1月12日

標題：神的救贖之鑰

經節：使他們都合而為一。正如你父在我裏面，我在你裏面，使他們也在我們裏面，叫世人可以信你差了我來。（約翰福音十七章21節）

神時常談到人與人之間的關係，是祂救贖迷失世界工作的一部分（約翰福音十三：20；馬太福音廿五：40）。祂要一男一女結為一體，生出「神聖的種子」，就是愛主、順服主的後裔。而這敬虔的後裔能被神所使用，將救贖帶給迷失世界（瑪拉基書二：14～15）。同樣地，教會是基督的身體。如果教會成員彼此爭鬥，教會不可能運行神交給她的任務（哥林多前書十二：12）。我們與他人的關係，對周圍人們是否得到救贖，是非常重要的。

我們可能以為耶穌被釘死於十字架之前，會為門徒禱告，讓他們有勇氣，或者保持忠誠，或者讓他們牢記所有的教導。相反地，祂為祂的跟隨者祈求，能在愛裏彼此合而為一。耶穌瞭解一個人不可能在靈裏愛神，卻不愛他人。

你對他人的愛心，是你真心愛神的試金石。我們的傾向是告訴神：「天父，問題不在??我之間。我全心全意愛??，只是我不愛我的弟兄。」神說這是不可能的！人不可能愛神，卻不愛神兒子為其捨命的那個人（約翰福音十三：34～35）。如果你不能與基督徒弟兄姊妹們在愛裏合一，你的生活沒有辦法使周遭的人相信耶穌基督的真實性。

The Key to God’s Redemptive Mission

That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. (John 17:21)

God often speaks of human relationships as a part of His mission to redeem a lost world (John 13:20; Matt. 25:40). One reason He gives for a husband and wife to live in unity is so they can produce a “godly seed,” that is, children who love and obey God, who can be used in God’s mission to bring redemption to a lost world_(Mal. 2:14–15). Similarly, the church is the body of Christ. A church cannot be on mission with the Father in our world if its members are waging war with one another_(1 Cor. 12:12). There is a crucial connection between our relationships with others and the salvation of those around us.

We might assume that during Jesus’ prayer before His crucifixion, He would have prayed that His disciples would have courage, or would remain faithful, or would remember what they had been taught. Yet He asked that His followers would remain united in their love for one another. Jesus understood that it is spiritually impossible to love God but not love others.

A test of your love for God is to examine your love for others. Our tendency is to say, “Heavenly Father, the problem is not between You and me. I love You with all my heart. I just don’t love my brother.” And God says, “That is an impossibility. You cannot love Me without loving the ones for whom My Son died” (John 13:34–35). Your life will not convince those around you of the reality of Jesus if you cannot live in unity with your fellow Christians.