14我们越因著爱主耶稣,而乐意受祂的约束与管理时,就越在生命中长大,甚至在丰盛的生命中长大。这指明神爱子的国,乃是为了叫我们享受基督作生命。在此我们得著释放,脱离基督以外的一切事物,不仅脱离邪恶的事,也脱离哲学、规条、仪文、和禁欲主义等类的事。当我们持守我们的哲学、伦理、禁欲主义或规条,我们就在黑暗的权势之下。但神已拯救我们脱离了这权势,把我们迁入爱的国里,就是满了生命和亮光的国里。在这里我们没有仪文、形式、规条、作法、哲学、神秘主义、智慧派或禁欲主义,我们只有神的爱子基督。在这里我们有爱、光和生命。这就是凭基督而活。凭基督而活,就是我们不凭基督以外的任何事物而活。我们若看见甚么是凭基督而活,就会领悟,我们许多人仍旧在某种形式的辖制之下;这种辖制是由己所建立,由己所设立并执行的。这种辖制就是黑暗的权势。我们若在这种权势之下,我们读经就得不著光,祷告也没有话语。虽然父拯救了我们脱离黑暗的权势,脱离我们天然的思想、情感、喜好和行为,我们仍旧可能停留在天然人的一些光景里。这使我们被扣留在黑暗的权势之下。事实上,由于我们在黑暗的权势及辖制之下,没有实际在神爱子的国里,我们就很少享受基督作众圣徒的分。我能作见证,因著主的怜悯,我不受黑暗的辖制。有些人偶而会希奇,为甚么我在某些方面似乎不一致。原因乃是我不在任何一面黑暗的控制之下。对于不是罪恶的事,我很有弹性,有时候给人一种答案,有时候给人另一种答案。要记住,歌罗西书不是对付罪,乃是对付规条、作法和哲学。假设一位弟兄问到是否能吃某种东西,我也许对他说,他有自由吃他想吃的东西。但是对另一位问到同样问题的弟兄,我可能给他不一样的答案,我给的答案乃是适合他的情形。表面看来,我好像不一致。事实上,这不是一致与否的问题,这乃是不愿意因规条和仪文而落在黑暗权势控制之下的问题。
14The more we are willing to be restricted and ruled by the Lord Jesus out of our love for Him, the more we shall grow in life, even in the abundance of life. This indicates that the kingdom of the Son of His love is for our enjoyment of Christ as life. Here we are freed from everything other than Christ, not only from evil things, but also from things such as philosophy, ordinances, observances, and asceticism. When we were holding to our philosophy, ethics, asceticism, and ordinances, we were under the authority of darkness. But God has delivered us out of this authority and has transferred us into a kingdom of love that is full of life and light. Here we have no observances, rituals, ordinances, practices, philosophies, mysticism, Gnosticism, or asceticism. We just have Christ, the Son of His love. Here we have love, light, and life. This is to live by Christ. To live by Christ means that we do not live by anything other than Christ. If we see what it is to live by Christ, we shall realize that many of us are still under some form of control established by the self, a control set up and carried out by the self. This kind of control is the authority of darkness. If we are under this authority, we receive no light in reading the Bible, and we have no utterance in prayer. Although the Father has delivered us out of the authority of darkness, out of our natural thought, emotion, preference, and behavior, we may still remain in some aspect of our natural being. This causes us to beheld under the authority of darkness. Because, in actuality, we are under the authority and control of darkness and are not in the kingdom of the Son of His love in a practical way, we have little enjoyment of Christ as the portion of the saints. I can testify that by the Lord’s mercy I am not controlled by the darkness. Others may sometimes wonder why, in certain respects, I do not seem consistent. The reason is that I am not under the control of any aspect of darkness. Concerning matters that are not sinful, I am flexible and may give one answer at one time and a different answer at another time. Remember, the book of Colossians does not deal with sin, but with ordinances, practices, and philosophies. Suppose a brother asks me about eating a certain kind of thing. I may tell him that he has the liberty to eat whatever he desires. But to another brother asking the same question I may give a different answer, an answer appropriate to his situation. It may appear that I am not consistent. Actually, it is not a matter of consistency, but of refusing to be under the control of the authority of darkness through ordinances and observances.