Thursday, 25th November 2021
Rev Daniel Xi An Poon
Section One V1-8 God is Real
Everything God created in the world is for us, and everything in the Bible is written to us. Do we really see what a blessed life we have? Do we really enjoy the creation of God? Why does God want us to have Sabbath? Because God wants us to leave the ‘doing’ mode and to connect with God. Sabbath is to do what God wants us to do, not what we want to do, to discover our ‘being’ and to enjoy our ‘being’ with God. ‘Being’ comes naturally, when we have our ‘being’, we will have fellowship with God. V3-4 ‘For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written: That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged.’ God is real; we must come before God, to give our burdens to Him, and to receive rest. We are confused, we are blind, and we don’t know why we need God.
The Bible is for those who are humble and willing to receive the Gospel. The corruptions mentioned in the Bible still happen in current eras; there is nothing new under the sun! No matter if we have done right or wrong, God’s Word never changes. God’s Word is powerful, it will help us not to fall and not to sin, but so often, it’s us, who chose to fall. God is a loving Father, He does not want us to walk into destruction, and He is showing us the way out. Paul was teaching the churches in Rome about the culture of the world and the culture of God. The culture of God is to live everyday and receive the Rhema of God; do not compare God’s culture with the worldly culture, we should not follow people, but God, who revealed Himself from His Word. God is also leading each individual differently; we should not walk on other people’s path. God is real and when we are willing to follow, He will definitely lead us the way.
Section Two V9-18 Men are Sinful
V10-12 ‘As it is written: There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’ We are all sinners, but we are blessed sinners. It’s normal when we sin, but it’s always a miracle when we do something right. God is not expecting us to do everything right, but He wants to see our commitment, to pray together, to encourage each other, and to experience God as a whole. We are no different to others, despite of our ‘doing’. Everyone of us is receiving Grace from God, and none of us can stand completely righteous in front of God’s Judgement. Do we really have the compassion for others? When we pray for people, do we really feel their pain and hurt? We must examine into our hearts, to see we are unworthy, but God is still willing to bless us.
Section Three V19-31 Be Justified by Faith
V19-20 ‘Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.’ All of us will be under God’s judgement, in fact, when Jesus comes back, the Christians will be judged first. No one can be justified by ‘doing’.
V21-27 ‘But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.’
There is nothing we can boast about ourselves because the Gospel is given to us freely from God. The Gospel reveals our sins so we can be justified by faith. When we understand the Gospel, we know that God has revealed His Word to us, for this Word to go through us to others. And this is the essence of the Gospel.
罗马书 3 – 这就是福音
2021年11月25日 星期四
潘锡安牧师
人有时很努力做一些事情，比如这两年的新冠疫情，新西兰尝试很多方法要将病毒从这个国家清除，但最后因为实在不现实，只好与列国一样选择在疫苗普及率高的情况下“与病毒共存”。我们从小到大接受到的教育也如此，为了达到自己的目的，我们一定要努力，甚至为了生计一周工作七天。然而，我们似乎忘了，神创造我们时已经为我们预备了一切所需用的。我们每一天要找10件事情来感恩神，才能够找到起初人在伊甸园无忧无虑的状态。神的创造是五彩多姿的，每一天都给我们新鲜、丰盛的供应，我们是否看见？我们是活在神的祝福而不是劳苦重担里面。当我们一周七天都无法停下来，或者心里放不下工作，我们就看不见神的美好创造，我们也无法与人有好的关系，长久下去人的身心都会垮掉。我们不要害怕会失去什么，要回转像孩子一样，因为生命树就是谦卑顺服，神给我们多少我们就接受多少。神要人有安息日，不是因为人需要休息，而是人要离开doing的模式，预备自己将来与神连结，单单做神要我们做的事情，享受与神同在的时光。人们常常以为休息就睡觉，连续高强度工作一段时间后就“补眠”，或者以doing的心态去度假，但是真正的休息只有在与神连结中得到，正如耶稣基督在地上时常常独自去山上祷告。如果我们在安息日只做自己想做的事，这就只是doing了。耶稣已经清楚跟我们说出安息的奥秘，凡劳苦担重担的到他那里就必得安息。每次主日的时候我们都会先“敬拜”，在敬拜中用心灵和诚实与神相交，才能被神触摸、感动。人看重的安息是形式化的做一些事情来满足自己，然而这不是神看重的安息。为什么人会有这些蒙蔽？为什么我们需要主耶稣基督？唯有真的福音才能让我们脱离蒙蔽，走在神原本祝福我们的心意里面。
一、神是真实的 v.1-8
有些人会想，“如果我们有很多问题，神帮助我们得到提升，我们岂不是为神提供好的教材，那我们为何还被定罪？”这就是保罗所引用别人说的歪论。我们还想让自己的错来显示神的荣耀，以为走错路没有关系，过后再改过来就好了，不想去听属灵长辈的劝告，结果我们就只是重复人过去犯的错。这是没有在生命树下的歪理，但我们要谦卑受教，有谦卑的心，我们才能领受福音。神给我们圣经，就是不要我们掉入前面的陷阱，他不需要我们用失败的生命来证明他话语的真实，正如没有一个真正的父亲会想要孩子过非人的生活来证明自己的爱。保罗对罗马教会说这一段话，是因为当时希腊文化有很多扭曲的地方，渗入到教会中。我们不要跟随这个世界的文化，神给我们的文化就是每一天在神的话语中领受，神会自己带领我们走当走的路，他只要我们谦卑顺服。神是真实的，我们不需要为神建立他的威信。
二、人是有罪的 v.9-18
我们每一个人都是蒙恩的罪人，若我们做的事是对的，这就是一件神迹。人因为神的恩典，才能从死亡中活过来。神看重的是团契，所以我们要互相委身、爱人如己。当我们在一个团队中，我们就不会一个人披露在外面，而是能互相提醒、代祷。保罗提醒犹太信徒不要去看不起外邦人。我们作为信主的人，也不要因此看不起未信主的人，要知道我们都是罪人。我们不要因为自己的头衔、身份或doing就看自己不一样，殊不知我们每一个人都是领取神恩典的罪人，在神的审判台前没有人能夸口自己能做得多好。神对人一视同仁。我们或许服事很厉害，做先知祷告很“灵”，但我们的生命是否散发出耶稣基督的香气？看到生病的人时，我们是否真的有一颗怜悯心想要人的医治？要看到神是真实的，而我们都是亏欠神的。
三、因信称义 v.19-31
V19 “普世”指的是所有的人。当耶稣基督再来的时候，他先审判的是我们基督徒，而不是那些我们看不起的外邦人。
V20 没有人能够用”doing”能在神面前称义。很多人每天辛苦做事，若是因为没有得到别人的赞赏而心里受伤，那这就只是“doing”，正如“浪子回头”的故事里抱怨父亲的“大儿子”那样。我们得福音、得救恩，是因为我们的“相信”。
V24 “白白地称义”指的是我们的称义是一个从神而来的礼物，不是靠自己的doing。我们没有什么可自夸的，若能做得好，若能在圣经中看到亮光，是因为神爱我们，借着我们给大家恩典，正如申命记29:29说的，“隐秘的事是属耶和华我们神的，唯有明显的事是永远属我们和我们子孙的，好叫我们遵行这律法上的一切话”。神给我们显明的事，要透过我们祝福我们的后代。
福音让我们能够知罪，并因信称义，知道神真的爱我们，耶稣基督的救恩是白白给我们的。