記號及其所表徵的實體The Sign and the ThingsSignified
译者/校对者: Maria Marta/骆鸿铭
彼得說：「你們各人要悔改，奉耶穌基督的名受洗，叫你們的罪得赦，就必領受所賜的聖靈；」（徒二38）
極度的濫用往往導致極端的反應，這現象在基督教神學史上特別能體現出來。羅馬天主教的聖品主義（sacerdotalism）----救恩是透過神職人員和聖禮作為中介而獲得的-----長期以來扭曲了聖經福音的真理。所以不難明白，有很多基督徒在回應這類問題時，試圖貶低神職人員和聖禮的重要性。現代福音派，部分原因是因為我們堅持聖經真理，即救恩要求個人認信基督，以致常常將聖禮視為只是一種記念。在很多教會圏子裡，洗禮和主餐被貶低至一種例行遵守的儀式，很少思想為什麼有聖禮的存在。此外，聖禮會以一種特殊的方式來傳遞恩典，是許多福音派人士從來沒有想過的，至少在美國是如此。
然而，用輕看聖禮的態度來回應羅馬天主教的聖品主義是不恰當的。聖經教導的是一種對聖禮的崇高看法，卻不至於成為聖品主義者。在許多經文章節中，使徒說聖禮所描繪的屬靈事實（內在屬靈的恩典），和聖禮本身是等同的。例如在今天的經文中，乍看之下，似乎讓神的赦罪，成為洗禮必然的結果（徒二38）。
既然聖經一貫堅持的真理是因信稱義（加二15-16），我們知道只憑聖禮的施行，並不能傳遞其所表徵的恩惠（內在屬靈恩典）。然而，聖經中的聖禮和其所表徵的恩惠（內在屬靈恩典）有如此緊密的聯繫，我們對此又如何解釋呢？ 《威敏思特信仰告白》幫助我們明白：「在每一聖禮中，在『記號』與『記號所表徵的實體」之間，都有一種屬靈的關係，或聖禮上的聯合；因此，一個聖禮的名稱與功效可歸給另一個聖禮。」（27.2）從屬靈的角度來說，外在可見的聖禮記號和它所表徵的不可見的現實（內在屬靈的恩典），它們之間的關係是如此地緊密相連，以致於我們可以說：聖禮使它所描繪的屬靈真理（內在屬靈恩典）發生了效力。聖禮不會自動地傳遞恩惠，聖禮只傳遞神的恩典給那些憑信心領受的人。誠然，聖禮的確會將這樣的恩典，傳遞給所有唯獨相信耶穌的人。
活在神的面光中（Coram Deo）
今天經文的學習是取自《海德堡要理問答》66， 它提醒我們，封印在聖禮裡的應許是：赦罪的應許是給所有唯獨安息在基督裡的人。當我們相信的時候，神就藉著聖禮，削弱我們對這寶貴應許的任何懷疑，祂也會透過祂的聖靈堅固我們，使我們在生活中無論面對哪種情況，都會是讓我們能緊緊抓住耶穌。
深進學習: 代下五1-14；約六53-56；林前十二13；彼前三18-22。
The
Sign and the Things Signified
“Peter
said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit.”- Acts 2:38
Extreme
abuses tend to evoke extreme responses, especially in the history of Christian
theology. Roman Catholic sacerdotalism — the idea that salvation is mediated
through the priesthood and the sacraments — has long distorted the biblical
gospel. So, it is understandable that many Christians have tried to answer this
problem by downplaying the importance of the clergy and the sacraments. Modern
evangelicals, due in part to our insistence on the biblical truth that
salvation demands personal faith in Christ, often view the sacraments as bare
memorials. In many circles, baptism and the Lord’s Supper are reduced to
ordinances that we do simply because we are supposed to do them, and little
thought is given as to why the sacraments exist. Moreover, the idea that the
sacraments convey grace in a special way is probably foreign to many
evangelicals, at least in America.
Yet a
low view of the sacraments is an improper response to Rome’s sacerdotalist
view. The Scriptures teach a high view of the sacraments without being
sacerdotalist. In many places, the Apostles speak of the spiritual realities
that the sacraments portray as identical to the sacraments themselves. Today’s
passage, for example, uses language that, at first glance, seems to make divine
forgiveness the inevitable result of water baptism (Acts 2:38).
Given
Scripture’s insistence that we are justified by faith alone (Gal. 2:15–16), we
know that the sacraments do not convey the benefits they signify simply through
their administration. How, then, can we account for the Bible’s close
association between the sacraments and the benefits they portray? The
Westminster Confession of Faith is helpful here: “There is in every sacrament a
spiritual relation, or sacramental union, between the sign and the thing
signified; whence it comes to pass that the names and effects of the one are
attributed to the other” (27.2). Spiritually speaking, the connection between
the sacramental signs and the invisible realities they portray is so close that
we can rightly speak of the sacraments effecting the spiritual truths they
depict. The benefits are not conveyed automatically, for the sacraments only
convey sanctifying grace to those who receive them in faith. Nevertheless, they
truly do convey such grace to all who trust in Jesus alone.
Coram
Deo
The
passage for today’s study is drawn from question and answer 66 of the
Heidelberg Catechism, which reminds us that the promise sealed in the
sacraments is the promise to forgive the sins of all those who rest in Christ
alone. When we believe, God works through the sacraments to weaken any doubts
we might have about this precious promise, and He strengthens us by His Spirit
to cling to Jesus in every circumstance of life.
Passages
for Further Study 2 Chronicles 5:1–14
John 6:53–56 1 Corinthians 12:13 1 Peter 3:18–22
