污穢的衣服還是足以討上帝喜悅？FilthyRags or Fully Pleasing?
作者：凱文•德陽（Kevin DeYoung）譯者：駱鴻銘
摘自凱文•德揚的新書：我們的聖潔裏的破洞（The Hole in Our
Holiness）
許多基督徒相信，他們一切的義行都是虛無的，不過是污穢的衣服。畢竟，這是以賽亞書六十四章4節所說的，你們最好的行為仍然是污穢、無用的。但是我不認為這是以賽亞的意思。以賽亞心中的「義行」，最有可能的是以色列人不靠真實信心和全心順服所作的敷衍了事的儀式。在以賽亞書六十五章1～7節裏，耶和華拒絕以色列人犯罪的獻祭。這些人是在羞辱耶和華，是祂鼻中的煙，正如以賽亞書五十八章中行禮如儀的「順服」不會感動耶和華一樣，因為祂的百姓還在壓迫窮人。他們的義行是「污穢的衣服」，是因為這些行為根本就不是義的。它們表面上看起來很好，但其實是假冒的，只是一層煙幕，以遮掩他們的不信和不順服。
Many Christians
believe that all their righteous deeds are nothing but filthy rags. After all,
that’s what Isaiah 64:6
seems to say: even your best deeds are dirty and worthless. But I don’t think this is what Isaiah means. The “righteous deeds” Isaiah has in mind are most
likely the perfunctory rituals offered by Israel without sincere faith and
without wholehearted obedience. In Isaiah 65:1–7 the Lord rejects Israel’s
sinful sacrifices. They are an insult to the Lord, smoke in his nostrils, just
like the ritual “obedience” of Isaiah 58 that did not impress the Lord because
his people were oppressing the poor. Their “righteous deeds” were “filthy rags”
(64:6, KJV) because they weren’t righteous at all. They looked good but were a
sham, a literal smoke screen to cover up their unbelief and disobedience.
但是我們不應當認定每一種「義行」在上帝面前都像污穢的衣服。事實上，前一節經文（賽六十四5）才說到，「你（耶和華）迎接那歡喜行義，記念你道的人」。上帝的百姓行出討神喜悅的義行，並不是不可能的。派博（John Piper）解釋說：
But we should not think that every kind of “righteous deed” is like a filthy rag before God. In fact the previous
verse, Isaiah 64:5, says “you [God] meet him
who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways.” It is
not impossible for God’s people to commit righteous acts that please God. John
Piper explains:
有時候人們會很粗心，以貶損的口吻論及人類一切的義行，彷彿討神喜悅的事是完全不存在的。他們經常引用以賽亞書六十四章6節，那裏說到我們的義像是污穢的衣服。上帝的百姓，無論是在十字架以前或以後，若不是基督完美的義被歸算給我們（羅五19；林前一30；林後五21），就不會被一位純潔無瑕、聖潔的上帝所接納，這是真理，而且是一個榮耀的真理。但是這並不意味著上帝不會在這些「被稱義」的人（在十字架以前或以後）身上產生一種人可以經驗到的、不是「污穢的衣服」的義行。事實上，祂的確這樣作了；而這個義行對上帝來說是很寶貴的，也是必要的；這不是我們稱義的基礎（唯有基督的義才是），卻是我們是真的、被稱義的上帝兒女的證據。（註1）
Sometimes people are careless and speak
disparagingly of all human righteousness, as if there were no such thing that
pleased God. They often cite Isaiah 64:6 which says our righteousness is as
filthy rags. It is true–gloriously true–that none of God’s people, before or
after the cross, would be accepted by an immaculately holy God if the perfect
righteousness of Christ were not imputed to us (Romans 5:19; 1 Corinthians
1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21). But that does not mean that God does not produce in
those “justified” people (before and after the cross) an experiential
righteousness that is not “filthy rags.” In fact, he does; and this
righteousness is precious to God and is required, not as the ground of our justification
(which is the righteousness of Christ only), but as an evidence of our being
truly justified children of God.[1]
忽略聖經的假設和期望，即義行是可能的，是一件危險的事。當然，我們的義行永遠無法平息上帝的震怒。我們需要基督歸算給我們的義。不只如此，我們憑著自己的力量也無法產生任何的義行。但是身為重生的基督徒，靠著祂的恩典討神喜悅是可能的。那些在一切善事上結果子，漸漸地多認識上帝的人，是可以凡事蒙祂喜悅的（西一10）。我們要把身體獻上，當作活祭來討神喜悅（羅十二1）。照顧軟弱的弟兄，會討神喜悅（十四18）。聽從父母也會討神喜悅（西三20）。以真理教導神的話也討神喜歡（帖前二4）。為一切在位掌權者禱告也蒙上帝悅納（提前二1～3）。扶持有需要的家人也蒙上帝悅納（五4）。捐輸也是上帝喜悅的（來十三16）。遵守祂的命令也討神喜悅（約壹三22）。基本上，每當你信靠順服時，上帝就會感到喜悅。（註2）
It is a dangerous thing to ignore the Bible’s assumption, and expectation, that
righteousness is possible. Of course, our righteousness can never appease God’s wrath. We need the imputed righteousness of
Christ. More than that, we cannot produce any righteousness in our own
strength. But as born-again believers, it is possible to please God by his
grace. Those who bear fruit in every good work and increase in the knowledge of
God are fully pleasing to God (Col. 1:10). Presenting your body as a living
sacrifice pleases God (Rom. 12:1). Looking out for your weaker brother pleases
God (14:18). Obeying your parents pleases God (Col. 3:20). Teaching the Word in
truth pleases God (1 Thess. 2:4). Praying for the governing authorities pleases
God (1 Tim. 2:1–3). Supporting your family members in need pleases God (5:4).
Sharing with others pleases God (Heb. 13:16). Keeping his commandments pleases
God (1 John 3:22). Basically, whenever you trust and obey, God is pleased.[2]
我們也許會認為，把我們所做的每件事都當作在道德上是可疑的，是一個有屬靈的敏感度的記號。但是這不是聖經對義行的看法。更重要的，這一類放棄追求屬靈行動的觀念，並沒有道出上帝的真理。陶恕（A. W. Tozer）說得對：
We can think it’s a mark of spiritual sensitivity to consider
everything we do as morally suspect. But this is not the way the Bible thinks
about righteousness. More importantly, this kind of spiritual resignation does
not tell the truth about God. A. W. Tozer is right:
即使在今天，在良善的基督徒當中，未能正確地認識上帝，也會迎來一個不幸的世界。基督徒生活被當成是憂鬱沉悶、沉重的十字架——這是在一個嚴厲父親的眼前所背負的十字架；祂對人的期望很高，卻從不假以顏色。祂很嚴格，脾氣不好，喜怒無常，而且難以取悅。（註3）
From a failure to properly understand God comes
a world of unhappiness among good Christians even today. The Christian life is
thought to be a glum, unrelieved cross-carrying under the eye of a stern Father
who expects much and excuses nothing. He is austere, peevish, highly
temperamental and extremely hard to please.[3]
但是這絕非聖經裏的上帝。我們的上帝不是一個善變的奴隸主。祂不會過於敏感，不會因為一點點的冒犯就隨意翻臉。祂是不輕易發怒、有豐盛慈愛的上帝（出卅四6）。「祂不是很難取悅的」，陶恕提醒我們，「儘管我們很難滿足祂。」（註4）
But this is no way to view the God of the
Bible. Our God is not a capricious slave driver. He is not hyper-sensitive and
prone to fits of rage on account of slight offenses. He is slow to anger and
abounding in steadfast love (Ex. 34:6). “He is not hard to please,” Tozer
reminds us, “though He may be hard to satisfy.”[4]
我們為什麼會把上帝想像成如此冷漠，對我們誠心順服的嘗試會無動於衷呢？畢竟，祂是我們的天父。什麼樣的父親會望著他的女兒所繪製的生日卡，抱怨說卡片的顏色全部塗錯了呢？什麼樣的母親會對她的兒子——在他欣然打掃車庫，卻把油漆罐放錯了架子——說，「這在我眼中毫無價值」？哪一種父母會在他的兒女第一次試著騎腳踏車，卻從腳踏車上跌下來時翻白眼呢？除了基督的義之外，沒有任何的義可以使我們與上帝和好。但是對那些已經唯獨靠著恩典，唯獨藉著信心，也因此被收養進入上帝家中，而已經與上帝和好的人來說，我們許多的義行在上帝眼中，並不都是完全污穢的，而是非常甜美、寶貴，能討祂喜悅的。
Why do we imagine
God to be so unmoved by our heart-felt attempts at obedience? He is, after all,
our heavenly Father. What sort of father looks at his daughter’s homemade birthday card and complains that the
color scheme is all wrong? What kind of mother says to her son, after he gladly
cleaned the garage but put the paint cans on the wrong shelf, “This is
worthless in my sight”? What sort of parent rolls his eyes when his child falls
off the bike on the first try? There is no righteousness that makes us right
with God except for the righteousness of Christ. But for those who have been
made right with God by grace alone through faith alone and therefore have been
adopted into God’s family, many of our righteous deeds are not only not filthy
in God’s eyes, they are exceedingly sweet, precious, and pleasing to him.
註：
[1]
John Piper, Future Grace (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 1995), 151.
[2]
See Wayne Grudem, “Pleasing God by Our Obedience,” in For the Fame of God’s
Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper, ed. Sam Storms and Justin Taylor (Wheaton,
IL: Crossway, 2010), 277.
[3]
A. W. Tozer, The Best of A. W. Tozer, Volume 1 (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1978),
121.
[4]Ibid.
摘自：凱文•德陽的新書，《我們的聖潔裏的破洞》（The Hole in Our
Holiness）。
