揭示上帝寬容的旨意Exposing the Permissive Willof God
[每日靈修] 1/19/2019, 駱鴻銘編譯
上帝主權的旨意（sovereign will）與上帝寬容的旨意（permissive will）之間的區別充滿了危險，而且往往會產生無法形容的混亂。
在日常的語言裏，「容許、許可」（permission ）是表示某種正面的支持或鼓勵（positive sanction）。說上帝「容許」（allows）或「允許」（permits）邪惡，並不是說祂「鼓勵」邪惡——意思是祂贊成邪惡。我們很容易就可以分辨出來，上帝從不「允許」罪惡——意思是祂鼓勵祂的受造物犯罪。
神的許可，通常的意思是說，上帝就只是讓它發生了。也就是說，祂沒有直接干預以防止其發生。正是在這裏潛藏著嚴重的危險。有些神學家把這齣劇碼當成彷彿上帝對人類的罪是無能為力的。
這種觀點會使人擁有最高主權，而不是上帝。上帝的角色被縮減為旁觀者或啦啦隊長，通過這種角色，上帝在護理之工中的行動就只是一個無助的父親，既然已經完成了他所能做的一切，現在就只能坐下來，作最好的打算。對於祂幫不上忙的事，祂只能允許它發生，因為祂對這件事沒有任何主權。這種可怕的觀點不僅僅是用有缺陷的觀點來看待有神論；它更是徹頭徹尾的無神論。
活在神的面光中（在神面前禱告）：
如何錯誤地看待上帝的寬容會影響你過去的基督徒行走嗎？你現在對他的寬容意誌有不同的看法嗎？它將如何影響你的行走？
進一步研讀：
約七17 人若立志遵著他的旨意行，就必曉得這教訓或是出於神，或是我憑著自己說的。
詩卅七23 義人的腳步被耶和華立定；他的道路，耶和華也喜愛。
詩廿七11 耶和華啊，求你將你的道指教我，因我仇敵的緣故引導我走平坦的路。
Exposing the Permissive Will
of God
The
distinction between the sovereign will of God and the permissive will of God is
fraught with peril and tends to generate untold confusion.
In
ordinary language, the term permission suggests some sort of positive sanction.
To say that God “allows” or “permits” evil does not mean that He sanctions it
in the sense that He approves of it. It is easy to discern that God never
permits sin in the sense that He sanctions it in His creatures.
What
is usually meant by divine permission is that God simply lets it happen. That
is, He does not directly intervene to prevent its happening. Here is where
grave dangers lurk. Some theologies view this drama as if God were impotent to
do anything about human sin.
This
view makes man sovereign, not God. God is reduced to the role of spectator or
cheerleader, by which God’s exercise in providence is that of a helpless Father
who, having done all He can do, must now sit back and simply hope for the best.
He permits what He cannot help but permit because He has no sovereign power
over it. This ghastly view is not merely a defective view of theism; it is
unvarnished atheism.
Coram
Deo
How
has a false view of God’s permissive will affected your Christian walk in the
past? Do you have a different view of His permissive will now? How will it
affect your walk in the future?
Passages
for Further Study
John
7:17
Psalm
37:23
Psalm
27:11