行爲之約The Covenant of Works
譯者/校對者:Maria Marta/誠之
「耶和華 神吩咐那人說：『園中各樣樹上的果子，你都可以吃；只是那知善惡樹的果子，你不可吃；因爲你吃的時候，你必要死。』」
-----創二15-17 （新譯本）
昨天討論的救贖之約是神格裏面三個位格之間所立的約。然而，聖經其他的盟約不是三一真神自己裏面的約-----聖父、聖子、聖靈彼此立的約， 而是上帝和人之間立的約。在我們的造物主與人所立的約當中，神學家區分兩個主要的約：行爲之約與恩典之約。上帝與亞當和他的後裔所立的第一個盟約是行爲之約，在我們的第一對父母違反了這個協議（行爲之約）之後，上帝啓示恩典之約，祂要將自己的百姓從第一次違約的後果中拯救出來。
我們根據這兩個盟約各自的基本原則，把行爲之約與恩典之約區分開來，但是恩典之約與行爲之約不是完全無關的，行爲是恩典之約的一個重要組成部分。我們所指的是什麽意思呢？第一，關於行爲之約，上帝不必創造人類或與我們簽訂任何協議。即使創造了亞當，祂也不需要爲他創造一个合適的伴侶夏娃，由此設立人類正確的伴侶關係（創二18-25）。這樣的行動是恩慈的行動。此外，恩典之約並沒有廢除行爲。恩典的目的是提供一位救主，這位救主遵守亞當從未遵守的行爲， 因此透過基督歸算給我們的義， 上帝把我們算爲守約者（羅五12-21）。
要明白行爲之約，我們必須考慮亞當在墮落之前， 在伊甸園裏所處的狀態。上帝創造亞當「很好」， 並且與他有融恰的關係（創一31）。然而， 他還有變得更好的潛能。通過遵守不能吃分別善惡樹上的果子的命令（16-17節），亞當本可以更充分地反映上帝的榮耀，並爲自己和自己的後裔賺得永恒的生命。但是我們知道這種情況並沒出現， 因爲這是耶稣基督所作成的事，耶稣， 第二個亞當，完成了第一個亞當的聖召（林前十五45）。
亞當原本能夠更充分地反映上帝的榮耀，但是他也能夠從被造的狀態中墮落。不幸的是，亞當卻墮落了，被造萬物也受到了詛咒（創世記第三章）。在亞當裏，我們失去了遵守行爲之約的能力（羅馬三9～20），但這並不意味著行爲之約被取消了。我們仍然被其條款所約束限制，但是由於我們無能力去履行，我們唯一的盼望是別人代替我們去履行（加三10-14）。
活在上帝的面光中（Coram Deo）
在伊甸園裏， 亞當代表了他所有自然受孕----和----出生的後裔，這意味著當亞當違背盟約時，我們所有人都被宣布爲違約者。我們進入世界注定要遵守行爲之約， 但是，我們已經被判違約的罪了。所有人在他們的內心深處都知道這點，他們試圖用好行爲來彌補。但只有基督的行爲（工作）能拯救我們，我們必須鼓勵人們不要信靠自己，而是要信靠基督。
延伸閱讀:
经文：申二七26；路四1-13
The
Covenant of Works
“The
LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the
garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’” (vv. 16-17).
-
Genesis 2:15-17
The
covenant of redemption that we discussed yesterday was made by the members of
the Trinity ad intra—within the Godhead. However, the other biblical covenants
are made not by God within Himself but between the Lord and humanity.
Theologians distinguish between two primary covenants that our Creator has made
with mankind: the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. God’s first
covenant with Adam and his descendants was the covenant of works, and after our
first parents violated this agreement, the Lord revealed a covenant of grace in
which He would save His people from the consequences of having broken the first
covenant in Adam.
We
distinguish the covenant of works from the covenant of grace according to the
primary principle of each, but grace is not entirely foreign to the covenant of
works, and works are an important part of the covenant of grace. What do we
mean? First, in regard to the covenant of works, God did not have to create
humanity or enter into any kind of agreement with us. Having created Adam, He
was also not required to create Eve as a fitting companion for him and thereby
establish the good of human companionship (Gen. 2:18-25). Such acts are
gracious acts. Further, the covenant of grace does not abolish works. The
purpose of grace is to provide a Savior who does the works Adam never did so
that the Lord can reckon us as covenant keepers via the imputation of Christ’s
righteousness (Rom. 5:12-21).
To
understand the covenant of works, we must consider Adam’s state in the garden
of Eden before the fall. God created Adam “good” and in the proper relationship
with Him (Gen. 1:31). He was not as good as could be, however. By obeying the
command to not eat the forbidden fruit (vv. 16-17), Adam could have reflected
God’s glory more fully, and would have merited eternal life for himself and his
descendants. We know this to be the case because that is what Jesus did, and
Jesus is the second Adam tasked with fulfilling the vocation of the first Adam
(1 Cor. 15:45).
Adam
was able not only to reflect the glory of the Lord more fully, but He was also
able to fall from the state in which he was created. Sadly, Adam did fall, and
creation was cursed (Gen. 3). In Adam, we lost our ability to keep the covenant
of works (Rom. 3:9-20), but that does not mean the covenant was set aside. We
are still bound by its terms, but on account of our inability, our only hope is
for someone else to keep it in our place (Gal. 3:10-14).
Coram
Deo
Adam
represented all of his naturally conceived-and-born descendants in Eden, which
means that when he broke the covenant, we were all declared covenant breakers.
We enter the world bound to fulfill the covenant of works and yet already
condemned for having broken it. All people know this in their heart of hearts,
and they try to atone for it by their good works. But only the works of Christ
can save us, and we must encourage people to trust not in themselves but in
Christ.
Passages
for Further Study
Deuteronomy
27:26
Luke
4:1-13