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哥林多后书生命读经 · 第6篇

新约的职事（二）

The Ministry of the New Covenant (2)
1读经：哥林多后书三章一至六节。在前一篇信息里，我们看过新约职事的得胜与功效。这个职事就是凯旋的行列。这个职事无论往那里去，都表明基督的凯旋成了这职事的得胜。保罗和他的同工无论往那里去，都是凯旋的行列，庆祝基督的得胜。这样的庆祝总是带来基督的得胜，因此就有这职事的得胜。职事的得胜就是在这一长串的行列中，藉著被征服的俘虏庆祝基督的得胜。凡是在这行列中的人，都已经被征服、被制伏、被掳获了。今天我们也已经被基督所掳获，所制伏了，我们必须在信心里有这种体认。既然我们是在这行列中，无论我们觉不觉得自己的光景是这样，我们都已经被掳获、被制伏了。如果我们还没有被掳获、被制伏，我们就不会在这行列中。赞美主，我们都在基督凯旋的行列中！
1Scripture Reading: 2 Cor. 3:1-6 In the foregoing message we covered the triumph and effect of the ministry of the new covenant. This ministry is a triumphal procession. Wherever this ministry goes, it shows forth the triumph of Christ becoming the victory of the ministry. Wherever Paul and his co-workers went, that was the triumphal procession celebrating Christ’s victory. Such a celebration always brought in the victory of Christ. Thus, there was the triumph of the ministry. The triumph of the ministry is the celebration of Christ’s victory by the conquered captives in the train of this procession. All of those in this procession have been conquered, subdued, and captured. Today we also have been captured and subdued by Christ. We need to have this realization in faith. Since we are in the procession, we have been captured and subdued, whether or not we feel this is our situation. If we had not been captured and subdued, we could not be in the procession. Praise the Lord that we are all in Christ’s triumphal procession
2保罗的观念是说，传讲的职事乃是庆祝基督得胜的凯旋行列。今天我们自己就是基督胜过我们的实例。因为我们已经被基督所征服、制伏并掳获，所以如今我们在祂的行列中传扬祂。我们在这行列中传扬基督的这个事实，乃是我们已被基督征服的见证。保罗在腓立比三章说，他将万事看作粪土，因他以认识基督为至宝。在林后二章十四节这里，他说到因认识基督而有的香气。对基督至宝的认识乃是一种馨香之气。这意思是说，我们这些被征服、被掳获、并被带到凯旋行列中庆祝基督得胜的人，对别人述说对基督至宝的认识。凡我们所讲说的，都是对基督至宝的认识。我们认识基督，是藉著对祂的经历和享受。我们在凯旋的行列中前进的时候，对别人讲说基督。我们所讲论到祂的话语，就是甜美的香气。显扬那因认识基督而有的香气，有双重的功效，双重的结果：或是出于生命而叫人活，或是出于死而叫人死。这就是基督构成在我们里面之职事的得胜与功效。
2Paul’s concept was that the preaching ministry was a triumphal procession celebrating Christ’s victory. Today we ourselves are an example of Christ’s victory over us. Because we have been conquered, subdued, and captured by Christ, we are now in His procession preaching Him. The fact that we are in this procession preaching Christ is a testimony that we have been conquered by Christ. In Philippians 3 Paul says that he counted everything as refuse for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. Here in 2:14 he speaks of the savor of the knowledge of Christ. The excellent knowledge of Christ was a fragrance, an aroma. This means that we who have been conquered and captured and brought into the triumphal procession to celebrate Christ’s victory speak to others the excellent knowledge of Christ. Whatever we speak, that is the excellent knowledge of Christ. We know Christ by our experience of Him and enjoyment of Him. As we march in the triumphal procession, we speak to others about Christ. What we say concerning Him is a sweet smelling savor. The manifestation of the savor of the knowledge of Christ has a twofold effect, a twofold result: either it results in life unto life, or it results in death unto death. This is the triumph and effect of the ministry, which is the constitution of Christ within us.
贰 功用与资格
II. ITS FUNCTION AND COMPETENCY
3在本篇信息中，我们要来看新约职事的功用与资格。（三1～6。）保罗把职事的得胜与功效这幅图画指示我们以后，就给我们看见这职事的功用与资格。这职事所作的是怎样的工作？其功用是甚么？不仅如此，谁能承担这种生与死的责任？因为这职事或是出于生命而叫人活，或是出于死而叫人死，所以保罗在二章十六节宣告说，『对这些事，谁彀资格？』因此，在三章一至六节，他给我们一幅图画，给我们看见这职事的功用与资格。
3In this message we come to the function and competency of the ministry of the new covenant (3:1- 6). After giving us a picture of the ministry’s triumph and effect, Paul shows the function of this ministry and also its competency. What kind of work does this ministry do? What is its function? Furthermore, who can bear such a responsibility, a responsibility of life and death? Because the ministry results either in life unto life or death unto death, Paul exclaimed in 2:16, “Who is sufficient for these things?” Therefore, in 3:1-6 he gives us a picture showing the function and sufficiency of this ministry
一 功用─书写基督的信
A. Its Function—Writing Letters of Christ
4保罗在三章一节说，『我们岂是又开始推荐自己么？岂像有些人，需要给你们荐信，或由你们写荐信么？』由于使徒在前一节论到自己和同工坦率而忠诚的话，因而引发1了这些问题。由保罗在前书和这封书信里所写的，哥林多人也许认为保罗和他的同工是在推荐自己。因此，保罗题出三章一节里的两个问题，这两个问题的答案都是确定的『不是』。他们不是在推荐自己，他们也不需要荐信。
4In 3:1 Paul says, “Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you?” These questions are raised because of the apostle’s frank and faithful word in the preceding verse concerning himself and his co - workers. From what Paul wrote in Corinthians and also in this Epistle, the Corinthians may have thought that Paul and his co-workers were commending themselves. Therefore, Paul asks the two questions in 3:1. The answer to both questions is a definite no. They were not commending themselves, and they did not need letters of commendation.
5二节说，『你们就是我们的信，写在我们的心里，是众人所认识、所诵读的。』信徒是使徒劳苦的果子，将使徒和他们的职事推荐给人。因此信徒成了使徒活的荐信，是使徒用内住的基督为内容，写在他们里面各部分的。保罗说，哥林多人是一封荐信，『写在我们的心里。』哥林多的信徒是使徒活的荐信，写在使徒的心里，因此他们由使徒带著，与使徒不能分开。他们在使徒的心里，（七3，）被使徒带到各处，作使徒活的荐信。三章三节是二节的延续：『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。』基督的信是用基督为内容所写，以传输并表现基督的。所有基督的信徒，都该是基督这样一封活的信，使别人可以诵读并认识在他们里面的基督。这些信是由使徒们的职事所写的。使徒们被基督充满，以致他们的职事自然而然的把基督供应给所接触的人，将基督写在他们心上，使他们成为传输基督的活信。
5Verse 2 says, “You are our letter, inscribed in our hearts, known and read by all men.” The believers were the fruit of the apostles’ labor, commending the apostles and their ministry to others. Thus, they became the apostles’ living letters of commendation, written by the apostles with the indwelling Christ as the content in every part of their inner being. Paul says that the Corinthians were a letter “inscribed in our hearts.” The Corinthian believers, as the apostles’ living letter of commendation were inscribed in the apostles’ hearts. Thus, they were carried by the apostles and could not possibly be severed from them. They were in the apostles’ hearts (7:3), brought by them everywhere as their living commendation. Verse 3 is the continuation of verse 2: “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.” A letter of Christ is one composed of Christ as the content to convey and express Christ. All believers in Christ should be such a living letter of Christ that others may read and know Christ in their being. These letters are written by the ministry of the apostles. The apostles are filled with Christ so that their ministry spontaneously ministers Christ to those they contact, inscribing Christ in their heart and making them living letters conveying Christ.
6保罗在二节说到『我们的信』，在三节告诉哥林多人：『你们…是基督的信。』这里好像有两种信─写在使徒心里的信，以及信徒是基督的信。实际上不是两种信。照文法来看，保罗在这两节是说，『因为你们是基督的信，所以就是我们的信。』『显明』的意思是显而易见的事。显然的，哥林多人既是使徒的信，也就是基督的信。但那一个在先？是基督的信在先，还是『我们的信』在先？基督的信必是在先。因著信徒是基督的信，所以他们也是写在使徒心里的信。他们是使徒的信，因为他们先成了基督的信。3二节说，『写在我们的心里，』而三节说，『写在肉版，就是心上。』二节说到使徒的心，而三节说到哥林多信徒的心。同一封书信写在使徒的心里，也写在信徒的心上。这件事多年来我一直不清楚，我也一直寻求，要明白这事。这封书信写在那里？是在使徒的心里，还是在信徒的心上？如果我们能答覆这个问题，我们就会了解本篇信息主要的点。我们必须看见，同一封书信写在两班人的心里：在使徒的心里，也在信徒的心上。这是甚么意思？这对我们领会林后三章，的确是一个问题。然而，能找出问题乃是一个记号，表明我们是认真研读圣经的人。如果我们读圣经的时候，找不出甚么问题，那么我们的读法就不正确了。既然我们发现了这里的问题─同一封书信写在使徒的心里，也写在信徒的心上─我们就必须找出解释。新约职事的功用不是作工，而是写信。当然，这是一种比喻。保罗在较深的教训里常常使用隐喻。他讲到较深的真理时，就使用隐喻。譬如，二章十四节有两个隐喻：头一个是在凯旋行列中的俘虏，庆祝基督的得胜；第二个是带香的人散播对基督之认识的至宝，成为叫人死、叫人活的馨香之气。到了三章，保罗用了另一个隐喻，就是写信。
6In verse 2 Paul speaks of “our letter.” In verse 3 he tells the Corinthians, “You are a letter of Christ.” It seems that here there are two kinds of letter—the letter inscribed in the hearts of the apostles, and the believers as the letter of Christ. Actually, there are not two kinds of letters. Grammatically speaking, in these verses Paul is saying, “You are our letter because you are a letter of Christ.” “Being manifested” means something that is evident. It was evident that the Corinthians, as the apostles’ letter, were a letter of Christ. But which comes first, a letter of Christ, or “our letter”? The letter of Christ must come first. It is because the believers are a letter of Christ that they are also the letter inscribed in the heart of the apostles. They are the apostles’ letter because they are first a letter of Christ. Verse 2 says, “inscribed in our hearts,” and verse says, “in fleshy tablets of the heart.” Verse 2 speaks of the apostles’ hearts, whereas verse 3, the hearts of the believers at Corinth. The one kind of letter is inscribed both in the hearts of the apostles and in the hearts of the believers. For years I have been puzzled by this matter and have been seeking to understand it. Where is this letter inscribed, in the hearts of the apostles, or in the hearts of the believers? If we can answer this question, we shall grasp the main point of this message. We need to see that the same letter is inscribed in the hearts of two categories of people: in the hearts of the apostles and in the hearts of the believers. What does this mean? This certainly presents a problem in our understanding of 2 Corinthians 3. However, recognizing a problem is a sign that we are proper students of the Bible. If we cannot find any problems as we read the Word, then we are not reading it in a proper way. Now that we have found the problem here—one letter inscribed in the hearts of the apostles and the believers—we must find out how to explain it. It is not the function of the new covenant ministry to do a work; its function is to write letters. This is, of course, a figure of speech. Often in his deeper teachings Paul uses metaphors. When he comes to a deeper truth, he may use a metaphor. For example, in 2:14 there are two metaphors: the first is that of the captives in the triumphal procession celebrating Christ’s victory; the second is that of the incense - bearers scattering the excellency of the knowledge of Christ as a fragrance resulting in either death or life. Now in chapter three Paul uses another metaphor, that of writing letters.
7照三节来看，基督的信『不是用墨，乃是用活神的灵写的』。活神的灵，就是活神自己，不是作工具像笔，乃是作成分像书写的墨；使徒用这成分供应基督作内容，书写传输基督的活信。写信者不是神的灵，乃是使徒。活神的灵是书写的『墨』、元素和素质。这意思是说，活神的灵乃是用来写信的元素。这是非常要紧的事。使徒的职事，是用赐生命的灵为素质来写信。使徒们越供应你，就越把赐生命之灵的元素放到你里面。我们可以用墨写在纸上为例，说明这事。我们越在纸上书写，加到纸上的墨就越多。同样的原则，藉著使徒们的职事，赐生命的灵就加到信徒里面。这是非常重要的事，是我们都必须看见的。保罗在三节说，基督的信『不是写在石版上，乃是写在肉版，就是心上』。我们里面由良心（灵的主要部分）、心思、情感和意志所组成的心，乃是使徒用活神的灵将基督的活信写在其上的版。这含示用活神的灵将基督写在我们里面的各部分，使我们成为祂活的信，使祂在我们身上得著彰显，并为人所诵读。
7According to verse 3, the letter of Christ is “inscribed not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.” The Spirit of the living God, who is the living God Himself, is not an instrument, like a pen for writing, but the very element, like the ink, with which the apostles minister Christ as the content for the writing of living letters that convey Christ. The writer of this letter is not the Spirit of God; the writer is the apostles. The Spirit of the living God is the “ink,” the element, the essence, of the writing. This means that the Spirit of the living God is the element with which the letter is written. This is a very crucial matter. The ministry of the apostles is to write letters with the life-giving Spirit as the essence. The more the apostles minister to you, the more they put into you the element of the life-giving Spirit. We may use as an illustration writing with ink on a piece of paper. The more we write on the paper, the more ink is added to the paper. In the same principle, through the ministry of the apostles, the life-giving Spirit is added to the believers. This is a very important matter that we all need to see. In verse 3 Paul says that the letter of Christ is inscribed “not in tablets of stone, but in fleshy tablets of the heart.” Our heart, as the composition of our conscience (the leading part of our spirit), mind, emotion, and will, is the tablet upon which the living letters of Christ are written with the living Spirit of God. This implies that Christ is written into every part of our inner being with the Spirit of the living God to make us His living letters, that He may be expressed in us and read by others in us
8一封正确书写的信，必定是写在纸的中央。我们可以说，那是写在纸的心上。你写信时，不是写在角落上或边缘上，乃是写在中央。把基督的信写在我们里面，原则上也是这样。这封信是写在我们的中央部分，就是写在由我们的魂与良心（灵的主要部分）所组成的心上。因此，基督的信乃是写在我们的灵与魂上。使徒传讲基督，供应基督的时候，就把基督供应到信徒的心和灵里。首先，乃是把基督这位赐生命的灵供应到信徒的灵里；也就是说，把基督写在信徒的灵里。然后藉著进一步的供应，基督就从灵扩展到心思、情感、意志里。最终，基督要写到我们里面的各部分里。用以弗所三章的话来说，这就是基督自己定居或安家在我们心里。基督安家在我们心里，就等于把基督写到我们全人里面。这样的书写，就使信徒成为基督的活信。这个人不论说甚么、作甚么，都彰显基督；他成了一封给人诵读的活信。所有的信徒都该成为这样的信。
8A letter that is properly written is centered on a sheet of paper. We may say that the writing is on the heart of the paper. When you write a letter, you do not write in the corners or in the margin, but in the center. The principle is the same with the writing of the letter of Christ in our being. This letter is written on our central part, on our heart, a composition of the soul and the conscience, the leading part of our spirit. Therefore, the letter of Christ is written on our spirit and on our soul. When the apostles preach Christ or minister Christ, they minister Him into the heart and spirit of the believers. First Christ as the life-giving Spirit is ministered into a believer’s spirit. This means that Christ is written in the spirit of that believer. Then by further ministry Christ spreads from the spirit into the mind, emotion, and will. Eventually, Christ will be written into every part of our inward being. In the words of Ephesians 3, this is Christ settling Himself, or making His home, in our heart. Christ making His home in our heart equals the writing of Christ throughout our inner being. This writing causes a believer to become a living letter of Christ. Such a person expresses Christ in whatever he says and does. He becomes a living letter for others to read. All believers should become such letters.
9新约的执事在我们心里所进行的书写，有包罗万有赐生命的灵为元素，这种元素实际上就是经过过程的神。这意思是说，写到我们里面的乃是三一神。这就是由新约的执事用经过过程的三一神赐生命的灵─所写成的信。神写到我们里面，结果我们就成为基督的信。同一封书信怎么也能写在新约执事的心里？实在不容易解释。这样的问题只能照著属灵的经历来回答。没有充分的经历，就无法答覆这个问题。我们由经历知道，当保罗把基督供应到哥林多的信徒里面，就是把基督这赐生命的灵写到他们里面时，他所写在他们心上的，同时也写在他自己心里。今天我们把基督供应给别人的时候，基督就写到我们所供应的人里面，同时也写到我们里面。因此，只写一次却产生了同一封信的两个正本，一个在我们的心上，另一个在我们所供应之人的心里。
9The writing that takes place in our hearts by the ministers of the new covenant has the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the element. This element is actually the processed God. This means that it is the Triune God who is being written into our being. This is the letter written by the ministers of the new covenant with the processed Triune God as the life-giving Spirit. God is being written into us, and as a result we become a letter of Christ. How can this same letter also be inscribed in the heart of the ministers of the new covenant? This is not easy to explain. A question like this can be answered only according to spiritual experience. Without adequate experience, we shall have no way to answer this question. From our experience we know that while Paul was ministering Christ into the Corinthian believers, writing Christ as the life-giving Spirit into them, the very thing he was writing on them was also being written on his heart. Today while we are ministering Christ to others, Christ is simultaneously written in the one to whom we are ministering and also in us. Therefore, the same writing produces two copies of the one letter. One copy is in our heart, and the other copy is in the heart of the one to whom we are ministering
10保罗供应哥林多信徒的时候，这种书写发生在信徒的心上，也发生在他自己的心里。这样，他们就成了基督的信，而这封信也在写信者─使徒─的心里。所以，同一封信写在信徒心上，也写在保罗心里。保罗无论去那里，这封信都在他里面，因为信徒已经成了他的信。一方面，他们是基督的信；另一方面，他们又是使徒的信，写在他们的心上。
10As Paul was ministering to the believers at Corinth, the writing was taking place both in the hearts of the believers and also in his own heart. In this way they became a letter of Christ, and this letter was also within the heart of the writer, the apostle. Therefore, the same letter was written in Paul’she art that was written in the hearts of the believers. Wherever Paul went, this letter was in him, for the believers had become his letter. On the one hand, they were the letter of Christ; on the other hand, they were the letter of the apostles inscribed in their hearts
11我永不能忘记那些我曾把基督供应给他们的人。我把基督写到他们里面的时候，同一位基督也写到我里面。只写一次，却产生了两个正本。然而，在今天基督徒一般肤浅的传讲中不会产生这样的书写。肤浅的传讲不会产生书信。但正确、适当的职事，总是将基督的一些东西，写在接受职事的人心上，也写到供职的人心里。我能作见证，我心里有许多这样写成的书信。在二节和三节保罗指出，因著哥林多人显明是基督的信，他们也就是写在使徒心里的信。因此，这两封书信是一次就写成的，只写一次，就在使徒和信徒的心里产生双重的结果。使徒不是轻率、肤浅的供应人甚么。相反的，他们无论供应甚么，都满了属灵的分量，因此就能写在信徒的心上，也能写在他们自己的心里。这就是使徒能向哥林多人保证，永远不忘记他们的原因，因为信徒已经写在他们的心里了。无论使徒去那里，他们都带著信徒同去，因为信徒已经写在他们心里了。这件事是非常主观的，也是经历上的。这超过了彼此的相联，因为牵连到两颗心成为一。
11I can never forget those to whom I have ministered Christ. While I was writing Christ into them, the same Christ was being written into me. The one writing produced two original copies. This kind of writing does not take place, however, during the course of superficial preaching, such as that common among Christians today. Superficial preaching does not produce letters. But the proper, adequate ministry always writes something of Christ both in the hearts of those receiving the ministry and in the heart of the one ministering. I can testify that in my heart there are many letters that have been written in this way. In verses 2 and 3 Paul points out that because the Corinthians were manifestly a letter of Christ, they were also the letter inscribed in the hearts of the apostles. Thus, these two letters were composed by one writing. The one writing brought forth a twofold result, in the hearts of the apostles and in the hearts of the believers. The apostles did not minister anything in a light, superficial way. On the contrary, whatever they ministered was full of spiritual weight. Therefore, it could be written in the hearts of the believers and also in their own hearts. This was the reason the apostles could assure the Corinthians that they would never forget them, for the believers had been written in their hearts. Wherever the apostles went, they carried the believers with them by having them written in their hearts. This matter is very subjective and experiential. It goes beyond being attached together, for it involves two hearts becoming one
12我要鼓励你们，把使徒的职事和今天基督徒中间所作的工作相互比较。使徒的职事绝对是在生命里，并且满了属灵的分量。事实上，他们的职事不是一种工作，而是写信。我们已经看见，这就是新约职事的功用。我们没有充分的口才述说这事。也许这就是保罗用写信这个隐喻的原因。如果你默想、祷告、交通这个隐喻，你会看见得更多，也领略得更多。你会看见这的确是新约中之职事的功用。神无意用祂的执事来作大规模的工作。使徒的职事不是一种大量生产的工作。人的生命不是这样产生出来的；一个小孩子要生出来，必须先在母腹中孕育九个月。我们无法加速这个过程，来大量生产人类。这说明了神的路是生命的路，不是大量生产的路。
12I would encourage you to compare the ministry of the apostles with the works carried on among Christians today. The apostles’ ministry is absolutely a matter in life and full of spiritual weight. Actually, their ministry is not a work— it is the writing of letters. As we have seen, this is the function of the ministry of the new covenant. We do not have the adequate utterance to speak of this. Perhaps this is the reason Paul used the metaphor of the writing of letters. If you meditate on this metaphor, pray about it, and have fellowship concerning it, you will see more and realize more. You will see that this truly is the function of the ministry in the New Testament. God does not have the intention to use His ministers to carry out a work on a large scale. The ministry of the apostles is not a work of mass production. A human life is not produced in such a way. In order for a child to be born, he must develop in his mother’s womb for nine months. There is no way to speed up this process and to mass - produce human beings. This illustrates the fact that God’sway is the way of life, not the way of mass production.
13不要盼望主的恢复会成为一个大量生产的工作。有些弟兄可能有这种观念；他们以为只要短短的时间，他们的国家在主恢复里的人就会达到百万人之多。我们从来没有听过，保罗出来尽职的时候，因著他的职事，得著好几千人来为著主。譬如在以弗所的召会，乃是在一个家里聚会。召会在一个家里聚会这个事实，指明信徒的人数不多。你以为古时候有任何一位信徒的家能容纳一千位信徒么？那时当然没有一个人住在这么大的家里。保罗在林前十六章八至九节说，『但我要仍旧住在以弗所，直到五旬节，因为有宽大又有功效的门为我开了，并且反对的人也多。』我们读到有这样一道门为保罗开了，也许会以为有好几千人因他的职事加给了召会。但以弗所召会一直在亚居拉和百基拉的家里聚会。这样，他们怎么可能有成百上千的信徒？我题起这一点是要指出，神的路不是靠大量生产来得著庞大的人数。我们可以用真花的生长和人造花的制造，来说明大量生产的路和神生命的路的不同。花园里的真花需要时间长大，但工厂能在一天内生产出数百朵，甚至数千朵的人造花。照样，要生一个孩子也需要漫长、缓慢的过程。没有一位母亲会忘记她所生的孩子，因为那孩子是她这个人的一部分。这就是我们所说生命的路。
13Do not expect that the Lord’s recovery will ever be a work of mass production. Some brothers may have this concept. They may think that in just a short period of time those in their country in the Lord’s recovery will number in the millions. When Paul came forth to minister, we are not told that thousands were gained for the Lord through his ministry. The church at Ephesus, for example, met in a home. The very fact that a church meets in a home indicates that the number of believers there is not large. Do you think any believer in ancient times had a home that could accommodate a thousand believers? Certainly no one lived in such a home. In 1 Corinthians 16:8 and 9 Paul says, “But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a door is opened to me, great and operative, and many are opposing.” When we read of such a door being opened to Paul, we may think that thousands were being added to the church through his ministry. But the church in Ephesus continued to meet in the home of Aquila and Priscilla. How, then, could they have had a large number of believers? I mention this to point out that God’sway is not that of gaining a large number by mass production. We may use the growing of real flowers versus the making of artificial flowers as an illustration of the difference between the way of mass production and God’sway of life. It takes time to grow real flowers in a garden. But a factory can produce hundreds, even thousands, of artificial flowers in a day. Likewise, to produce a child requires a long, slow process. No mother can ever forget a child born of her, for that child is part of her very being. This is what we mean by the way of life
14保罗论到写信的话，含示神的路乃是生命的路。事实上，信徒不仅仅是写在他的心里，更是铭刻在他的心里。因此，保罗绝不会忘掉他们。这样的铭刻乃是凭著生命，藉著赐生命的灵来完成。
14Paul’sword about the inscribing of letters implies that God’sway is the way of life. Actually, the believers were not merely written in his heart—they were inscribed in his heart. Therefore, Paul could never forget them. This inscribing was by life, by means of the life-giving Spirit
二 资格
B. Its Competency
15谁有资格来作书写基督活信的工作？惟独神有资格作这事。写信的必须是我们里面的神，我们凭自己不足以作这事。我们凭自己里面所是的和所能作的，都没有地位。我们需要三一神构成到我们里面。惟有如此，我们才能成为这样的书写者。
15Who is qualified to do the work of writing living letters of Christ? Only God is qualified to do this. It must be God in us who is writing the letters. In ourselves we are of no account in this matter. There is no place for what we are in ourselves or for what we can do. We need the Triune God to be constituted into our being. Only then can we become such a writer.
16我在这里不仅仅是传福音或教导圣经，我的负担乃是要写基督的活信。如果我要成为这样的书写者，我就必须是由三一神所构成的人。这样，实际上我不是写的人；真正书写的乃是构成到我里面的三一神。祂是书写者，要把祂自己写到信徒里面。保罗在林后三章四至五节说，『我们藉著基督，对神有这样的深信。并不是我们凭自己彀资格将甚么估计作像是出于我们自己的；我们之所以彀资格，乃是出于神。』这里我们看见，使徒职事的彀格、胜任和资格乃是出于活神自己；这职事，为著神新约的经纶，将基督分赐到神所拣选的人里面，以建造基督的身体。我们自己算不得甚么，我们所能作的也算不得甚么。惟有构成到我们里面的三一神，才彀资格作书写基督活信的工作。
16I am not here just to preach the gospel or teach the Bible. My burden is to write living letters of Christ. If I am to be this kind of writer, I must be one who is constituted of the Triune God. Then, actually I will not be the one doing the writing; the very God who has been constituted into me will be the real writer. He as the writer will inscribe Himself into the believers. In verses 4 and 5 Paul says, “And such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to account anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God.” Here we see that the living God Himself is the sufficiency, competency, and qualification of the apostles’ ministry for God’s New Testament economy to dispense Christ into God’s chosen people for the building up of Christ’s Body. We ourselves are of no account, and what we can do is likewise of no account. Only the Triune God constituted into us is sufficient to carry on the work of writing living letters of Christ
17保罗在六节论到神，说，『祂使我们彀资格作新约的执事，这些执事不是属于字句，乃是属于灵，因为那字句杀死人，那灵却叫人活。』这里的『使我们彀资格』，意思也是使我们能，使我们胜任。『不是属于字句』是形容执事，不是形容新约。保罗在这里所说的『字句』，是指律法的成文条例。那灵就是活神的灵，使徒用这灵将基督供应到信徒里面，使他们成为基督的活信。使徒那为著新约的职事，不是属于死的字句，如摩西那为著旧约的职事，乃是属于赐人生命的活灵。保罗在六节告诉我们，那字句杀死人，那灵却叫人活。杀死人的字句，就是律法的字句，只向人要求，却不供应人生命；（加三21；）因著人不能满足牠的要求，牠就杀死人。（罗七9～11。）那灵，就是经过过程，成了赐生命之灵的三一神终极的表现，将神的生命，就是神自己，分赐到信徒和使徒里面，使他们成为新约（生命之约）的执事。因此，他们的职事乃是凭著赐生命的灵，用那是生命的三一神构成的。
17Speaking of God, Paul says in verse 6, “Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The Greek word rendered “made” also means enabled, qualified, made competent. The phrase “not of letter” modifies ministers; it does not modify covenant. By “letter” here Paul means the written code of the law. The Spirit is the Spirit of the living God, with whom the apostles minister Christ into the believers to make them His living letters. The apostolic ministry for the New Testament is not of dead letters like the Mosaic ministry for the Old Testament, but of the living Spirit, who gives life. In verse 6 Paul tells us that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. The letter which kills is the letter of the law, which only requires of man but is unable to supply man with life (Gal. 3:21). Due to man’s in ability to fulfill its requirements, it kills man (Rom. 7:9-11). The Spirit, who is the ultimate expression of the processed Triune God, imparts the divine life, even God Himself, into the apostles and all other believers, making them ministers of a new covenant, the covenant of life. Hence, their ministry is one constituted of the Triune God of life by His life-giving Spirit.