20 奥祕——神的伟大叫人惊奇Mystery- God is surpassingly great
《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

https://yibaniba.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_98.html

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/mystery.htm

20 奥祕——神的伟大叫人惊奇

Mystery - God is surpassingly great

“耶和华啊，尊大、能力、荣耀、强胜、威严都是你的；凡天上地下的都是你的；国度也是你的；并且你为至高，为万有之首。”（代上29：11）

圣经说神是伟大的，伟大得过于我们所能领会。神学用不可理解的一词来描述神的伟大——其意思不是说，神的逻辑和我们的有所不同，以至于我们一点儿都不能明白祂心思的运作；而是说我们永远不会完全了解祂，只因为祂是无限的，而我们是有限的。圣经描绘神不只是住在密云和穿不透的幽暗中，祂也住在人不能靠近的光里；这两个喻象表达了同一个思想：我们的创造主高过我们，祂远在我们以任何方法测度祂的能力之外。

有时人们用神的奥秘一词来表达神的不可理解性；但他们对奥秘一字，却不是按圣经的意思来用，即并非指神如今已启示出来的一个秘密。他们采用的是晚近所发展的那种意思：认为不论人谈论神有多少，总是缺少正确了解神的度量。神在圣经上告诉我们，创造、天命的管理、神的三位一体、道成肉身、圣灵重生的工作、信徒在基督的死和复活里与祂联合，以及圣经乃神所默示的等等——不用再说下去了——这些都是事实，这些教义怎么说，我们就怎么接受；我们虽不明白这些是怎么可能的，却相信它们是事实。我们既身为受造之物，就不能全然理解创造主的实存或祂所有的作为。

就如我们若假设能知道有关神的每一件事，这种看法是错的一样，怀疑我们的观念能否构成认识神的真知识，也是错的。人是照着神的形像造的，此事实所代表的部分意义乃是说，人能够知道关乎神的事，而且这种认识可以是与祂发生关系的一种认识，虽然这种认识十分有限，但却是真实的——而神在圣经上论及祂自己的话，就其所讲的，全都是真实的。加尔文说，神在圣经的默示以及令神子道成肉身这两件事上，都已经降卑以进入我们的软弱里，将就我们以迎合我们的度量，为的是要将对祂的真知识赐给我们。就如为人父母者与婴孩谈话的形式和实质，不能和他们与另一位大人讲话时，所用来将心思表达完全的内容相比；可是孩子从婴孩式的谈话里，所领受到关于他父母亲的实情讯息，即使是有限的，却仍是真实的，所以他回应父母的爱与信靠就随着增长。这是一个类比的说法。

现在我们来看为什么我们的创造主要用拟人化的方法，将祂自己举荐给我们，就如神有脸面（出33：11）、有手（撒上5：11）、有膀臂（赛53：1）、有耳（尼1：6）、有眼（伯28：10）、有脚（鸿1：3）、坐在宝座上（王上22：19）、随风飞行（诗18：10）、在战场上争战（代下32：8；赛63：1～6）。神不是用这些描述来形容自己是一位怎样的神；而是要告诉我们，对我们而言祂是一位怎样的神：祂是超越的主以父亲与朋友的身份，和祂的百姓关联在一起，表现得像是他们的盟友。神用这样的方法把祂自己摆在我们面前，好吸引我们去敬拜祂、爱恋祂、信靠祂，即使我们的观念总是像听到父母婴孩式谈话的小孩，只能稍微认识那位说话者一点而已（林前13：12）。

无论如何，我们永远不要忘记，神学是为着颂赞神用的：信靠一位伟大的神最真实的表达方式，永远是敬拜祂；而由于神远远大过我们所能认识的，因此从心里所生出的赞美，也永远是合宜的敬拜。

　　

MYSTERY

GOD IS SURPASSINGLY GREAT

Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 1 CHRONICLES 29:11

God is great, says Scripture (Deut. 7:21; Neh. 4:14; Pss. 48:1; 86:10; 95:3; 145:3; Dan. 9:4): greater than we can grasp. Theology states this by describing him as incomprehensible—not in the sense that logic is somehow different for him from what it is for us, so that we cannot follow the workings of his mind at all, but in the sense that we can never understand him fully, just because he is infinite and we are finite. Scripture pictures God as dwelling not only in thick and impenetrable darkness but also in unapproachable light (Ps. 97:2; 1 Tim. 6:16), and both images express the same thought: our Creator is above us, and it is beyond our power to take his measure in any way.

This is sometimes expressed by speaking of the mystery of God, using that word not in the biblical sense of a secret that God has now revealed (Dan. 2:29-30; Eph. 3:2-6) but in the more recently developed sense of a reality that we lack the capacity to understand properly, no matter how much is said about it. God tells us in the Bible that creation, providential government, the Trinity, the Incarnation, the regenerating work of the Spirit, union with Christ in his death and resurrection, and the inspiration of Scripture—to go no further—are facts, and we take his word for it that they are; but we believe that they are without knowing how they can be. As creatures, we are unable fully to comprehend either the being or the actions of the Creator.

As it would be wrong, however, to suppose ourselves to know everything about God (and so in effect to imprison him in the box of our own limited notion of him), so it would be wrong to doubt whether our concept constitutes real knowledge of him. Part of the significance of our creation in God’s image is that we are able both to know about him and to know him relationally in a true if limited sense of “know”; and what God tells us in Scripture about himself is true as far as it goes. Calvin spoke of God as having condescended to our weakness and accommodated himself to our capacity, both in the inspiring of the Scriptures and in the incarnating of the Son, so that he might give us genuine understanding of himself. The form and substance of a parent’s baby talk bears no comparison with the full contents of that parent’s mind, which he or she could express in full if talking to another adult; but the child receives from the baby talk factual information, real if limited, about the parent, and responsive love and trust grow accordingly. That is the analogy here.

Now we see why our Creator presents himself to us anthropomorphically, as having a face (Exod. 33:11), a hand (1 Sam. 5:11), an arm (Isa. 53:1), ears (Neh. 1:6), eyes (Job 28:10), and feet (Nah. 1:3), and as sitting on a throne (1 Kings 22:19), flying on the wind (Ps. 18:10), and fighting in battle (2 Chron. 32:8; Isa. 63:1-6). These are not descriptions of what God is in himself but of what he is to us: namely, the transcendent Lord who relates to his people as Father and friend, and acts as their ally. God sets himself before us in this way to draw us out in worship, love, and trust, even though conceptually we are always like the young children who hear their parents’ baby talk and know the talker only in part (1 Cor. 13:12).

We should never forget that in any case theology is for doxology: the truest expression of trust in a great God will always be worship, and it will always be proper worship to praise God for being far greater than we can know.

64 自由——救恩带来自由Liberty - Salvation bringsfreedom

《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

https://yibaniba.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_98.html

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/liberty.htm

64 自由——救恩带来自由

Liberty - Salvation brings freedom

基督释放了我们，叫我们得以自由，所以要站立得稳，不要再被奴仆的扼挟制。（加5:1）

新约圣经视在基督里的救恩为释放，看基督徒生活为一种自由——基督已释放了我们，使我们得自由（加5:1；约8:32,36）。基督的释放行动并不是一椿社会、政治或经济上的改良，如今日一些人有时认为的。它乃是与以下三点有关：

第一，基督徒已从误将律法当成救恩的制度中释放了出来。他们既在基督里因信称义，就不再活在神的律法之下，而是活在祂的恩典之下（罗3:19；6:14-15；加3:23-25）。这是意指他们在神前的地位（即罗5:1-2中[想和]与[进入]），是完全建立于他们已在基督里被神接纳与领养的这个根基上；现在不会、将来也不会需要倚靠他们行为的表现，这个地位也不会因为他们行为的失败，而有所危殆。他们现今不是靠着自己的完全活着，乃是靠着他们蒙神赦免而活；而且只要他们活在世上一天，此原则就永不改变。

所有自然的宗教都否定此点，因为堕落之人天然的本性设定说：人惟有籍着遵守律法的操练、正确的礼义和禁欲主义，才能使他们与终极实存之间的关系得以保存下去（不论这终极实存是被他想成一位有位格的神，还是以其他的形式存在），这是世人所设计的各种宗教所表达的信息，也是世上宗教规定人建立他自己的已义所当用的方法。这正是保罗看见不信的犹太人所要做的事（罗10:3），但保罗的经历告诉他，这是没有指望的事，没有一个人的表现够好，因为不管人外在的工作有多正确，他的内心总有不对的欲念，又缺少正确的渴求（罗7:7-11；另参腓3：6）。神首先要看的，就是人内心。

律法所能做的事，不过是挑起、暴露与定罪那弥漫在我们道德装饰下的罪恶；它只会叫我们看出罪恶的实在、深度与罪疚（罗3:19；林前15:56；加3:10）。因此之故，视律法为工作之约，并靠律法来寻求公义（加3:10-12；4:21-31），其虚妄就显得格外清楚了；它正如不知道该做什么的可悲一样，叫人一目了然。基督正是要将我们从这种受律法捆绑的光景下释放出来。

其次，基督徒已经从罪的权势下得了释放（约8:34-36；罗6:14-23）。他们已经超自然地重生了，籍着基督的死与祂复活的生命与祂联合，而向神活着（罗6:3-11）；这意思是说，他们心中现在最深的渴慕，乃是以实行公义来侍奉神（罗6:18,22）。罪的辖制不只牵涉到不断的悖逆行为，也涉及总是缺少遵行律法的热心，有的时候还有憎恨、厌恶律法的态度。但如今心态改变了，我们因着蒙神白白恩典的接纳、受感恩之心的催促，靠圣灵加添能力，我们就能[按着心灵的新样，不按着仪文的旧样]服侍主（罗7:6）。这乃是说：他们现在顺服时是喜乐的，并且顺服成为他们向所未有的一种生活方式，罪不再作他们的主。从这个角度来看，他们是已从捆绑中释放了。

第三，基督徒已经从视物质享受和身体快慰在本质上为邪恶的那种迷信观念中被释放了出来。保罗反对那种迷信，他坚称基督徒要将所有的受造之物，和他们所能带给人的快乐，当成是神所赐的礼物，并好好自由地去享受（提前4:1-5）；只要我们在享受时，没有逾越道德律，也没有妨碍我们自己或别人的属灵的福祉（林前6:12-13；8:7-13）。改革宗神学家反对中古世纪种种不同形式的律法主义时，也重申过以上的重点。

LIBERTY

SALVATION BRINGS FREEDOM

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. GALATIANS 5:1

The New Testament sees salvation in Christ as liberation and the Christian life as one of liberty—Christ has freed us for freedom (Gal. 5:1; John 8:32, 36). Christ’s liberating action is not a matter of socio-politico-economic improvement, as is sometimes suggested today, but relates to the following three points:

First, Christians have been set free from the law as a system of salvation. Being justified by faith in Christ, they are no longer under God’s law, but under his grace (Rom. 3:19; 6:14-15; Gal. 3:23-25). This means that their standing with God (the “peace” and “access” of Rom. 5:1-2) rests wholly on the fact that they have been accepted and adopted in Christ. It does not, nor ever will it, depend on what they do; it will never be imperiled by what they fail to do. They live, and as long as they are in this world will live, not by being perfect, but by being forgiven.

All natural religion, then, is negated, for the natural instinct of fallen man, as expressed in every form of religion that the world has ever devised, is to suppose that one gains and keeps a right relationship with ultimate reality (whether conceived as a personal God or in other terms) by disciplines of law observance, right ritual, and asceticism. This is how the world’s faiths prescribe the establishing of one’s own righteousness—the very thing Paul saw unbelieving Jews trying to do (Rom. 10:3). Paul’s experience had taught him that this is a hopeless enterprise. No human performance is ever good enough, for there are always wrong desires in the heart, along with a lack of right ones, regardless of how correct one’s outward motions are (Rom. 7:7-11; cf. Phil. 3:6), and it is at the heart that God looks first.

All the law can do is arouse, expose, and condemn the sin that permeates our moral makeup, and so make us aware of its reality, depth, and guilt (Rom. 3:19; 1 Cor. 15:56; Gal. 3:10). So the futility of treating the law as a covenant of works, and seeking righteousness by it, becomes plain (Gal. 3:10-12; 4:21-31), as does the misery of not knowing what else to do. This is the bondage to the law from which Christ sets us free.

Second, Christians have been set free from sin’s domination (John 8:34-36; Rom. 6:14-23). They have been supernaturally regenerated and made alive to God through union with Christ in his death and risen life (Rom. 6:3-11), and this means that the deepest desire of their heart now is to serve God by practicing righteousness (Rom. 6:18, 22). Sin’s domination involved not only constant acts of disobedience, but also a constant lack of zeal for law-keeping, rising sometimes to positive resentment and hatred toward the law. Now, however, being changed in heart, motivated by gratitude for acceptance through free grace, and energized by the Holy Spirit, they “serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code” (Rom. 7:6). This means that their attempts at obedience are now joyful and integrated in a way that was never true before. Sin rules them no longer. In this respect, too, they have been liberated from bondage.

Third, Christians have been set free from the superstition that treats matter and physical pleasure as intrinsically evil. Against this idea, Paul insists that Christians are free to enjoy as God’s good gifts all created things and the pleasures that they yield (1 Tim. 4:1-5), provided only that we do not transgress the moral law in our enjoyments or hinder our own spiritual well-being or that of others (1 Cor. 6:12-13; 8:7-13). The Reformers renewed this emphasis against various forms of medieval legalism.

61 称义——救恩是藉着信心、靠着恩典来的Justification- Salvation is by grace through faith

《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

https://yibaniba.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_98.html

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/justification.htm

61 称义——救恩是藉着信心、靠着恩典来的

Justification - Salvation is by grace through faith

没有一个人靠着律法在神面前称义、这是显明的，因为经上说：[义人必因信得生。]（加3:11）

称义的教义——宗教改革的暴风眼——正是使徒保罗主要关切的事之一。对他而言，这教义是福音的核心（罗1:17；3:21-5:21；加5:15-5:1）塑造了他的信息（徒13:38-39）、委身与灵命（林后5:13-21；腓3:4-14）。虽然别的新约作者也肯定同样的教义实质，但是近五个世纪以来，更正教信徒所肯定、所辩护的神学术语，基本上仍是由保罗的作品中汲取出来的。

称义是神宽赦罪人（不义、不虔之人，罗4:5；3:9-24）的一项裁判行为，祂如同接纳义人一样地接纳罪人。因此之故，罪人与神先前那种远离的关系才得以永远地被纠正过来。这项称义的裁判是神公义的礼物（罗5:15-17），祂因着耶稣的缘故，赐给我们一种恩典的地位，接纳我们（林后5:21）。

神称义性的审判似乎很奇怪，因为从审判者这边来看，宣告罪人为义的判决显然是不公义的行为，而神自己的律法也明文禁止（申25:1;箴17:15）。但事实上它却是一项公义的审判，因为它是以耶稣基督的义为根基。耶稣基督是[末后的亚当]（林前15:45），是代表我们的元首。祂站在我们的地位上，顺服了束缚我们的律法，又忍受了我们因自己的不法本当承受的惩罚；因此，（且用中世纪的术语来形容），祂为我们[赢得]（merited）了称义的[功德]。所以，我们是在神公义的要求被满足，和基督算我们为义的根基上，恰当地蒙神称义了（罗5:18-19）。

神称义的判决是末日的审判，祂宣告我们在永世里的去处；又将这个宣告带入今世，在此时此地发表出来。这宣判是最后的审判，我们的命运就此决定，不管撒旦是如何地想要翻案（亚3:1；启12:10；罗8:33-34），神绝不再回头。一旦称义，就永远坚稳了（罗5:1-5；8:30）。

称义的必要途径，也就是说，神称我们为义的原因，乃是本着个人信靠耶稣基督为钉十架放的救主与复活的主（罗4:23-25；10:8-13）。这是因为我们得以称义的功德根基，完全在于基督。当我们因信投靠耶稣时，祂就赐给我们这公义的礼物，往昔改革宗教师门曾提到[与基督密契]的经历，我们就是凭此经历，领受到除此之外领受不到神的赦免与接纳（加2:15-16；3:24）。

罗马天主教公定的神学却将成圣包括在称义的定义之内，他们看称义有如一个过程，而非一件单独的，决定性的事件。他们甚至肯定地说：虽然信心对我们之被神接纳有其贡献，但是我们的赎罪与功德的功夫，也有贡献。罗马天主教看洗礼为一个领受成圣恩典的管道，并且是主要导使我们称义的起因。而任何时候我们若犯了足以失去救恩的罪过，以致失去了神起初接纳我们的恩典时，忏悔的圣礼则使我们透过赎罪的努力，可以取得适合的功德（congruousmerit），作为辅助性恢复的因素。适合的功德，有别于应受的功德（condign menrit）（注1），它是指神将新鲜的成圣恩典赐给我们，那是适合的，但不是神绝对必须赐的。所以罗马天主教的观点里，信徒是透过教会的圣礼系统，领受基督所流露出来之恩典的帮助，来救自己；而在今生，信徒通常是不会获得安稳在神恩典里的感受，但这样的教训却是与保罗所传讲的大相径庭。

注1-译者注[应受的功德]是指按严格的标准论功行赏。

JUSTIFICATION

SALVATION IS BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” GALATIANS 3:11

The doctrine of justification, the storm center of the Reformation, was a major concern of the apostle Paul. For him it was the heart of the gospel (Rom. 1:17; 3:21-5:21; Gal. 2:15-5:1) shaping both his message (Acts 13:38-39) and his devotion and spiritual life (2 Cor. 5:13-21; Phil. 3:4-14). Though other New Testament writers affirm the same doctrine in substance, the terms in which Protestants have affirmed and defended it for almost five centuries are drawn primarily from Paul.

Justification is a judicial act of God pardoning sinners (wicked and ungodly persons, Rom. 4:5; 3:9-24), accepting them as just, and so putting permanently right their previously estranged relationship with himself. This justifying sentence is God’s gift of righteousness (Rom. 5:15-17), his bestowal of a status of acceptance for Jesus’ sake (2 Cor. 5:21).

God’s justifying judgment seems strange, for pronouncing sinners righteous may appear to be precisely the unjust action on the judge’s part that God’s own law forbade (Deut. 25:1; Prov. 17:15). Yet it is in fact a just judgment, for its basis is the righteousness of Jesus Christ who as “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45), our representative head acting on our behalf, obeyed the law that bound us and endured the retribution for lawlessness that was our due and so (to use a medieval technical term) “merited” our justification. So we are justified justly, on the basis of justice done (Rom. 3:25-26) and Christ’s righteousness reckoned to our account (Rom. 5:18-19).

God’s justifying decision is the judgment of the Last Day, declaring where we shall spend eternity, brought forward into the present and pronounced here and now. It is the last judgment that will ever be passed on our destiny; God will never go back on it, however much Satan may appeal against God’s verdict (Zech. 3:1; Rev. 12:10; Rom. 8:33-34). To be justified is to be eternally secure (Rom. 5:1-5; 8:30).

The necessary means, or instrumental cause, of justification is personal faith in Jesus Christ as crucified Savior and risen Lord (Rom. 4:23-25; 10:8-13). This is because the meritorious ground of our justification is entirely in Christ. As we give ourselves in faith to Jesus, Jesus gives us his gift of righteousness, so that in the very act of “closing with Christ,” as older Reformed teachers put it, we receive divine pardon and acceptance which we could not otherwise have (Gal. 2:15-16; 3:24).

Official Roman Catholic theology includes sanctification in the definition of justification, which it sees as a process rather than a single decisive event, and affirms that while faith contributes to our acceptance with God, our works of satisfaction and merit contribute too. Rome sees baptism, viewed as a channel of sanctifying grace, as the primary instrumental cause of justification, and the sacrament of penance, whereby congruous merit is achieved through works of satisfaction, as the supplementary restorative cause whenever the grace of God’s initial acceptance is lost through mortal sin. Congruous, as distinct from condign, merit means merit that it is fitting, though not absolutely necessary, for God to reward by a fresh flow of sanctifying grace. On the Roman Catholic view, therefore, believers save themselves with the help of the grace that flows from Christ through the church’s sacramental system, and in this life no sense of confidence in God’s grace can ordinarily be had. Such teaching is a far cry from that of Paul.

41 耶稣为童女所生——耶稣基督的出生是神蹟 VirginBirth - Jesus Christ was born by miracle

《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

https://yibaniba.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_98.html

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/virginbirth.htm

41 耶稣为童女所生——耶稣基督的出生是神蹟

Virgin Birth - Jesus Christ was born by miracle

这一切的事成就，是要应验主籍先知所说的话，说：[必有童女怀孕生子，人要称他的名为以马内利。]（以马内利翻出来就是：[神与我们同在]。）（太1:22-23）

马太福音1：18-25节和路加福音1:26-56节及4-7节这两段和谐互补，却又明显是彼此独立的故事，合起来为耶稣的降生乃是神迹性受孕的结果作了见证。马利亚未与任何人发生过性关系，乃是靠着圣灵创造的作为而怀孕（太1:20；路1:35）。

直到十九世纪自由神学向神迹挑战以前，大多数的基督徒都毫无怀疑地接受[耶稣为童女所生]一事。之后，这件事就变为有关基督教的超自然主义，和耶稣的神性之辩论的焦点了。自由主义既然要除去信仰的超自然性，并要将耶稣解释为不过是一位独特敬虔、又有洞见的教师而已，就以一种无比必要、且不合理性之怀疑主义的精神，围攻[耶稣为童女所生]的真理。

事实上，[耶稣为童女所生]此点与新约圣经其余有关耶稣的信息，是彼此调和的。祂自己行神迹，也从死亡中神迹似地复活起来，所以，断定祂神迹性地进入这个世界，也不应造成什么新问题。祂以复活和升天超然地离开这个世界，所以，祂超然的来临是完全合宜的。强调耶稣道成肉身的尊贵与荣耀（约1:1-9；17:5；林后8:9；腓2:5-11；西1:15-17；来1：1-3；约一1:1），使得祂这种进入肉身生活的模式，要比任何其他的模式更为自然。这种模式亦宣扬了祂将来所要完成的荣耀使命（太1:21-23；路1:31-35）。

值得注意的是，马太和路加对神救赎的目的的成全，比把童女怀孕当做一种身体上的奇迹、或当做一种辩道的武器、或当做基督神人二性论的指标，来得有趣多了。

我们固然不能肯定，有神性的人除了籍童女所生之外，是否就没有别的方法进入这个世界，但耶稣神迹性的出生的的确指明了祂的神性，同时也指明了，运行在我们新生时那种创造大能的实在（约1:13）。还有，我们固然不能肯定，除了籍童女所生之外，神一定不能创造无罪之人性，但耶稣的人性是无罪的，而祂出生的情景，也叫我们留意到马利亚所牵涉的神迹，罪人（路1:47）竟生出了一位不[在亚当里]如祂的人，所以祂也不像她一样需要一位救主，尤有进者，耶稣命定要籍着祂那无暇的人性所维持无罪的一生，来为人的罪成为完全的牺牲，如此耶稣才能成为祂母亲和教会其余之人的救主。

VIRGIN BIRTH

JESUS CHRIST WAS BORN BY MIRACLE

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.” MATTHEW 1:22-23

Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26-56; 2:4-7, two harmonious and complementary but obviously independent stories, unite in witnessing to Jesus’ birth as the consequence of a miraculous conception. Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit’s creative action without any sexual relationship (Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35).

Most Christians accepted the Virgin Birth without hesitation until liberal theology challenged miracles in the nineteenth century. Then it became a pivotal point in the debate about Christian supernaturalism and the divinity of Jesus. Liberalism, seeking to desupernaturalize the faith and reinterpret Jesus as no more than a uniquely godly and insightful teacher, surrounded the Virgin Birth with a spirit of needless and unreasonable skepticism.

In reality, the Virgin Birth meshes harmoniously with the rest of the New Testament message about Jesus. He himself worked miracles and rose miraculously from the dead, so no new problem is involved in affirming that he entered the world miraculously. He left the world supernaturally, by resurrection and ascension, so a supernatural way of arriving was entirely fitting. The stress laid on Jesus’ preincarnate dignity and glory (John 1:1-9; 17:5; 2 Cor. 8:9; Phil. 2:5-11; Col. 1:15-17; Heb. 1:1-3; 1 John 1:1) made a mode of entry into incarnate life that involved proclamation of the glorious role he was coming to fulfill (Matt. 1:21-23; Luke 1:31-35) more natural than any alternative.

It is noteworthy that Matthew and Luke show themselves much more interested in the fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose than in the virginal conception as a physical wonder or an apologetic weapon or a pointer to two-nature christology.

While we cannot affirm that a divine person could not have entered this world any other way than by virgin birth, Jesus’ miraculous birth does in fact point to his deity and also to the reality of the creative power that operates in our new birth (John 1:13). Also, while we cannot affirm that God could not have produced sinless humanity apart from virgin birth, Jesus’ humanity was sinless, and the circumstances of his birth call attention to the miracle that was involved when Mary, a sinner (Luke 1:47), gave birth to one who was not “in Adam” as she was, nor therefore needed a Savior as she did. Rather, Jesus was destined through the maintained sinlessness of his unflawed human nature to become the perfect sacrifice for human sins, and so the Savior of his mother and of the rest of the church with her.

57 光照——圣灵赐予属灵的悟性Illumination- The Holy Spirit gives spiritual understanding

《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

https://yibaniba.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_98.html

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/illumination.htm

57 光照——圣灵赐予属灵的悟性

Illumination - The Holy Spirit gives spiritual understanding

然而，属血气的人不领会神圣灵的事，反倒以为愚拙。并且不能知道，因为这些事唯有属灵的人才能看透。（林前2:14）

基督徒蒙召得以认识有关神的事，这种知识不只是形式上熟悉圣经的词汇，和基督教的思想而已；乃是明白圣经所见证的三一神的实存，与祂诸般作为之间的关系。这样的认识对一般人来说，绝非自然有的，尽管他们可能熟悉基督教的思想（这种人像林前2:14里的[属血气的人]一样，不能领受基督徒告诉他的事；或像耶稣在太15:14里所严责的瞎子领瞎子者；又或像在大马色的路上，尚未被基督遇见之前的保罗）。只有圣灵——这位神深奥的参透者（林前2:10）——才能在我们因罪衍昏暗的心思、心灵里，促成这样的认识。这是为什么圣经称之为[属灵的悟性]（[属灵的]意思是指[圣灵所赐予的]，西1:9；另参路24:25；约一5:20）。那些接受纯正话语的人是[从那圣者受了恩膏，并且知道这一切的事]（[事]或作[真理]；约一2:20）。

圣灵这种分赐知识的工作，我们称之为[光照]或[照明]，这不是指给予什么新的启示，而是指圣灵在我们里面作工，使我们能掌握并爱慕所听到的或讲到，那些教师和作者对我们所解释的圣经启示。在我们心思和道德系统里的罪，将我们的心思和意志都遮盖住了，以致我们抓不住、甚至抵挡圣经的力量。对我们而言，神显得遥远到犹如不实在似的，我们在神的真理跟前，是钝拙的、无动于衷的。然而圣灵开启了我们的心思，并且调整了我们的心灵，使我们能明白属灵的事（弗1:17-18；3:18-19；林后3:14-16；4:6）。正如圣灵曾籍着灵感，将圣经的真理供应给我们，现在祂籍着光照，将这真理解释给我们。如此说来，所谓光照乃是将神所启示的真理应用到我们心里，使我们能抓住圣经经文所揭示的，并变成为自己所经历的实际。

光照是圣灵对基督徒一生之久的职事，在我们归正之前就已经开始了的，使我们能渐渐地把握住关乎耶稣的真理，并渐渐地感受到真理所衡量我们、暴露我们。耶稣说圣灵要世人为罪自责，因为他们不信耶稣；又为耶稣在父神的右边这事实自责（因这证明了天父欢迎祂回到天上）；也为自己今日与将来要受审判的事实而自责（约16:8-11）。这种三重自责乃是神所用的方法，使那些先前贪爱罪中之乐、对神圣救主毫不在乎的人，能对罪恶觉得厌恶，而看基督为宝贵的。

要从圣灵光照的职事中获得完全的益处，只有籍着严谨的读经，认真的祷告，并确实地顺服我们已经蒙开启而了解的真理。这和路德的格言相呼应，他说有三件事可铸造出一位神学家：祷告（oratio）、默想（meditatio，指在神的同在中思想经文），和试炼（tentatio，指在遭遇压力要我们不顾圣经所说的话时，为了持守圣经原则所面临的挣扎）。

ILLUMINATION

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING

ILLUMINATION

THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVES SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 CORINTHIANS 2:14

The knowledge of divine things to which Christians are called is more than a formal acquaintance with biblical words and Christian ideas. It is a realizing of the reality and relevance of those activities of the triune God to which Scripture testifies. Such awareness is natural to none, familiar with Christian ideas though they may be (like “the man without the Spirit” in 1 Cor. 2:14 who cannot receive what Christians tell him, or the blind leaders of the blind of whom Jesus speaks so caustically in Matt. 15:14, or like Paul himself before Christ met him on the Damascus road). Only the Holy Spirit, searcher of the deep things of God (1 Cor. 2:10), can bring about this realization in our sin-darkened minds and hearts. That is why it is called “spiritual understanding” (spiritual means “Spirit-given,” Col. 1:9; cf. Luke 24:25; 1 John 5:20). Those who, along with sound verbal instruction, “have an anointing from the Holy One... know the truth” (1 John 2:20).

The work of the Spirit in imparting this knowledge is called “illumination,” or enlightening. It is not a giving of new revelation, but a work within us that enables us to grasp and to love the revelation that is there before us in the biblical text as heard and read, and as explained by teachers and writers. Sin in our mental and moral system clouds our minds and wills so that we miss and resist the force of Scripture. God seems to us remote to the point of unreality, and in the face of God’s truth we are dull and apathetic. The Spirit, however, opens and unveils our minds and attunes our hearts so that we understand (Eph. 1:17-18; 3:18-19; 2 Cor. 3:14-16; 4:6). As by inspiration he provided Scripture truth for us, so now by illumination he interprets it to us. Illumination is thus the applying of God’s revealed truth to our hearts, so that we grasp as reality for ourselves what the sacred text sets forth.

Illumination, which is a lifelong ministry of the Holy Spirit to Christians, starts before conversion with a growing grasp of the truth about Jesus and a growing sense of being measured and exposed by it. Jesus said that the Spirit would “convict the world” of the sin of not believing in him, of the fact that he was in the right with God the Father (as his welcome back to heaven proved), and of the reality of judgment both here and hereafter (John 16:8-11). This threefold conviction is still God’s means of making sin repulsive and Christ adorable in the eyes of persons who previously loved sin and cared nothing for the divine Savior.

The way to benefit fully from the Spirit’s ministry of illumination is by serious Bible study, serious prayer, and serious response in obedience to whatever truths one has been shown already. This corresponds to Luther’s dictum that three things make a theologian: oratio (prayer), meditatio (thinking in God’s presence about the text), and tentatio (trial, the struggle for biblical fidelity in the face of pressure to disregard what Scripture says).

91 普遍的復活——在基督裹死的人要在荣耀中復起General Resurrection - Dead inChrist will rise in glory

《简明神学》Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs，巴刻（J. I. Packer）著/張麟至译，更新传道会，2007年。

https://yibaniba.blogspot.com/2020/01/blog-post_98.html

http://www.geocities.ws/gary_bee_za/packer/generalresurrection.htm

91 普遍的復活——在基督裹死的人要在荣耀中復起

General Resurrection - Dead in Christ will rise in glory

或有人问：“死人怎样复活，带着什么身体来呢？”无知的人哪，你所种的，若不死，就不能生。并且你所种的，不是那将来的形体，不过是子粒，即如麦子......死人复活也是这样。所种的是必朽坏的，复活的是不朽坏的；所种的是羞辱的，复活的是荣耀的；所种的是软弱的，复活的是强壮的；所种的是血气的身体，复活的是灵性的身体。若有血气的身体，也必有灵性的身体。（林前15:35-37,42-44）

耶稣是从死里复活的第一人（徒26:23），当祂再回到这世界的时候，祂要使祂所有的仆人复起，进入复活的生命，像她自己一样（林前15:20-23；腓3:20-21）。其实祂还要复活全人类，那些没有因信成为属祂之人的，也要复活受审判（约5:29）。当祂回来时，还活着的基督徒，在刹那间要经历奇妙的转变（林前15:50-54）；而已死的基督徒则要经历穿上荣耀的身体（林后5:1-5）。

必朽坏的和不朽坏的身体之间，有其连续性，正如耶稣的情形一样，因为祂死时的躯体也正是祂籍以复活的躯体。保罗将复活的身体和必朽的身体间的关系，比喻成种子和所生出之植物间的关系（林前15:35-44），其间有连续性，但也有着如起点和终端产物之间的巨大差异。保罗说，在每一种实例中，还有品质的对比。我们现在的身体，与亚当的一样，是自然的、属地的，胜不过各种的软弱，至终死亡时，还会腐败。但是我们复活的身体，却像基督的，将是属灵的（由圣灵所创造、内住、维持的），有其永恒性，带有不衰残、不朽坏、属天之类事物的本质（林前15:45-54）。

虽然如此，但正如复活的耶稣，虽有复活在祂身上所带来的改变，却仍是门徒可以辨认的；正如重新被赐予身体的摩西和以利亚在变像山上显现时，是可以辨认的（太17:3-4）；又如在耶稣复活时，重新被赐予身体的犹太圣徒，也是可以辨认的（太17:3-4），所以，复活的基督徒也是彼此可以辨认的。能在这个世界之外，与自己所深爱却因死亡而分离的圣徒重逢，那种喜乐也是可以预期的。这种喜乐的含义在帖撒罗尼迦前书4:13-18中说得特别仔细，因为当时有些在基督里活着的人，害怕他们终究会失去在基督里死去的人，因此保罗写了这书信。他写信时提到主的再来，为要向他们保证，他们必会再度看见他们所爱的基督徒亲友。

正如耶稣单纯的爱与谦卑是神用来塑造重生者性格的模型一样，祂在地上时曾用来完美地表达其品质的身体，如今变成了荣耀的身体，这荣耀的身体也正是神用来重造我们身体的模型（腓3:21）。基督徒现有的身体不过是一个捉襟见肘的器皿，充其量只是用来表达重生之心所祈求的、所要达成的工具。圣徒们所挣扎的许多软弱——诸如害羞、坏脾气、情欲、抑郁、与人关系的冷淡等等——都与我们身体的构造，和它所形成的行为模式有关。普遍复活中所得到的身体，将和我们重生的性情完全地结合在一起，也要在永世里证明为完美的器皿，好清清洁洁地表达我们自己。

[得荣]（如此称谓是因为它是神在我们生命中的彰显，林后3:18）是一个圣经名词，描述当祂重生了我们之后，继续所完成的工作，使我们在道德和属灵方面，重建到可以完全、永远地模成基督的形象。得荣是神转变大能的工作，籍此，神至终将我们变为无罪、躯体不死的受造物。最终得荣的状态包括了以下几个观念：（1）透过我们悟性能力不受限制的延伸，对恩典有了完全的认识（林前13:12）；（2）完全地享受看见父神与子神，并享受与其同在；（3）出于全然正直的性情，与一颗全然自由追求神爱和顺服的心灵，而有对神完美的敬拜和侍奉；（4）脱离所有过去所经历的罪污、邪恶、软弱和挫折，而有完全的释放；（5）所有我们所感受到的需求，都得到满足（不是指性欲，太22:30；不是指饥渴，启7:16；也不是指睡眠的欲求，启22:5；而是指渴慕更多与神交通）；（6）所有在今世所羡之美善事物，但因着欲求超过了人的度量而不得完全，都得完满的成全；以及（7）在所有这些完美的事物上，个人将有无限的成长。

保罗在罗马书8:30节中分析神拯救祂的选民时，以醒目的过去式作结论：[所（已经）称为义的人，又（已经）叫他们得荣耀。]除了耶稣自己以外，得荣对每个人而言，是未来之事，在保罗的日子是如此，今日仍是一样。但是保罗的思想很明显的是这样的：因为我们的得荣在神主权的计划里，是此时此地一件确定的事，其稳当有如已成的事实了。这个过去式的用意是叫我们知道：要我们的得荣不发生，是一件绝对不可能的事！基督徒的盼望是这样的千真万确。

GENERAL RESURRECTION

DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE IN GLORY

But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed.... So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body... 1 CORINTHIANS 15:35-37, 42-44

Jesus was the first to rise from the dead (Acts 26:23), and when he returns to this world he will raise his servants to a resurrection life like his own (1 Cor. 15:20-23; Phil. 3:20-21). He will, indeed, raise the whole human race; those who are not his through faith will be raised for sentencing (John 5:29). Christians alive at his coming will at that instant undergo a marvelous transformation (1 Cor. 15:50-54), while Christians who had died will experience a glorious re-embodiment (2 Cor. 5:1-5).

There will be continuity between the mortal and the immortal body, as there was in Jesus’ case, for it was the body in which he had died that was raised. Paul compares the relation between the resurrection body and the mortal body to the relation between a seed and the plant that grows out of it (1 Cor. 15:35-44), a kind of continuity, we should note, that allows for great differences between the starting point and the end product. Also, says Paul, there will be in every case a contrast of quality. Our present bodies, like Adam’s, are natural and earthly, subject to all sorts of weakness and decay until finally they perish. But our resurrection bodies, like Christ’s, will be spiritual (created, indwelt, and sustained by the Holy Spirit) and will belong to the eternal, imperishable, immortal, heavenly order of things (1 Cor. 15:45-54).

However, as the risen Jesus was recognizable by his disciples despite the change that resurrection had wrought in him, and as the re-embodied Moses and Elijah were recognizable at the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3-4), and as re-embodied Jewish saints were recognizable at the time of Jesus’ rising (Matt. 27:52-53), so risen Christians will be recognizable to each other, and joyful reunions beyond this world with believers whom we loved and then lost through death are to be expected. That is implicit in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, which was written because persons who were alive in Christ feared they had finally lost those who had died in Christ; Paul wrote as he did about Christ’s return in order to assure them that they would certainly see their Christian loved ones again.

As Jesus’ single-minded love and humility are the model to which God is conforming our regenerate characters, so his glorified body, the present form of the body through which he perfectly expressed these qualities when he was on earth, is the model for the remaking of our bodies (Phil. 3:21). The bodies that Christians have now are at best poor tools for expressing the desires and purposes of regenerate hearts, and many of the weaknesses with which the saints struggle—shyness, shortness of temper, lust, depression, coolness in relationships, and so on—are closely linked with our physical constitution and its patterning in our behavior. The bodies that become ours in the general resurrection will be bodies that perfectly match our perfected regenerate characters and will prove perfect instruments for our holy self-expression throughout eternity.

Glorification (so called because it is a manifesting of God in our lives, 2 Cor. 3:18) is the scriptural name for God’s completion of what he began when he regenerated us, namely, our moral and spiritual reconstruction so as to be perfectly and permanently conformed to Christ. Glorification is a work of transforming power whereby God finally turns us into sinless creatures in deathless bodies. The idea of our glorified final state includes (a) perfect knowledge of grace, through limitless extension of our powers of understanding (1 Cor. 13:12); (b) perfect enjoyment of seeing and being with the Father and the Son; (c) perfect worship and service of God out of a perfectly integrated nature and a heart set perfectly free for love and obedience; (d) perfect deliverance from all that is experienced as sinful, evil, weakening, and frustrating; (e) perfect fulfillment of all desires of which we are conscious (not sexual desire, Matt. 22:30; or hunger and thirst, Rev. 7:16; or desire for sleep, Rev. 22:5; but desires for more communion with God); (f) perfect completion of all that was good and valuable in this world’s life but that had to be left incomplete because desire outran capacity; and (g) endless personal growth in the encompassing of all these perfect things.

Paul ends his analysis in Romans 8:30 of the action whereby God saves his elect with a striking past tense: “Those he justified, he also glorified.” Glorification was in Paul’s day, and still is, future for everyone apart from Jesus himself, but Paul’s thought evidently is that since our glorification is here and now a fixed point in God’s sovereign plan, it is already as good as done. The past tense is meant to let us know that it is absolutely impossible for our glorification not to happen. Such is the sureness and certainty of the Christian hope.