作者：霍頓（Michael Horton）譯者：駱鴻銘
有人問了一個問題，我認為非常值得探討。他問道：Chris Jager asked a
good question in response to the first post in this series and I thought it was
important enough to explore in more than a couple of lines. He asks:
成聖唯獨是聖靈的工作，還是同時是聖靈和信徒的工作？成聖是雙方面的工作，還是只是聖靈的工作？我努力獲得我的義，會變成「我的行為」嗎？什麼時候才是真正的成聖呢？真正的成聖難道不是藉著聽信福音而來的嗎？Also, is
sanctification a work solely of the Holy Spirit, or both the Holy Spirit and
the believer? Is the work attributed to both, or just the Holy Spirit? When
does it become “my work,” trying to attain my own righteousness, and when is it
true sanctification? Isn’t true sanctification produced through the hearing of
the gospel?
被動領受恩典，積極行善（Passive Recipients, Made
Active in Good Works）
在整本聖經中，重生，也就是在新創造中有分，是由聖靈作成的。不只是在一開始，在我們的一生當中，聖靈都是藉著恩典更新我們，用祂的道使我們越來越有耶穌基督的形象和樣式。Throughout
Scripture, regeneration, which is nothing less than a sharing in the new
creation, is brought about by the Holy Spirit. Not only in the beginning, but
throughout our lives, the Spirit is renewing us by grace, conforming us to the
image of Christ by his Word.
律法主義（或新律法主義）的危險是把福音壓縮到律法裏，只剩下律法；而反律法主義則是把律法壓縮到福音裏，只剩下福音。The danger in
legalism (or neonomianism) is to collapse the gospel into the law, while
antinomianism collapses the law into the gospel.
無論是哪一種，把律法和福音的特點抹殺掉，結果就是完全模糊了律法和福音。更有甚者，儘管律法主義把稱義壓縮到成聖當中，只剩下成聖，反律法主義則是把成聖壓縮到稱義裏，只剩下稱義。再次說，其結果是一樣的，即使是用不同的方法。Either way, the
office peculiar to each becomes murky until finally it is obscured entirely.
Furthermore, while legalism collapses justification into sanctification,
antinomianism collapses sanctification into justification. One more,
destination is the same, even if arrived at by different routes.
因此，區分律法和福音，區分稱義和成聖就是至為關鍵的。它們各自扮演了一個不可或缺的、不同的角色。律法啟示出上帝公義的要求，而福音啟示出上帝在祂兒子身上所賜下的公義禮物；在稱義裏，上帝把基督的義歸算給罪人，成聖則是祂每天更新他們。律法的作用是審判的威嚇，差遣我們到基督那裏，以尋求我們的義；但是它也是父神在我們成聖當中的命令。It is crucial,
then, to distinguish law and gospel as well as justification and
sanctification. Each plays its own essential but distinct role. The law reveals
God’s righteous demands, while the gospel reveals God’s gift of righteousness
in his Son; in justification God imputes Christ’s righteousness to sinners,
while in sanctification he renews them day by day. The law functions as the
threatening judge to send us to Christ for our justification, but it also
functions as the command of our Father in sanctification.
在重生和稱義中，我們是被動的。悔改和信心是上帝賜給我們的禮物。然而，在歸正（即悔改和相信的行動）的過程裏，我們是主動的——聖靈已經藉著福音，使我們從死裏復活。我們最初和一生的歸正，都不是我們的功勞，這功勞只能歸給三一上帝。每當我們轉離偶像和特定的罪（包括信靠自己，還有其他肉體的果子），歸向永活的上帝，都是父神藉著聖靈，在基督裏賜給我們的禮物。然而，悔改的不是父神，相信的不是聖子，行善的更不是聖靈；而是與基督聯合的信徒，是在愛心和善行中結出信心果子的信徒。救恩不是只局限在稱義裏，而是涵括了我們在基督裏所享受到所有福分：揀選，救贖，有效的呼召，稱義，成為上帝的兒女，稱義，得榮耀。In the new birth
and justification we are passive. Repentance and faith are given as a free
gift. However, in conversion—the act of repentance and faith—we are active,
having been raised from death to life by the Spirit through the gospel. Our
initial and lifelong conversion cannot be attributed to us, but only to the
Triune God. Every moment our turning from idols and specific sins (including
self-trust, but also other fruits of the flesh) to the Living God is a gift of
the Father, in the Son, by the Spirit. Nevertheless, it is not the Father who
repents, nor the Son who believes, nor the Spirit who does good works; it is
believers who, united to Christ, bear the fruit of faith in love and works.
Salvation is not restricted to justification but encompasses all of the
blessings we enjoy in Christ: election, redemption, effectual calling,
justification, adoption, sanctification, and glorification.
要避免兩種危險Two Dangers to Avoid
因此，有兩種危險需要避免。So there are two dangers to
avoid.
首先，我們絕對不敢把稱義當作一個完全根據基督是誰和祂在福音裏的工作所賜下的白白的禮物，然後把成聖當作是出於我們自己和我們行為的事。正如加爾文所主張的，聖靈乃是藉著福音創造出信心，而這個信心會在愛裏結出果子，從而產生出好行為。「愛心的來源是基督的恩典」（哥林多後書註釋，404頁）。「治死肉體是基督十架的果效」（加拉太書註釋，169頁）。他在其他地方加上說：First, we dare not treat
justification as a free gift that is based entirely on Christ’s person and work
in the gospel and then treat sanctification as something that is based on our
person and work. As Calvin observes, the Spirit creates faith through the
gospel, and this faith bears fruit in love and from love proceed good works.
“The source of love is the grace of Christ” (Commentary on Corinthians II:404).
“The mortification of the flesh is the effect of the cross of Christ”
(Commentary on Galatians, 169). Elsewhere he adds,
雖然我們可以區分這兩者（稱義和成聖），但是在基督裏它們卻是密不可分的。你願意在基督裏被稱義嗎？那麼你必須先擁有基督；而你若擁有祂，必定有分於祂的成聖，因為基督是不能分開的（林前一13）。既然基督已經把這些福分和自己一同賜給信徒，所以祂不可能只使我們稱義而不使我們成聖。由此可見，稱義會伴隨著善行，但這卻不是因著善行而稱義，因為在基督裏就包括了稱義和成聖。（《基督教要義》，3.16.1）Although we may distinguish them [justification
and sanctification], Christ contains both of them inseparably in himself. Do
you wish, then, to attain righteousness in Christ? You must first possess
Christ; but you cannot possess him without being made partaker in his
sanctification, because he cannot be divided into pieces [1 Cor 1:13]. Since,
therefore, it is solely by expending himself that the Lord gives us these
benefits to enjoy, he bestows both of them at the same time, the one never
without the other. Thus it is clear how true it is that we are justified not
without works yet not through works, since in our sharing in Christ, which
justifies us, sanctification is just as much included as righteousness” (Inst.
3.16.1).
加爾文的重點是，你如果沒有領受基督自己，就無法領受基督的恩賜，而如果你已經與基督聯合，你就不可能不領受祂所有的恩賜。Calvin’s point is
that you can’t receive any of Christ’s gifts without receiving Christ himself
and if you are united to Christ, then you cannot fail to receive all of his
gifts.
其次，在成聖當中，我們絕對不敢把我們自己視為是被動的，像我們在重生和稱義裏一樣。基督在所有的行動中，永遠是我們信心的目標，但是信心有許多不同的行動。在稱義裏，信心只是「接受並靠託（rest in）基督和祂的義」（威敏思特信仰告白=WCF，11.1），然而信心對聖經各處經文會以不同的行動來回應：「對命令要順服；對警戒要畏懼；對上帝所賜今生和來生的應許要歡喜領受、牢牢持守。但得救之信心的主要表現是：憑恩典之約接受、領受、並單單依靠基督，得以稱義、成聖、得永生。」（WCF 14.2）因此，為了回答提問人的問題，我們可以這樣說：我們是藉著這樣的信心被稱義的：「這個信心單單靠託基督；而我們是藉著這樣的信心，靠著恩典得以成聖的：這個信心是靠託基督，並且藉著愛心來行事。」新約裏有許多的勸勉，要我們與聖靈合作：「我們若是靠聖靈得生，就當靠聖靈行事……」（加五25-26）。聖經也警告我們不要熄滅聖靈的火（參：新譯本；帖前五19）。Second, we dare not see
ourselves as passive in sanctification, as we are in the new birth and
justification. Christ is always the object of faith in every act, but there are
different acts of faith. In justification, faith merely “receiving and resting
on [Christ] and his righteousness” (WCF 11.1). Yet faith responds variously to
different passages in God’s Word: “yielding obedience to the commands, trembling
at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life, and that
which is to come. But the principal acts of saving faith are accepting,
receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and
eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace” (WCF 14.2). So in answer to
Chris’s question, we can say something like this: We are justified by grace
through a faith that simply rests in Christ and we are sanctified by grace
through a faith that, resting in Christ, is working through love. There are
many exhortations in the New Testament to cooperate with the Spirit: “Since we
live in the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Gal 5:25-26). We are
warned not to quench the Spirit, or as the NIV has it, “Do not put out the
Spirit’s fire” (1 Thes 5:19).
我們的確有必要把成聖作為禮物來接受。不只是在一開始，更是在每天生活中的更新，信徒所以能每天以愛心積極行動，是因為他們唯獨藉著信心、唯獨與基督聯合。然而，我們領受恩典的結果，是我們靠著這個恩賜，可以積極行善（弗二8-10；腓二12-13，等等）。如同路德所說，「信心是一件忙碌的事。」它總是在找事做，不是為了稱義，而是為了上帝的榮耀，為了鄰舍的益處。成聖要倚靠稱義，但是它和稱義不同。那些殷勤使用恩典管道的人會日漸成熟。他們不再是孩童，而是和基督身體裏其他的肢體一同長進，連於元首基督（弗四14-15）。We do indeed receive our
sanctification as a gift. Not only in the beginning, but throughout the life of
daily renewal, believers are always active in love because they are united to
Christ alone through faith alone. Nevertheless, the consequence of our being
mere recipients of grace is that we are by this gift made active in good works
(Eph 2:8-10; Phil 2:12-13, etc.). As Luther said, “Faith is a busy thing.” It
is always looking for something to do, not for justification, but for the glory
of God and the good of our neighbors. Sanctification is dependent on
justification, but it is not the same as justification. Those who make diligent
use of the means of grace will mature. They will no longer be children, but
will grow up together with the other members of Christ’s body into their head
(Eph 4:14-15).
無數的呼召要我們保守合一，治死肉體的惡行，禁戒爭吵、淫亂、拜偶像，要竭力追求，把自己看成是向罪死、向義活，這些都是以稱義為前提，並且包含了與稱義不同的內涵。在免受律法定罪的基礎上，我們破天荒地有能力愛上帝和我們的鄰舍。我們還未達到完全，但是我們已經煥然一新。新的創造已經破曉，聖靈如浪潮已經將我們捲入其中——並且使我們靠著來世的能力繼續泅游——藉著施恩的管道。Myriad calls to
preserve the bond of unity, to crucify the deeds of the flesh from which
quarrels, immorality, and idolatry emerge, to press on, to consider ourselves
dead to sin and alive to righteousness in Christ, both presuppose justification
and entail something distinct from justification. On the basis of our freedom
from the law’s condemnation, we are able for the first time truly to love God
and our neighbors. We are not what we will be, but we are not what we once
were. The new creation has dawned and the Spirit has swept us into it—and keeps
us swimming in the powers of the age to come—through his means of grace.
有時候人們會說，稱義是神恩獨作，但是成聖是神人合作。我明白其重點是為了區分這兩種恩賜，如同我在上面所做的。沒有錯，我們在成聖當中是積極的，而我們乃是藉著恩典的賜予，在每天生活中回應上帝的吩咐和應許，而在基督信仰上日漸成熟。然而，我認為，這是很不尋常的，也是不恰當的，就是把「神恩獨作-神人合作」這個對立的觀念（通常隸屬於有關重生和稱義的辯論）引進到成聖裏面來。最好只說我們要努力做成基督已經為我們贏得的救恩，這救恩乃是藉著福音，由聖靈所賜給我們的。雖然在成聖裏（和稱義不同），信心是積極行善的，福音卻永遠是基礎，而聖靈永遠是我們成聖的源頭，也是我們稱義的源頭。如同約翰歐文所說的，「稱義的教義指導著基督徒的實踐，也沒有其他的福音真理和我們的順服如此相關；因為我們對上帝全部的責任，其基礎、理由和動機，都已包含在其中。」換句話說，律法總是告訴我們上帝所要求的，而福音總是告訴我們上帝為罪人所作的，以及他們如今為何應該使自己順服於公義之下。It has sometimes
been said that justification is monergistic, but sanctification is synergistic.
I understand the point: namely, to distinguish these gifts, as I’ve done above.
It is certainly true that we are active in sanctification and that we grow in
Christian maturity through our grace-given responses each day to God’s commands
and promises. However, it is unusual and, I think, inappropriate to import the
monergism-synergism antithesis (typically belonging to the debate over the new
birth and justification) into sanctification. It is better simply to say that
we are working out that salvation that has Christ has already won for us and
given to us by his Spirit through the gospel. Though in sanctification (unlike
justification) faith is active in good works, the gospel is always the ground
and the Spirit is always the source of our sanctification as well as our
justification. As John Owen expressed it, “The doctrine of justification is
directive of Christian practice, and in no other evangelical truth is the whole
of our obedience more concerned; for the foundation, reasons, and motives of
all our duty towards God are contained therein.” In other words, the law always
tells us what God requires and the gospel always tells us what God has done for
sinners and why they should now yield themselves to righteousness.
在羅馬天主教和其他神人合作的架構裏，我們是努力與上帝聯合——按著行為得到最後的稱義。然而在福音派的教導裏，我們的行為是出於，或者更好的說法是，我們是出於已經屬於我們的、與基督的聯合而工作。在成聖當中，我們是竭盡全力，不斷操練，不停朝著終點線而賽跑——不是朝向稱義，乃是從稱義朝向我們的得榮耀。我們乃是「存心忍耐，奔那擺在我們前頭的路程，仰望為我們信心創始成終的耶穌」（來十二1-2）。In Roman Catholic and other
synergistic schemes, we are working toward union with God—a final justification
according to works. In evangelical teaching, however, we are working out of, or
better, from the union with Christ that is already ours. In sanctification, we
are striving, training, and running a race to the finish line—not toward
justification, but from justification to our glorification. We “run with
endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and
perfecter of our faith…” (Heb 12:1-2).
律法的能行與不能行What the Law Still Can and
Cannot Do
在這場賽事裏，律法的作用仍然是上帝給我們的命令，但是卻不再有能力將那些在基督裏稱義的人定罪。這時候，很容易把律法的第三重功用（給信徒的指引）轉成回到定罪的功用，或者如古時清教徒習慣說的，從恩典之約轉回到行為之約。一開始，在首次聽聞福音時，信徒對上帝在基督裏的恩典感到驚訝。不過，到了最後，勸勉會變成上帝無罪開釋的「準」條件（quasi-conditions），彷彿是說，人藉著福音從聖靈入門，然後在成聖當中，藉著人的努力，得到最後的稱義。（見加三3）。In this race, the law still
functions as God’s command for us, but no longer with the power to condemn
those who are justified in Christ. It is easy at this point to turn the third
use of the law (to guide believers) back into the condemning use, or as the old
Puritans used to say, to turn back from the covenant of grace to a covenant of
works. At the beginning, upon first hearing the gospel, the believer was amazed
by God’s grace in Christ. Eventually, though, exhortations have become
quasi-conditions for God’s aquittal, as if one began by the Spirit through the
gospel and then attained final justification through one’s efforts in
sanctification (see Gal 3:3).
我們再次看到，加爾文的教牧智慧對我們很有幫助：Again Calvin’s
pastoral wisdom is helpful:
信徒的良心在尋求稱義的確據時，應當完全棄絕律法上的義，而在律法之外尋求。……因為稱義的問題不是我們如何成為義人，而是既然我們是不義和不配的，如何才能被算為義。在稱義這事上，人的良心若想獲得確據，就應當完全棄絕律法。 然而我們也不能因此推斷，對於信徒而言，律法毫無用處，因律法不斷地教導和勸信徒行善，雖然善行在上帝的審判台前與他們的稱義完全無關。（《基督教要義》，3.19.2）The consciences of believers, in seeking
assurance of their justification before God, should rise above and advance
beyond the law, forgetting all law righteousness…For there the question is not
how we may become righteous but how, being unrighteous and unworthy, we may be
reckoned righteous. If consciences wish to attain any certainty in this matter,
they ought to give no place to the law. Nor can anyone rightly infer from this
that the law is superfluous for believers, since it does not stop teaching and
exhorting and urging them to good, even though before God’s judgment seat it
has no place in their consciences (3.19.2).
歐文在《論罪與恩典的統治》中，也說到同樣的事，這律法是指道德律法：Owen says much the
same thing in A Treatise on the Dominion of Sin and Grace, referring to the
moral law:
基督不在律法裏；基督不是靠律法的提議，也不靠律法來傳達——我們不是藉著律法與祂有分。這是福音恩典的工作。在福音裏，基督被啟示出來，靠著福音，祂被提議出來，也展示給我們看；藉此我們與祂有分，也與祂中保一切的福分有分。唯有藉著祂的道成肉身，可以摧毀魔鬼的工作……這就是『上帝的兒子顯現，為要除滅』的意思。惟有祂才能毀壞撒但的國度，而撒但的能力乃是表現在對罪的統治上。至此，我們對這個令人安慰的真理的確據，基本上就得到了解決。基督過去和現在為這個目的所成就的，是福音啟示最重要的部分。Christ is not in
the law; he is not proposed in it, not communicated by it, – we are not made
partakers of him thereby. This is the work of grace, of the gospel. In it is
Christ revealed, by it he is proposed and exhibited unto us; thereby are we
made partakers of him and all the benefits of his mediation. And he it is alone
who came to, and can, destroy this work of the devil…. This ‘the Son of God was
manifested to destroy.’ He alone ruins the kingdom of Satan, whose power is
acted in the rule of sin. Wherefore, hereunto our assurance of this comfortable
truth is principally resolved. And what Christ hath done, and doth, for this
end, is a great part of the subject of gospel revelation.
在這部作品的最後一段，他總結到，律法命令我們，但永遠無法摧毀罪的統治，無法給我們一顆新心，也無法使我們稱義：Then in the last
section of that work he concludes that the law directs us but can never destroy
the dominion of sin and give us new hearts any more than it can justify:
這是律法和它所有的責任無法獲得的。如同我們已經宣告的，律法及其責任無法摧毀罪的統治。所有真正扎心知罪的人，在此等權能之下的人，都會發現這個真理。當他們承擔著罪的重擔，擔心害怕罪的後果，他們就會發現到律法的軟弱，肉體的軟弱，他們責任的軟弱，他們的決心和誓言的軟弱——這些都不足以解救他們……他們犯罪，並承諾要改善，努力也帶來一些責任，然而卻無法拯救他們脫離罪的轄制。因此，我們可以學到這個特權的優點；首先，從其理由來說，我只提幾點：1. 實現此自由之具有功效的理由是耶穌基督的死和寶血。這是彼前一18-19，林前六20、七23所宣告的。沒有其他任何事物可以賺得這個自由……『因此基督死了又活了，為要作死人並活人的主』（羅十四9），如此就拯救我們脫離所有其他主人的權勢。It is that which
the law and all the duties of it cannot procure. The law and its duties, as we
have declared, can never destroy the dominion of sin. All men will find the
truth hereof that ever come to fall under the power of real conviction. When
sin presseth on them, and they are afraid of its consequents, they will find
that the law is weak, and the flesh is weak, and their duties are weak, and
their resolutions and vows are weak; – all insufficient to relieve them. … They
sin and promise amendment, and endeavor recompenses by some duties, yet can
never extricate themselves from the yoke of sin. We may therefore learn the
excellency of this privilege, first, from its causes, whereof I shall mention
some only:- 1. The meritorious procuring cause of this liberty is the death and
blood of Jesus Christ. So it is declared, 1Pet.1:18-19; 1Cor.6:20, 7:23.
Nothing else could purchase this freedom… ‘Christ died, and rose, and revived,’
that he might be our Lord, Rom.14:9, and so deliver us from the power of all
other lords whatever.
……願一切相信的，所有與罪爭戰的，可以靠基督的血所做成的，在這個買贖得來的自由的基礎上，運用信心來生活。如此，就會帶來兩件事：1. 他們會隨時準備好，會有強而有力的論證，反對罪惡的謊言和暴力……見羅六2。 2. 這個自由的內在有效因，或者說，摧毀在我們裏面的罪的權勢和統治的，是聖靈自己；這進一步表明此憐憫的偉大。治死罪的每個行動，都是直接來自基督，正如使我們得以成聖的積極的恩典一樣。我們乃是「靠著聖靈」，「治死身體的惡行」（羅八13）。基督所在之地，也唯有基督所在之地，才有自由。… Let those that
are believers, in all the conflicts with sin, live in the exercise of faith on
this purchase of liberty made by the blood of Christ; for two thing will hence
ensue:- [1.] That they will have a weighty argument always in readiness to
oppose unto the deceit and violence of sin… See Rom.6:2. [2.] The internal
efficient cause of this liberty, or that whereby the power and rule of sin is
destroyed in us, is the Holy Spirit himself; which farther evinceth the
greatness of this mercy. Every act for the mortification of sin is no less
immediately from him than those positive graces are whereby we are sanctified.
It is ‘through the Spirit’ that we ‘mortify the deeds of the body,’ Rom.8:13.
Where he is, there, and there alone, is liberty…
因此，要獲得並保存這個自由，有一大部分的智慧是要運用信心，抓住我們救主的應許，即我們的天父會『將聖靈賜給祈求祂的人』。每當罪在任何情況下，要藉著任何的誘惑，鼓動我們內在的罪的權勢，要統治我們時，我們就要立刻轉向我們的內心和我們自己的決心，這些就它們本身來說是不能忽略的；但是我們也要立刻向上帝哀求，求祂賜下祂的聖靈，因為若非聖靈的幫助，我們就無法制服罪，也無法為自己解除痛苦。…Wherefore, a great
part of our wisdom for the attaining and preserving this liberty consists in
the acting of faith on that promise of our Saviour, that our heavenly Father
will ‘give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him’ of him. When sin in any instance,
by any temptation, urgeth for power and rule in us, we are ready to turn into
ourselves and our own resolutions, which in their place are not to be
neglected; but immediate cries unto God for such supplies of his Spirit as
without which sin will not be subdued, we shall find our best relief.
如此，在這場戰役中，成功總是來自「思想我們主耶穌基督的職分和眷顧，祂的搭救」，歐文補充說。「赦免的恩典，根據聖約的進程，總是會解除罪在信徒身上定罪的權勢；以至於，罪儘管百般阻撓，那些『因信稱義』的人，仍得以與上帝相和。」倘若我們只看自己，依靠我們自己的進步和決心，是無法摧毀罪及其根源的，歐文總結到。In this battle,
therefore, success is always due to “considering the office and care of our
Lord Jesus Christ for our relief,” Owen adds. “Pardoning mercy, according to
the tenor of the covenant, doth always disarm this sin in believers of its
condemning power; so that, notwithstanding the utmost endeavours of it, ‘being
justified by faith, they have peace with God.'” Looking to ourselves, depending
on our own progress and resolutions, will not destroy sin at its root, Owen
concludes.
在此亮光下，就可以明白反律法主義和律法主義，是如何來自同一種錯誤，都是沒有仰望基督的情況下，尋求脫離罪的罪咎和權勢。他們是一個銅板的兩面，如同湯瑪斯•波士頓（Thomas Boston）指出的：Viewed in this light, one can
see how antinomianism and legalism come from the same failure to look to Christ
for relief from sin’s guilt and power. They are two sides of the same coin, as
Thomas Boston pointed out:
這個反律法主義的原則是說，充分因信稱義的人，沒有必要努力遵行律法、做善工。這是一個至為明顯的證據，說明律法主義是如此根深柢固，深入到人敗壞的本性之中，以至於一個藉著信心來到基督面前的人，其律法的意向仍然在統治著他；使他自己的意志臣服於宗教的外形和原則之下。即使他躲到反律法主義裏頭，他仍然帶著他律法主義的精神，一直存著奴僕和不聖潔的心態。正如筆者觀察到的，他會因為害怕受處罰而被迫去作所有他所做的事，且希冀得到報酬；而一旦他心意已決，明白懲罰或獎賞都不存在，且迫使他前進的重擔已經被除去，他就會固步自封，像個壞掉的鐘錶一樣，或者像一個不再受鞭子威脅的奴隸一樣，一動也不動；再也沒有什麼比這令人厭惡的律法主義更明顯的了（Thomas Boston,
"The Marrow of Modern Divinity", 207）。This Antinomian principle, That it is needless for a
man, perfectly justified by faith, to endeavour to keep the law, and do good
works, is a glaring evidence that legality is so engrained in man’s corrupt
nature, that until a man truly come to Christ, by faith, the legal disposition
will still be reigning in him; let him turn himself into what shape, or be of
what principles he will in religion; though he run into Antinomianism he will
carry along with him his legal spirit, which will always be a slavish and
unholy spirit. He is constrained, as the author observes, to do all that he
does for fear of punishment, and hope of reward; and if it is once fixed in his
mind that these are ceased in his case, he stands still like a clock when the
weights that made her go are removed, or like a slave when he is in no hazard
of the whip; than which there cannot be a greater evidence of loathsome
legality (Thomas Boston, “The Marrow of Modern Divinity”, 207).
波士頓在其他地方說到，「當教會處在一個墮落的狀態裏面時，律法和福音是被混淆的，而且律法會擠壓福音，道德的幽暗黑影會取代福音的光；這是今日教會的大病，也是未來教會的大災難。」（Gospel Truth, 106）另一個十八世紀的蘇格蘭牧師John Colquhoun加上說，「如此，把律法和福音混為一談，或者教導人把律法的行為加到耶穌基督完美的義裏頭，當作罪人稱義的基礎，根據我們使徒的說法，在上帝的眼中就是在教導另一個福音。」（A Treatise on the
Law and the Gospel, 142）“In a sinking state
of the church,” Boston wrote elsewhere, “the law and gospel are confounded, and
the law justles out the gospel, the dark shades of morality take place of
gospel light; which plague is this day begun in the church, and well far
advanced” (Gospel Truth, 106). Another 18th-century Scottish minister, John
Colquhoun, adds, “To mingle, then, the law with the gospel, or teach men to
join the works of the law to the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ as the
ground of a sinner’s title to justification in the sight of God is, according
to our apostle, to preach another gospel (A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel,
142).
今天在我們改革宗和長老會的圈子裏，有些人不同意律法和福音的區分，或者是在他們的信仰告白裏行為之約和恩典之約的區分。的確，我們墮落的心原始的設定是更容易屈服於反律法主義或道德主義。稱義唯獨只能靠恩典，唯獨在基督裏，但是如今我們感到，為了成聖，我們必須以不同的基礎和不同的條件，去另找其他的根基。然而，正如我們的主所說的，智慧是由它的果子來證實的（太十一19；和修本）。我們的救恩不止是稱義而已。因為上帝所已經成就的和祂正在作的，我們如今有更多的事要做。然而，任何假冒的順服，不是根植於基督完成的工作歸算給罪人的順服，同時是對一位聖潔而憐憫的上帝的冒犯，更是一種無用功，想要在保留罪惡之根的情況下摧毀罪惡之果。There are some in
our Reformed and Presbyterian circles today who do not approve of the
distinction between law and gospel or the covenant of works and the covenant of
grace that they find in their Confession. Far easier it is indeed to yield to
antinomianism or moralism, the default setting of our fallen heart. Justification
is by grace alone, in Christ alone, but now we feel that we must go on to some
other foundation, with a different basis and different conditions, for our
sanctification. Yet, as our Lord said, wisdom is vindicated by what she
accomplishes. There is more to our salvation than justification. Because of
what God has done and is doing, there is much for us to do now. However, any
pretended obedience that is not grounded in the finished work of Christ imputed
to sinners is both an offense in the nostrils of a holy and merciful God and a
fruitless effort to destroy the fruit of sin while leaving its root in tact.