聖靈、聖道、與重生6.REGENERATION AS EFFECTUAL CALLING
摘錄自邁克?何頓(Michael Horton)著,《基督徒的信仰》(麥種,2016年夏/秋季)
Chapter
17: Called to be Saints: Christ’s Presence in the Spirit
重生也不是在遠方完成的事情,而已經是基督的臨在,在聖靈的大能中傳達父的聲音,聖靈不單在我們身上工作,也在我們裏面工作。加爾文說:「我們也必須留意表達的形式,因他們的話信……,就表示信心乃是源自聆聽,因為人的外在傳講是神用來吸引我們、使我們有信心的工具。因此,嚴格來說,神是信心的創始者,人是我們藉以相信的執事,正如保羅所教導的那樣(林前三5)」(強調字體為引者標示)。[1] 評論羅馬書十章17節(「可見信道是從聽道來的,聽道是從基督的話來的」)時,加爾文寫道:Nor is regeneration
something done at a distance, but is already the presence of Christ mediating
the voice of the Father in the power of the Spirit who not only works upon us
but within us. Calvin comments, “We must also observe that form of expression,
to believe through the word, which means that faith springs from hearing,
because the outward preaching of men is the instrument by which God draws us to
faith. It follows that God is, strictly speaking, the Author of faith, and men
are the ministers by whom we believe, as Paul teaches (1Co 3:5)” (emphasis
added). 44 Commenting on Romans 10:17 (“So faith comes from hearing, and
hearing through the word of Christ”), Calvin writes,
這是關於講道效力的一段了不起的經文;因為他宣稱信心是藉著講道產生的。他以前確實宣告過,單單講道本身是無效的;但講道若討主喜悅,以致祂作工,它就成了祂大能的工具。而事實上,人的聲音絕對不可能透入人的心靈;說某人有能力使我們重生,是過分抬舉了必死之人了;信心之光也極其超凡,絕不可能藉著人傳遞;但這一切都不是障礙,因為神並非不能透過人的聲音有效地工作,祂能透過他的事奉而在我們裏面創造信心。[2]
And
this is a remarkable passage with regard to the efficacy of preaching; for he
testifies that by it faith is produced. He had indeed before declared that of
itself it is of no avail; but that when it pleases the Lord to work, it becomes
the instrument of his power. And indeed the voice of man can by no means
penetrate
into the soul; and mortal man would be too much exalted were he said to have
the power to regen erate us; the light also of faith is something sublimer than
what can be conveyed by man: but all these things are no hindrances, that God
should not work effectually through the voice of man, so as to create faith in
us through his ministry. 45
中世紀的稱義教義是根據注入習性,重洗派強調聖靈在我們裏面直接和無媒介的運行;與之相對,改教者強調聖道──具體來說,是福音──的中介。寇爾夫豪斯(Wilhelm Kolfhaus)論及加爾文的觀點時指出:「因為信心和聖道彼此相屬,兩種表述的基礎始終都是:由聖靈藉著福音產生的信心。」[3] 譚布雷洛(Dennis Tamburello)很好地總結了加爾文對救恩次序的觀點:「聖靈藉著聆聽福音,使選民有信心;在這樣作時,聖靈將他們嫁接到基督裏。」[4]
Against
both the medieval doctrine of justification according to infused habits and the
Anabaptist emphasis on a direct and immediate work of the Spirit within us, the
Reformers insisted upon the mediation of the Word — specifically, the gospel.
“For faith and the Word belong together,” Wilhelm Kolfhaus notes concerning
Calvin’s view. “The foundation of both expressions is always the faith produced
by the Spirit through the Gospel.” 46 Dennis Tamburello nicely summarizes
Calvin’s view of the ordo: “The Holy Spirit brings the elect, through the
hearing of the gospel, to faith; in so doing, the Spirit engrafts them into
Christ.” 47
[1]
John Calvin, Commentary on the Gospel According to John (trans. William
Pringle; Grand Rapids: Baker, repr. 1996)=加爾文著,吳玲玲譯,《約翰福音註釋》(北京:華夏出版社,2015),545頁,評論約翰福音十七章20節。
[2] 加爾文評論羅馬書十章17節,於John Calvin, Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the
Apostle to the Romans (ed. and trans. John Owen: vol. 19 of Calvin’s Commentaries; Edinburgh: Calvin Translation
Society, 1843-1855, repr., Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1993), 401=加爾文著,趙中輝、宋華忠譯,《羅馬人書註釋》(台北:基督教改革宗翻譯社,1971),209-10頁。
[3] 寇爾夫豪斯,引自Dennis Tamburello, Union with
Christ: John Calvin and the Mysticism of St. Bernard (Louisville: Westminster
John Knox, 1994), 86。
[4]
Tamburello, Union with Christ, 86。