改革宗信仰基础24：圣礼Basics of the Reformed Faith:The Sacraments
作者： Kim Riddlebarger 译者：寇正华
虽然对于许多福音派基督徒来说，关于圣礼在基督徒生活中的作用的任何讨论看起来太“天主教”，但圣礼在整个新约圣经中都起着非常重要的作用。总结圣经关于这个主题的教导，海德堡要理问答（Q65）定义了两个新约圣礼即洗礼和圣餐作为“我们可以看见的标志和印记。它们是神所设立的，为要我们使用它们，好让他使我们更清楚明白福音的应许，并且要在这应许上加上他的印记。”那么，福音的应许是什么？“因为基督十字架上成就了一次完成的牺牲，神单单借着恩典，赦免我们的罪，给我们永生。”
圣礼是神在福音中将他不可见的恩典应许给他的百姓的可见的标志和印记（罗马书4:9-12）。因为我们是软弱和挣扎的罪人，神给我们这些圣礼以确认，信心已经通过福音的宣讲而赐给了我们（参见罗6:3-4；林前11:23-26）。这就是为什么福音的宣讲和圣礼的施行是密切相关的。神在福音里向我们所应许的（赦罪和永生），在洗礼和圣餐中得到确认。福音被传讲，然后在施行圣礼时在某种意义上成为可见的——这就是为什么更正教信徒经常将圣礼称作“可见的道”。
在洗礼和圣餐这圣礼中，圣经的重点明确地落在神在他的儿子耶稣这位格中为罪人所做的，而不在乎罪人的信心大小或他的心的纯洁。这就是为什么在这两个圣礼中神被看为主动的一方，因为是他作出了与恩典之约相关的应许，并且在其中，圣礼是标志和印记。换句话说，通过参加圣礼，接受者接收到（认可）我们恩慈的上帝在福音中的应许。
在洗礼和圣餐这圣礼中，神发出了与在创世记17:7中给亚伯拉罕的相同的盟约誓言——“我要与你并你世世代代的后裔坚立我的约，作永远的约，是要作你和你后裔的神。”圣礼的核心是神应许要作我们的神并且我们将作他的子民的恩典之约的应许——每当我们凭着信心接收这圣礼时，这应许就被重新认可。这就是为什么圣礼是更正教的虔诚和教会生活中必不可少的部分。
在新约中耶稣设立了两项圣礼。洗礼是进入基督徒生活的圣礼，并且它的重要性可以从大使命中看出。在马太福音28:19中，耶稣指示他的门徒要“去，使万民作我的门徒，奉父、子、圣灵的名给他们施洗。”门徒并不是通过走向祭坛或者通过在牧师之后重复祷告就成为门徒，而是通过受洗！这是在圣经中悔改的罪人和他们的家人公开宣称他们信耶稣基督的方式（徒2:41；16:15；16:31-33）。受洗意味着我们已经与基督同埋葬（罗6:4）、披戴基督（加3:27），以及受了基督的割礼（西2:11-12）。洗礼是我们罪得赦免（徒22:16；彼前3:21）以及重生（多3:5）的标志和印记。洗礼给我们作了记号，区别于不信的人。所有的这些都是在福音里向我们和我们的孩子所应许的（徒2:38-39）。
至于圣餐，耶稣在他被卖的那个晚上设立了这个圣礼。赋予了犹太逾越节全新的意义，我们在马太福音26:26-28中读到“耶稣拿起饼来，祝福，就擘开，递给门徒，说：‘你们拿着吃，这是我的身体。’又拿起杯来，祝谢了，递给他们，说‘你们都喝这个，因为这是我立约的血，为多人流出来，使罪得赦。”耶稣不仅告诉我们圣礼与福音的应许有关——通过他流血，我们的罪被赦免——而且耶稣还声明，通过饼和酒给予我们的恰恰是他自己的身体和血，以及凭信心接收的基督救恩的全部果效。换句话说，在圣餐中，耶稣通过饼和酒的标志和印记将他自己给了我们。
这些话也出现在保罗给哥林多人的信中，表明教会举行圣餐是基于我们的主设立圣餐的话。保罗告诉我们，圣餐是“当你们聚会的时候”即公共敬拜的时候（林前14:26）举行的。这意味着，由基督设立的圣餐是福音应许（基督的血所立的新约，使罪得赦）的认可，并且圣餐是每当教会聚集敬拜的时候举行的。从使徒行传2:42中我们知道，使徒的教会敬拜的中心在于使徒的教训、圣餐、祷告以及与复活救主一起的团契。
因为圣餐确认了福音的应许——神将我们从我们的罪恶中拯救出来——在道的宣讲与在公共敬拜中圣礼的施行之间牢固地建立了关联。在圣经中神向罪人施恩的方式是通过道，并且通过圣礼来确认这应许。在福音中，神应许将我们从罪恶中拯救出来，并且在圣礼中他发出主权的誓言，“我是你们的神，你们是我的子民！”这就是为什么软弱和挣扎的罪人不应当被引导去看我们的信心是否足够强，或者我们是否获得足够的个人圣洁以便参加圣礼。相反，我们需要看在我们以外的，并且转向注视神的恩典之约的应许。这是神安慰灵性低落的、增强信心和战胜怀疑的方式。这是为什么当神的子民聚集敬拜的时候，道和圣礼一起是必要的元素。
Basics of the Reformed Faith:
The Sacraments
Kim
Riddlebarger
Although
any discussion of the role of the sacraments in the Christian life seems too
“catholic” for many evangelical Christians, the sacraments do play a very
important role throughout the New Testament.
Summarizing the teaching of Scripture on this topic, the Heidelberg
Catechism (Q 65) defines the two New Testament sacraments of baptism and the
Lord’s Supper as “holy signs and seals for us to see. They were instituted by God so that by our
use of them he might make us understand more clearly the promise of the gospel,
and might put his seal on that promise.”
And what is the promise of the gospel?
“To forgive our sins and give us eternal life by grace alone because of
Christ’s one sacrifice finished on the cross.”
The
sacraments are visible signs and seals of God’s invisible grace promised to his
people in the gospel (Romans 4:9-12).
Because we are weak and struggling sinners, these sacraments are given
to us by God to confirm that faith already given us through the preaching of
the gospel (cf. Romans 6:3-4;1 Corinthians 11:23-26). This is why the preaching of the gospel and
the administration of the sacraments are intimately connected. That which God promises to us in the gospel
(the forgiveness of sins and eternal life) is then confirmed in baptism and the
Lord’s Supper. The gospel is proclaimed,
and then made visible in a sense when the sacraments are administered–which is
why Reformed Christians often speak of the sacraments as the “visible word.”
In
the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, the biblical emphasis falls
squarely upon what God has done for sinners in the person of his son, Jesus, and
not upon the strength of a sinner’s faith, or the purity of one’s heart. This is why God is seen as the active party
in these two sacraments, since it is he who makes the promises associated with
the covenant of grace, and of which the sacraments are signs and seals. To put it another way, through participation
in the sacraments, the recipient receives (ratifies) what is promised by our
gracious God in the gospel.
In
the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, God swears the same covenant
oath given to Abraham in Genesis 17:7–“And I will establish my covenant between
me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an
everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.” At the heart of the sacraments then is God’s
gracious covenant promise to be our God, and that we will be his people–a
promise which is re-ratified whenever we receive the sacraments through
faith. This is why the sacraments are an
essential part of Reformed piety and church life.
There
are two sacraments instituted by Jesus in the New Testament. Baptism is the sacrament of entrance into the
Christian life and its importance can be seen from the Great Commission. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus instructs his
disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Disciples are not made by going forward to an
altar, or by repeating a prayer after a minister, but by being baptized! This is the biblical way in which repentant
sinners and their families publically declare their faith in Jesus Christ (Acts
2:41; 16:15; 16:31-33). To be baptized
means that we have been buried with Christ (Romans 6:4), clothed with Christ
(Galatians 3:27), and circumcised with Christ (Colossians 2:11-12). Baptism is that sign and seal that our sins
are forgiven (Acts 22:16; 1 Peter 3:21) and of the presence of regeneration
(Titus 3:5). It is baptism that marks us
off from unbelievers. All of these
things are promised to us and to our children in the gospel (Acts 2:38-39).
As
for the Lord’s Supper, Jesus instituted this sacrament on that night in which
he was betrayed. Investing the Jewish
Passover with an entirely new meaning, we read in Matthew 26:26-28 that “Jesus
took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and
said, `Take, eat; this is my body.’ And
he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, `Drink
of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out
for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Not only does Jesus tell us that the sacrament is connected to the
promise of the gospel–through the shedding of his blood, our sins are
forgiven–but Jesus states that what is offered to us through the bread and wine,
is nothing less than his own body and blood, along with all of his saving
benefits to be received by faith. In
other words, in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus offers himself to us through the signs
and seals of the bread and wine.
These
words also appear in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, indicating that the
church’s celebration of the Lord’s Supper was based on our Lord’s words of
institution. Paul tells us that the
Lord’s Supper was celebrated “when you come together” for public worship (1
Corinthians 14:26). This means that the
Lord’s Supper, as instituted by Christ, is a ratification of the gospel
promise–the new covenant in Christ’s blood for the forgiveness of sins–and that
the Lord’s Supper was celebrated whenever the church assembled for worship. We know from Acts 2:42 that the worship of the
apostolic church centered in the apostle’s teaching, the Lord’s Supper, the
prayers and fellowship with the Risen Savior.
Since
the sacraments confirm the promise of the gospel–that God will save us from our
sins–the link between the preaching of the word and the administration of the
sacraments in public worship is firmly established. The biblical manner by which God declares his
favor to sinners is through the word, and that promise is confirmed through the
sacraments. In the gospel, God promises
to save us from our sins, and in the sacraments he swears on his sovereign
oath, “I am your God and you are my people!”
This is why weak and struggling sinners should not be directed to look
within to see whether or not our faith is of sufficient intensity, or if we
have achieved sufficient personal holiness in order to participate. Rather, we need to look outside of ourselves
and turn our gaze toward God’s gracious covenant promise. This is God’s way of comforting the downcast,
strengthening faith, and conquering doubt.
This is why word and sacrament are together essential elements when
God’s people assemble for worship.
