作者: R.C.
Sproul 譯者/校對者: Maria Marta/誠之
在寫給以弗所人的書信中，保羅特別重視教會論，即教會的教義。事實上, 我們可以說以弗所書回答了「教會是什麽」這一問題。在以弗所書二章19–22節，保羅主要用建築這個比喻來描述上帝的家。基督徒因為被收養進入上帝的家，在這個意義上說，他們是上帝家中的成員，這是聖經描述教會所用的另一個圖象。但是這裡強調的不是家庭的成員，而是這個家庭的房子：「[我們]與聖徒一同作國民，是 神家裡的人了，並且建造在使徒和先知的根基上」（19–20A節；《新譯本》，下同）。
保羅說這座稱為「教會」的建築, 其根基是由使徒和先知所組成的，即舊約的先知和新約的使徒。為什麽呢？這是因為先知和使徒是上帝啟示的代理人，上帝藉著他們向祂的子民說話。他們傳達上帝的聖言。也就是說，教會的根基是上帝的聖言。
這就是我們為什麼必須高度重視我們的聖經論的原因。對聖經的完整性、權威性、充足性與可靠性所發起的攻擊，不是對這棟建築一側的小房間所發起的攻擊。敵人不是在教堂屋頂上砸個坑，相反，他們攻擊的是教會的根基。一個沒有使徒權柄的教會，沒有把上帝的聖言當作其根基，就是把教會建造在沙土上，而非建造在磐石上。要讓整座教會大廈穩穩站立，先知和使徒的根基是不可或缺的。
在第二章20節下半，保羅繼續說明這個建築的比喻：「基督耶穌自己就是奠基石」。基督是奠基石，把根基連在一起的支撐點。取走奠基石，整棟建築物就會倒塌。「[在基督裡]，整座建築都靠著祂連接配合，漸漸增長成為在主裡面的聖所，你們在他裡面也一同被建造，成為 神藉著聖靈居住的所在。」（21-22節）教會是為了基督、靠著基督、在基督裡面建造的新聖殿。很顯然，保羅不是說教會是用灰泥和磚塊建造的建築物，而是說我們都是石頭，是活石，如彼得前書二章5節告訴我們的。每一個信徒都是這間教會的一部分，就像每一塊石頭都是建築物的一部分那樣。教會，新的聖所，還在建造當中。每一天都在添加新的石頭。在耶穌再來完成祂的國度之前，這座新聖殿不會完工。基督至今仍然在建造祂的教會，但不是靠著灌入水泥，而是靠加添人員，就是那些在祂裡面被聯結在一起的石頭。
在以弗所書三章14–19節，保羅繼續說到：「因此，我在父面前屈膝，（天上地上所有的家族都是由祂命名的，）求祂按著祂榮耀的豐盛，藉著祂的靈，用大能使你們內在的人剛強起來，使基督藉著你們的信，住在你們心裡，使你們既然在愛中扎根建基，就能和眾聖徒一同領悟基督的愛是多麼的長闊高深，並且知道祂的愛是超過人所能理解的，使你們被充滿，得著 神的一切豐盛。」
使徒保羅解釋教會的教義，好叫我們能夠明白上帝所成就的，也讓我們能夠明白我們究竟是誰。保羅在吩咐我們要明白我們自己是誰，我們蒙召要做什麽的當中，保羅說我們是教會。我們是上帝從創立世界時就命定的教會。我們是祂的子民，我們是祂的家人，因此就讓教會成為教會吧。
我們生活在一個危機的時代。許多基督徒譴責美國文化的頹廢，抱怨政府及其價值體系。我很理解這一點，但如果我們希望關心我們的國家和文化，我們關注的優先順序必須是教會的復興。我們是世界的光。
政府僅僅反映和呼應被特定一代的人民所接納的風俗。毫無疑問，我們的政府正是我們心目中的政府，否則它不會存在。文化的變遷並不總是從上而下發生的。它往往是從下而上的行動。我們需要努力爭取的改變，首要的是教會內部的復興。當教會成為天上公民的團契，體現出成為基督的家的意義；當教會依照聖靈的能力行走，那麽上帝的子民就會成為世上的光，如明光照耀。當人們看到那光，便將榮耀歸給上帝（太五16）。這將改變世界。但保羅說，首先要讓教會成為教會。我們必須記住我們是誰，根基是誰，奠基石是誰，這棟建築的頭是誰，教會的主是誰。
我們愛教會嗎？我懷疑在我們的歷史上有很多時候會像今天那樣，大家對建制的教會（institutional church）感到憤怒、敵意、失望、幻想破滅。教會很難不受到批評，因為教會在許多方面都讓我們感到失望。但如果教會失敗了，那意味著我們也失敗了。我們蒙召要在上帝聖靈的大能當中事奉教會。
我們，基督的教會，是藉著上帝聖靈的內住同在和能力，為了完成這項任務而被建造的。然而，我們蒙召不是要起身，而是要俯伏敬拜。如果我們在我們的主面前屈膝，正如保羅在以弗所書三章14節的教導，那麽教會就會成為教會，我們的光也將穿透黑暗。
Dr.
R.C. Sproul is copastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., and founder
and chairman of Ligonier Ministries. He is the author of one hundred books,
including God’s Love.
本文原刊於Tabletalk雜誌2016年七月號 。
We,
the church, have been made for this task by the indwelling presence and power
of God’s Spirit. Yet, we are called not so much to rise up but to bow down. And
if we bow down to our Lord, as Paul says in Ephesians 3:14, the church will be
the church, and our light will pierce the darkness.
What
Is the Church?
by
R.C. Sproul
Paul
gives great attention to ecclesiology, the doctrine of the church, in his
letter to the Ephesians. In fact, we could say Ephesians answers this question:
What is the church? In Ephesians 2:19–22, the chief metaphor Paul uses is that
of a building—the household of God. Christians are part of the household in the
sense that they have been adopted into the family of God, which is another
image that Scripture uses to describe the church. But here the accent is not so
much on the family of the household as it is on the house of the household:
“[We] are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets” (vv. 19–20a).
Paul
says the foundation of this building called the church is made up of the
prophets and the Apostles, that is, the Old Testament prophets and New
Testament Apostles. Why? It’s because the prophets and Apostles are the agents
of revelation by whom God speaks to His people. They delivered the Word of God.
Another way of saying this is that the foundation of the church is the Word of
God.
That’s
why we must pay close attention to our doctrine of Scripture. The attacks
launched against the integrity, authority, sufficiency, and trustworthiness of
Scripture are attacks not upon a side alcove of this building. They don’t put a
dent in the roof of the church. They’re attacks on the church’s very
foundation. To have a church without Apostolic authority, without the Word of
God as its foundation, is to build a church on sand rather than on rock. The
foundation of the prophets and the Apostles is necessary for the entire edifice
of the church to stand securely.
Paul
continues the building metaphor in 2:20b: “Christ Jesus Himself being the
cornerstone.” Christ is the cornerstone, the point that holds the foundation
together. Take out the cornerstone, and everything falls apart. “In [Christ]
the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the
Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by
the Spirit” (vv. 21–22). The church is a new temple built in Christ, by Christ,
and for Christ. Obviously, Paul isn’t saying the church is a building made out
of mortar and brick, but that we are the stones, the living stones, as 1 Peter
2:5 tells us. Each believer is part of this church just as each stone is part
of a building. The church, the new temple, is still under construction. Every
day, new stones are added. This new temple will not be finished until Jesus
returns to consummate His kingdom. Christ is still building His church, not by
adding cement but by adding people who are the stones that hold together in
Him.
Paul
continues in Ephesians 3:14–19,
For
this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven
and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant
you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so
that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and
grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is
the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
The
Apostle Paul explains the doctrine of the church so that we might understand
what God has done and so that we may understand who we are. And in calling us
to understand who we are and what we’re called to do, Paul says that we’re the
church. We’re the church that God ordained from the foundation of the world.
We’re His people; we’re His household, so let the church be the church.
We’re
living in a time of crisis. Many Christians are decrying the decadence of
American culture and complaining about the government and its value system. I
understand that, but if we want to be concerned for our nation and culture, our
priority must be the renewal of the church. We are the light of the world.
Government
merely reflects and echoes the customs embraced by the people in a given
generation. In a real sense, our government is exactly what we want it to be,
or it wouldn’t be there. Change in culture doesn’t always come from the top
down. It often comes from the bottom up. The change we need to work for,
chiefly, is renewal within the church. As the church becomes the fellowship of
citizens of heaven who manifest what it means to be the household of Christ,
and when the church walks according to the power of the Holy Spirit—then the
people of God will shine as the light of the world. When people see that light,
they will give glory to God (Matt. 5:16). This will change the world. But Paul
says, first of all, let the church be the church. We must remember who we are,
who the foundation is, who the cornerstone is, who the head of our building is,
who the Lord of the church is.
Do we
love the church? I doubt if there have been many times in our history when
there has been as much anger, hostility, disappointment, and disillusionment
with the institutional church as there is today. It’s hard not to be critical
of the church because in many ways the church has failed us. But if the church has
failed, that means we have failed. We are called to serve the church in the
power of God the Holy Spirit.