4月10日 對罪的道德判斷
因為知道我們的舊人和他同釘十字架,使罪身滅絕,叫我們不再作罪的奴僕。(羅六6)
同釘十字架。我對罪所作的道德判決,是要花很長時間的。可是,這卻是我生命的轉捩點。我看准了,耶穌基督既為世人的罪而死,照樣地,罪也必須在我裡面死去。不是要把罪約束、壓抑或是抵擋,乃是要把它釘死在十字架上。沒有人可以使別人下這決心;我們也許會在宗教意識裡同意,但我們必須照保羅在此所強調的,作出決定。
要鼓起勇氣,振作起來,花時間與神單獨相對,作一個道德上的抉擇,對主說:“主啊,讓你的死成為我的死,直至我知道罪已在我裡面死去。”要斬釘截鐵,下定決心,把罪治死。
對保羅來說,這不是一種屬靈的期望,而是一個非常基本而肯定的經驗。我肯不肯讓神的靈鑒察我,直到我真知道罪的本相——就是在我裡面與神的靈相爭的事物?若肯的話,我接受神對罪的判斷——就是與耶穌同死嗎?我必須解決這個基本的意志問題,在神面前尋求清楚,否則不能算己“向罪死了”。
我有沒有進入與基督同釘的最高福祉裡,直到我血肉之軀,除了基督的生命以外,再無別的?“我已經與基督同釘十字架,現在活著的,不再是我,乃是基督在我裡面活著。”
祈禱◆“我的靈在生病”——何等適切地描述我今天的狀況!求你控制它,幫助我在當中起來和超越它。
April
10 Moral Decision About Sin
“Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be
destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.” Romans 6:6
Co-Crucifixion. Have I made this decision
about sin – that it must be killed right out in me? It takes a long time to
come to a moral decision about sin, but it is the great moment in my life when
I do decide that just as Jesus Christ died for the sin of the world, so sin
must die out in me, not be curbed or suppressed or counteracted, but crucified.
No one can bring anyone else to this decision. We may be earnestly convinced,
and religiously convinced, but what we need to do is to come to the decision
which Paul forces here.
Haul yourself up, take a time alone with
God, make the moral decision and say – “Lord, identify me with Thy death until
I know that sin is dead in me.” Make the moral decision that sin in you must be
put to death.
It was not a divine anticipation on the
part of Paul, but a very radical and definite experience. Am I prepared to let
the Spirit of God search me until I know what the disposition of sin is – the
thing that lusts against the Spirit of God in me? Then if so, will I agree with
God’s verdict on that disposition of sin – that it should be identified with
the death of Jesus? I cannot reckon myself “dead indeed unto sin” unless I have
been through this radical issue of will before God.
Have I entered into the glorious privilege
of being crucified with Christ until all that is left is the life of Christ in
my flesh and blood? “I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me.”