12月1日 律法与福音

因为凡遵守全法律的，只在一条上跌倒，他就是犯了众条。（雅二10)

律法并不因我们是软弱的人而稍徇情面，它不理会我们有什么遗传因素和缺陷，只要求我们绝对道德。律法从不更改，不管你是最高尚还是最软弱的，它永远都不改变。神所定的律法，并不迁就人的软弱，也不因人的缺点而修改，它是永远绝对的。我们若不领会这一点，是因为我们并未真正活着；一旦活着，生命就成了一个悲剧。“我以前没有律法是活着的，但是诫命来到，罪又活了，我就死了。”若明白这点，神的灵就叫我们自知有罪。除非人到了自知绝望的地步，否则耶稣基督的十字架不过是一场闹剧。自觉有罪，叫人对捆绑人的律法产生恐惧，又叫人绝望，因为“被卖给罪”。我，一个污秽的罪人，永无法与神和好，是绝无可能的。只有一个方法可以与神和好，就是藉耶稣基督的死。我必须除掉那潜伏的思想，以为可以因顺服得与神和好－－有谁能绝对完全顺服神哩！

当律法带着“假若”而来，我们才体会它势力之大。神从不勉强我们。我们有时想神逼我们去做，但心情变了时，又想神不要管我们。当神的旨意得势，就不会有被逼的感觉了。我们若是定志顺服他，他就会以无穷的大能，召唤最远的星，及最后的一粒沙来帮助我们。

祈祷◆主啊，我完全投向你。愿这样的气氛充满我们、环绕我们，好叫我们成为涌流活水江河的人。

December 1 The Law And The Gospel

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10

The moral law does not consider us as weak human beings at all, it takes no account of our heredity and infirmities, it demands that we be absolutely moral. The moral law never alters, either for the noblest or for the weakest, it is eternally and abidingly the same. The moral law ordained by God does not make itself weak to the weak, it does not palliate our shortcomings, it remains absolute for all time and eternity. If we do not realize this, it is because we are less than alive; immediately we are alive, life becomes a tragedy. “I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.” When we realize this, then the Spirit of God convicts us of sin. Until a man gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of Jesus Christ is a farce to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful binding sense of the law, it makes a man hopeless – “sold under sin.” I, a guilty sinner, can never get right with God, it is impossible. There is only one way in which I can get right with God, and that is by the Death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the lurking idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience – which of us could ever obey God to absolute perfection!

We only realize the power of the moral law when it comes with an “if.” God never coerces us. In one mood we wish He would make us do the thing, and in another mood we wish He would leave us alone. Whenever God's will is in the ascendant, all compulsion is gone. When we choose deliberately to obey Him, then He will tax the remotest star and the last grain of sand to assist us with all His almighty power.