2013年5月20日 星期一

如此認識我



上週主日,主席在領詩時說:“你們一定沒有聽過這詩歌,是剛從作者的 Blog 下載的, CD還沒上市。歌名叫《如此認識我》,取材自詩139, 歌詞令我十分感動。”
歌過三巡,“正!一首完美示範廉價救恩的情歌。”

神學家潘霍華說:
“廉價的恩典
獲得赦免而不需親身懺悔
是不需付出作門徒代價的恩典,
是不背上十字架的恩典,
是沒有道成肉身的和永遠活著的耶穌基督的恩典。”

今日的教會就是傳講這樣的恩典,有這麽多膚淺信徒須要消費信仰,這些去除真理後填塞個人感受的詩歌才大受歡迎。大家看看這充滿廉價救恩的宗教商品,是以信徒為中心,有個直升機天父環繞著你,不斷向你輸送恩典慈愛:
360度全方位, 365天全天候, 為你擋風擋雨擋子彈。
當你打個噴嚏時,他就出來為你拭抹。
當你被老闆責備時,他就出來支持你堅定你。
當你失戀時,他就出來安慰你。
夠完全了吧!信徒的直升機天父。你有否想到:
你噴嚏是因為你通宵打機追劇,抵抗力下降;
你被老闆責備是你工作馬馬虎虎,態度惡劣;
你失戀是你自我中心,要求伴侶做你幻想中的公主王子,甚至是做那按你需要時出現,任你差遣的直升機天父。
這些詩歌就像一劑精神鴉片,在幻覺中逃避世間痛苦,無需反省,無需改善,信徒既可消費,牧者又可維穩,唉!當這亂世,是皆大歡喜了(糟!用了佛家用語,希望你不要懷疑我的基督徒身份,實不相瞞,這篇文章我是在starbucks寫的)。

如果我在教會內分享這見解,一定會“被關心”:“你近來是否靈性低潮呀?” 低潮!你們天天渴望有高潮,但是不去生命實踐,卻想籍這些情歌與上帝調情,把敬拜置換成幽會。和你幽會的絕非上帝,是你幻想的夢中情人,是你自己親手制造的偶像。你想有高潮?走出去,盡你力去行公義,好憐憫, 存謙卑的心,與你的神同行。在福音書裡,主耶穌就是有血有肉的具體實現,他時常與被社會拒絕的人在一起,常被權貴威嚇,仍不退縮。你們有否為公義發聲,幫助有需要的人,冒著招損失,被威嚇,被解僱,被拘捕,仍然與你的神同行。

跟著是“被攻擊 ” :“這些詩歌是詩人對神的感受,如果你沒有共鳴請不要論斷人。” 如果說到這裏,你還認為以信徒為中心及個人感受來寫歌詞是沒問題的話,那我也不會責怪你,因你是喝這些奶長大的,現在不能接受這現實, 但你感覺小便困難時,請找醫生幫你。

接著是“被教導”:“這些詩歌是藝術創作,歌詞需配合旋律音韻,且篇幅所限,怎能把全套真理都放進去呢!只對焦在恩典慈愛是無可厚非的。”

這是那門子藝術創作?我學效主耶穌說一個譬如:

看啊,有一位攝影大師, 他舉辦了一個名為“完全的女人-高X寧”的攝影展。因為他想起在低谷時,令他堅持攝影的就是拍攝這動人的女星。希望更多人認識這在他心中的完美女人,為大家帶來生活正能量。
慕大師之名來參觀者,真是絡繹不絕,大家看後都說十分感動,心裡火熱,得以認識完全的女人云云。
一名小學生,為了交常識功課而來。但他看著每張展品,只感覺莫名其妙。
相片中看不到完全女人的樣貌,沒看見眼神,沒看到笑容,更沒有動作;
無論左中右上下角度;不管是雞鏡還是靚鏡,
每張相片都只看到一條線,他聽到附近的人說這線叫“事業線”。
從此小學生也學效大師,努力從事業線去認識完全的女人(他的成長苦難也由這天開始),他能否認識完全的女人?那看他何時覺醒了!

如果你看後不明白,我也學效主耶穌解釋給你聽。
攝影大師是權威福音工作者,例如牧師,名人信徒,當然也包括詩歌作者了。
高X寧!是指世俗信徒以為是救恩的廉價救恩。
事業線是指廉價救恩所強調和賣弄的所謂上帝恩典慈愛。
完美的女人!當然是指主耶穌,你應該看他身上的線,是由鞭打而來的傷痕。
攝影是指信徒生活,即倚靠和認識主耶穌的一生實踐。
相片本是指信徒生活的具體表現,例如詩歌,電影,見證,慈惠工作,甚至敬拜和聚會。本可助人認識信仰,但因已去除真理和塞滿個人感受,內容空洞,已貶值成商品。
攝影展是現今的世俗教會現場,即宗教商品的推銷現場了。
參觀者是指盲目崇拜權威,理智已失,缺乏反省的信徒。
小學生是指募道者,卻給權威錯誤引導,要走冤枉路了。

當我們只懂zoom in看事業線,還可看得見完全的女人嗎?
只要我們zoom out就可看見這不過是高X寧,不是你要找的那一位。
當我們只懂zoom in所謂慈愛,還可看得見完全的上帝嗎?
只要我們zoom out就可看見更多主耶穌的豐盛。

為了遮掩其內容空洞,這些詩歌會以經文作包裝。詩139的原意是說縱然惡人享通,義人受辱但仍然謹守主道,因他知上帝全知全能,察驗人的內心和行為,惡人必遭審判。請不要求其抽幾句經文,混合大量個人感受,然後硬說成是天父恩典慈愛,那不過是你陝窄的思想裡,那直升機天父的形象罷。

如果你看見腳趾罅時有感動,如同看見事業線,恐怕你是病入膏肓了。

在榮耀的審判日,號角響起,主耶穌對你說:“你竟然如此認識我!”

2013年5月15日 星期三



Jesus never said grace! Believe it or not, the Bible doesn’t record where Jesus ever used that word. It was used ofHim (Luke 2:40; John 1:14-17) but never by Him. But don’t misunderstand, He taught it; He lived it; He just never saidit. Then again, He said a lot about grace. We call a whole category of His stories the “grace parables.” Classifications vary, but most lists include at least eight grace parables, including some of His most famous.1
The shortest is Luke 7:41-42: “There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?” This is a Jesus’ concise picture of God’s voluminous grace. He sums in a few syllables what all words combined could never express. “He frankly2forgave them both.” That’s grace. Let’s ascend the slope of the mountain peak doctrine of grace. The Mount Everest passage is Ephesians 2:8: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” What does the Bible say about salvation by grace?
Salvation is Free.
Paul states it simply: “For by grace are ye saved…” The two debtors did not earn their freedom. Their canceled obligation was “a purely gratuitous act” on the creditor’s part, on the ground only of their bankruptcy. Forgiveness is a river that flows out of the spring of grace: “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:18-19). Donald Barnhouse said, “Love that goes upward is worship; love that goes outward is affection; love that stoops is grace.” ThatGod can love us in spite of our sins is hardly believable. How He can forgive lifelong rebels is unfathomable. It is graceful.
“...not of yourselves…” Forgiveness is not something we may purchase or earn. We are bankrupt—we have nothing with which to pay. To show grace is to extend favor to one who doesn’t deserve it and can never pay it back. Someone put it this way:
  • When we work a forty-hour day and receive a fair week’s pay for our time, that is a wage.
  • When we compete in athletics and receive a trophy for our performance, that is a prize.
  • When we receive recognition for long service or high achievements in business, that is an award.
  • When we are incapable of earning a wage, can win no prize, and deserve no award—yet receive a gift anyway—it is grace.
“...it is the gift of God…” We cannot make salvation works-centered and man-centered. It is grace-centered and God-centered. The emphasis is on what God does for us, not what we do for God. The little wheels run by man’s faith and the big wheels by God’s grace.3When David Lipscomb was an old man on campus a student asked, “Upon what do you base your hope of salvation?” Without hesitation he said, “Upon the grace and the mercy of God.” That’s the only hope any of us have. Grace is getting want we need (heaven) instead of what we deserve (hell).
Gore Vidal’s book, Lincoln, tells of the president and his advisors discussing life after the war. It was evident the North would win, so they asked how he planned to deal with the South. Lincoln said, “I will treat them as if they never left.” That’s grace. It is exactly what the f(F)ather did for a skinny, humbled prodigal boy coming home from a long summer trip (Luke 15:20-24). “As if he never left,” he regained his place in the family (ring), his dignity (robe), his freedom (shoes), and his support (fatted calf).
Salvation is Costly.
The creditor in the parable took a loss. He paid the debtors’ tabs. Salvation is a “gift of God”—a gift that cost Him dearly. It cost Jesus His life on the cross; He purchased it “with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). No one in that banquet hall (when Jesus told the parable) knew how much it cost Jesus to say to that woman, “Thy sins are forgiven.” Picture Him on the cross with bloody thorns lacerating His scalp, with darkening bruises on His face, with inflamed whip stripes on His back, and with nails protruding from disfigured hands and feet. Hear Him call for water and listen to His agonized plea: “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?” Why is He going through with Golgotha? Because He told that prostitute she could be forgiven (and because He promised us, too). Salvation is free to us, but it was not cheap to Him.
Salvation is Conditional.
Some dangerous heresies are circulating about grace. They are so ugly they probably make the angels blush. A boy asked one preacher, “Sir, what can I do to be saved?” The preacher replied, “Son, you’re too late.” “What!” exclaimed the boy, “I’m too late to be saved?” “No, you’re too late to do anything. Jesus already did it all two thousand years ago.” It’s strange that Peter didn’t know that. When he was asked on Pentecost, “What shall we do?” (Acts 2:37), he did not say, “You’re too late. Jesus did it all fifty days ago on the cross. There is nothing for you to do.” Instead, the Holy Spirit instructed him to say, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). There was something for these believers to do to be saved.The historian continues, “And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:40). “Save themselves?” In what sense? Certainly not in earning salvation but in simply meeting God’s terms.
Paul wrote more books of the New Testament than any other writer; predictably, he also said the most about grace. He used the word 99 of the 131 times it occurs.4In all those references Paul never once said salvation was unconditional or by grace only. How did Paul understand salvation by grace through faith when he was saved? He asked on that Damascus road, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do” (Acts 9:6)? Surely Paul misunderstood. He should have known that grace only through faith alone is all that’s necessary, and that “doing” something would mean he was trying to save himself. Surely Jesus corrected him. The Lord answered, “Arise, and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:6). Maybe Saul misunderstood, but unquestionably the inspired preacher would clarify things. Ananias brought Saul this command: “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16). Paul had been a believer for three days, yet still had sins to be washed away. He did not argue that baptism was unessential to his salvation; instead, he “arose, and was baptized” (Acts 9:18).
Did Paul later disavow what he did, admitting shamefully that he tried to merit salvation by doing good works? No, he continued talking of the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:5; Romans 6:17-18; Romans 16:26) and of “faith which worketh by love” (Galatians 5:6). He linked grace and obedience together (Titus 2:11-12) and urged Christians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12). He discussed the necessity of obeying the truth (Romans 2:8; Galatians 3:1), obeying the Gospel (Romans 10:16), and obeying Christ (Hebrews 5:8-9). These were all a part of Paul’s certified Gospel (Galatians 1:6-10).
What, then, does “not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:9) mean? Did Paul contradict his other statements? Did the Holy Spirit tell Paul one thing and James another (“...by works a man is justified, and not by faith only,” James 2:24)? No, two different kinds of works are considered. Works of merit differ from works of obedience. It is one thing to try to get to heaven by doing good works; it is another to humbly submit to God’s commands. We avail ourselves to God’s grace by meeting the conditions He attached to it. Do we earn it? No. Do we deserve it? No. He gives it away. But He only gives it to those who respect His will enough to do what He asks of them. He is “the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him” (Hebrews 5:9).
God’s forgiveness is not automatic; we can reject grace. In 1830, George Wilson was arrested for mail theft and sentenced to be hanged. President Andrew Jackson eventually gave him a pardon—but he refused to accept it.The authorities were puzzled: should Wilson be freed or hanged? They consulted Chief Justice John Marshall, who handed down this decision: “A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, it is no pardon. George Wilson must be hanged.”6
You and I must accept God’s pardon. And we must accept it on His terms. Jesus taught that one should hear His Word (John 6:44-45; Romans 10:17), believe in His deity (John 3:16; John 8:24), repent of sins (Luke 13:3-5), confess faith in Him (Matthew 10:32-33), and be baptized for forgiveness of sins (Mark 16:16). If you have never believed, trusted, and obeyed Christ, don’t procrastinate. Accept His invitation to grace.
Jesus says a lot about grace (for someone who never said it).
Endnotes:
1Labors in the Vineyard (Matthew 20); Two Debtors (Luke 7); Great Supper (Luke 14); Lost Coin, Lost Sheep, Lost Son, Lost Elder Son (Luke 15); Unprofitable Servants (Luke 17)
2The same word is translated “freely give” (Romans 8:32) and “freely given” (1 Corinthians 2:12).
3Charles Hodge
4Another of the “grace parables”   
5If he wrote Hebrews; if not, he used it 91 times.
6Story told by Warren W. Weirsbe