奧古思丁 懺悔錄

五

谁能使我安息在你怀中？谁能使你降入我的心灵，使我酣畅，使我忘却忧患，使我抱持
你作为我的唯一至宝？
你对我算什么？求你怜悯我使我能够说出。我对你算什么，而你竟命我爱你？如果我不
如此，你就对我发怒，并用严重的灾害威胁我。如果我不爱你，这仅仅是小不幸吗？我的
主，天父，请因你的仁慈告诉我，你和我有什么关系。请告诉我的灵魂说：“我是你的救
援。”①请你说，让我听到。我的心倾听着，请你启我心灵的双耳，请你对我的灵魂说：
“我是你的救援”。我要跟着这声音奔驰，我要抓住你。请你不要对我掩住你的面容。让我
死，为了不死，为了瞻仰你的圣容。
我的灵魂的居处是狭隘的，不相称你降来，请你加以扩充。它已经毁败，请你加以修
葺。它真是不堪入目：我承认，我知道。但谁能把它清除呢？除了向你外，我向谁呼号呢？
“主啊，求你清除我的隐慝，不要由于我因他人而犯下的过恶加罪于你的仆人。”②“我相
信，因此我说”。③主啊，你完全了解。我向你承认我的过恶后，“你不是就赦免的心的悖
谬吗？”④你是真理，我绝不和你争辩，我也不愿欺骗我自己，“不要让我的罪恶向自己撒
谎。”⑤我决不向你争辩，因为，“主、主，你若考察我们的罪孽，谁能站得住？”⑥
　　①见《诗篇》34首3节。
②见《诗篇》18首14节。
③同上，115首1节。
④同上，31首5节。
⑤同上，26首12节。
⑥同上，129首3节。

Present, active, participles...

1 Thess. 4:8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Paul wrote here "gives" in present, active, participle, masculine, singular, accusative. God who is giving His Holy Spirit? Would that be a better translation instead?

John 1: 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

baptizes: present, active, participle.

oh who are we to limit the Lord, as to put him in the box, to place him in the past. so often our understanding is that He baptized with the Holy Spirit, aorist. But He works in present active participle. Oh what fool we are not to seek His work and face in the present active participle way. Lord, fill us, give us your Holy Spirit, continually, ongoingly.

Modern evangelical’s false understanding of atonement

It is not a good idea to simply present God as an angry God, and Jesus was loving, that He died to pacify an angry God. Berkhof in the chapter of “the moving cause of the atonement” summarizes this idea, which is so prevalent in the modern evangelical circles: “It is sometimes represented as if the moving cause of the atonement lay in the sympathetic love of Christ for sinners. He was so good and loving that the very idea that sinners would be hopelessly lost, was abhorrent to Him. Therefore He offered Himself as a victim in their stead, paid the penalty by laying down His life for transgressors, and thus pacified an angry God.” This basically summarized the belief generally held and preached among the evangelical churches. Berkhof points out the danger of this view: “ In some cases this view prompts men to laud Christ for His supreme self-sacrifice, but at the same time, to blame God for demanding and accepting such a price. In others it simply causes men to overlook God, and to sing the praises of Christ in unqualified terms. Such a representation is certainly all wrong, and often gives the opponents of the penal substitutionary doctrine of the atonement occasion to say that this doctrine presupposes a schism in the Trinitarian life of God.” (367)

Berkhof emphasizes that the moving cause of the atonement resides in the good pleasure of God, that “Christ himself is the fruit of this good pleasure of God.” (see Gal. 1:4, Col. 1:19-20)

The assumption of a schism in the Trinitarian life of God is a “monstrous idea”, says Berkhof. He quotes David Smith, author of In the Days of His Flesh: “It (the penal theory of satisfaction) places a gulf between God and Christ, representing god as the stern Judge who insisted on the execution of Justice, and Christ as the pitiful Savior who interposed and satisfied His legal demand and appeased His righteous wrath. They are not one either in their attitudes toward sinners or in the parts which they play. God is propitiated; Christ propitiates; God inflicts the punishment, Christ suffers it; God exacts the debt, Christ pays it.” This is a misunderstanding for which we Christians are at least partially responsible for singing and speaking as if Christ, rather than the triune God, were exclusively the author of their salvation. The Bible teaches us that the triune God provided freely for the salvation of sinners. The Father made the sacrifice of His Son, and the Son willingly offered Himself. There was no schism but the most beautiful harmony between the Father and the Son.

What’s Wrong with Four Spiritual Laws

1^st Law: God LOVES you and offers a wonderful PLAN for your life.

God's Love

"God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NIV).

God's Plan

[Christ speaking] "I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" [that it might be full and meaningful] (John 10:10).

Misleading Errors of the 1^st Law:

1. It does not define God’s Love. The word Love to an average listener means a completely different thing than what the Bible teaches, and it must be carefully explained of what God’s love is like. He is NOT a Santa Clause who just wants to lavish everyone with great gifts.

2. Similarly, it does not define what the “Wonderful” plan is. It uses John 10:10 to explain an “abundant” life, and once again to an average listener this sounds like “affluent” life.

3. These two concepts of “Love” and “Wonderful” create a gospel that is similar to prosperity Gospel. To the person who is already having a “wonderful” life, he or she would simply reply: “No, thank you, my life is wonderful, and I am not interested in that wonderful life.” To the person who lives in pain and suffering, it creates a false hope. And once he or she finds out it is actually costly to be a Christian, she will quickly abandon this “wonderful plan.”

4. God indeed has a plan for everyone, but it may not be wonderful according to an average person’s understanding.

Why is it that most people are not experiencing the abundant life?

Because...

2^ND Law: Man is SINFUL and SEPARATED from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life.

Man Is Sinful

"All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way, and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is evidence of what the Bible calls sin.

Man Is Separated

"The wages of sin is death" [spiritual separation from God] (Romans 6:23).

Misleading Errors of the 2^nd Law:

1. It has failed to explain the propensity and severity of our sin. Sin has damaged our intellect, will, and emotions. Therefore we worship false gods, we pursue false glories, and we use wicked means to accomplish our goals. We murder, rape, fornicate, steal, covet, lie, and commit high treason against the only King to pursue self-glorification and self-pleasure. Thus corrupted by sin, we are punishable by death and are condemned to eternal punishment in the fiery hell. “Separation” from God and his “Wonderful Plan” is true, but it is an incomplete picture of sin’s consequences.

2. It is also disturbing to find the four Spiritual Laws avoided using “eternal punishment in hell” as it describes sin’s consquences. It quotes Rom. 6:23 to emphasize death and separation, yet it does not point out this “Loving” God will send people to hell for eternity. By avoiding the crucial points of our gospel, it has created a false picture of the gospel. (If not a false gospel altogether.)

3^rd Law: Jesus Christ is God's ONLY provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life.

He Died in Our Place

"God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

He Rose From the Dead

"Christ died for our sins...He was buried...He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures...He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred..." (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

He Is the Only Way to God

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me'" (John 14:6).

God has bridged the gulf which separates us from Him by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross in our place to pay the penalty for our sins.

Misleading Errors of the 3^rd Law:

1. The death of Christ is presented in the context of bridging the separation between God and man. While this may not be wrong in itself, the central point of Jesus’ death is to satisfy God’s justice, that is, sinners must be punished, and sin’s penalties must be paid. The four spiritual laws have focused on presenting God’s love, and overlooked His justice. As many critics often ask, why would a loving God must abuse his son on the cross and let him suffer the bloody death? Why can’t a loving God just simply forgive all of our sins? The four spiritual laws offered no answers.

2. Jesus has become a means to an end, and not the one Awesome God whom we need to worship and obey. Jesus helps us to get to God, and he helps us to experience that wonderful life. This is no different than any other religion which uses their gods as a means to wealth and “wonderful” lives.

3. The deity of Christ is omitted. I do not think the person who wrote the four spiritual laws would deny the deity of Jesus, but this omission is not a small misstep. If our gospel presentation fails to emphasize that Jesus is fully God and fully human, the one who deserves our worship, we have removed a central theme of the gospel from our presentation.

4^th Law: We must individually RECEIVE Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives.

We Must Receive Christ

"As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).

We Receive Christ Through Faith

"By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast" (Ephesians 2:8,9).

When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth

(Read John 3:1-8)

We Receive Christ by Personal Invitation

[Christ speaking] "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him" (Revelation 3:20).

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. Just to agree intellectually that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for your sins is not enough. Nor is it enough to have an emotional experience. You receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will.

The following explains how you can receive Christ:

You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer:

(Prayer is talking to God)

God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. The following is a suggested prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be."

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If it does, I invite you to pray this prayer right now and Christ will come into your life, as He promised.

Misleading errors:

1. Receiving Jesus has been described as an act of the will. It is true that faith is an act of the will, but the Four Spiritual Laws reduced the act of the will to a prayer. We must exercise our faith by our regenerated will, but will also involves actions such as following Jesus, carrying our cross daily, denying ourselves, participating in the church--the body of Christ, receiving water baptism and Communion, growing in His word and in the knowledge of Him, enduring persecutions, giving 10% of our income, and etc.

2. Salvation is presented as a one-time deal: one prayer will solve all your problems. Salvation in the Bible is a life-long pilgrimage, being a disciple of Jesus, and commitment to Christ and His Church. However, the salvation presented in the four spiritual laws gospel fails to give the holistic picture of our salvation.

Conclusion:

All in all, the Four Spiritual Laws are not false on its own, but it skillfully avoided some of the difficult issues in the gospel: 1. Creation, 2. Full Deity of Jesus, 3. Severity of our sins, 4. Eternal Judgment, 5. Our life-long commitment. By doing so it is guilty of untruthful advertisement. Like a used-car salesman who tells you all the good things but avoided all the problems in the car, the Four Spiritual Laws tries to sell the gospel in the positive way. The gospel presented in the Four Spiritual Laws is no better than the prosperity gospel: a God who is eager to shower mankind with blessings if we would only believe Him and say a sinners’ prayer. My dear brothers and sisters, let us be faithful to the original message that Christ has entrusted us. (2 Tim. 1:14)

A better gospel presentation: Redemptive History (The Story of the Bible)

If someone asks you what does the Bible teach, you should be able to at least mention these things.

1. Creation. God created us and have already given us many wonderful gifts and blessings, yet we are often unthankful and never glorify God for His goodness.

a. Emphasize on what God has already given you. Intelligence, health, relatively wealthy. He is wonderful, that he hasn’t strike us for sins each time we sin.

b. Do read some books on creation/evolution issues. We want to prepared to give an answer to the critics. But be sensitive to the Holy Spirit, don’t make it a full creation v.s. evolution debate. If a person is combative, just politely back away. Debates don’t win people to Christ.

2. Fall. We have committed high treason against the King of the universe. Adam’s first sin is rebellion, not gluttony.

a. Present the 10 Commandments clearly if necessary. The 1^st function of the law is to make us aware of our sins. Most people do not know what sin is anymore, and Rom. 3:23 could be inadequate at times.

3. God’s Goodness and Justice

a. A good God must punish sins. A person whose dear one who was murdered or raped will want a JUST God to punish the escaped criminal. A God who doesn’t punish sinners is evil, not a good God.

b. A good God also wants to save sinners from punishment. God’s Justice and Loving kindness clashes on the cross in the form of Jesus the Son of God died to receive justice in our place.

4. Jesus is fully God and fully man.

a. He lived a perfect life.

b. He really died for our sins.

c. He rose again on the third day.

5. God’s people.

a. God have always saved a people, consisted of individuals.

b. The church is that people, and we must be a part of the church to be saved.

c. One must be baptized in be a part of the church, and receive holy communion.

d. One must stay faithful in the church, receiving its teachings, learning to pray, and to love and serve.

e. Faith is consisted of 3 parts, knowledge, assent (agreement) and commitment (following Jesus).

6. Kingdom of God.

a. Jesus the King will come and set up His kingdom on earth.

b. Serve Him and love Him, and we will be together with him forever.

c. He will come judge all the un-repented sinners and punish them in the eternal hell of fire.

Remember to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance when sharing the gospel. Some people may have different struggles. Listen carefully when he or she speaks, form loving and long term friendship with that person. Your goal is not to have him say a prayer, but to have him joining the church by baptism and communion. You will notice my gospel presentation covers the major themes of the Bible, and I can freely add different materials to help my persuasion. For a Chinese, knowing some Chinese history and Chinese Christian history might also help. When encountering a problem you cannot solve, tell him you will find the answer for him or her. Pray for him, give the result to God, love him, and befriend him. Do not treat this person as a project, but treat him as a friend.

讀書靠天分 家長醒醒吧

• 2010-07-22
• 中國時報
• 【林希陶】

　最近大考剛結束，記者朋友們最喜歡的新聞路線，就是去訪問榜首群怎麼念書的。但是說穿了這樣的新聞千篇一律，榜首們一定說，「我們都沒補習，愛幹嘛就幹嘛，花很少時間念課內的書，但看了很多課外讀物，從事很多課外活動」，諸如此類云云，一般人聽了只會更心酸而已。也有一些人會說，我被視為黑馬，沒有多準備，考前努力念一念，就大躍進了，一下子衝到最前面去。

　其實我們瞭解這些前百分之三的人所說的方法，實際上是很難運用於一般大眾的。這個就像是我們去問張栩為什麼圍棋下這麼好、費德勒（Roger Federer）為什麼網球打這麼好一樣，他們提供的方法，絕對不適用於尋常百姓的。他們這群人，不只天資好而已，後天還拚命用心努力，我們跟天才們的距離，絕非以道里計。很抱歉，這就是天資上差距。英文叫做gifted child，真的是「上天的禮物」，強求不來的。

　我不是說環境不重要，很多資質好的小孩，在一個破碎的環境之下，當然無法展現自己的能力。但是環境轉換之後，他們到最後只是適時展現了自己的能力而已。良好的環境或機會只是促成這件事情的發生而已，假如沒有相對應的資質與準備，成果是很難展現出來的。

　關於讀書這件事，大家從小都在念書，自然都有自己的看法。家長當然也有自己的教育理念，這不是一朝一夕就會改變的。但是假如從專業的角度來思量這件事，我必須誠實的告訴大家，念書這件事，是很講天分的。這是一件超級殘酷的現實，只是大家不願意承認而已。

　大家可能一下子難以接受，都想說我的小孩是「大雞晚啼」，總有一天會開竅，但是你的生命到底能不能等到開竅這一天呢？這是一場賭注，但輸贏也顯而易見。

　也有一些家長，很愛舉一些現實生活不可能出現的特例，如什麼發燒之後變聰明、開刀之後變天才（日劇很喜歡的題材），都覺得自己的小孩總有一天也可以。作夢是無止盡的，只是沒有實現的那一天。很多家長寧願亂逼小孩，也不願意停下腳步，思考其他可能性。逼小孩子念書一定要考幾分，得第幾名，根本是比登天還難，只會造成家庭紛爭，甚至後續衍生出心理問題。

　但是不會念書，不代表一無是處。教養小孩的重點，應該不是擺在念書這一件單一的事情上面。而是讓小孩找到自己擅長、有興趣的事情，這才是最重要的。大家可能會想說，要怎麼找啊？孩子還這麼小，他真的知道自己要做什麼嗎？其實只要從小讓他們多嘗試，多思考如何做決定，各種活動都去參與，百無禁忌，孩子們自然可以從這樣的過程中，得知自己的長處。這些事情不必然要花許多錢，如散步、去野外走走、處理生活各種微小的事情，包含寄信、開帳戶、存錢、洗衣服、晾衣服、洗碗、掃地、拖地、洗浴室、修理電器、操作機器等等，在這樣反覆試驗的過程中，反而能找到自己想走的路。

　另外，家長們勢必要認清的一件事情，就是「念書」、「成功」與「財富」這三件事情是分開的，絕對不是會念書的人一定會成功，也會變成有錢人。成功與否，端靠每個人的定義；有錢與否，同樣取決於個人態度。大家以為醫生、律師們很會念書，也都很有錢，但現實是也很多人每天在金錢邊緣掙扎。他們每月收入也許是很高沒錯，但剩下的錢可能比一般人還少。許多一般尋常百姓一點也不會念書，但是靠著一技之長，可也是月入十萬沒問題的。

　找到適合自己的興趣，有一定的專業能力，定義自己的成功，這樣的人生，也不必然只屬於會念書的人所有。

　（作者為臨床心理師）

My Ministry

Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. (2 Tim 2:10)

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.  (2 Tim 2:1-2)

The Lord has called and elected a people for himself in this generation, and many of them are Chinese, and many of them going to come to MSU, and many of them will be undergrad students. I pray that the elects will be revealed through the preaching of the gospel, and we must endure and persevere in the ministry. 

Our goal is to pass on the message, and finding trustworthy, reliable disciples, making them the messenger of the gospel as well. I pray that there will be 10 Timothy's with my knowledge, yet with various gifts. I pray that there will be ten different little 'pastors' in DBY group.  It will be a long process to train other men to carry on the message, but we must endure all things to carry on the cause. 

Martin Bucer's True Care of Souls (5 main tasks of a pastor)

Bucer lists 'the five main tasks of the care of souls' (The 5 main tasks of a pastor. )

1. to lead to Christ our Lord and into his communion those who are still estranged from him, whether through carnal excess or false worship. （未信的人。）

2. to restore those who had been drawn away again through the affairs of the flesh or false doctrine. （跌倒的，離開神的。）

3. to assist in the true reformation of those who while remaining in the church of Christ have grievously fallen and sinned. （犯罪的信徒。）

4. to re-establish in true Christian strength and health those who, while persevering in the fellowship of Christ and not doing anything particularly or grossly wrong, have become somewhat feeble and sick in the Christian life. （沒犯大罪但卻是軟弱的。）

5. to protect from all offence and falling away and continually encourage in all good things those who stay with the flock and in Christ's sheep-pen without grievously sinning or becoming weak and sick in their Christian walk. （健康的信徒。）

Bucer concludes the means given the pastor are Word, Sacraments, and (church) Discipline.