为什么道德主义非福音——以及为什么这么多基督徒认为它是？
(Why Moralism Is Not the Gospel—And Why So Many Christians Think It Is)
R. Albert Mohler Jr. 于 2009.9.2 著，Virginia Yip 译
https://albertmohler.com/2009/09/03/why-moralism-is-not-the-gospel-and-why-so-many-christians-think-it-is?fbclid=IwAR2IiX6cWRHrXH4ug-rfOyW2NrOtXbguEPcDlewhxQuOdHOSiP9CFjSr0fg
https://www.facebook.com/groups/462030323850206/posts/4287482014638332/
 
One of the most amazing statements by the Apostle Paul is his indictment of the Galatian Christians for abandoning the Gospel. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel,” Paul declared. As he stated so emphatically, the Galatians had failed in the crucial test of discerning the authentic Gospel from its counterfeits.
使徒保罗讲过的最让人震撼的话语之一就是他对加拉太信徒的指控，他说：『我希奇你们这么快离开那借着基督之恩召你们的，去从别的福音。』正如他所如此郑重强调的，加拉太人在分辨何为真福音、何为伪福音这一考试测验上，大大地不及格了。
 
His words could not be more clear: “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you have received, he is to be accursed!” (Gal. 1:8-9)
保罗把话讲得再也清楚不过了，他说：『无论是我们，是天上来的使者，若传福音给你们，与我们所传给你们的不同，他就应当被咒诅！』（拉一8-9）
 
This warning from the Apostle Paul, expressed in the language of the Apostle’s shock and grief, is addressed not only to the church in Galatia, but to every congregation in every age. In our own day—and in our own churches—we desperately need to hear and to heed this warning. In our own time, we face false gospels no less subversive and seductive than those encountered and embraced by the Galatians.
使徒保罗出于惊讶和沉痛而发出的这句带有极大警告性的话语，不仅是对加拉太教会说的，也是对历史历代每一间教会说的。在我们所生活的当今世代——以及就在我们所在的教会中——我们极其需要听到并且认真对待这项警告。当今这个时代，我们所面对的伪福音，其颠覆性和诱惑性，绝对不下于当年加拉太人所遇到并且与之相拥抱的那些。
 
In our own context, one of the most seductive false gospels is moralism. This false gospel can take many forms and can emerge from any number of political and cultural impulses. Nevertheless, the basic structure of moralism comes down to this—the belief that the Gospel can be reduced to improvements in behavior.
在我们今天的处境中，这些伪福音中最具诱惑力的就是道德主义。这种伪福音可以以多种的形态呈现，也可以从任何一种政治或文化推动力下萌生出来。然而，其道德主义最基本的理论架构，说到底，都脱离不了这样一种信念：福音最终是可以被降格成为行为上的改进的。
 
Sadly, this false gospel is particularly attractive to those who believe themselves to be evangelicals motivated by a biblical impulse. Far too many believers and their churches succumb to the logic of moralism and reduce the Gospel to a message of moral improvement. In other words, we communicate to lost persons the message that what God desires for them and demands of them is to get their lives straight.
可悲的是，这种伪福音，对于那些觉得自己是福音的派基督徒并且行事为人乃是以圣经真理为推动力的人，尤其具有吸引力。太多太多的基督徒以及他们所属的教会都容让自己顺从于道德主义的逻辑，把福音信息降化至一种道德改良的信息。换言之，我们在告诉世人这样一个信息：上帝向他们所求、所想的是什么呢？就是要他们好好纠正、改变自己行事为人的生活。
 
In one sense, we are born to be moralists. Created in God’s image, we have been given the moral capacity of conscience. From our earliest days our conscience cries out to us the knowledge of our guilt, shortcomings, and misbehaviors. In other words, our conscience communicates our sinfulness.
其实，在某种意义上，我们人一生下来就都是道德主义者。我们本是按照上帝的形象造的，因此就都具备了附有道德性的良心。我们的良心在我们在幼年时就会向我们发出呼喊，指出我们心中一切的罪过、亏欠、以及不当的行为。换言之，我们的良心向我们传递出我们身为罪人、具有罪性这样一个信息。
 
Add to this the fact that the process of parenting and child rearing tends to inculcate moralism from our earliest years. Very quickly we learn that our parents are concerned with our behavior. Well behaved children are rewarded with parental approval, while misbehavior brings parental sanction. This message is reinforced by other authorities in young lives and pervades the culture at large.
正因如此，父母在教养儿女的过程中，从小就倾向于道德主义式的诱导。很快，我们就意识到，原来我们的父母最在意的是我们的行为。循规蹈矩的孩子往往会得到父母的认可和赞赏，而调皮捣蛋、行为不端的孩子，往往会遭到父母的训斥和处罚。这一思想，在我们渐渐长大后更会被来自其他方面的权威加固加强。它充斥在我们整个文化中。
 
Writing about his own childhood in rural Georgia, the novelist Ferrol Sams described the deeply-ingrained tradition of being “raised right.” As he explained, the child who is “raised right” pleases his parents and other adults by adhering to moral conventions and social etiquette. A young person who is “raised right” emerges as an adult who obeys the laws, respects his neighbors, gives at least lip service to religious expectations, and stays away from scandal. The point is clear—this is what parents expect, the culture affirms, and many churches celebrate. But our communities are filled with people who have been “raised right” but are headed for hell.
Ferrol Sams 是一名生长在美国南部乔治亚州一个乡下的小说家，他在描写他的童年经历时提到，他们那时的文化传统就是要把孩子“教养学乖”。他解释到，一个“乖孩子”就是懂得怎么遵守一切社会文化所规定的道德传统和社交礼节因而得以讨他父母或大人们的喜爱。一个从小被“教养学乖”的孩子，长大后就会就会成为一个守法的成人，他懂得对邻居有礼貌、起码在表面上会赞同宗教对世人所设下的种种要求、并且会谨守自己的生活、不让自己陷入丑闻之中。他所描述的这一切，其要点我们看得很清楚了，就是父母所期待的，也是社会文化所肯定的，同时也成为了教会所推崇的了。但是，我们的社会中，不正正是充满了从小被“教养学乖”却正在迈向地狱的人吗？
 
The seduction of moralism is the essence of its power. We are so easily seduced into believing that we actually can gain all the approval we need by our behavior. Of course, in order to participate in this seduction, we must negotiate a moral code that defines acceptable behavior with innumerable loopholes. Most moralists would not claim to be without sin, but merely beyond scandal. That is considered sufficient.
道德主义的吸引力就在于它这力量的本质，我们很容易被诱惑相信自己是“有可能”透过行为表现来让自己被认可或被接纳的。当然，如果我们容让自己投入到这种诱惑中，就必须先协商出一套道德规范来，好让我们用之界定什么是可被接受的行为，并且这套规范还得容许有无数个可钻空子的地方。大多数道德主义者都不会宣称自己是完全无罪的，不是吗？他们只不过认为他们为人基本上是无可指责的，他们没有做过什么见不得人的事而已。他们认为，做人仅仅做到这一步就已经足够好了。
 
Moralists can be categorized as both liberal and conservative. In each case, a specific set of moral concerns frames the moral expectation. As a generalization, it is often true that liberals focus on a set of moral expectations related to social ethics while conservatives tend to focus on personal ethics. The essence of moralism is apparent in both—the belief that we can achieve righteousness by means of proper behavior.
自由派和保守派的人都有可能成为道德主义者，而他们各自有各自独特的道德关注点，因而各有其独特的道德要求。总的来说，自由派人士所关注的道德要求多半是关乎社会伦理方面的，而保守派人士则是侧重在个人生活伦理方面。（译注：这里讲的“自由派”和“保守派”是当今指美国社会的中的两大阵营，其所描述的立场观点，一般而言，既适用于政治文化界，也适用于神学界。）但是两者的道德主义本质是显而易见的：他们都相信他们可以透过做出正确的行为而达到公义状态。
 
The theological temptation of moralism is one many Christians and churches find it difficult to resist. The danger is that the church will communicate by both direct and indirect means that what God expects of fallen humanity is moral improvement. In so doing, the church subverts the Gospel and communicates a false gospel to a fallen world.
道德主义的神学试探是许多基督徒和教会感到难以抵挡的。这其中的危险性在哪里呢？就是教会常常在有意无意中告诉听众，上帝期望堕落的人类改进他们的道德。而一旦教会这么做了，就立即颠覆了福音，向堕落的世界传递出了一个伪福音。
 
Christ’s Church has no option but to teach the Word of God, and the Bible faithfully reveals the law of God and a comprehensive moral code. Christians understand that God has revealed Himself throughout creation in such a way that He has gifted all humanity with the restraining power of the law. Furthermore, He has spoken to us in His word with the gift of specific commands and comprehensive moral instruction. The faithful Church of the Lord Jesus Christ must contend for the righteousness of these commands and the grace given to us in the knowledge of what is good and what is evil. We also have a responsibility to bear witness of this knowledge of good and evil to our neighbors. The restraining power of the law is essential to human community and to civilization.
基督的教会除了教导上帝的话语外，别无其他选择。而圣经的确是很忠实地启示了上帝的律法以及一套完整的道德规范。基督徒都晓得，上帝透过祂的创造启示了祂自己，而在祂的创造界中，人们看到上帝把具有约束力的法则赐给了人。不但如此，祂更是透过祂的话语，把特殊的命令和完整的道德诫命恩赐给了人。一个忠于上帝的耶稣基督的教会，必须竭力维护这些诫命和吩咐的公义性以及上帝所赐予我们、让我们晓得孰为善、孰为恶的这个恩典。同时，我们也有责任向我们的邻舍见证这一分辨善恶的知识。律法的约束力是人类群居和文明的核心要素。
 
Just as parents rightly teach their children to obey moral instruction, the church also bears responsibility to teach its own the moral commands of God and to bear witness to the larger society of what God has declared to be right and good for His human creatures.
就如父母教导孩子遵守道德教训是一件正确的事一样，教会有责任教导会众上帝的道德诫命，也有责任向广大社会见证上帝对祂所创造之人类所宣告的哪些事是正确的、是美善的。
 
But these impulses, right and necessary as they are, are not the Gospel. Indeed, one of the most insidious false gospels is a moralism that promises the favor of God and the satisfaction of God’s righteousness to sinners if they will only behave and commit themselves to moral improvement.
然而，我们这么做，虽然有其正确性和必须性，但这些推动力并不是福音。的确，最阴险的伪福音之一就是道德主义，因为它会应许你，只要你循规蹈矩、遵守诫命、努力不懈地改进你的道德，你就必然能够得到上帝的垂爱，满足上帝的公义。
 
The moralist impulse in the church reduces the Bible to a codebook for human behavior and substitutes moral instruction for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Far too many evangelical pulpits are given over to moralistic messages rather than the preaching of the Gospel.
在教会中，这种出于道德主义者的驱动，会把圣经降格到一本人类生活行为的规范手册，以道德教训来代替耶稣基督的福音。今天有太多太多的福音派讲台每周所讲的道都是道德主义的信息，他们传讲道德主义远远超过传讲对福音。
 
The corrective to moralism comes directly from the Apostle Paul when he insists that “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus.” Salvation comes to those who are “justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.” (Gal. 2:16)
道德主义的解药可直接从使徒保罗的教训中找到，保罗坚称：『人称义，不是因行律法，乃是因信耶稣基督。』救恩所临到的人，就是那些『因信基督称义，不因行律法称义，因为凡有血气的，没有一人因行律法称义。』（拉二16）
 
We sin against Christ and we misrepresent the Gospel when we suggest to sinners that what God demands of them is moral improvement in accordance with the Law. Moralism makes sense to sinners, for it is but an expansion of what we have been taught from our earliest days. But moralism is not the Gospel, and it will not save. The only gospel that saves is the Gospel of Christ. As Paul reminded the Galatians, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His了 Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” [Gal. 4:4-5]
当我们向罪人暗示，上帝向他们所要的乃是他们能够按照律法对自己的道德行为加以改进时，我们就是在得罪基督，并且在扭曲福音了。道德主义对罪人来说乃是很好理解的，因为它不过是把他们从小到大被教导灌输的观念扩充一下而已。但是，道德主义不是福音，道德主义也无法使人得救！能够使人得救的福音只有基督的福音。正如保罗提醒加拉太人的；『及至时候满足，神就差遣他的儿子，为女子所生，且生在律法以下，要把律法以下的人赎出来，叫我们得着儿子的名分。』（拉四4-5）
 
We are justified by faith alone, saved by grace alone, and redeemed from our sin by Christalone. Moralism produces sinners who are (potentially) better behaved. The Gospel of Christ transforms sinners into the adopted sons and daughters of God.
我们称义唯独透过信心、我们得救唯独凭着恩典，而我们从罪中被救赎出来，唯独靠着基督。道德主义只能产生出在行为上（有可能）表现较好一点的罪人罢了。但基督的福音则是能更新罪人，使他们成为被上帝收领回家的儿女。
 
The Church must never evade, accommodate, revise, or hide the law of God. Indeed, it is the Law that shows us our sin and makes clear our inadequacy and our total lack of righteousness. The Law cannot impart life but, as Paul insists, it “has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24)
教会是永远不应该回避、妥协、修改、掩盖上帝的律法。的确，律法向我们揭示了我们的罪，并且清楚向我们显明我们的缺欠和完全的不义。律法本身是无法赐予人生命的，正如保罗所坚持的：『律法是我们训蒙的师傅，引我们到基督那里，使我们因信称义。』（拉三24）
 
The deadly danger of moralism has been a constant temptation to the church and an ever-convenient substitute for the Gospel. Clearly, millions of our neighbors believe that moralism isour message. Nothing less than the boldest preaching of the Gospel will suffice to correct this impression and to lead sinners to salvation in Christ.
道德主义这种致命的危害性，一直以来都是教会的试探，并且将一直会是福音的代替品。很明显，我们周遭的人有多少不是相信道德主义就是我们基督徒所传讲的信息呢？要改变这种错误印象并且带领罪人归向基督的救恩，除了大胆地、毫无保留地传讲这伟大的福音外，别无他法！
 
Hell will be highly populated with those who were “raised right.” The citizens of heaven will be those who, by the sheer grace and mercy of God, are there solely because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
地狱里是充满着一批又一批从小到大被『教养学乖』的人的。而在天堂里的公民又会是怎样的人呢？那里只有那些因着上帝白白的怜悯之恩唯独披戴了基督的义的人。
Moralism is not the gospel. 道德主义非福音也！