晨興聖言-羅馬書五至八章...(W2-1)

第二週.週一

w2d1-ch

晨興餧養

羅三24 『…因神的恩典,藉著在基督耶穌裏的救贖,就白白的得稱義。』

        26 『為著在今時顯示祂的義,使祂能是義的,也能稱那以信耶穌為本的人為義。』

稱義是神照著祂義的標準稱許人的行動。祂的義是標準,我們的義不是。…神的義有多高?它是無限的!你能照著你自己的義得神稱許麼?這是不可能的。雖然你也許與每個人—你的父母、你的兒女、和你的朋友—都是對的,但你的義絕不會在神面前稱義你。你也許照著你義的標準稱義自己,但那不能使你照著神的標準得祂稱義。我們需要因信稱義。在神面前因信稱義,意思就是我們照著神義的標準得神稱義。

神怎能這樣作?祂能這樣作,因為我們的稱義是基於基督的救贖。基督的救贖應用到我們身上,我們就得稱義。若沒有這樣的救贖,我們就不可能得神稱義。救贖是稱義的基礎。(羅馬書生命讀經,六○至六一頁。)

信息選讀

研究聖經的人對『信耶穌基督』(直譯,耶穌基督的信)(羅三22)的解釋有很大的難處。有些人說這辭的意思是我們相信耶穌基督的行動。有些人爭辯說是指耶穌的信,就是耶穌的信成為我們的。我要這樣說:真正的信是憑著主耶穌的信而相信祂。我們憑著耶穌基督的信相信祂,因我們沒有自己的信。耶穌是我們信心的創始者與成終者。(來十二2。)

神的義在律法以外,藉著我們憑耶穌基督的信相信祂,已經顯明出來。我們乃是憑著基督的信,不是憑著自己的信相信祂。基督是我們的信。絕不要說你信不來,因為你要信就能信。不要試著憑自己信,因為你越試,你所有的信就越少。只要說,『哦,主耶穌,我愛你。主耶穌,你真好。』你若這樣作,立刻就會有信。我們憑著耶穌基督的信相信祂,而神的義本於這信顯示與這信,就向一切信的人顯示出來。

照著我們的經歷,不是神先稱許我們,乃是我們先稱許神。〔羅三4。〕…我們是悖逆的,並且說,『我不喜歡神。神不對。』在我們得救以前,我們都這樣想。許多人頂撞神說,『神若是對的,為甚麼地上有這麼多可憐的人?神若是對的,為甚麼國際間沒有公理?』他們承認有神,但宣稱祂不是義的。…神一直忍耐我們,為我們作許多事,直到祂最終使我們確信祂的義。誰先稱義誰?我們先稱義神。當神使我們確信祂的義,我們就稱義祂,並悔改流淚說,『神,赦免我。我是罪惡、不潔的。我需要你的赦免。』

神因祂的恩典,藉著在基督裏的救贖,並藉著我們信耶穌,已白白的稱義我們。(2426。)基督既為我們的罪付了代價,並成就了完全的救贖,滿足神一切的要求,神要成為義的,就必須稱義我們。在神一面,稱義是因祂的義;在我們一面,稱義是因祂白白的恩典,並非因行律法。我們要因行律法得稱義,就需要作工,但要因著在基督裏的救贖稱義,就不需要作工;稱義乃是因祂的恩典白白賜給的。我們原不配得;但因著基督那滿足神一切要求的救贖,神因祂的義,就必須稱義我們。(羅馬書生命讀經,六八至六九、七一至七四頁。)

參讀:羅馬書生命讀經,第五篇。

WEEK 2 — DAY 1


Morning Nourishment

Rom. 3:24 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

           26 With a view to the demonstrating of His righteousness in the present time, so that He might be righteous and the One who justifies him who is of the faith of Jesus.

Justification is God’s action in approving people according to His standard of righteousness. His righteousness is the standard, not ours…How high is God’s righteousness? It is unlimited! Can you be approved by God according to your own righteousness? This is impossible. Although you may be right with everyone—with your parents, your children, and your friends—your righteousness will never justify you before God. You may justify yourself according to your standard of righteousness, but that does not enable you to be justified by God according to His standard. We need justification by faith. Justification by faith before God means that we are approved by God according to the standard of His righteousness.

How can God do this? He can do it because our justification is based upon the redemption of Christ. When the redemption of Christ is applied to us, we are justified. If there were no such redemption, it would be impossible for us to be justified by God. Redemption is the basis of justification. (Life-study of Romans, p. 49)

Todays Reading

Bible students have great difficulty with the phrase the faith of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:22). Some say that it means our act of believing in Jesus Christ. Others argue that it refers to the faith of Jesus, that the faith of Jesus becomes ours. I would put it this way: genuine believing is to believe in the Lord Jesus by His faith. We believe in Jesus Christ by His faith, for we have no faith of our own. Jesus is the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:2)

…The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law by our believing in Jesus Christ by His faith. We believe in Christ by His faith, not by our own. Christ is our faith. Never say that you cannot believe, for you can believe if you want to. Do not try to believe by yourself, because the more you try, the less faith you have. Simply say, “O Lord Jesus, I love You…You are so good.” If you do this, you will have faith immediately. We believe in Jesus Christ by His faith, and out of this faith and to this faith, the righteousness of God is revealed to all who believe.

According to our experience, it was not God who first approved us but we who approved God [Rom. 3:4]…We were rebellious and said, “I don’t like God. God is not right.” We all thought this way before we were saved. Many people speak against God, saying, “If God is right, why are there so many poor people on the earth? If God is right, why is there no justice among the nations?” They admit that there is God but claim that He is not righteous…God has been patient with us, doing many things for us until He finally convinced us of His righteousness. Who justified whom first? We first justified God. When we were convinced by God of His righteousness, we justified Him and wept in repentance, saying, “God, forgive me. I’m so sinful and unclean. I need Your forgiveness.”

God has justified us freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ and through the faith of Jesus (vv. 24, 26). Since Christ has paid the price for our sins and has accomplished the full redemption to meet all of God’s requirements, God, in order for Him to be just, must justify us. On God’s side justification is by His righteousness; on our side justification is by His free grace as compared with justification by the works of the law. To be justified by the works of the law, we need to work, but to be justified by the redemption in Christ, there is no need of our work; it is freely given by His grace. We do not deserve it. But God is bound by His righteousness to justify us because of the redemption of Christ, which meets all His requirements. (Life-study of Romans, pp. 55, 57-59)

Further Reading: Life-study of Romans, msg. 5

 

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