《生命之光广播电台》

(美国阿拉斯加州播音）

©World Christian Broadcasting

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脫掉舊衣﹐穿上新衣

哥林多前書一章30節:

   “但你們得在基督耶穌裡是本乎神﹐ 又使他成為我們的智慧﹐公義﹐聖潔﹐救贖”

作者：郑德民

如果有人問你﹐“信基督有什麼好處﹖” ﹐“信基督會發財嗎﹖” 你該怎麼回答﹖是的﹐神是造物主﹐世上一切東西都是祂所造的。但是﹐追求財富﹐並不是神要賞賜我們的。這篇書信告訴我們﹐信仰神﹐神將賞賜給我們更好的寶貝 - 那就是祂的智慧﹐公義﹐聖潔﹐及救贖。

想想看﹐如果只有財富﹐卻沒有智慧﹐不出多久的時間﹐財富往往會因愚笨的行為﹐耗之殆盡。因此﹐智慧是比財富更寶貴的。神又賜給我們公義﹐讓我們能僅守公理正義的一方﹐讓我們能與神站在同一方。神也賜給我們聖潔﹐將我們與罪人隔離開來﹐成為祂的寶貝。神更讓我們借著主耶穌基督的聖血﹐來洗淨我們的罪過﹐讓我們得到救贖。如此來說﹐信仰神﹐真是有天大的福份啊 ﹗

弟兄姊 妹們﹐要怎麼做﹐才能得到神所賞賜的福份呢﹖受洗後﹐我們是否就會“理所當然” 的承襲神的禮物呢﹖關鍵在於我們是否拋棄了舊我﹖是否照主的吩咐成就了一個新我﹖以弗所書四章21節﹕“如果你們聽過他的道﹐領了他的教﹐學了他的真理﹐就要脫去你們從前行為上的舊人﹐這舊人是因私慾的迷惑漸漸變壞的。又要將你們的心志改換一新﹐並且穿上新人﹐這新人是照著神的形象造的﹐有真理的仁義和聖潔。” 以及哥林多後書五章17節﹕“若有人在基督裡﹐他就是新造的人﹐舊事已過﹐都變成新的了。” 我們基督徒一定要丟掉舊我﹐在基督裡成就一個新我﹐這樣我們才是生活在主的國裡﹐才能得到神所要賞賜給我們的福份。

對於舊我的說明﹐加拉太書五章19節﹕“情慾的事都是顯而易見的﹐就如奸淫﹐污穢﹐邪蕩﹐拜偶像﹐邪術﹐仇恨﹐爭競﹐忌恨﹐惱怒﹐結黨﹐紛爭﹐異端﹐嫉妒﹐醉酒﹐荒宴等類﹐我從前告訴你們﹐現在又告訴你們﹐行這樣事的人必不能承受神的國。” 這些就是舊我﹐我們要將他們脫掉。接著﹐對新我的定義﹐加拉太書五章22節﹕“聖靈所結的果子就是仁愛﹐喜樂﹐和平﹐忍耐﹐恩慈﹐良善﹐信實﹐溫柔﹐節制。這樣的事﹐沒有律法禁止。凡屬基督耶穌的人﹐是已經把肉體連肉體的邪情私慾﹐同釘在十字架上了。我們若是靠聖靈得生﹐就當靠聖靈行事” 這些就是我們基督徒所要穿上的新衣﹐成為一個新我。

由於﹐神所要賞賜給我們的福份 - 智慧﹐公義﹐聖潔﹐及救贖﹐太寶貴了﹐ 是無法靠自我修練得到的﹐絕對值得我們捨棄污穢的舊我﹐迎接燦爛的新我﹐讓我們共同來享用神所賜的福份吧﹗

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要有“我能做到” 的態度

     "He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption" --1 Corinthians 1:30

By Paul Cheng

Translated by Liu Chao

If someone asks you, "What is the benefit of being a Christian?" or "Will a Christian become rich?" how should you answer them? Yes, God is the creator — He made the whole world. But the pursuit of wealth is not the grace given by Him. This verse is trying to tell us that if we believe in Him, we can get the most valuable treasure—His wisdom, His righteousness, His sanctification, and His redemption.

Consider this—if you have wealth without wisdom, your wealth will quickly be exhausted by your foolishness. So wisdom has more value than wealth. God grants us righteousness and allows us to be righteous and stand with him. He also grants us sanctification separating us from sinners so that we can be His children. He even washes us with the blood of Jesus Christ so that we can be saved. Thus, to believe in God is a great blessing!

Brothers and sisters, how can we get the blessing He has granted? After baptism, do we receive the gift "naturally?" The point is whether we have really put away the old self. It lies in whether or not we obey His word to have a new life. "For surely you have heard about Him and were taught in Him, as truth is in Jesus. You were taught to put away your former way of life, your old self, corrupt and deluded by its lusts, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to clothe yourselves with the new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:21-24).

"So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We must put away the old self and live a new life in Jesus. Only in this way can we live in His kingdom and receive His gifts.

Galatians 5:19-21 gives us an illustration of the old self. It says, "Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."

Next Galatians 5:22-25 gives us a clear picture of the new self. It says, "By contrast, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit." This is the new type of life which we should live. That is why we say we put on new clothes.

The blessings from Him—wisdom, rightousness, sanctification and redemption—are so valuable that they can not be earned by our work. Therefore, it is necessary for us to put away the old self and live a new life. May we enjoy this gift together!