為何你的道德對上帝來說絕不足夠？WHY YOUR MORALITY WILL NEVERBE ENOUGH FOR GOD

作者: Silverio Gonzalez   譯者: Maria Marta 

https://corechristianity.com/resource-library/articles/why-your-morality-will-never-be-enough-for-god

https://plus.google.com/u/1/106695469993489516884/posts/gpmoLMtnLHz

遵守(律法)規條與基督教有什麽關系？與福音有什麽關系？

1. 光有道德是不夠的

假冒為善之路，從那些自認為遵守律法但卻沒有遵守的人開始。假冒為善的癥結不是他們不能遵守律法，而是他們沒有抓住法律的要領。法利賽人對律法專心一意。 他們是有道德的人。 他們是耶路撒冷的保守派，但耶穌說：

「假冒為善的人哪！以賽亞指著你們說的預言是不錯的，他說：『這百姓用嘴唇尊敬我，心卻遠離我。 他們將人的吩咐當做道理教導人，所以拜我也是枉然。』」(太十五7-9)

當耶穌表明律法需要愛時，祂定立了一個高標準。那就是「你要盡心、盡性、盡意愛主你的神。這是誡命中的第一，且是最大的。其次也相仿，就是要愛人如己。這兩條誡命是律法和先知一切道理的總綱。」(太廿二37-40)

愛上帝，愛人。這些(誡命)規條是好的和真實的，但重點是無法遵行。 耶穌暴露了法利賽人的假冒為善。他們的問題是他們用太膚淺的眼光看待上帝的律法。他們的眼光膚淺得足以讓他們通過遵行這一關，而且順利遵行得足以激起他們的驕傲。 我們總能想愛上帝更深，關心更多人，更要付諸行動。倘若愛是標準，那麽每次我都失敗了。 每次我想「我希望我不必做這件事」時，我就失敗了。 每次我生氣，我就失敗了。 每當我不想做正確的事，我就失敗了。

2. 律法將人帶到基督面前

耶穌旨在表明人離遵守律法這一目標有多遠。倘若人真正愛神愛人，耶穌就不會為世人的罪而死。保羅在加拉太書討論法律時清楚解釋這一點。靠律法得救，必招致死的詛咒。 為什麼？ 因為沒有人能滿足律法的一切要求。 在這種背景下，基督來了：

「基督既為我們受 了咒詛，就贖出我們脫離律法的咒詛，因為經上記著：『凡掛在木頭上都是被咒詛的。』這便叫亞伯拉罕的福，因基督耶穌可以臨到外邦人，使我們因信得著所應許的聖靈。」(加三13–14)

保羅解釋，上帝設立律法的目的並非要提供一條救恩的道路，而是要領人到基督那裡：「但聖經把眾人都圈在罪裡，使所應許的福因信耶穌基督歸給那信的人。」（加三22） 律法並非提供救恩之路，而是把我們引向基督，在祂裡面找到救恩。藉著耶穌基督，我們白白得到救恩，並且唯獨藉著信心稱義。

3.聖靈創造愛

當你閱讀到使徒行傳，你會注意到聖靈將極度驚恐的人轉變成耶穌勇敢的見證人。有愛上帝的決心，耶穌的門徒就能做各種他們以前害怕去做的事。規條已經隱退。他們順服上帝是出於愛。因為他們的救恩在基督裏是穩妥的，唯獨憑信心領受，所以他們的行為越發接近律法的要求。上帝已改變他們的心意。

格雷爾（J.D. Greear）提出一個重要的觀點:

 

「倘若你未達到你應有的屬靈狀態，那麽標題的答案就不單單是為耶穌變得更忙碌，不單單是更徹底的忠誠於上帝，不單單是尋求更大的屬靈恩賜，甚至更了解聖經，而且更要在上帝的愛中建造你們的家，這愛是在基督裏賜給你們的恩賜禮物。」(Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, 19)

倘若你想順服上帝，那麽你需要知道，藉著在基督裏的信心，上帝就接納你，愛你，在我們還作罪人的時候基督為我們死（羅五6-8），即使你似乎從未改變，祂也接納你。上帝所應許的不單單是接納。祂對你的愛足以改變你的心，賜給你愛。 這就是保羅所說的聖靈的果子。祂希望你知道聖靈已賜給你，使你結出一顆愛神、愛人的心（加五22）。 所以該放鬆了。 基督教不是律法宗教，乃是恩典宗教，上帝已經應許要把你變成一個愛神、愛人的人。

WHY YOUR MORALITY WILL NEVER BE ENOUGH FOR GOD

By Silverio Gonzalez

What does rule-keeping have to do with Christianity? What does this have to do with the gospel?

1. Morality is not enough.

The road to hypocrisy begins with people who think they keep the law but don’t. The problem with hypocrites is not their failure to keep the law, but that they miss the law’s point. Pharisees were all about rules. They were moral people. They were the Jerusalem conservatives, but Jesus said:

“You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Matt. 15:7–9)

Jesus set the standard high when he showed that the law requires love. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:37–40).

Love God and love people. These rules are good and true but impossible to keep, and that is the point. Jesus showed the hypocrisy present among the Pharisees. Their problem was that they had too low a view of God’s law. Their view was low enough for them to pass, but high enough to inspire pride. We can always imagine loving more, caring more, doing more. If love is the standard, then I fail every time. Every time I think, “I wish I didn’t have to do this,” I fail. Every time I become angry, I fail. Every time I don’t want to do the right thing, I fail.

2. The law leads to Christ.

Jesus’ point was to show how far people fall from obeying the law. If people did love, Jesus wouldn’t have had to die for the sins of the world. Paul explains this point clearly in Galatians when discussing the law. To rely on the law for salvation leads to a curse of death. Why? Because no one has done everything that the law requires. It is into this context that Christ came:

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Gal. 3:13–14)

Paul explains that the law was not intended to provide a path to salvation but to lead people to Christ: "But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe" (Gal. 3:22). The law, instead of providing a way for salvation, leads us to the person in whom we find salvation: Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ we receive salvation as a free gift and are justified by faith alone.

3. The Holy Spirit creates love.

When you read the book of Acts, one of the things you will notice is that the Holy Spirit turned fear-stricken people into bold witnesses for Jesus. With their hearts set on loving God, Jesus’ disciples were enabled to do all sorts of things that before they feared doing. The rules had faded into the background. They obeyed God out of love. Because their salvation was secure in Christ, received by faith alone, their actions came much closer to the law. God had changed their hearts.

J. D. Greear makes an important point:

If you are not where you should be spiritually, the answer is not simply to get busier for Jesus. It is not just to get more radical in your devotion to God. It’s not only to seek greater spiritual gifts or even to learn more about the Bible. It is to make your home in God’s love given to you as a gift in Christ. (Gospel: Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, 19)

If you want to obey God, you need to know that God accepts you and loves you as you are though faith in Christ. Jesus died for you while you were still a sinner (Rom. 5:6–8), and he accepts you even if you never seem to change. But God has promised more than acceptance. He loves you enough to change your heart, to give you love. This is what Paul meant by the fruit of the Spirit. He wants you to know that God the Holy Spirit was given to you to produce a loving heart toward both God and people (Gal. 5:24). So relax already. Christianity isn’t a religion of rules; Christianity is a religion of grace, and God has promised to make you into a person who loves.