坚守之恩 The Means of Persevering Grace
作者：W. Robert Godfrey 译者：王一
十七世纪初，荷兰爆发了亚米念主义争端。在此之前，加尔文主义并没有所谓五个要点。加尔文主义神学原本蕴含在伟大的信条与要理问答里，从来没有把自己缩减成什么五点。然而，一六一零年，亚米念主义者们向改革宗神学发起了五点攻击。在第五点中，他们写道，「但是他们（那些已经与基督联合的人）因疏忽能否又离弃那在基督里已开始的生命，再回转到这邪恶的世界，离弃所交于他们的圣道，丧失良心，失落恩典，这问题就必须先特别多从圣经加以决定，然后我们自己心里才有绝对把握去教训人。」从这段话中很容易看出，当时的亚米念主义者们对圣徒坚忍的教义并不十分确定。但是一六一零年之后，他们便愈发不可收拾，不断教唆人们相信真正重生的人也可能从恩典中沉沦，甚至最终失丧。
Until
the Arminian controversy in the Netherlands in the early seventeenth century,
Calvinism did not have five points. Calvinism summarized itself in its great
confessions and catechisms and never thought to reduce itself to five points.
The Arminians, however, had five attacks on Reformed teaching, which they
summarized in 1610. On the fifth point they wrote, in part: “But whether they
[those incorporated into Jesus Christ] can through negligence fall away from
the first principle of their life in Christ, again embrace the present world,
depart from the pure doctrine once given to them, lose the good conscience, and
neglect grace, must first be more carefully determined from the Holy
Scriptures.” The Arminians in 1610 were uncertain about the doctrine of
perseverance. But in the years that followed they increasingly taught that the
truly regenerate could fall from grace and be lost.
从措辞中可以明显看出，亚米念主义者们担心圣徒坚忍的教义可能使基督徒疏忽、懒惰、放纵自己。他们认为改革宗的观点是机械式的，好像一路下滑的汽车，只要发动着了，接下来不用继续踩油门，靠着惯性就一冲到底了。Clearly the
Arminians feared that the doctrine of perseverance would make Christians
negligent, lazy, and self-indulgent. They saw the teaching as mechanical and
automatic. They seemed to imagine that the Reformed taught that the Christian
life was like a train running downhill. Just get it started, and it will easily
run on its own momentum without any further effort. (Their fears may seem to be
substantiated by the unreformed teaching of some today that Christians are in a
state of “once saved, always saved” — no matter what they do.)
多特总会（1618-1619）清楚透彻地回应了亚米念派的疑惑与担忧。总会提醒所有基督徒，上帝确实保守自己的百姓不致于从恩典中沉沦。相反，上帝通过自己指定的方法保守他们的信心，藉着他的灵确保他们能正确善用这些方法。
The
great Synod of Dort (1618–1619) answered the Arminian doubts and fears clearly
and helpfully. It reminded all Christians that God does indeed so preserve His
own that they will not fall from grace. But He preserves them through the means
that He has appointed, and, by His Spirit, He ensures that they make good use
of those means.
多特信经在第五项里详细阐述了圣徒坚忍的教义。在第五项教义总共十五条中，信经展现了一套非常精彩，合乎圣经又同时满有牧者心肠的改革宗教导。第五项起头，信经就承认那些已经蒙恩重生的基督徒，罪依旧残留在他们的生命中，是他们必须对付的难题。正因为罪是我们每天都必须面对的问题，甚至连我们最好的善行都受其污染，所以我们必须每天重新归向上帝：The Canons of the
Synod of Dort take up the subject of perseverance in their fifth head of doctrine.
In fifteen articles, the fifth head of doctrine presents a remarkable biblical
and pastoral statement of the Reformed teaching. It begins by recognizing that
sin remains a problem in the life of regenerate Christians. Since sin is a
daily problem and affects even our best works, we must daily turn to God anew:
因此就生出每天所犯的软弱之罪，从此在圣徒最好的善行上附带着污点；要使他们时常在神面前谦卑，并飞奔到被钉十字架的基督那里避难；用祈祷的心以及圣洁敬虔的操练多多治死肉体，并向着完全的标竿努力前进，直到至终脱离肉身的死亡，他们就在天上与神的羔羊一同作王。--《多特信经》第五项，第2条
“These
[sins] are to them [Christians] a perpetual reason to humiliate themselves
before God and to flee for refuge to Christ crucified; to mortify the flesh
more and more by the spirit of prayer and by holy exercises of piety; and to
press forward to the goal of perfection, until at length, delivered from this
body of death, they shall reign with the Lamb of God in heaven” (Article 2).
这一段说得很明白，圣徒坚忍并不是什么机械的信仰方式。相反，人的责任与主动归向上帝都是上帝坚守之恩的果子。
Here
is clearly no mechanical, or automatic, sense of preservation. Human
responsibility and active turning to God are upheld as the fruit of the grace
of God.
第五项教义一开头，我们就看到在信心上蒙保守是多么重要。这里首先提到的就是基督徒在日常生活中培养谦卑和信心。我们绝不敢狂傲自大，好像靠着自己的能力就能坚持信仰。相反，我们必须清楚承认自己的软弱，并把目光从自己身上转向基督。培养谦卑的重要方法就是祷告。在祷告中，我们承认上帝才是我们生活中一切力量和盼望的源头。除了祷告之外，第二条也鼓励我们进行「圣洁敬虔的操练」。这里的重点就是读经，并忠心地与其他信徒一同参与公共敬拜。
We
see here, right at the opening of the fifth head of doctrine, how important
means are to persevering in the faith. The Canons mention here first the
cultivation of humility and faith in the Christian life. We dare not be a proud
people, as if we had accomplished much by our own strength. But we must
recognize our weaknesses and look away from ourselves to Christ. One of the key
means of cultivating humility is prayer. In prayer, we acknowledge that God is
the source of all strength and hope in our lives. Article 2 also encourages
“holy exercises of piety” in addition to prayer. Here the stress falls on
reading the Bible and engaging faithfully in worship with fellow believers.
信经承认即使是已经重生的人，如果要靠他们自己的力量，是根本坚持不住信心的。唯独上帝信实恒久的恩典才真正有大能托住他们的信心，即便遇到罪和试探。
The
Canons recognize that even the regenerate, left to themselves and their own
strength, would not persevere. Only the faithful, persevering grace of God can
uphold the regenerate as they face the temptations of sin.
信经继续承认圣徒可能陷入非常严重的罪中，好像大卫曾经犯下奸淫和谋杀的大罪，又好像彼得曾经多次否认基督，这些都是很明显的例子。这样严重的罪当然会带来严重的后果：
The
Canons go on to recognize that God’s saints can fall into terrible sins of
which David, the adulterer and murderer, and Peter, the denier of Christ, are
very clear examples. Such terrible sins bring with them some terrible
consequences:
他们因此类的罪，大大地干犯了上帝，负担致死的罪债，叫圣灵担忧，不能再发挥信心，严重地伤害自己的良心，有时失去了上帝的恩宠，可是一旦他们以严肃悔改的心归回正道，上帝如慈父的面光才再照耀着他们。《多特信经》第五项，第5条
“By such enormous sins, however, they very
highly offend God, incur a deadly guilt, grieve the Holy Spirit, interrupt the
exercise of faith, very grievously wound their consciences, and sometimes for a
while lose the sense of God’s favor, until, when they change their course by
serious repentance, the light of God’s fatherly countenance again shines upon
them” (Article 5).
同样，我们看到在真正的改革宗神学里，信徒与上帝之间关系是如此紧密。并且这里也明确指出圣徒坚忍的教义根本没有教唆人对罪无感。改革宗神学的核心原则一直都是坚持不懈地追求圣洁。就像以弗所书五章15节所说的：「你们要谨慎行事，不要象愚昧人，当象智慧人。」
Here
again we see how very personal is the relationship between the believer and his
God in true Reformed theology. This article also shows that the doctrine of
perseverance in no way encourages an indifference to sin. The commitment to the
serious pursuit of holiness is a central tenet of Reformed Christianity. A key
verse historically for the Reformed is Ephesians 5:15: “Look carefully then how
you walk, not as unwise but as wise.”
第七条解释了上帝通过什么方法来保守他的选民：
Article
7 explains something of the way in which God operates in preserving His own:
用他的道和灵重新使他们真正悔改，诚恳为罪忧伤，使他们靠中保之血寻求并得到罪的赦免，可以再经历到和好之神的眷爱，借着信心赞美他的怜悯，并从此以后怀着恐惧战兢，更殷勤地作成自己得救的工夫。
《多特信经》第五项，第7条
“By
His Word and Spirit He certainly and effectually renews them to repentance, to
a sincere and godly sorrow for their sins, that they may seek and obtain
remission in the blood of the Mediator, may again experience the favor of a
reconciled God, through faith adore His mercies, and henceforward more
diligently work out their
