【双语灵修】信心FAITH

以弗所书 2:1-10

你们死在过犯罪恶之中，他叫你们活过来。 那时你们在其中行事为人，随从今世的风俗，顺服空中掌权者的首领，就是现今在悖逆之子心中运行的邪灵。 我们从前也都在他们中间，放纵肉体的私欲，随着肉体和心中所喜好的去行，本为可怒之子，和别人一样。 然而，神既有丰富的怜悯，因他爱我们的大爱， 当我们死在过犯中的时候，便叫我们与基督一同活过来。你们得救是本乎恩。 他又叫我们与基督耶稣一同复活，一同坐在天上， 要将他极丰富的恩典，就是他在基督耶稣里向我们所施的恩慈，显明给后来的世代看。 你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信。这并不是出于自己，乃是神所赐的； 也不是出于行为，免得有人自夸。 我们原是他的工作，在基督耶稣里造成的，为要叫我们行善，就是神所预备叫我们行的。

10月6日

信心

你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信；这并不是出于自己，乃是 神所赐的； (以弗所书2:8)

圣经教导我们，当全人类的始祖亚当和夏娃违背神犯罪后，他们的人性就堕落了。这种堕落代代相传，意味着我们都具有罪性，都会犯罪。

但神的儿子耶稣基督道成肉身，为我们提供了救赎之道。圣经明确指出，必须凭信心领受这救恩。正如保罗所说：“你们得救是本乎恩，也因着信！”

承认我们是罪人，并相信唯有耶稣能拯救我们，这种信心将带来救恩。我们的责任是全心全意为主而活，行他预备要我们行的善事。事实上，出于对神在基督里所赐恩典的感激，我们渴望如此行。然而在信仰生活中，我们可能会因懈怠而受试探，因此需要时常察验自己的信心是否真实。

要做到这一点，其中一种方法是察验我们与神之间的关系。整本圣经中，神都用婚姻的意象来比喻——祂是新郎，祂的子民是新妇。当人的爱从神转向其他事物时，神将这比作不忠。因此，要检验我们的信心是否真实，可以自问：我们是否忠于与神的关系？神是否我们至深的喜乐呢？我们对主的爱，是否超越对任何人或事物的爱？

祷告

神啊，求赐我们智慧和意愿，能常常察验自己的信心。愿我们的所思、所言、所行都能忠实于你，真实地表达对你的爱。阿们。

Ephesians 2:1-10

MONDAY, OCTOBER 6

FAITH

By grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. . . . —Ephesians 2:8

The Bible teaches that when Adam and Eve—the parents of all humankind—sinned against God, their human nature became corrupt. And this corruption has been passed along to every generation. This means that we all have a sinful nature and that we all sin.

But Jesus Christ, God’s Son, became human and provided us the remedy for sin, and the Bible states clearly that the remedy must be received through faith. As Paul says, “It is by grace [we] have been saved, through faith”!

Believing that we are sinners and that only Jesus can save us is the faith that brings salvation. And we are responsible to live wholeheartedly for the Lord, doing the good that he has prepared for us to do. In fact, we are eager to do that out of gratitude for all that God has done for us in Christ. We can be tempted, however, to get lazy in our life of faith, so we do well to test whether our faith remains true.

One way to do that is to examine our relationship with God. Throughout the Bible God uses a picture of marriage, in which he is the husband and his people are the bride. When the people’s affections shift from God to other things, God compares that to adultery. So, to test if our faith is genuine, we can ask ourselves if we are faithful in our relationship with God, if God is our deepest joy, and if our deepest love is for the Lord rather than for anyone or anything else.

God, grant us the wisdom and the will to test our faith regularly. May we truly love and be faithful to you in all that we think, say, and do. Amen.