2018-11-12


原罪這個詞是什麼意思?¿QuéSignifica El Término Pecado Original?

作者:  R.C. Sproul   誠之

有一種理論說,人沒有原罪。人一生下來都是天真無邪的,在道德上都是中立的,沒有好或壞的偏向。人會變壞,都是因為社會造成的,是社會讓人無邪的本性變壞的。當我們曝露在環繞著我們的有罪的行為舉止中,我們正常的、天然的天真就被社會所侵蝕、所影響。但是愛德華茲不認為如此。他曾經寫了一篇非常精彩的、有關原罪的論文,來闡述聖經關於人墮落的性質,以及如何傾向邪惡的習性,來反駁這種世俗的、理性主義的觀點。(譯按:http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/works1.vi.html

他提出一個問題人類社會在一開始是怎麼變壞、怎麼墮落的社會是由人所構成的。為什麼這麼多人會犯罪?在我們的文化中,這基本上是一個不言而喻的公理,就是沒有人是完美的。愛德華茲問,人為什麼會不完美?如果每個人生下來在道德上都是中立的,從統計來說,你會期望大約有一半的人長大後不會犯罪。但是我們所發現的情形不是這樣。我們所看到的每個人都違反了新約的道德觀念和標準。事實上,無論人們生活在哪一種文化下,都沒有人能完美地遵守那個文化的道德標準。即使是盜賊自己立下的榮譽,也會被他們所破壞。任何一個社會,無論它的道德標準多低,人們還是會破壞這個道德標準。

所以人類的品格是墮落的這是無可置疑的。所有的人都會犯罪。

原罪的教義教導,人們會犯罪,是因為我們是罪人。我們不是因為犯罪才成為罪人,而是因為我們是罪人,所以會犯罪。換句話說,自從人類墮落以來,我們都承繼了一個有罪、敗壞的狀態。如今,我們有一個犯罪的本性(罪性);我們的天性傾向邪惡,所以我們的確會犯罪;這是因為我們的本性會犯罪。但是這個本性不是上帝原先賜給我們的。我們原來是無罪的,是天真無邪的,但是如今人類已經筆直地墮入一個敗壞的狀態。


What is meant by the term original sin?
By RC Sproul

Original sin has to do with the fallenness of human nature. Jonathan Edwards wrote a tremendous treatise on original sin. He not only devoted himself to a lengthy exposition of what the Bible teaches about man’s fallen character and his propensity toward wickedness, but he made a study from a secular, rational perspective that addressed the philosophy that was widespread in his day: Everyone in the world is born innocent, in a state of moral neutrality in which they don’t have any predilection toward either the good or the evil. It’s society that corrupts these innocent natives, so to speak. As we are exposed to sinful behavior around us, our normal, natural innocence is eroded by the influence of society. But that begs the question, How did society get corrupt in the first place? Society is people. Why is it that so many people have sinned? It’s almost axiomatic in our culture that nobody is perfect. And Edwards asked questions like, Why not? If everyone were born in a state of moral neutrality, you would expect statistically that approximately 50 percent of those people would grow up and never sin. But that’s not what we find. Everywhere we find human beings acting against the moral precepts and standards of the New Testament. In fact, whatever the moral standards are of the culture in which they live, nobody keeps them perfectly. Even the honor that’s established among thieves is violated by thieves. No matter how low the level of morality is in a given society, people break it.

So there is something indubitable about the fallenness of our human character. All people sin.

The doctrine of original sin teaches that people sin because we are sinners. It’s not that we are sinners because we sin, but rather, we sin because we are sinners; that is, since the fall of man, we have inherited a corrupted condition of sinfulness. We now have a sin nature. The New Testament says we are under sin; we have a disposition toward wickedness, so that we all do, in fact, commit sins because it is our nature to commit sins. But that’s not the nature that was originally given to us by God. We were originally innocent, but now the race has been plummeted into a state of corruption.


¿Qué Significa El Término Pecado Original?
Por R.C. Sproul

El pecado original tiene que ver con la caída de la naturaleza humana. Jonathan Edwards escribió un tremendo tratado sobre el pecado original. No solo se dedicó a una extensa exposición de lo que la Biblia enseña sobre el carácter caído del hombre y su propensión a la maldad, sino que hizo un estudio desde una perspectiva secular y racional que abordaba la filosofía que se difundió en su época: Todos en el mundo nacen inocentes, en un estado de neutralidad moral en el que no tienen ninguna predilección por el bien o el mal.

Es la sociedad la que corrompe a estos inocentes nativos, por así decirlo. Al estar expuestos a un comportamiento pecaminoso a nuestro alrededor, nuestra inocencia normal y natural se ve erosionada por la influencia de la sociedad. Pero eso plantea la pregunta: ¿cómo se corrompió la sociedad primeramente? La sociedad es gente ¿Por qué tantas personas han pecado? Es casi axiomático en nuestra cultura que nadie es perfecto. Y Edwards hizo preguntas como, ¿por qué no? Si todos nacieran en un estado de neutralidad moral, se esperaría estadísticamente que aproximadamente el 50 por ciento de esas personas crecería y nunca pecaría. Pero eso no es lo que encontramos. En todas partes encontramos seres humanos que actúan en contra de los preceptos morales y los estándares del Nuevo Testamento. De hecho, cualesquiera que sean los estándares morales de la cultura en la que viven, nadie los mantiene a la perfección. Incluso el honor que se establece entre los ladrones es violado por los ladrones. No importa qué tan bajo sea el nivel de moralidad en una sociedad dada, la gente la rompe.

Entonces, hay algo indudable sobre la caída de nuestro carácter humano. Toda la gente peca.

La doctrina del pecado original enseña que las personas pecan porque somos pecadores. No es que seamos pecadores porque pecamos, sino que pecamos porque somos pecadores; es decir, desde la caída del hombre, hemos heredado una condición corrupta de pecaminosidad. Ahora tenemos una naturaleza pecaminosa. El Nuevo Testamento dice que estamos bajo pecado; tenemos una disposición hacia la iniquidad, de modo que todos, de hecho, cometemos pecados porque es nuestra naturaleza cometer pecados. Pero esa no es la naturaleza que originalmente nos fue dada por Dios. Originalmente éramos inocentes, pero ahora la raza se ha derrumbado en un estado de corrupción.


確認上帝的主權Affirming God’s Sovereignty

[每日靈修] 11/11/2018,  駱鴻銘編譯

我們的上帝是永遠都難以參透的且保持祂的純一性。祂藉由祂的聖言告訴我們祂不是叫人混亂的神而是有秩序的神。祂不會自相矛盾。祂是完全善良、完全聖潔、有至高主權的。我們必須確認這點,才能維持神有至高主權的聖經概念。然而,我們永遠必須用以下的認識來加以平衡:上帝總是按照祂的聖潔品格行使祂的能力和權柄。

祂根據自己的美意揀選了祂所揀選的。祂所作的一切都是出於祂的喜悅。

祂選擇討祂喜悅的事物。但是,這種喜悅永遠是出於祂的美意,因為上帝永遠不會喜歡或做任何邪惡之事,或違背祂自己的良善的事。

我們可以安息在這當中,知道祂盼望、並且有能力為我們這些兒女帶來所有美好的事物。

活在神的面光中(在神面前禱告):
你目前面臨哪些困難?請重新確認你對上帝主權的信靠,上帝正在為祂的美意而行作萬事。

進一步研讀:
詩一〇三19 耶和華在天上立定寶座;他的權柄(原文作國)統管萬有。
詩六六7 他用權能治理萬民,直到永遠。他的眼睛鑒察列邦;悖逆的人不可自高。
代上廿九12 豐富尊榮都從你而來,你也治理萬物。在你手裡有大能大力,使人尊大強盛都出於你。


Affirming God’s Sovereignty

Our God remains incomprehensible and retains His simplicity. He tells us in His Word that He is not a God of confusion but of order. He is not at war with Himself. He is altogether good, altogether holy, and altogether sovereign. This we must affirm to maintain a biblical concept of divine sovereignty. Yet we must always balance this understanding with a clear understanding that God always exercises His power and authority according to His holy character.

He chooses what He chooses according to His own good pleasure. It is His pleasure that He does.

He chooses what is pleasing to Himself. But that pleasure is always His good pleasure, for God is never pleased to will or to do anything that is evil or contrary to His own goodness.

In this we can rest, knowing that He wishes for, and has the power to bring about, all good things for us His children.

Coram Deo
What difficulties are you currently facing? Reaffirm your trust in the sovereignty of God, who is working all things together for His good pleasure.

Passages for Further Study
Psalm 103:19
Psalm 66:7
1 Chronicles 29:12


順從上帝的聖潔Conforming to God’s Holiness

[每日靈修] 11/10/2018,  駱鴻銘編譯

上帝被稱為聖潔不僅因為祂的所作所為更因為祂是誰。這個詞最初更多地指的是上帝的本體(being),而不是祂的行動或行為。

對我們這些被稱為聖徒(「聖者」)的人來說,我們必須有一個淨化過程。必須有人使我們變成清潔。任何污穢的東西都無法站立在聖潔的上帝面前。不潔淨之物在祂眼中是褻瀆的。為了使我們成為聖潔,我們那不潔淨的、不聖潔的道德上的不完美,必須被清除,我們的罪也必須從我們身上除去。這就是為什麼救贖的絕對必要條件是贖罪的原因。如果沒有贖罪,我們在祂敏銳的目光面前將永遠是不潔淨、不聖潔的。

沒有人憑自己可以成為聖潔。聖潔對我們來說是陌生的。它是外來的。這就是為什麼我們要求另一個人的義來遮蓋我們道德上的赤身露體的原因。至聖者已經藉著基督的公義外袍賜給我們所需要的聖潔。所以我們祈禱:「上帝是偉大的,上帝是美善的。我們為祂從天上降下來的食物而感謝祂。」

活在神的面光中(在神面前禱告):
作這個禱告:「主啊,求你潔淨我。清除我的罪,將它從我身上除去。遮蓋我道德上的赤身肉體。」

進一步研讀:
詩一四五17 耶和華在他一切所行的,無不公義;在他一切所做的都有慈愛。
羅十二1 所以弟兄們,我以神的慈悲勸你們,將身體獻上,當作活祭,是聖潔的,是神所喜悅的;你們如此事奉乃是理所當然的。
詩廿二3 但你是聖潔的,是用以色列的讚美為寶座(或作:居所)的。




Conforming to God’s Holiness

God is called holy not only because of what He does, but also because of who He is. Originally the term referred more to God’s being than His action or behavior.

For us to be called saints (“holy ones”), we must have a catharsis. We must be made clean. No unclean thing can stand before the presence of a holy God. That which is unclean is profane in His eyes. For us to be holy to God, our unclean, unholy moral imperfection msut be purged and our sin removed from us. That is why the absolutely necessary condition for redemption is atonement. Without atonement we would remain always and forever unclean and unholy before His penetrating gaze.

No human is holy in himself. Holiness is foreign to us. It is alien. That is why we require the righteousness of another to cover our moral nakedness. The Holy One has given us the holiness we need in the cloak of Christ’s righteousness. Therefore we pray: “God is great, God is good. And we thank Him for the food … that has come down from heaven for us.”

Coram Deo
Pray this prayer: “Cleanse me Lord. Purge my sin and remove it from me. Cover my moral nakedness.”

Passages for Further Study
Psalm 145:17
Romans 12:1
Psalm 22:3


理解上帝的善良Comprehending God’s Goodness

[每日靈修] 11/9/2018,  駱鴻銘編譯

作為一個孩子我學到的第一個禱告是一個簡單的餐前禱告。它是這樣說的「上帝很偉大上帝很美善。我們為桌上的飲食感謝祂。」當時,我沒有意識到聖經裏的一個詞同時捕捉到了上帝的偉大和祂的良善的雙重觀念。這個詞就是「聖潔」。

聖潔這個詞最早的形式,可追溯到迦南人,它帶有「分開」的意思。任何神聖的東西和其他所有東西都是分開的或是分離的。這個意思指向普通和非凡、平常和罕見、一般和偉大,之間的區別。

在宗教的詞彙方面,聖潔這個詞將上帝與所有其他事物分開,將祂置於一個特殊的範疇(祂自己獨屬於一個類別)。「至聖者」是擁有最完美本體的那位。祂超越所有被造物,與所有被造物不同。祂是最威嚴、最崇高,最令人敬畏的存有物。由於祂的本質是既奇妙又令人驚歎的,受造物——在思考聖潔的上帝時——就會因為祂的偉大而以驚奇和讚歎作出反應。

活在神的面光中(在神面前禱告):
今天請花一點時間禱告,特別感謝上帝所對你顯出的美善。

進一步研讀:
詩卅一19 敬畏你、投靠你的人,你為他們所積存的,在世人面前所施行的恩惠是何等大呢!
詩八六10 因你為大,且行奇妙的事;惟獨你是神。
詩九二5 耶和華啊,你的工作何其大!你的心思極其深!


Comprehending God’s Goodness

As a child, the first prayer I ever learned was a simple table grace. It went like this: “God is great, God is good. And we thank Him for this food.” At the time, I did not realize that a single biblical word captured the twin ideas of God’s greatness and His goodness. The single word is holy.

The earliest traceable form of the Semitic root of the word holy, reaching to a Canaanite source, carried the meaning “to divide.” Anything that was holy was divided or separated from all other things. This meaning pointed to the difference between the ordinary and the extraordinary, the common and uncommon, the average and the great.

In religious terms, the word holy divides God from all other things to put Him in a category that is sui generis (in a class by Himself). The Holy One is the One who possesses the supreme perfection of being. He transcends or is divided from all things creaturely. He is the most majestic, most exalted, most awe-provoking being. Since He is both marvelous and wonderful in His very essence, the creature—when contemplating the Holy God—responds in marvel and wonder because of His greatness.

Coram Deo
Take time in prayer today to thank God specifically for His goodness to you.

Passages for Further Study
Psalm 31:19
Psalm 86:10
Psalm 92:5