教會唯一的根基 The Church’s One Foundation
作者: R.C. Sproul 譯者: Maria Marta
四十多年前，洛杉磯曾發生過一場該市曆史上其中一次最嚴重的，可怕的地震。我記得那次事件是因為在地震發生之前，我開車送一位朋友到機場，讓他就可以趕上開往洛杉磯的航班，他是一名洛杉磯牧師。他後來他告訴我，地震影響了他牧養的教會，地震後教堂初時似乎完好無損。盡管沒有明顯的嚴重損壞，但後來的檢測顯示，教堂的地基移位程度嚴重，以致他們不得不關閉教會，重建教堂, 因爲教堂建築物不再安全了。對任何不經意的旁觀者而言，教堂似乎是堅固的。然而，在現實中它卻不適宜使用，必須拆除, 在穩固的根基上重建。
在詩篇十一篇3節，大衛問道，「根基若毀壞，義人還能作什麼呢？」大衛借物理領域的術語來打比方，表達他對屬靈狀況的特別擔憂。倘若建築物理根基的毀壞意味著整座建築的倒塌，那麼上帝子民維護真理根基的失敗, 就意味著他們的屬靈健康和福祉的災難。
我們可以將這觀念應用於教會。倘若教會的根基動搖，教會能生存？ 不能。 但什麼是教會的根基？正確的回答將有助於防護根基和維護上帝的真理。
在多年的事奉中, 我經常教導教會根基這一主題。我常常指出，寫「教會唯一的根基是我們的主耶穌基督」這行句子的作者，在寫他的贊美詩時的動機本意是好的, 但這句子本身傳達著錯誤的信息。關於教會的根基，聖經說耶穌就是根基：「因為除了那已經立好的根基以外，沒有人能立別的根基。那根基就是耶穌基督。」（林前三11） 然而，關於教會根基，這並非全部新約聖經所說的。保羅在以弗所書二章20節說, 耶穌實際上是「房角石」。耶穌被稱爲根基，因為祂是關鍵，可以說，是奠立整個根基的關鍵。但在這根基中，還有其他石頭。
那麼，根基的其余部分是什麼？保羅告訴我們，包括先知和使徒（弗二18-21）。在啓示錄第廿一章，我們讀到從天而降的聖城, 新耶路撒冷的宏偉景象。14節告訴我們：「城牆有十二根基，根基上有羔羊十二使徒的名字。」 甚至天上的耶路撒冷也建造在使徒的根基之上。
就本質而言，曆史上的基督教教會是使徒性的。使徒Apostle 一字源自希臘字apostolos，意思是「被派遣的人」。在古希臘文化裏， apostolos首先是指一名信使、大使、或使者。但他不僅是一個助理。他是國王授權, 代表國王的使者（在國王不在的情況下），並且擁有國王的權柄。
新約聖經的第一個使徒實際上是耶穌，因爲祂被父上帝差遣來到世上。在新約聖經, 我們從耶穌關於祂自己的角色的言論中, 我們得到「成為一個使徒意味著什麽」的最完整的圖畫。耶穌基督說：「我不憑著自己作甚麼事；我說的這些話，是照著父所教導我的。」（約八28） 耶穌基督又對門徒說：「因為我沒有憑著自己說話，而是差我來的父給了我命令，要我說甚麼，講甚麼。」（約 12:49） 耶穌基督還道：「天上地上一切權柄都賜給我了。」（太28:18） 耶穌蒙父上帝賜予權炳, 代表祂發言，傳遞祂的說話，所以耶穌的教導具有上帝的權炳。
使徒憑著從基督轉交下來的權柄言談，傳遞祂的教導。使徒運用耶穌基督的權柄作教導，耶穌基督運用上帝的權柄作教導。因此，很久以前, 當教父愛任紐（Irenaeus）曾論證說，拒絕使徒的權柄就是拒絕耶穌基督的權柄。歸根到底，拒絕耶穌基督的權柄就是拒絕上帝的權柄。
我們這裏所說的使徒權柄的概念對基督徒信仰來說非常重要。但我們如何認識使徒的權柄？通過順服使徒傳統來認識。保羅在哥林多前書十五章3節告訴我們：「我從前領受了又傳交給你們那最要緊的」, 他使用希臘字paradosis，我們翻譯爲「傳統」。Paradosis的字面意思是「委托/移交」, 這正是新約所指的意思。這就是教會所領受的使徒傳統。教會從使徒那領受，使徒從基督那領受，基督從上帝那領受。這就是爲什麼當我們拒絕使徒----新約聖經的使徒傳統----我們就在拒絕上帝的權柄。
本譯文的聖經經文皆引自《聖經新譯本》。
本文原刊於Tabletalk雜誌。
The
Church’s One Foundation
FROM
R.C. Sproul
More
than forty years ago, Los Angeles experienced a terrible earthquake, one of the
worst in the city’s history. I remember the event because just before the
earthquake, I had driven a friend of mine to the airport so that he could catch
a flight to Los Angeles, where he was a pastor. The earthquake affected his
church, and he later told me that at first everything seemed to be fine with
the sanctuary building. Although there was no visible damage of any
significance, a later inspection revealed that the foundation of the church had
shifted to such a degree that they had to close the church and rebuild the
sanctuary because it was no longer safe. To any casual observer, it seemed like
the sanctuary was stable. However, in reality it was unfit for use, and it had
to be demolished and rebuilt upon a sure foundation.
In
Psalm 11:3, David asks the question, “If the foundations are destroyed, what
can the righteous do?” David draws on an analogy in the physical realm to
depict a particular spiritual concern that he had. If the failure of a
building’s physical foundation spells the end for the entire building, the
failure of God’s people to maintain the foundation of truth means disaster for
their spiritual health and well-being.
We
can apply this idea to the church. If the foundation of the church is shaken,
can the church survive? No. But what is the foundation of the church? Answering
that question correctly will help us guard the foundation and preserve His
truth.
I’ve
often taught on this subject—the foundation of the church—in my years of
ministry. I’ve often pointed out that while the author of the line, “The
church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ our Lord,” had his heart in the right
place when he was writing his hymn, the line itself is a conduit of
misinformation. With respect to the foundation of the church, Scripture does
speak of Jesus as the foundation: “For no one can lay a foundation other than
that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11). However, that is not
all that the New Testament says about the church’s foundation. Paul says in
Ephesians 2:20 that Jesus is actually “the cornerstone.” Jesus is called the
foundation because He is the linchpin, as it were, for the entire foundation.
But there are other stones in this foundation.
What,
then, is the rest of the foundation? The foundation, Paul tells us, consists of
the prophets and the Apostles (Eph. 2:18-21). In Revelation 21, we read of the
magnificent vision of the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city that comes down from
above. Verse 14 tells us that “the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and
on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Even the
heavenly Jerusalem is based upon the foundation of the apostles.
Historically,
the Christian church is, in its very essence, Apostolic. The term Apostle comes
from the Greek word apostolos, which means “one who is sent.” In the ancient
Greek culture, an apostolos was first of all a messenger, an ambassador, or an
emissary. But he wasn’t just a page. He was an emissary who was authorized by the
king to represent the king in his absence, and he bore the king’s authority.
The
first Apostle in the New Testament was actually Jesus, for He was sent by His
Father into the world. We get the fullest picture of what it is to be an
Apostle by looking at what He says in the New Testament about this role of His.
Jesus said, “I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father
taught me” (John 8:28). Christ told His disciples, “For I have not spoken on my
own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a
commandment—what to say and what to speak” (12:49). He said, “All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). Jesus was granted
authority by God the Father to speak on behalf of the Father and to deliver His
Father’s Word, so Jesus’ teaching had God’s authority.
The
Apostles spoke with a transferred authority from Christ to deliver His
teachings. The Apostles taught with the authority of Jesus, who taught with the
authority of God. Therefore, as the church father Irenaeus argued long ago, to
reject Apostolic authority is to reject the authority of Jesus. And in the
final analysis, to reject the authority of Jesus is to reject the authority of
God.
What
we have here in the concept of Apostolic authority is of vital importance to
the Christian faith. But how do we recognize Apostolic authority? By submitting
to the Apostolic tradition. In 1 Corinthians 15:3 Paul tells us, “I delivered
to you, first of all, that which I also received,” and he uses the term paradosis,
which is the Greek term we translate as “tradition.” Paradosis literally means
“a giving over, a transfer,” and that’s what the New Testament is. It is the
Apostolic tradition that the church has received. The church received it from
the Apostles, who received it from Christ, who received it from God. That’s why
when we reject the teaching of the Apostles—the Apostolic tradition of the New
Testament—we’re rejecting the very authority of God.
This
post was originally published in Tabletalk magazine.