起，所以基督徒能够在一起宣告：「我信上帝，全能的父，创造天地的主。」

祷告

　　造天地的主，求祢让这惊人的信仰告白成为我们鲜活的生命。不要让我们将神学真理与祢在时间、空间上的救赎历史割裂开来。不要让我们选择放弃，而是让我们的生命安息在祢使死人复活的真理之上。阿们。

Scripture

JUDE 3

I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.

Commentary

JOHN WESLEY

But what is faith? Not an opinion, no more than it is a form of words; not any number of opinions put together, be they ever so true. A string of opinions is no more Christian faith, than a string of beads is Christian holiness. It is not an assent to any opinion, or any number of opinions. A man may assent to three, or three-and-twenty creeds: he may assent to all the Old and New Testament (at least, as far as he understands them) and yet have no Christian faith at all.

. . . Christian faith . . . is a divine evidence or conviction wrought in the heart, that God is reconciled to me through his Son; inseparably joined with a confidence in him, as a gracious reconciled Father, as for all things, so especially for all those good things which are invisible and eternal. To believe (in the Christian sense) is, then, to walk in the light of eternity; and to have a clear sight of, and confidence in, the Most High, reconciled to me through the Son of his love.

Devotional

D. A. CARSON

“We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” So begins what is universally called the Apostles’ Creed. Strictly speaking, it was not formulated by the apostles. It emerged in the second century. But it is called the Apostles’ Creed because the summary of what is given in the creed reflects the doctrine of the apostles, the doctrine of the New Testament in summary form. It’s an early Christian confession. But it is so early, and has been used so widely across Christian denominations all around the world, that it is one of the rare things that unites all Christians in common belief.

If you read it through carefully and slowly, you’ll see there’s explicit mention of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, of creation, the virgin birth, the coming of Christ, his rising from the dead, who Christians are, what it means to have the Holy Spirit working within us, and so forth, all in very brief compass in words that millions and millions of Christians have either memorized or recite every Sunday or sometimes use as part of their private devotions.

It’s important to remember that creeds are shaped, at least in part, by the era in which they are formulated, not because the Bible changes, but because the questions that we ask of the Bible change just a wee bit from time to time. Other creedal statements, for example, that were made at the time of the Reformation in the sixteenth century ask and answer slightly different questions. But the Apostles’ Creed is regularly said by Christians all around the world because it was written so early that it was used before a lot of the later important doctrinal divisions set in. And within this framework, it very ably summarizes the gospel in just a few sentences. In some ways it is a kind of second-century attempt to recapitulate what we read, for example, in the opening verses of 1 Corinthians 15, which itself is a very simple creed. What is the gospel? Paul asks. Well, first, Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and then various things are added and added and added until we have a summary of the great good news and its content—that God in the fullness of time sent forth his Son to die on the cross, rise from the dead, and bring to himself a vast number of the people that Paul calls the new humanity.

So when you gather for public worship on the Lord’s Day and recite the creed, remember that behind the mere words on the page are two thousand years of Christian history. The creed serves to link Christians across cultures and languages and space and time as together we say we believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

Prayer

Maker of Heaven and Earth, make the startling claims of our faith come alive to us. Let us not divorce theological truth from the history of your salvation, which occurred in time and space. Let us not waiver in unbelief, but rest our lives upon the truth that you raise the dead. Amen.

问题30：什么是对基督耶稣的信心？
答：对耶稣基督的信心，就是承认神在祂的话中所启示的一切真理，相信祂，接受并单单倚靠祂在福音里赐给我们的救恩。
儿童版：接受并单单倚靠祂在福音里赐给我们的救恩。

Question 30: What is Faith in Jesus Christ?
Answer: Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.
For Kids: Receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《加拉太书》2 章20 节：

　　我已经与基督同钉十字架，现在活着的不再是我，乃是基督在我里面活着；并且我如今在肉身活着，是因信神的儿子而活，祂是爱我，为我舍己。

注解

约拿单·爱德华兹

　　总的来说，我能想到的使人称义的「信心」，最好、最清晰、最完美，也最贴合圣经的定义就是：灵魂完全拥抱耶稣基督是救主的启示。拥抱是一个比喻，但我觉得它比任何正确的表达都清晰得多；它也叫相信，因为相信是灵魂拥抱一个宣告或启示的首要动作：当谈到一个启示或宣告时，我们就可以称「相信」为「拥抱」，这比爱或选择都更加贴切。如果只是谈到人，用爱就更合适。如果是谈到礼物、遗产或奖赏，则用收到或接受更为合适。

　　信心的定义可以有以下几种表达：灵魂全然接受耶稣基督是我们的救主；灵魂拥抱神启示的真理：耶稣基督是我们的救主；灵魂全然接受和仰赖神启示的真理：基督是我们的救主。

　　信心就是整个灵魂仰赖和认同这个真理，并拥抱它。要借着信心、意志和情感，使你的头脑和心灵全然臣服在这个启示之下，拥抱并持守它到底。

默想

约翰·叶慈

　　我们是否真的理解「救赎」这个词的含义，得救到底是什么意思，救赎到底在讲什么？

　　一方面，它代表得拯救，也代表被治愈、被饶恕、被接纳、被重塑而成为完整，是包含很多意思的一个重要的词。「得救」表示与神的关系恢复。神今生赐给我们生命，也赐给我们在天国中永恒的生命、永远的生命，所以救恩也有多重的意义。救恩是神的礼物，不是我们可以赚取的，很多人都误以为可以赚取救恩。不，这是神的礼物，我们无法赚取，但却是我们可以接受的。刚开始的时候，我们就要弄清楚这一点。

　　救恩可能是瞬间就临到的，就像撒该，耶稣去了祂家。耶稣说：「今天救恩到了这家」（路19:9），所以有可能就在那一刻，认出耶稣的信心带来了救恩。但救恩也必须自内而外地活出来。有一天，有一位老主教走在伦敦街上，有一位路边传道者对他说：「先生，请问你得救了吗？」他的回答值得我们深思。这位老人停下来，想了想，然后满怀感激地回答说：「是的，我已蒙拯救。我现在是得救的，我将来也会得救。」这是什么意思？他回想起他以前信靠耶稣的那一刻，在信心盼望中回转归向祂，他经历了救恩，同样，他也在表达，救恩是他活在其中的状态。这也意味着救恩是他每天都能在生活中经历到、学到的，救恩也会在我们与主同在的那天完全彰显出来。

　　当神打开我们的心眼，就是救恩的开端。我们开始意识到我们是多么的需要基督，我们误以为自己能够拯救自己，但这条路是行不通的。蒙拯救就像快溺水了一样，你知道你无法救自己，必须有人来救你，你必须放松，等待救援，如果你不会游泳，一直挣扎反而会被淹死。我们唯一对救恩的贡献就是我生来的罪性。承认自己生来就是罪人，这使我们意识到要谦卑地来到神面前，借着信心悔改自己的罪，把罪孽摆在祂面前，承认我们需要祂。这就是救恩的开始。

　　保罗在《罗马书》10 章说，凡求告主名的就必得救。信心必须是在基督里，唯有如此才能成为神的儿女，才能承受永恒的生命。这世代很多人拒绝接受这个。但耶稣说：「我就是道路、真理、生命，若不藉着我，没有人能到父那里去。」（约14:6）祂就是我们蒙拯救的道路。

　　这也是使徒们的信息。彼得在《使徒行传》4 章中说：「没有赐下别的名，我们可以靠着得救。」救恩唯有来自耶稣基督。我们是否真的理解「救赎」这个词的含义，得救到底是什么意思，救赎到底在讲什么？

　　一方面，它代表得拯救，也代表被治愈、被饶恕、被接纳、被重塑而成为完整，是包含很多意思的一个重要的词。「得救」表示与神的关系恢复。神今生赐给我们生命，也赐给我们在天国中永恒的生命、永远的生命，所以救恩也有多重的意义。救恩是神的礼物，不是我们可以赚取的，很多人都误以为可以赚取救恩。不，这是神的礼物，我们无法赚取，但却是我们可以接受的。刚开始的时候，我们就要弄清楚这一点。

　　救恩可能是瞬间就临到的，就像撒该，耶稣去了祂家。耶稣说：「今天救恩到了这家」（路19:9），所以有可能就在那一刻，认出耶稣的信心带来了救恩。但救恩也必须自内而外地活出来。有一天，有一位老主教走在伦敦街上，有一位路边传道者对他说：「先生，请问你得救了吗？」他的回答值得我们深思。这位老人停下来，想了想，然后满怀感激地回答说：「是的，我已蒙拯救。我现在是得救的，我将来也会得救。」这是什么意思？他回想起他以前信靠耶稣的那一刻，在信心盼望中回转归向祂，他经历了救恩，同样，他也在表达，救恩是他活在其中的状态。这也意味着救恩是他每天都能在生活中经历到、学到的，救恩也会在我们与主同在的那天完全彰显出来。

　　当神打开我们的心眼，就是救恩的开端。我们开始意识到我们是多么的需要基督，我们误以为自己能够拯救自己，但这条路是行不通的。蒙拯救就像快溺水了一样，你知道你无法救自己，必须有人来救你，你必须放松，等待救援，如果你不会游泳，一直挣扎反而会被淹死。我们唯一对救恩的贡献就是我生来的罪性。承认自己生来就是罪人，这使我们意识到要谦卑地来到神面前，借着信心悔改自己的罪，把罪孽摆在祂面前，承认我们需要祂。这就是救恩的开始。

　　保罗在《罗马书》10 章说，凡求告主名的就必得救。信心必须是在基督里，唯有如此才能成为神的儿女，才能承受永恒的生命。这世代很多人拒绝接受这个。但耶稣说：「我就是道路、真理、生命，若不藉着我，没有人能到父那里去。」（约14:6）祂就是我们蒙拯救的道路。

　　这也是使徒们的信息。彼得在《使徒行传》4 章中说：「没有赐下别的名，我们可以靠着得救。」救恩唯有来自耶稣基督。

祷告

　　使我们生发信心的主，我们相信祢就是祢所说的那一位。祢的话就是真理，它启示祢是我们得蒙救赎的唯一盼望。我们信祢的应许，是凭着信心，不是凭着眼见。阿们。

Scripture

GALATIANS 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Commentary

JONATHAN EDWARDS

Upon the whole, the best, and clearest, and most perfect definition of justifying faith, and most according to the Scripture, that I can think of, is this, faith is the soul’s entirely embracing the revelation of Jesus Christ as our Saviour. The word embrace is a metaphorical expression; but I think it is much clearer than any proper expression whatsoever; it is called believing, because believing is the first act of the soul in embracing a narration or revelation: and embracing, when conversant about a revelation or thing declared, is more properly called believing, than loving or choosing. If it were conversant about a person only, it would be more properly called loving. If it were conversant about a gift, an inheritance, or reward, it would more properly be called receiving or accepting.

The definition might have been expressed in these words: faith is the soul’s entirely adhering and acquiescing in the revelation of Jesus Christ as our Saviour—Or thus: faith is the soul’s embracing that truth of God, that reveals Jesus Christ as our Saviour—Or thus: faith is the soul’s entirely acquiescing in, and depending upon, the truth of God, revealing Christ as our Saviour.

It is the whole soul according and assenting to the truth, and embracing of it. There is an entire yielding of the mind and heart to the revelation, and a closing with it, and adhering to it, with the belief, and with the inclination and affection.

Devotional

JOHN YATES

Sometimes I wonder if we realize what a really big word salvation is. What does it mean to be saved? What’s the meaning of salvation?

It means safe. But it also mean healed. It means forgiven. It means adopted. It means having been made whole. It’s a big word. It means that we are restored in our relationship with God. We’ve been given life with God now, and we’ve also been given the gift of eternal life with God in heaven forever. So salvation is big. Salvation is a gift of God. It’s not something that we can earn, even though that’s the way many people feel about it. It is not something we can achieve, but something that has to be received. And we need to have that straight from the very beginning.

Salvation can come instantaneously, as it did for Zacchaeus when Jesus entered into his house. Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9). It can come in a moment of realization and faith. But it is something that is lived out over the course of a lifetime. There’s a story about an old English bishop who was walking down a London street when a sidewalk evangelist said to him, “Sir, have you been saved?” The old man’s answer is significant. According to the story, he stopped and thought and then in a very gracious way said, “Yes, I have been saved. I am being saved, and I shall be saved.” What did he mean? He meant he could look back on a moment in time when he put faith in Christ and turned to him in faith and hope, and he experienced salvation. But he also meant that salvation was something he was living and experiencing more of every day. And salvation was something he was going to enter into more fully when he went to be with the Lord in the next life.

Salvation begins when God opens our eyes to begin to grasp how much we need Christ. As long as we think we can save ourselves, the way is closed off. Being saved is like being in the midst of drowning and realizing you can’t save yourself and someone has to come along and rescue you, and you just have to relax and be rescued because you’re over your head and you can’t swim and you’re going to drown otherwise. The only thing I can contribute to my salvation is my own sinful nature. It’s about coming to God with an awareness of our humble need—coming in faith, repenting of my sins, and laying out before God my sense that I need him. That’s the beginning of salvation.

Paul says in Romans 10 that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. We live in a time when many people reject the idea that faith in Christ is necessary in order to become a child of God and an inheritor of eternal life. And yet Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.” He is our pathway to salvation.

This was the message of the apostles. As Peter preached in Acts 4: “There is no other name by which we may be saved.” Salvation comes through Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Author of Our Faith, we believe that you are who you say you are. Your Word is truth, and it reveals you as our only hope of salvation. We believe your promises, walking by faith, not by sight. Amen.

问题29：我们怎样才能得救？
答：只能借着相信耶稣基督和祂在十字架上的代赎之死。这样，尽管我们犯了悖逆神的罪，并且仍然倾向于行恶，然而，当我们悔改并相信基督时，神就不因我们自己的任何功德，只是出于纯粹的恩典，将基督完全的义归给我们。
儿童版：只能借着相信耶稣基督和祂在十字架上的代赎之死。

Question 29: How Can We Be Saved?
Answer: Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross; so even though we are guilty of having disobeyed God and are still inclined to all evil, nevertheless, God, without any merit of our own but only by pure grace, imputes to us the perfect righteousness of Christ when we repent and believe in him.
For Kids: Only by faith in Jesus Christ and in his substitutionary atoning death on the cross.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《以弗所书》2 章8 节至9 节：

　　你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信；这并不是出于自己，乃是神所赐的；也不是出于行为，免得有人自夸。

注解

司布真

　　我们既因信称义，就得以与神和好。良心就停止了控告。如今审判是要判罪人无罪，而非控告祂。回首从前所犯下的罪，我们的心带着深深的忧伤，然而却不再惧怕有刑罚来到；因为基督已经偿清祂百姓所有的罪债，且收到了神的收据；除非神不公义，一笔债务要人偿还两次，否则，由耶稣代为受死的灵魂没有一个会下地狱。我们被开启了的心性似乎告诉我们，神一定是公义的；我们觉得一定是这样，这最初让我们感到恐惧；但奇妙的是，同样的信念，到后来竟成为我们信心与平安的支柱！如果神是公义的，我，一个罪人，若无人替代，就必要受刑罚，但耶稣替我受了刑罚；现在，如果神是公义的，我，一个在基督里的罪人，就绝不会受刑罚。一个被耶稣代赎了的灵魂绝不可能遭受律法的刑罚，除非神先改变祂自己的本性。耶稣已经等价地承受了祂百姓因为罪所当受的神的忿怒，如今信祂的人可以因着荣耀的胜利而欢呼，「谁能控告神的选民呢？」（参见罗8:33）神不能，因为祂已经算他们为义了；基督也不能，因为祂已经为他们死，又复活了。我的盼望不在于我不是一个罪人，而在于基督为了我这个罪人死；我的依靠不在于我是圣洁的，而在于我虽不洁，但祂是我的义；我的信仰不取决于我是，或将是什么，也不依赖于我的感觉或认知，而在于基督的所是，以及祂已经为我做的和正在为我做的。美丽的盼望女仆骑在正义的雄狮上，仿佛女王一般。

默想

凯文·德扬

　　《使徒行传》16 章记载说，保罗和西拉在监狱中，地大大震动，囚犯都要逃走了。那里的一个狱卒醒来后，以为囚犯都逃走了，祂就拿刀要自杀，保罗却阻止了祂。接下来这个狱卒问了一个很著名的问题：「先生，我当怎样行才可以得救？」（徒16:30）保罗给了祂最简洁、最有爱心、符合圣经、绝对是最美的答案：「当信主耶稣，你和你一家都必得救。」（徒16:31）

　　「我当怎样行才可以得救？」无论今生还是来世，再也没有比这更重要的问题了。保罗的回答为我们的要理问答做了一个精彩的总结。我们在这里看到，保罗讲到信耶稣是什么意思，哪种信心才能使人得救，神如何借着信拯救人。这里有两个关键词，第一个词是「唯独」，「唯独」在耶稣基督里的信心。说到信仰或信心的时候，人们都有自己不同的看法和见解，但「唯独」信心的意思，不是在信心之外再加上什么，不是基于我们背景的信心，不是信心加上你的出身，不是信心加上你能做的好事，不是信心加上社会公义，不是信心加上你持续的祷告，是「唯独」借着信心，而且是在耶稣基督里的信心。这信心是有对象的。

　　有很多人会自称「我是有信心、有信仰的人」，「你也要有信心啊」，但信心本身毫无价值。信心的对象才能拯救我们。一个人拥有很强烈的信心，或表现得很敬虔是没有用的，拥有神秘属灵体验也没用，而是唯独对耶稣有信心，祂是信心的对象。拯救我们的是信心的对象，信心只是工具。信心不是某种善行，然后神看见，就说：「你虽然做得不多，但你有信心，我真的很喜欢。」不是这样的。我们借着信心与基督联合，基督借以拯救我们，信心的对象才是重要的。

　　我在比较寒冷的地带长大，我们经常会去溜冰，打冰球。当你小心翼翼走到今年初结的冰上面，你会想：「这冰够不够厚？」有人会在冰面上自由地溜来溜去，他们对冰层充满了信心；也有人很害怕，小心翼翼，他们对冰层信心不足，不敢上冰。但什么能保证我们的安全呢？使人安全的不是信心的程度，当然你信心满满，就可以溜来溜去，但关键的是冰的厚度。

　　也就是你所站之地使你免于危险，而这所站之地就是耶稣基督，这就是唯独信靠基督的意思。

　　另外一个关键词在这里异常重要，这个词是「归算」，也许对你来说是新词，但这对福音和基督教信仰来说，是非常基要的。就是耶稣一生所活出来的公义，全都「归算」给我们，都算作是我们的，就好像汇款一样被划给我们了。我们所继承的义和我们自己的义是不同的。「我本身就是义人，我行公义」，这不是这里所讲的义。这里是在讲基督的义，是在我们之外的义，是因为我们借着信心与基督联合，祂的义「归算」成为我们的义。所以神能同时以公义追讨恶人的罪，并通过赦罪让恶人称义。

　　这就是《罗马书》3 章的目的，也是福音中的好消息。虽然我们依然是罪人，神却使我们称义，又能合乎公义地践行此事。不是因为祂会变魔术，好像罪不是什么大问题，把它变不见了，而是因为我们属基督，祂的义成为了我们的义。神依然公义，而我们又能被称义。

祷告

　　怜悯的主，我们放下自己的骄傲和一切的自义，以悔改和信心来到祢的面前。我们相信借着祢的死，我们已经得着生命。我们为这白白的救恩而赞美祢。阿们。

Scripture

EPHESIANS 2:8–9

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Commentary

CHARLES HADDON SPURGEON

Being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Conscience accuses no longer. Judgment now decides for the sinner instead of against him. Memory looks back upon past sins, with deep sorrow for the sin, but yet with no dread of any penalty to come; for Christ has paid the debt of his people to the last jot and tittle, and received the divine receipt; and unless God can be so unjust as to demand double payment for one debt, no soul for whom Jesus died as a substitute can ever be cast into hell. It seems to be one of the very principles of our enlightened nature to believe that God is just; we feel that it must be so, and this gives us our terror at first; but is it not marvelous that this very same belief that God is just, becomes afterwards the pillar of our confidence and peace! If God is just, I, a sinner, alone and without a substitute, must be punished; but Jesus stands in my place and is punished for me; and now, if God is just, I, a sinner, standing in Christ, can never be punished. God must change his nature before one soul for whom Jesus was a substitute can ever by any possibility suffer the lash of the law. Therefore, Jesus having taken the place of the believer—having rendered a full equivalent to divine wrath for all that his people ought to have suffered as the result of sin, the be- liever can shout with glorious triumph, “Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect?” Not God, for he has justified; not Christ, for he has died, “yes rather has risen again.” My hope does not live because I am not a sinner, but because I am a sinner for whom Christ died; my trust is not that I am holy, but that being unholy, he is my righteousness. My faith does not rest upon what I am, or shall be, or feel, or know, but in what Christ is, in what he has done, and in what he is now doing for me. On the lion of justice the fair maid of hope rides like a queen.

Devotional

KEVIN DEYOUNG

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas are in prison when a violent earthquake occurs. Prisoners are escaping, and the jailer wakes up and is abso- lutely dismayed that everyone is running off. The jailer is about to kill himself, and Paul stops him. And the jailer asks this very famous question: “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30). Paul gives him the short, biblical, absolutely beautiful answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household” (v. 31).

“What must I do to be saved?” There’s no more important question in this life or for the next life. The answer to our catechism question provides a wonderful summary of what it means to have faith in Christ—the sort of faith that saves—and how God saves through faith. This summary contains two key words. First is the very first word: only. Only faith in Jesus Christ. You see, it wouldn’t be terribly controversial to talk about faith. People are into faith and believing something. But it’s only faith, not faith plus something else. It’s not faith in addition to your background, faith plus your family of origin, faith plus how many good things you can do for social justice, or faith plus how often you pray. It’s only faith, and it’s faith in Jesus Christ—there is an object to it.

Many people will wax on and on about faith and belief and say, “I’m a person of faith” or “You’ve got to have faith.” But faith by itself doesn’t mean anything. It is the object of faith that saves us. It’s not being a person who has strong beliefs, who is sincere, or who has a mystical belief in spiritual things that saves us. It’s faith in Jesus Christ. He’s the object. It’s the object of our faith that saves us. Faith is only an instrument. It’s not the one good deed that God sees and says, “Well, you don’t have much going for you, but you have faith, and I really like that.” No. Faith is what joins us to Christ, and then he saves us. It’s the object that matters.

Growing up in a cold part of the country, I often went ice skating and played hockey. I might tiptoe out onto that first freeze of the year, and sort of wonder, “Is this ice thick enough?” Someone else might be on the ice zipping around skating with great freedom and having a lot of faith in the ice, while I’m gingerly tiptoeing and have just enough faith to get out on the ice. But what makes both of us secure? It’s not the level of faith, though you’d like to have the strong faith that’s zipping around there, but it’s the thickness of the ice.

It’s the object on which you’re standing that saves you. And that’s Jesus Christ. So it’s only faith in him.

The other word that is so crucial here is imputes. It is essential to the gospel and to the Christian faith that the righteous life that Christ lived is imputed to us. That means it’s reckoned to us. It’s counted to us. It’s sort of a wire transfer of funds. And there’s a difference between a righteousness that is inherent in us, infused in us, a kind of righteousness that says, “Well, look at me, I’m righteous. I do righteous things.” That’s not what this is talking about. This is talking about the righteousness of Christ that is outside of us, but because we’re joined to Jesus by faith, it gets counted as our righteousness, so that God can be both the just and the justifier of the wicked.

That’s the problem in Romans 3, and that’s the good news of the gospel—that though we are still sinners, God justifies us. And he is just to do so not because he waves a magic wand or says sin’s not a big deal (wink-wink); it’s because we belong to Christ and his righteousness is our righteousness that God can be just and we can be justified.

Prayer

Merciful One, we renounce our pride and all pretensions of self- righteousness, and we come to you in repentance and faith. We trust your death to give us life. We praise you for the gift of salvation. Amen.

问题28：那些没有因信与基督联合的人死后会发生什么？
答：在审判的日子，他们将接受对他们可怕但公正的定罪判决。他们将被赶出神悦纳的同在，投入地狱，承受公正而严厉的永恒惩罚。
儿童版：他们将被赶出神悦纳的同在，投入地狱，承受公正而严厉的永恒惩罚。

Question 28: What Happens After Death to Those Not United to Christ by Faith?
Answer: At the day of judgment they will receive the fearful but just sentence of condemnation pronounced against them. They will be cast out from the favorable presence of God, into hell, to be justly and grievously punished, forever.
For Kids: They will be cast out from the presence of God, into hell, to be justly punished, forever.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《约翰福音》3 章16 节至18 节、36 节：

　　神爱世人，甚至将祂的独生子赐给他们，叫一切信祂的，不至灭亡，反得永生。因为神差祂的儿子降世，不是要定世人的罪，乃是要叫世人因祂得救。信祂的人，不被定罪；不信的人，罪已经定了，因为祂不信神独生子的名……信子的人有永生；不信子的人得不着永生，神的震怒常在祂身上。

注解

莱尔

　　地狱是个令人痛苦的主题，但我却不敢、也不能保持沉默。若不是神亲口提到，谁会想谈论地狱之火呢？当神如此直白地谈到地狱时，谁还能保持安稳，闭口不言呢？

　　……我知道有些人根本不相信有地狱。他们认为不可能有这样一个地方。他们称这不符合神的慈爱。他们说这种想法太可怕，不可能是真的。魔鬼当然喜欢这些人的观点，他们对它的国大有帮助。他们鼓吹的正是魔鬼最喜欢的老套路，「你们不一定死」……

　　要解决的问题只有一个：「神是怎么说的」。你相信圣经吗？那就按照祂说的，地狱是真实的。它就和天堂一样真实，和因信称义一样真实，和基督死在十字架上一样真实，和死海一样真实。假如你怀疑地狱，就相当于你怀疑所有的事实或教义。不相信地狱，圣经中的一切也就变得七零八落了，你就可以立刻把圣经丢在一边了。从「没有地狱」到「没有神」只不过是一步之遥。

默想

约翰·林

　　在圣经中最困难并被误解的教导之一，就是地狱是真实的，在地狱里人是有知觉的，经历永恒的刑罚。我们可以理解，我们身边都有不认识基督的人，朋友、亲人、邻居、同事。我们很少会去想，地狱将是他们最终的归宿。从古至今，人们对地狱总感到不安。表面上看来，这和圣经中所讲的神的恩典慈爱不相符，但问题是我们无法避开圣经对人在地狱里有知觉和永远痛苦的教导。甚至地狱若不存在，我们就无法来谈起神的慈爱。

　　首先，要从耶稣讲起，祂是最有爱心的人，但祂提到地狱的次数和对地狱的形容比所有圣经作者加起来还多。祂形容地狱像欣嫩子谷，是终年焚烧垃圾的地方，或是黑暗无光悲惨之地。在财主与拉撒路的故事中，我们看到地狱是人有意识真受苦的地方。耶稣持续不断地警戒我们关于地狱的事。（参见太13:41-42 ；可9:42-48 ；路16:19-31）

　　第二，地狱的存在，能帮助我们理解罪的后果。从某方面来讲，地狱就是我们罪人一直期望的结局：人彻底独立，离开神。所以在地狱里，我们就被剪除，离开神。在地狱里没有爱，没有友谊，没有喜乐，没有安息，因为这些事情只存在于有神的地方。

　　最重要的是，若我们不理解地狱，我们就无法真正理解十字架的意义。我们若不了解神真实的烈怒，就无法了解神的慈爱。神的愤怒就是：对毁坏祂所爱事物之人的愤恨是确定的、受控的。神因祂对受造界的爱，显出愤怒，因为祂是公义的。祂愤恨贪婪、骄傲、自私和不公义，因为这样的邪恶是具有毁灭性的。神不允许任何人破坏受造界，毁坏祂所爱的百姓。

　　我们可以这样想，你若说「我知道神爱我，因为祂『将会』把一切都给我」，与「我知道神爱我，因为祂『已经』把一切都给了我」，这两者是非常不同的。一个是爱的感受，另一个是爱的行动。若我们试图降低地狱的痛苦与神的愤怒，好像这样的神会比较有爱心，但这其实是在弱化神的爱。若地狱不是真的，我们就无从理解基督为我们的罪所付出的真正的代价。若没有真实的代价，那也就没有真正的爱，没有真正的恩典，也就无从赞美祂为我们所成就的。

　　除非你相信有地狱，不然你永远不会懂耶稣多么爱你，祂多么珍惜你。耶稣在十字架上亲尝地狱的滋味，耶稣被祂的父弃绝，在十字架上祂呼喊：「我的神，我的神，为什么离弃我？」（太27:46）当耶稣失去父亲永恒中的慈爱，祂亲尝哀伤，被撕裂、被孤立，远远超过我们任何人在地狱中所要承受的痛苦。祂为我们而被弃绝孤立，担当我们当受的刑罚。除非你相信地狱，明白耶稣为你所做的，否则你永远不会明白耶稣有多么爱你。

　　所以问题的重点不在于慈爱的神怎么会容许地狱的存在，重点是，耶稣若为我亲尝地狱，那祂一定真的就是慈爱的神。所以问题不是「神为何容许地狱存在？」问题是「神为何为我亲尝地狱？」而且祂真的这样做了！

祷告

　　审判全地的主，一想到那些在祢约之外的人所要面临的审判，我们就恐惧战兢。愿我们所爱的人都能及时地与祢和好，以使他们能免受应得的刑罚。若没有祢，我们也该如此受罚。阿们。

Scripture

JOHN 3:16–18, 36

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. . . . Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Commentary

J. C. RYLE

Painful as the subject of hell is, it is one about which I dare not, cannot, must not be silent. Who would desire to speak of hell-fire if God had not spoken of it? When God has spoken of it so plainly, who can safely hold his peace?

. . . I know that some do not believe there is any hell at all. They think it impossible there can be such a place. They call it inconsistent with the mercy of God. They say it is too awful an idea to be really true. The devil of course rejoices in the views of such people. They help his kingdom mightily. They are preaching up his old favourite doctrine, “ye shall not surely die.” . . .

There is but one point to be settled, “what says the word of God.” Do you believe the Bible? Then depend upon it, hell is real and true. It is as true as heaven—as true as justification by faith—as true as the fact that Christ died upon the cross—as true as the Dead Sea. There is not a fact or doctrine which you may not lawfully doubt if you doubt hell. Disbelieve hell, and you unscrew, unsettle, and unpin everything in Scripture. You may as well throw your Bible aside at once. From “no hell” to “no God” there is but a series of steps.

Devotional

JOHN LIN

One of the Bible’s more difficult and often misunderstood teachings is that of hell being a real, conscious, eternal punishment. And this is understandable. All of us have people in our midst who don’t know Christ—friends, family members, neighbors, colleagues—about whom we would rather not think that hell could be their future. In fact, people have had discomfort about the idea of hell throughout history, because on the surface it seems inconsistent with everything we read in the Bible about God’s mercy and love. And yet the Bible’s teaching on hell as conscious and eternal suffering is unavoidable. Actually, without the existence of hell, much of what we know about God’s love comes into question.

First, Jesus, the most loving man who ever lived, spoke about hell more frequently and vividly than all other biblical authors combined. He described it as Gehenna, which was a garbage heap where fires burned constantly, or as the outer darkness, where there’s no illumination but only misery. In the story he tells of the rich man and Lazarus, hell is a place of conscious and real suffering. Jesus warns us about hell again and again (Matt. 13:41–42; Mark 9:42–48; Luke 16:19–31).

Second, the existence of hell helps us to understand the consequences of sin. In some ways hell is the outworking of what we as sinful people have always wanted: autonomy and independence from God. In hell we are therefore cut off from God and from everything that God is. So in hell there’s no love, there’s no friendship, there’s no joy, there’s no rest, because those are all things that exist only where God is present.

But most importantly, until we acknowledge the reality of hell, we cannot truly understand the meaning of the cross. Put another way, we cannot understand God’s love until we understand the reality of his wrath. God’s wrath is a settled, controlled opposition and hatred of anything that is destroying what he loves. God’s wrath flows from his love for creation. It flows from his justice. He’s angry at greed, self-centeredness, injustice, and evil because they’re destructive. And God will not tolerate anything or anyone responsible for destroying the creation and the people that he loves.

Think of it this way. Saying, “I know God loves me because he would give up everything for me” is much different from saying, “I know God loves me because he did give up everything for me.” One is a loving sentiment; the other is a loving act. And while we may try to make God more loving by diminishing the reality of hell and God’s wrath, all we’ve really done is diminish the love of God. Without a real hell we can’t understand the real price that Jesus paid for our sin. And without a real price that was paid, there’s no real love, there’s no real grace, and there’s no real praise for what he has done.

Unless you believe in hell, you’ll never know how much Jesus loves you and how much he values you. Jesus experienced hell himself on the cross. Jesus was separated from his Father. On the cross Jesus cried, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). When Jesus lost the eternal love of the Father, he experienced an agony, a disintegration, an isolation greater than anything anyone of us would have experienced in eternity in hell. He took the isolation and disintegration that we deserve upon himself. Unless you believe in hell and see what Jesus took for you, you will never know how much he loves you.

The real issue is not how a loving God would allow there to be a hell. The issue is, if Jesus Christ would experience hell for me, then, truly, he must be a loving God. It’s not “Why would God allow hell?” It’s “Why would God experience hell for me?” And yet he did.

Prayer

Judge of All the Earth, we tremble to think of the judgment that awaits all outside your covenant. Before it is too late, may those we love be reconciled to you so that they do not suffer the punishment that is theirs, and would have been ours, apart from you. Amen.

问题27：是不是所有人都因着基督得救了，正如他们都因亚当失落了一样？
答：不，只有那些蒙神拣选、并因信与基督联合的人。然而，神出于祂的怜悯，仍向那些非选民显出了普遍恩典，如限制罪恶的影响，使文化行为能造福于人类。
儿童版：不，只有那些蒙神拣选，并因信与基督联合的人。

Question 27: Are All People, Just as They Were Lost Through Adam, Saved Through Christ?
Answer: No, only those who are elected by God and united to Christ by faith. Nevertheless God in his mercy demonstrates common grace even to those who are not elect, by restraining the effects of sin and enabling works of culture for human well-being.
For Kids: No, only those who are elected by God and united to Christ by faith.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《罗马书》5 章17 节：

　　若因一人的过犯，死就因这一人作了王；何况那些受洪恩又蒙所赐之义的，岂不更要因耶稣基督一人在生命中作王吗？

注解

钟马田

　　「普遍恩典」是指神按着自己的意志和喜好施予的普遍祝福，面向所有的人，并不仅限于祂自己的百姓。普遍恩典也指圣灵的普遍运行，这并非心意的更新，而是一种道德的影响力，使得罪恶得到抑制，社会生活的秩序得以维系，民间的正义获得提升。这是一般性的定义。圣灵从最开始就在这个世界上运行，祂对那些没有被拯救和已经走向灭亡的人也有着影响力和功效。虽然他们生活在这个世界上的时候，受到了圣灵的影响，但这种影响是一般性的，而非救赎性的，这是出于神的旨意……若没有圣灵普遍地运行在人心里，人类应该早就因为堕落和罪恶而消亡了……其次，普遍恩典也通常被描述为文化，我指的是艺术与科学，包括哲学、文学、建筑、雕塑、绘画和音乐等方面。毫无疑问，艺术修养是好的。它虽没有救赎性，但能使人变好，使人生活得更加美好。那么，所有这些文化艺术是从哪里来的呢？你如何解释像莎士比亚和米开朗基罗这样的人？圣经的答案是，这些人能够在圣灵的一般性影响下，也就是普遍恩典的影响下，将所得的恩赐发挥出来。

默想

提摩太·凯勒

　　在这个要理问答中，我们提及了一个重要的平衡。一方面我们学习到，不是所有的人都会得救。这点圣经在很多处都清楚地提及，多到我们无法列出所有的经文。但让我为你指出其中的两处。
在《约翰福音》6 章，耶稣说：「差我来者的意思就是：祂所赐给我的，叫我一个也不失落，在末日却叫他复活。」（约6:39）耶稣是在说，神赐给祂特定数目的人，在末日会叫他们复活，不是每个人在末日都会复活。

　　同样的，在《罗马书》8 章28 节至30 节，有类似的教导。保罗在30 节说：「预先所定下的人又召他们来，所召来的人又称他们为义，所称为义的人又叫他们得荣耀。」请注意，自始至终都是同一批人，祂不是说「其中一些」所召来的人又称他们为义。仿佛某些人被召，部分人被称义。不，只有那些被祂所召的才被称义，只有被称义的，才使他们得荣耀。是特定的数目，不是所有的人都得救。

　　另一方面，这个要理问答论到普遍恩典。毛瑞琪（Richard Mouw）在他的书中对这个命题给了一个定义：「有一种不属于拯救的恩惠，广泛存在于人类文化的互动中，是神对全人类的恩惠。无论是否被拣选，都能享受，这是基督徒与非基督徒互助的基础，甚至基督徒需要向非基督徒学习。」

　　圣经的答案是，《罗马书》1 章和2 章的答复是：是的。虽然不是所有的人都会得救，但神依然赐下从祂而来的智慧和洞见给了全人类，这智慧在艺术中、在科学中、在良好的政府中被呈现出来，以此建立一个更好的世界。这是基督徒独享的恩赐所无法企及的，所以我们必须有一个良好的平衡：一方面，不是所有人都得救，不是每个人都会得着耶稣基督的救赎之恩；但另一方面，我们必须珍惜普遍恩典，就是神赐给全人类的。我们必须知道，神借着很多不信的人帮助我们及世界，我们必须珍惜、感恩、尊重他们。这就是我们所必须取得的平衡。

祷告

　　至高的救赎主，除祢以外，别无拯救，求祢搭救一切求告祢名的人。若不是祢使我们从死里复活，我们就不可能呼求祢。虽然我们还不完全明白祢拣选的爱，但我们承认这是我们和其他任何人所不配得的。阿们。

Scripture

ROMANS 5:17

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Commentary

MARTYN LLOYD-JONES

Common grace is the term applied to those general blessings which God imparts to all men and women indiscriminately as He pleases, not only to His own people, but to all men and women, according to His own will. Or, again, common grace means those general operations of the Holy Spirit in which, without renewing the heart, He exercises a moral influence whereby sin is restrained, order is maintained in social life, and civil righteousness is promoted. That is the general definition. The Holy Spirit has been operative in this world from the very beginning and He has had His influence and His effect upon men and women who are not saved and who have gone to perdition. While they were in this life and world they came under these general, non-saving operations of the Holy Spirit. . . . It is not a saving influence, nor is it a redemptive influence, but it is a part of God’s purpose. . . . If the Holy Spirit were not operative in men and women in this general way, human beings, as a result of the Fall and of sin, would have festered away into oblivion long ago. . . . Next to that is what is generally described as culture. By that I mean arts and science, an interest in the things of the mind, literature, architecture, sculpture, painting, and music. Now, there can be no question at all but that cultivation of the arts is good. It is not redemptive, but it improves people, it makes them live better lives. Now, where do all these things come from? How do you explain men like Shakespeare or Michelangelo? The answer from the Scripture is that all these people had their gifts and were able to exercise them as the result of the operation of common grace, this general influence of the Holy Spirit.

Devotional

TIMOTHY KELLER

This particular catechism answer strikes a very helpful balance. On the one hand, we learn that not all human beings will be saved. This is taught so clearly in the Bible in so many places that it’s impossible to list all the texts. But let me call your attention to two.

In John 6, Jesus says, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (v. 39). Jesus is talking about coming for a very specific number of people that he’s been given, and he’s going to raise them up on the last day. Not everyone will be raised up on the last day.

Romans 8:28–30 teaches a similar thing. Paul says in verse 30: “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glori- fied.” Notice, it’s the same number all through. He doesn’t say some of those he called, he justified, as if there were this many called and this many justified. No. All—and only—those he called, he justified. All—and only—those he justified he glorified. It’s a definite number. Not all people will be saved.

On the other hand, this catechism answer talks about common grace. Richard Mouw defines that in his book on this subject: “Is there a non-saving grace that is at work in the broader reaches of human cultural interaction, a grace that expedites a desire on God’s part to bestow certain blessings on all human beings—elect and non- elect alike, blessings that provide the basis for Christians to cooperate with and learn from non-Christians?”

And the Bible’s answer, in places like Romans 1 and 2, is yes. Though not all people are going to be saved, God still gives his gifts of wisdom and insight across the face of the whole human race. Through art and through science and through good government and in other ways, God is making this world a far better place than it would be if only Christians had those gifts. And so, again, here’s that very helpful balance that we should strike. On the one hand, no, not everyone is to be saved. No, not everyone has the saving grace of Jesus Christ in their lives. But on the other hand, we must appreciate the common grace that God gives across the whole human race. We must see that God is helping us and helping in the world through many people who do not believe. We need to appreciate those. We must be grateful for them, and we must respect them. That’s the balance that we must strike.

Prayer

Sovereign Savior, there is salvation in no one but you, and you save everyone who calls upon your name. We would never have called upon you if you had not brought us from death to life. We do not fully understand your electing love, but we confess that neither we nor anyone else deserves it. Amen.

问题26：基督的死还救赎了什么？
答：基督的死是整个堕落的受造界救赎和更新的开始，祂要透过祂的大能，叫万物为祂自己的荣耀和受造界的益处效力。
儿童版：整个堕落的受造界。

Question 26: What Else Does Christ’s Death Redeem?
Answer: Christ’s death is the beginning of the redemption and renewal of every part of fallen creation, as he powerfully directs all things for his own glory and creation’s good.
For Kids: Every part of fallen creation.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《歌罗西书》1 章19 节至20 节：

　　因为父喜欢叫一切的丰盛在祂里面居住。既然藉着祂在十字架上所流的血成就了和平，便藉着祂叫万有，无论是地上的、天上的，都与自己和好了。

注解

约翰·班扬

　　耶稣是救赎主，那就是祂的名字。祂来到这个世界就是为了救赎祂的百姓，救他们脱离一切的罪恶（参见多2:14），脱离现今这个邪恶的世界和我们的空谈。祂流出宝血买赎了我们，我们是祂用重价买来的（参见林前6:20）。我们都不属于自己，而是属于祂，是祂的血所买来的；我们相信祂深爱我们，因为祂用重价买赎了我们；如果祂不是深爱我们，祂就不会为了我们将自己献上（参见加2:20）。这是祂爱我们的最好证明。祂爱我们，用祂的血洗净了我们的罪（参见启1:5）。祂要救我们脱离将来的忿怒。

默想

佛蒙·皮尔

　　科罗拉多大峡谷的照片虽然有很多，但却没有一张能真实反映出它的原貌。最好你能亲身去体验一下科罗拉多大峡谷。看到人们第一次俯瞰大峡谷时的表情你就会知道，他们不禁立即会被它的广袤和独特的美所打动。那种景象真是让人顿生敬畏。

　　即使你站在大峡谷的边缘俯瞰大峡谷，却仍无法得到完整的体验。只有当你真的下去进到峡谷里面，你才会开始意识到它比你起初看到的更大、更深，也更壮美。大峡谷边缘的一瞥只是一个开篇而已，你一旦进到峡谷里面，就会看见更美的景象。

　　福音也是如此。当我们第一次走近福音的时候，我们看到一幅极美的、令人敬畏的景象，那就是罪人得蒙救赎。更具体来说，就是神借着耶稣基督白白地拯救罪人，将他们归于自己。神将这些人从罪中拯救出来，使他们成为一个新造的人，并使他们成为自己名下的儿女。

　　这是一个美得令人难以置信的好消息。但这仅仅只是神救赎和更新工作的开始。当我们深入了解福音之后，一幅更完整，也更壮丽的画面出现了。我们看到，神拯救罪人是祂更深入、更广泛，全面拯救整个受造界的开始。

　　拯救罪人是福音的核心，它是一个源头。从这个源头流出一条大河，满有能力救赎和医治宇宙的每个角落。

　　这怎么可能？是借着「祂在十字架上所流的血」（西1:20）成就的。由于人的堕落，受造之物被捆锁在地狱的门后。但神随后向我们走来，用耶稣基督的十字架砸开了这些门！借着神白白的恩典，一群人，甚至一切受造之物都被释放了。他们如今在子的国里，那里有完全的救赎和全面的更新。
所有的这一切带给了我们两个方面的益处。

　　第一，它给我们对未来的盼望。在我们周围，不公正的社会制度，衰落的道德文化，以及可怕的痛苦和死亡都是这个世界堕落的证据。最完整的福音告诉我们不要绝望，而要持定一个盼望，就是有一天所有这些都会过去，并被和平、和睦所取代，伴随着神「医治万民」（参见启22:2）。
不过，盼望中也有危险。因为堕落的受造之物包括许多仍在抵挡神的人，他们拒绝接受祂和祂所差来的耶稣的治理。福音的救赎工作意味着，万物，包括那些抵挡主的人最终都要来到主的脚前。现在每个人面临的问题是：神的救赎工作给你带来的是欢喜敬畏还是哀哭切齿。

　　第二，它在今天给我们动力。受造之物并没有被神抛弃，反而借着耶稣被改变，并且最终将会被完全更新。将来的受造界将是和睦的、和平的，与神、与人都有着适当的关系。今天的教会是这个新世界的前哨，也是实现这个新世界的主要途径。

　　这就意味着，教会不是这个世界的消极旁观者。教会也不是在这个世界上处境危险的过客，只等着被救离这艘沉船。相反，教会是神所差派的一群人，他们在这个世界上忠实宣扬并展现出福音救赎与更新的力量，这种力量即使在今天也非常重要。

祷告

　　一切受造之物的救主，这个世界不会总是像现在这样，我们只能在败坏中呼求祢国度的丰盛。谢谢祢最终将会使一切都更新。我们为祢的救赎延伸到祢所造的这个世界而欢呼。阿们。

Scripture

COLOSSIANS 1:19–20

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Commentary

JOHN BUNYAN

Jesus is a Redeemer, that is his name; he came into the world on this very business, to redeem his people, to redeem them from all iniquity (Titus 2:14), from this present evil world, from our vain conversations. He hath shed his precious blood to purchase us, we are bought with a price (1 Cor. 6:20). We are none of our own, we are his, the purchase of his blood; and we may be confident that he dearly loves us, for he dearly bought us; and if he had not dearly loved us, he would never have given himself for us (Gal. 2:20). That was the highest testimony of his love; he loved us, and washed us from our sins in his blood (Rev. 1:5). He will redeem us from the wrath to come.

Devotional

VERMON PIERRE

Many pictures have been taken of the Grand Canyon. But none of them can really do it justice. The Grand Canyon is just one of those things best experienced in person. You can see it on people’s faces as they walk up to the rim and look out over the Canyon for the first time. They can’t help but be immediately struck by its immensity and unique beauty. It is a truly awe-inspiring sight.

Yet even there, standing at the rim, looking out over the Canyon, you won’t get a full experience of the place. It’s when you actually go down into the Canyon that you begin to see that it is bigger and deeper, more glorious in fact, than you initially saw. The view of the Grand Canyon at the rim is just the beginning of the even grander view that you will experience once you travel into the Canyon.

So it is with the gospel. As we first step up to the gospel, we see a most beautiful and awe-inspiring sight—the salvation of sinners. More specifically, that God through Jesus Christ has graciously acted to save a sinful people unto himself. These people are redeemed from sin and made a new creation and are adopted forever into the family of God.

It’s an amazing, beautiful, incredible message. And, at the same time, it is just the beginning of God’s saving, redeeming, and renewing work. As we head deeper into the gospel, a fuller and even more glorious picture emerges. We see that God’s saving of sinners was always intended to open up into a deeper, wider, all-encompassing saving of the whole creation.

The saving of sinners is at the heart of the gospel. It is the fountainhead. And from this fountainhead flows a mighty river, one full of redemptive, healing power for every square inch of the cosmos.

How is this possible? Through “his blood, shed on the cross” (Col. 1:20). Creation was in bondage due to the fall of man, locked behind the gates of hell. But then God moves toward us and, using the cross of Jesus Christ, smashes down those gates! Through God’s gracious efforts, a people and indeed a whole creation are freed. They are now in the kingdom of the Son, a place of complete redemption and total renewal.

All of this does two things for us.

1. It gives us hope about the future. All around us we see evidence of the fall in things like unjust social systems and moral cultural decline and terrible suffering and death. The gospel message in its fullest form tells us not to despair but to have a sure and certain hope that one day all such things will be wiped away and replaced with peace and harmony, with the “healing of the nations” (Rev. 22:2).

This hope, however, is mixed with a warning. For the fallen creation includes many who are still opposed to God, who continue to reject his rule and the One he sent to rule, Jesus. The redeeming work of the gospel means that all things, including those who oppose the Lord, will eventually be brought to heel. The question every person faces now is whether that redeeming work will be experienced with joyful awe or with the painful gnashing of teeth.

2. It gives us motivation in the present. The creation has not been abandoned by God. Instead, through Jesus, it has been reclaimed by him and will eventually be made brand new. It will be a creation characterized by harmony and peace, rightly related to God and humanity. The church today is an early outpost of this new creation and a primary means toward bringing about this new creation.

This means then that the church is not a passive bystander to the world. Nor is it an imperiled passenger in the world, only biding its time until it is rescued off of the sinking creation. Instead, the church is a divinely commissioned community of people whose faithful efforts in the world even now matter, insofar as they proclaim and embody the redeeming and renewing power of the gospel.

Prayer

Creation’s Redeemer, the world will not always be as it is now, fallen and groaning for the fullness of your kingdom. Thank you that, ultimately, you will make all things new. We rejoice that your redemption extends to the world you have made. Amen.

问题25：基督的死是否意味着我们所有的罪都可以得到赦免？
答：是的，因为基督在十字架上的死，完全偿清了我们罪债，神白白地将基督的义归给我们，就好像它是我们自己的义一样，并且不再记念我们的罪。
儿童版：是的，因为基督在十字架上的死，完全偿清了我们罪债，神将不再记念我们的罪。

Question 25: Does Christ’s Death Mean All Our Sins Can Be Forgiven?
Answer: Yes, because Christ’s death on the cross fully paid the penalty for our sin, God graciously imputes Christ’s righteousness to us as if it were our own and will remember our sins no more.
For Kids: Yes, because Christ’s death on the cross fully paid the penalty for our sin, God will remember our sins no more.

歌谱 Lead Sheet

经文

《哥林多后书》5 章21 节：

　　神使那无罪的，替我们成为罪，好叫我们在祂里面成为神的义。

注解

理查·薛伯斯

　　虽然一次过犯就足以定罪，但借着基督的恩典，许多的过犯被白白地称义。我们对此有确据，因为基督的义就是神的义，神会因此而荣耀它。对那些凭着信心领受的人来说，即使他们每天都在犯罪，甚至直到死去的那一刻，这份义仍然是有效的。正因为此，神之子甘愿成为罪人，以使我们脱离罪。既然将我们一切的罪归在基督的身上都不能挪去神对祂的爱，那么当我们的灵魂借着基督的血已经洗净时，难道神的爱还会因为这些罪而离开我们吗？恩慈之主要俯就我们，以一种连天上的天使也猜不到的方式使我们归祂；就是祂的儿子不仅成为可怜的人，祂还除去了我们的罪，使我们借着属我们的基督在神面前坦然无惧，祂如今在天上为我们代求，直到将我们带回到自己身边，并将我们永远献给祂的父！

默想

阿利斯泰·贝格

　　几年前，当我被诊断出身患癌症时，我最大的希望，是能借着手术完全切除病灶。我不要那种只管一部分的治疗方案。我思想基督担当了我们一切的罪，福音的奥秘与大能，就在于祂除去了所有的罪。祂无瑕无疵，却为罪人死，背负我们的罪孽，为我们承受了刑罚。保罗写信给哥林多教会，对他们说，神不将他们的过犯归到他们身上，原因是神已经把过犯归算在基督身上。耶稣的死不是殉道，而是替代我们而死。福音是对所有人的邀请，但是赦免的确据，只赐给那些在基督里的人，他们的罪孽已经归算在了耶稣身上。

　　奥古斯都·托普雷迪（Augustus Toplady）清楚地呈现了这一点：

万古磐石为我开，
容我藏身在主怀；
愿因主流水和血，
洗我一生诸罪孽；
洗我内外全清洁，
罪恶污秽尽除灭。

　　彼得告诉我们，天使也愿意详细察看这些事。（参见彼前1:12）他们从远处观察到的是，信徒清楚地知道，祂为我们担当了羞辱和讥笑，祂被定罪是因为我们。最令人惊讶的就是，我们的不顺服，被主耶稣的顺服完全遮盖，我们所有罪债已被永远的偿清。

祷告

　　慈爱的天父，当基督的公义遮盖我们，祢便不再记念我们的罪愆。东离西有多远，祢叫我们的过犯离我们也有多远。求祢帮助我们不要怀疑祢的赦免、祢的怜悯和祢的爱，而是像祢心爱的孩子那样，坦然无惧地来到祢的面前。阿们。

Scripture

2 CORINTHIANS 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Commentary

RICHARD SIBBES

Though one sin was enough to bring condemnation, yet the free gift of grace in Christ is of many offences unto justification. And we have a sure ground for this, for the righteousness of Christ is God’s righteousness, and God will thus glorify it, that it shall stand good to those that by faith apply it against their daily sins, even till at once we cease both to live and sin. For this very end was the Son of God willingly made sin, that we might be freed from the same. And if all our sins laid upon Christ could not take away God’s love from him, shall they take away God’s love from us, when by Christ’s blood our souls are purged from them? O mercy of all mercies, that . . . he would vouchsafe to . . . make us his by such a way, as all the angels in heaven stand wondering at; even his Son not only taking our nature and miserable condition, but our sin upon him, that that being done away, we might through Christ have boldness with God as ours, who is now in heaven appearing there for us, until he bring us home to himself, and presents us to his Father for his for ever!

Devotional

ALISTAIR BEGG

Some years ago when I was diagnosed with cancer, my great concern was that the surgeon would get it all. I wasn’t really interested in a cure that was only partial. And when we think about Jesus bearing our sins, the mystery and the wonder of the gospel is that he deals with all of them. He who was absolutely perfect died in the place of sinners, identifying with us in our guilt and becoming liable to our punishment. When Paul writes to the Corinthians, he tells them that God was not counting their sins against them. And the reason for that is because he was counting them against him. Jesus died not as a martyr, but as a substitute. The invitation of the gospel is given to all, but the assurance of forgiveness is only for those who are in Christ, whose sins have been counted to him.

Augustus Toplady captured the security of this when he wrote:

Rock of ages cleft for me,
let me hide myself in Thee;
let the water and the blood,
from thy riven side which flowed,
be of sin the double cure;
cleanse me from its guilt and power.

Peter tells us that the angels, actually, long to look into this (1 Pet. 1:12). And what they have observed from a distance, the believer knows perfectly.

The wonder of it all is that our disobedience is completely covered by the obedience of the Lord Jesus—all of our sins dealt with forever.

Prayer

Forgiving Father, when we are covered in the righteousness of Christ, you remember our sins no more. You have put them as far as the east is from the west. Help us not to doubt your forgiveness, your mercy, or your love, but come to you boldly as your beloved children. Amen.