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哥林多后书生命读经 · 第20篇

彀资格以基督为字母，用活神赐生命的灵

Competent of Christ as the Alphabet to Write Living Letters
1书写活信（二）读经：哥林多后书三章三至六节。保罗在林后三章三节说，『你们显明是基督的信，由我们供职所写的，不是用墨，乃是用活神的灵写的，不是写在石版上，乃是写在肉版，就是心上。』保罗在这里说到基督的信，是由使徒们供职所写的。这样的信，是用活神的灵写的。众召会的同工和带领的人，都必须仰望主的怜悯和恩典，作一种工作，就是把基督写到圣徒里面。我们不该只把道理教导给人，也不该单单教导人圣经，我们所必须作的惟一工作，就是用活神的灵写基督的活信。
1with the Life-Giving Spirit of the Living God (2) Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:3-6 In 3:3 Paul says, “Being manifested that you are a letter of Christ ministered by us, inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart.” Here Paul speaks of a letter of Christ ministered by the apostles. Such a letter is written, inscribed, with the Spirit of the living God. All those who are co-workers and leading ones in the churches must look to the Lord for His mercy and grace in order to carry on the work of writing Christ into the saints. Instead of merely teaching doctrines to others or only teaching the Bible, we must do the unique work of writing living letters of Christ
2我们经历中的基督我们若要把基督写到人里面，就必须自己先对基督有经历。我们若对基督没有经历，那我们用甚么来写基督的信？我们必然没有甚么可用来写的。即使我们想写甚么，也就像用色带干了的打字机打字一样。有一天我打字的时候，发现白纸上甚么也没有打上去。后来我才知道色带完全干了，色带上没有墨把字母转印到纸上。我用这事说明一个事实：我们若要写基督的活信，就必须自己先对基督有经历。
2CHRIST IN OUR EXPERIENCE If we would inscribe Christ into others, we must first have Christ in our experience. If we do not have Christ in an experiential way, then with what shall we write a letter of Christ? We shall, of course, have nothing with which to write. If we try to do any writing, it will be like trying to type with a typewriter that has a dry ribbon. One day I was typing and discovered that nothing was on the paper. Then I learned that the ribbon was completely dry. There was no ink on the ribbon to transfer the letters to the paper. I use this to illustrate the fact that in order to write a living letter of Christ, we must first have the experience of Christ ourselves
3属天的墨基督的活信是用活神那赐生命的灵写的。赐生命的灵是属天的墨。我们若要有这种墨，就必须经历基督，并被基督充满。这意思是说，我们必须完全被赐生命的灵所浸透。如果我们是充满基督、被赐生命之灵所浸透的人，我们就会有基督的丰富，可以用来将基督写到人里面。我们也会有活神那赐生命的灵作属天的墨。墨就是那灵，墨的素质是基督，而我们乃是笔。
3HEAVENLY INK Living letters of Christ are written with the life-giving Spirit of the living God. The life-giving Spirit is the heavenly ink. If we would have this kind of ink, we need to experience Christ and be filled with Christ. This means that we must be thoroughly saturated with the life-giving Spirit. If we are persons full of Christ, saturated with the life-giving Spirit, we shall have the riches of Christ to use in writing Christ into others. We shall also have the life-giving Spirit of the living God as the heavenly ink. The ink is the Spirit, the essence of the ink is Christ, and we are the pen
4任何一种墨都必定有其特别的素质。墨与白水不同。我们不可能只用水写信。水里必须加进某种物质，水才能成为墨。赞美主！属天的墨就是那灵，而那灵这墨的素质，乃是基督同祂一切的丰富。我们要在经历中有这墨，就必须享受基督，得著基督，被基督充满，被基督浸透，并被基督所遮盖。
4Any kind of ink must have a particular essence. Ink is different from plain water. It is not possible to write a letter using only water. There must be a certain substance added to the water to make ink. Praise the Lord, the heavenly ink is the Spirit, and the essence of this Spirit-ink is Christ with all His riches. To have this ink in our experience, we must enjoy Christ, possess Christ, be filled with Christ, be saturated with Christ, and be covered with Christ.
5我们应当总是给人看出，我们是在基督里。保罗在腓立比三章九节说到，给人看出是在基督里。他盼望人能看出他是在基督里，而不是在基督以外的任何事物里。保罗不愿意人看出他在自己里，在他的文化里，或在他特殊的生活方式里。我们也应当渴望给人看出是在基督里，与基督是一，被基督浸透，甚至由基督所构成，并以基督所重新组成。这样，我们既受那灵所膏，充满了赐生命的灵，就有那灵作墨，将基督写到人里面。我们与人说话时，自然而然就用活神那赐生命的灵写在人的心上。基督丰富的元素就要灌注到他们里面，分赐到他们全人里面。这样，基督就写到他们里面去。这样把基督写到人里面，实在就是为著召会活基督。
5Others should always find us in Christ. In Philippians 3:9 Paul speaks of being found in Christ. He wanted to be found by others in Christ, not in anything other than Christ. Paul did not want to be found in himself, in his culture, or in his particular way of living. We also should aspire to be found in Christ, to be one with Christ, saturated with Christ, and even constituted of Christ and reorganized with Him. Then, being anointed with the Spirit and filled with the life- giving Spirit, we shall have the Spirit as the ink to write Christ into others. Then as we speak to others, we shall spontaneously write upon them with the life- giving Spirit of the living God. The element of the riches of Christ will be infused into them, imparted into their being. In this way, Christ will be inscribed into them. To write Christ into others in this way is truly to live Christ for the church
经历三一神
EXPERIENCING THE TRIUNE GOD
6本篇信息的题目是『彀资格以基督为字母，用活神赐生命的灵书写活信』。这个题目说到三一神：基督、赐生命的灵和活神。首先，我们彀资格，是因有子基督。因为我们有这一位基督，我们就可以用赐生命的灵书写活信。所以，我们有子，也有灵。这些活信是本乎活神，也就是本乎父。因此，我们书写活信的时候，就真实的经历了神圣的三一。圣经中关于神圣三一的纯正启示，与今天一般基督徒下意识中所持有三神论的观念，截然不同。在某些基要派的团体中，信徒们被教导说，父、子、灵是分开、有别的身位。事实上，这就是三神论，相信父、子、灵乃是三位神。当然，少有人会明白的教导父、子、灵是三位神。但是，有些信徒不知不觉，下意识中就有这种观念。
6The title of this message is “Competent of Christ as the Alphabet to Write Living Letters with the Life-giving Spirit of the Living God.” This title refers to the Triune God: Christ, the life-giving Spirit, and the living God. First, we are competent of Christ, the Son. Because we are competent of Christ, we may write living letters with the life-giving Spirit. Thus, we have the Son and the Spirit. These living letters are of the living God, that is, of the Father. Hence, in the writing of living letters, we have the experience of the Trinity in a real way. The pure revelation of the Trinity in the Bible is very different from the tritheistic concept of the Trinity held unconsciously by some Christians today. In certain fundamental groups the believers are taught that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are separate and distinct Persons. Actually, this is tritheism, the belief that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three Gods. Of course, hardly anyone would teach explicitly that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three Gods. However, some believers hold this concept subconsciously and unconsciously
同时并存以及互相内在
COEXISTENCE AND COINHERENCE
7几年以前，有人发表一篇文章说，父、子、灵是三个有别、分开的身位。我们在辩驳的文章里指出，三一神的三者是有别的，却不是分开的。结果，他们中间有些人再说到神圣三一的三者时，就谨慎而不用分开一辞了。教导人父、子、灵是分开的，乃是异端。照圣经来看，父与子不可能分开，子与灵也不可能分开。主耶稣在约翰十四章十节说，『我在父里面，父在我里面，你不信么？我对你们所说的话，不是我从自己说的，乃是住在我里面的父作祂自己的事。』这里主的话清楚指明，父与子是不分开的。主在十一节接著说，『你们当信我，我在父里面，父在我里面。』这里给我们看见，父与子不仅是同时并存，也是互相内在的。神格的三者─父、子、灵是同时并存，也互相内在。我们都该熟悉『互相内在』一辞。父、子、灵在同一时间存在，这就是同时并存。不仅如此，父存在于子和灵里；子存在于父和灵里；灵存在于父和子里；这是互相内在。因此，我们若要对神圣三一有正确的领会，就不仅要认识父、子、灵是同时并存的，也必须相信祂们是互相内在的。
7Several years ago certain ones put out a written statement in which they said that the Father, Son, and Spirit are three distinct and separate Persons. In our rebuttals we pointed out that the three of the Triune God are distinct, but They are not separate. As a result, some of them are careful not to use the word separate with respect to the three of the Trinity. It is heretical to teach that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are separate. According to the Bible, it is impossible to separate the Father from the Son, or the Son from the Spirit. In John 14:10 the Lord Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words which I speak to you, I do not speak from Myself; but the Father Who abides in Me, He does His works.” The Lord’sword here clearly indicates that the Father and the Son are inseparable. In verse 11, the Lord went on to say, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me.” Here we have not only the coexistence of the Father and the Son, but also Their coinherence. The three of the Godhead — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — are both coexistent and coinherent. We all should be familiar with ─ the terms coinhere, coinherence, and co-inherent. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit all exist at the same time. This is coexistence. Furthermore, the Father exists in the Son and the Spirit; the Son exists in the Father and the Spirit; and the Spirit exists in the Father and the Son. This is coinherence. Therefore, if we would have a proper understanding concerning the Trinity, we must recognize not only the coexistence of the Father, Son, and Spirit, but we must also believe in Their coinherence.
8三一神我们不相信三神论；但是，我们相信三一神。英文triune这字的意思是
8THE THREE-ONE GOD We do not believe in tritheism; rather, we believe in the Triune God. The word “triune” means three-one. It
9三一。这个字是由两个拉丁字根组成的：tri的意思是三，une的意思是一。因此，triune的意思是三一。我们无法领会神如何是三一的。这永远、神圣的数学，超过我们所能领会的。然而，根据神圣的数学，神是三一的。
9is composed of two Latin roots: tri-, meaning three and -une, meaning one. Hence, triune is three-one. We are not able to understand how God can be triune, that is, three-one. This eternal, divine mathematics is beyond our ability to understand. Nevertheless, according to the divine mathematics, God is three-one
10神是三一的这件事情，可以用另一个事实说明：圣经说到神的灵（单数），也说到七灵。神的灵是一，还是七？最好的答案也许是说：神的灵是『七一』或『一七』。一面，我们都知道神的灵是独一无二的。另一面，我们在启示录这卷有三一神终极完成之启示的书里，读到了七灵。启示录一章四至五节说，『愿恩典与平安，从那今是昔是以后永是的，从祂宝座前的七灵，并从…耶稣基督，归与你们。』毫无疑问的，这里的七灵就是神的灵，因为在这两节经文里，七灵乃是列在三一神中间，是在父（那今是昔是以后永是的）与子（耶稣基督）之间题到的。就本质与存在说，神的灵是一灵。就神行动（七这数字所表征的）加强的功用与工作说，神的灵是七倍的。我们在启示录四章五节和五章六节里，也读到七灵。
10This matter of God’s being triune may be illustrated by the fact that the Bible speaks of the Spirit of God and also of the seven Spirits. Is God’s Spirit one or seven? Perhaps the best answer is to say that the Spirit of God is seven-one or one-seven. On the one hand, we all know that God’s Spirit is uniquely one. On the other hand, in the book of Revelation, where we have the ultimate and consummate revelation of the Triune God, we read of the seven Spirits. Revelation 1:4 and 5 say, “Grace to you and peace from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is coming, and from the seven Spirits Who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ.” The seven Spirits here undoubtedly are the Spirit of God, for They are ranked among the Triune God in these verses, mentioned between the Father (the One who is, who was, and who is coming) and the Son, Jesus Christ. In substance and existence, God’s Spirit is one. In the intensified function and work of God’so per at i on (signified by the number seven), God’s Spirit is sevenfold. In Revelation 4:5 and 5:6 we also read concerning the seven Spirits.
11然而，在主后三二五年康士坦丁大帝主持的奈西亚会议所编的奈西亚信经里，一点没有题到神的七灵。那次会议召开的时候，新约中有七卷书信（包括启示录和希伯来书）的权威，还没有正式被公认。也许这就是奈西亚信经没有说到七灵的原因。这是我们说奈西亚信经不彀完整的原因之一。别的基督徒也许会遵守各种会议的决定，遵照信经，我们却是遵照整本圣经，遵照神纯正的话。为著神话语中所启示的真理而争战，乃是严肃且意义重大的事。我们曾经指出，有些基督徒下意识的相信三位神，而不是三一神。还有些人解释神圣的三一说，三者在素质上是一，在身位上却是分开的；也就是说，祂们就实质说是一，就单位说却是三。这好比说三张咖啡桌在实质或素质上是一，都是用同一种木头作的；但形状却有不同。究竟是三张咖啡桌呢，还是一张？当然是三张。这个例证指明，这样来说神圣的三一，乃是教导人三神论。许多信徒下意识的持有三位神的观念。我们相信独一的神，三一的神。我们用赐生命的灵书写活的信，就经历三一神。我们因基督而彀资格，我们是用那灵写信，而这灵乃是活神的灵。阿利路亚，这就是三一神！
11However, in the Nicene Creed composed in A.D. 325 at the Council of Nicea held under Constantine the Great, there is no mention of the seven Spirits of God. At the time that council was convened, seven books of the New Testament, including Revelation and Hebrews, had not yet been officially recognized as authoritative. Perhaps this is why the Nicene Creed says nothing regarding the seven Spirits. This is one reason we say that the Nicene Creed is not complete. Other Christians may go by the decrees of the councils and follow the creeds, but we follow the entire Bible, the pure Word of God. It is a serious and significant matter to battle for the truth revealed in the Word of God. We have pointed out that some Christians unconsciously believe not in the three-one God, but in three Gods. Others try to explain the Trinity by saying that the three Persons are one in essence, but separate in person; that is, in substance they are one, but in units they are three. This can be compared to saying that three coffee tables are one in substance, or essence, since all are made of the same kind of wood, but are different in shape. Are there three coffee tables or one? Certainly there are three. This illustration indicates that to speak of the Trinity in this way is to teach tritheism. Many believers unconsciously hold to the concept of three Gods. We believe in the unique God, who is triune. In writing living letters with the life-giving Spirit, we experience the three-one God. We are competent of Christ, we write letters with the Spirit, and this Spirit is of the living God. Hallelujah, this is the Triune God
超越众人，贯彻众人，也在众人之内
OVER ALL, THROUGH ALL AND IN ALL
12你有没有注意到以弗所四章六节对于父的描述，含示了三一神？这节经文说，『一位众人的神与父，就是那超越众人，贯彻众人，也在众人之内的。』这指明，甚至父自己也是三重的。『超越众人』，指父是源头；『贯彻众人』，指子是流道；『在众人之内』，指那灵是内住的那一位。因此，对父这样三重的描述─超越众人，贯彻众人，也在众人之内─含示三一神。
12Have you ever noticed that the description of the Father in Ephesians 4:6 implies the Triune God? This verse says, “One God and Father of all, Who is over all and through all and in all.” This indicates that even the Father Himself is threefold. The phrase “above all” denotes the Father as the source; the phrase “through all,” the Son as the course; and the phrase “in all,” the Spirit as the indwelling One. Therefore, this threefold description of the Father as above all, through all, and in all implies the Triune God.
不是系统神学
NOT A SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY
13传统、基要的神学已经成为系统化或系统的神学。许多基督徒欣赏这种系统神学。然而，我无法赞同系统神学，因为圣经里神圣的启示是无法系统化的。把神圣的启示系统化，就像硬要把活的生机体系统化一样。如果你想把甚么活的东西系统化，那个东西一定会死掉。你能把你肉身属人的生命系统化么？你能有系统的安排你的心思、情感、意志、魂、心、良心和灵么？你知道你的魂在那里？你知道你的心思、你的灵在那里？你说得出你心理上的心在那里？我们如果诚实，就会承认，我们说不出我们里面这几部分究竟在那里。我们连我们自己这个有限的人尚且无法系统化，怎能以我们人有限的心智将无限无量的神系统化？这实在太荒谬了！我信奥古斯丁说过这样的话：想要分析三一神，就像用汲水杓测量海洋一样。不要想把三一神系统化，只该相信圣经中所有关于祂的启示。我们虽然不能把神系统化，但是我们能因基督而彀资格，可以用活神的灵来书写活的信。这意思是说，在我们的经历中，我们这样书写活信的时候，就享受了三一神。
13Traditional, fundamental theology has become a systematized or systematic theology. Many Christians admire such a systematic theology. However, I cannot agree with systematic theology, because the divine revelation in the Bible cannot be systematized. To systematize the divine revelation is like trying to systematize a living organism. If you try to systematize any living thing, that thing will die. Can you systematize your physical human life? Can you systematically arrange your mind, emotion, will, soul, heart, conscience, and spirit? Do you know where your soul is? Can you locate your mind or your spirit? Can you say where your psychological heart is? If we are honest, we shall admit that we cannot locate these parts of our inner being. If we are not able to systematize our own finite being, then how can we presume by our limited human mentality to systematize the unlimited, infinite God? This is ridiculous! I believe it was Augustine who said that to try to analyze the Triune God is like using a dipper to measure the ocean. Instead of trying to systematize the Triune God, we should simply believe whatever the Bible reveals concerning Him. Although we cannot systematize God, we can be competent of Christ to write living letters with the Spirit of the living God. This means that in our experience we enjoy the Triune God in writing living letters
14我们是基督的活信。保罗是写这信的人。我们现在也必须效法他，把基督写到别人里面，而书写基督的活信。不论我们去那里，都应当把基督写到别人里面。一般人对神学、宗教都厌烦了。他们所需要的，乃是基督写到他们里面。我们要祷告，求主叫我们中间许多人前去，不断的用活神那赐生命的灵来书写活信。
14We are living letters of Christ. Paul was one who wrote such letters. Now we must follow him also to inscribe Christ into others and thereby to compose living letters of Christ. Wherever we go, we should write Christ into others. People are tired of theology and religion. Their need is to have Christ inscribed into them. Let us pray that many of us will go forth to write living letters with the life-giving Spirit of the living God