潘霍華(Dietrich Bonhoeffer)在他那劃時代的巨著《追隨基督》(The Cost of Discipleship)一書中說:“當基督呼召一個人,他要人來死。”作主的門徒必須背十字架,必須死,這是作主門徒要付的代價。在書中作者也論及兩種恩典。一種他稱為“廉價的恩典”:不需要悔改就能獲得赦免,不必遵從教會的紀律就可以受洗,不需彼此認罪也能彼此相交。簡言之,廉價的恩典是隻受恩不受教。另一種恩典,作者稱之為“重價的恩典”。這種恩典是說,“人必須尋求才能尋見的福音,必須祈求才能得到的恩賜,必須敲叩才能開啟的門……是昂貴的,因為人必須為之付上自己的生命。是恩典,因為它賜與人獨一無二、真正的生命。”這恩典不是論救恩,而是作門徒。如果我們想要得到這種真正的生命,想要作主的門徒,我們必須預備自己,來背起十字架,與主同死。
史坦利鍾斯(E. Stanley Jones)在《凱旋的降服》(Victory through Surrender )一書中敘述哈瑪紹(Hammarskjold) 遭難的經過時,這樣寫道:“我所搭乘的小飛機經過非洲的桑比亞的上空,正是哈瑪紹遇難的地方。這位住在桑比亞的飛行員告訴我,他們在那架聯合國的飛機殘骸中找到一張攤開的地圖,指向剛果首都雷堡市附近的小鎮那多羅。可是那架飛機的目的地原是桑比亞的那多拉。根據那張那多羅的地圖,飛行員尚有一千裏才需降落。可是那多拉的地勢比那多羅高,於是飛機在黑夜裏失事,因為飛行員誤以為他還有一千裏的航程。”
今天在教會裏,有許多牧師和教師,布道家與宣教士,長老與執事,神的恩賜在他們身上是明顯的。但仔細看看他們裏麵的“自我”,那是令人不敢想像的。鍾斯牧師說,有些人在工場上已有多年了,但仍不能碰他(Touch him he is stilltouchy)。人對“自我”,不是過分保護,就是過分宣揚。兩者都令人感覺難受。
2)Matt. 7:21-23 is not about living for the Lord. Nor is it about OSAS. It’s about believing that His death paid the full price for our sins. Also, from Matt. 7:15-20 we know it is directed toward false prophets, and therefore is not meant for general application to believers and teachers.
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First of all we have to understand that Matt. 7:21-23 is not about living for the Lord. Nor is it about OSAS. It’s about believing that His death paid the full price for our sins. (Also, from Matt. 7:15-20 we know it is directed toward false prophets, and therefore is not meant for general application.) We know these things because in Matt. 7:21 Jesus said that only those who do His Father’s will can enter the kingdom. John 6:38-40 tells us what His Father’s will is.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life. A few verses earlier Jesus said that’s all the Father requires of us (John 6:28-29). The same is true of John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:4-7 and others. Trusting fully and exclusively in the Lord’s completed work on the cross is the only condition for salvation. Apart from that nothing will suffice, even the claim by those from Matt. 7:21-23 that they had done miraculous work in His name. The fact that He said He never knew them (Matt. 7:23) means they had never fully believed in Him in the first place and were depending upon their good works to finish the job they thought He had only begun.
OSAS works like this. Belief in Him is the only requirement for salvation, and once we believe our salvation is guaranteed (Ephesians 1:13-14). God Himself has set His seal of ownership on us and placed His Spirit in our hearts to make sure of this (2 Cor. 1:21-22). No one can ever take us out of His hands (John 10:27-30) and nothing can ever separate us from Him (Romans 8:38-39).
The Bible is abundantly clear in saying it’s what we believe that saves us, not how we behave. Our behavior is the way we demonstrate our gratitude for the free gift of salvation. It can do nothing to help us earn it or keep it.
First of all we have to understand that Matt. 7:21-23 is not about living for the Lord. Nor is it about OSAS. It’s about believing that His death paid the full price for our sins. (Also, from Matt. 7:15-20 we know it is directed toward false prophets, and therefore is not meant for general application.) We know these things because in Matt. 7:21 Jesus said that only those who do His Father’s will can enter the kingdom. John 6:38-40 tells us what His Father’s will is.
OSAS works like this. Belief in Him is the only requirement for salvation, and once we believe our salvation is guaranteed (Ephesians 1:13-14). God Himself has set His seal of ownership on us and placed His Spirit in our hearts to make sure of this (2 Cor. 1:21-22). No one can ever take us out of His hands (John 10:27-30) and nothing can ever separate us from Him (Romans 8:38-39).
The Bible is abundantly clear in saying it’s what we believe that saves us, not how we behave. Our behavior is the way we demonstrate our gratitude for the free gift of salvation. It can do nothing to help us earn it or keep it.
First of all we have to understand that Matt. 7:21-23 is not about living for the Lord. Nor is it about OSAS. It’s about believing that His death paid the full price for our sins. (Also, from Matt. 7:15-20 we know it is directed toward false prophets, and therefore is not meant for general application.) We know these things because in Matt. 7:21 Jesus said that only those who do His Father’s will can enter the kingdom. John 6:38-40 tells us what His Father’s will is.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life. A few verses earlier Jesus said that’s all the Father requires of us (John 6:28-29). The same is true of John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:4-7 and others. Trusting fully and exclusively in the Lord’s completed work on the cross is the only condition for salvation. Apart from that nothing will suffice, even the claim by those from Matt. 7:21-23 that they had done miraculous work in His name. The fact that He said He never knew them (Matt. 7:23) means they had never fully believed in Him in the first place and were depending upon their good works to finish the job they thought He had only begun.
OSAS works like this. Belief in Him is the only requirement for salvation, and once we believe our salvation is guaranteed (Ephesians 1:13-14). God Himself has set His seal of ownership on us and placed His Spirit in our hearts to make sure of this (2 Cor. 1:21-22). No one can ever take us out of His hands (John 10:27-30) and nothing can ever separate us from Him (Romans 8:38-39).
The Bible is abundantly clear in saying it’s what we believe that saves us, not how we behave. Our behavior is the way we demonstrate our gratitude for the free gift of salvation. It can do nothing to help us earn it or keep it.
Q: Please explain how OSAS and Matthew 7 verse 21 – 23 are different. Why do preachers use these verses to say if you are not living for the Lord and only the Lord knows your heart, then you may be headed for hell. And please help me understand how OSAS works, even for a Christian who is not living for the Lord.
A. First of all we have to understand that Matt. 7:21-23 is not about living for the Lord. Nor is it about OSAS. It’s about believing that His death paid the full price for our sins. (Also, from Matt. 7:15-20 we know it is directed toward false prophets, and therefore is not meant for general application.) We know these things because in Matt. 7:21 Jesus said that only those who do His Father’s will can enter the kingdom. John 6:38-40 tells us what His Father’s will is.
For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
The Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life. A few verses earlier Jesus said that’s all the Father requires of us (John 6:28-29). The same is true of John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:4-7 and others. Trusting fully and exclusively in the Lord’s completed work on the cross is the only condition for salvation. Apart from that nothing will suffice, even the claim by those from Matt. 7:21-23 that they had done miraculous work in His name. The fact that He said He never knew them (Matt. 7:23) means they had never fully believed in Him in the first place and were depending upon their good works to finish the job they thought He had only begun.
OSAS works like this. Belief in Him is the only requirement for salvation, and once we believe our salvation is guaranteed (Ephesians 1:13-14). God Himself has set His seal of ownership on us and placed His Spirit in our hearts to make sure of this (2 Cor. 1:21-22). No one can ever take us out of His hands (John 10:27-30) and nothing can ever separate us from Him (Romans 8:38-39).
The Bible is abundantly clear in saying it’s what we believe that saves us, not how we behave. Our behavior is the way we demonstrate our gratitude for the free gift of salvation. It can do nothing to help us earn it or keep it.
James 2:14-17 NKJV
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
你們要常在我裡麵,我也常在你們裡麵。枝子若不常在葡萄樹上,自己就不能結果子;你們若不常在我裡麵,也是這樣。 - 約翰福音15:3-5
“Put it all together and you can see that Hebrews 10:26-29 says that there’s no longer any acceptable sacrifice for sin in the Levitical system, and that looking for one is a sin that has the effect of “trampling the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulting the Spirit of grace,” and that going back to the Law of Moses after Jesus had come to fulfill it was a worse insult to God than disobeying it before He came. ”
"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of truth,there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law will die without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace.”
The Bible clearly tells us that at the moment we first believed, we were given the seal of the Holy Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. This confirms that our salvation is assured (Ephes. 1:13-14). Paul confirmed this in 2 Cor. 1:21-22 adding that God has taken ownership of us and it is He who makes us stand firm in Christ. The Bible also says that we’re saved by faith alone, not by works (Ephes. 2:8-9). So the basis for our salvation is belief, not behavior, and it’s guaranteed right from the start. This is possible because all the sins of our life were forgiven at the cross (Colossians 2:13-14).
These are incredibly clear statements on the unconditional and durable nature of our salvation, and form the foundation for the OSAS view. To deny OSAS you have to believe that other statements in the Bible can rescind or contradict these promises. That means you believe that either God wasn’t sincere when He had Paul make them, or that He let Paul make a promise in His name that isn’t true, or that He changed His mind and revoked them.
Now let’s look at Hebrews 10:26-29. If the writer was referring to our salvation then the first phrase of that passage has disqualified everyone who has ever lived from ever going to Heaven because no Christian has ever lived a sin free life.
Even the mighty Paul confessed that he couldn’t keep himself from sinning. (Romans 7:18-20). The Apostle John agreed. “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.” (1 John 1:8-10) Both were writing to the Church, not to unbelievers.
Finally, look at the context in which the Hebrews passage was given. The whole letter is an argument against the tendency of Jewish believers to go back into the Levitical system, which required the sacrifice of a Lamb as the remedy for sin. Statements both before and after the passage you quoted confirm the confidence we have that Jesus paid the whole price for all the sins of our lives. He is the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world (John 1:29) once and for all and made us perfect forever (Hebrews 10:12-14).
Hebrews 10:19-23 says, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”
And Hebrews 10:35-36 says, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” Jesus said that the will of God is that everyone Who looks to the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life. (John 6:40)
Put it all together and you can see that Hebrews 10:26-29 says that there’s no longer any acceptable sacrifice for sin in the Levitical system, and that looking for one is a sin that has the effect of “trampling the Son of God underfoot, counting the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulting the Spirit of grace,” and that going back to the Law of Moses after Jesus had come to fulfill it was a worse insult to God than disobeying it before He came.
Under the New Covenant the remedy for sin is 1 John 1:9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Failure to confess our sins gives us no release from the guilt we feel for sinning. Over the years this guilt builds up into a “fearful expectation” of judgment, which is what Hebr. 10: 27 actually says. It’s not that we’ll wind up being treated like God’s enemies, because that would violate all the promises God has made to us. But the guilt we feel for all our sins will make us fearful that it could happen.
回複 'jesusmary' 的評論 : Most believers don’t live their lives in His will, but many of them appear to be successful at what they do. Jesus said the things they accomplish are like unfruitful branches that are cut off and burned in the fire. They have no value to the Kingdom, no matter how impressive what they appear to be on Earth.
insight777 發表評論於
回複 'jesusmary' 的評論 :
Remain In Me
Q. I’m an avid reader of your website and a firm believer in the sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross. However, I’m confused on John chapter 15, where in verse 2 Jesus says, ” He (The Father) cuts off every branch in me (Jesus) that bears no fruit…” Then in verse 6, Jesus goes on to say, “If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” This verse does not sound like a “fellowship” verse to me.
On the surface John 15:2 appears as a strong encouragement to the disciples to remain in fellowship with, or rather remain in Christ’s love.
But what are the consequences of not remaining in His love? Do we lose our salvation?
A. The Lord is speaking to believers here, and since He’s already promised that He will never lose or drive away any of those who come to Him (John 6:37-40) He can’t be talking about our salvation. The context is bearing fruit and how remaining in Him is necessary to bear fruit. Being saved is not the same as bearing fruit.
He’s saying that only those things we do in His strength will be considered valuable. Things we do in our own strength are not worth anything to Him, and those who insist on working in their own strength are like unproductive branches on a vine.
The word “like” is meant to show a comparison in value. Any branch of a vine that that doesn’t bear fruit is of no value to the gardener, so it’s cut off from its fruit producing source. So it is with us. Working in our own strength is of no value to Him. It makes us vulnerable to being cut off from His power, and apart from Him we can do nothing. But when we remain in Him, our lives can be filled with His power and we can accomplish anything we ask.
Think of the countless numbers of believers who go through life without giving anyone the slightest indication that they’re Christians either by word or deed. They never give the Lord a thought between Sundays and by the way they live and work it’s impossible to tell them from their pagan neighbors. Then they go to church and make loud and impassioned prayers for deliverance or healing or relief from their afflictions and blame God when nothing happens. The sad truth is that they haven’t remained in Him and are cut off from His power. They’re still saved, but they can bear no fruit, either in their own lives or the lives of others.
Paul described this same situation in 1 Cor. 3:10-15 where he said that while much of our work might be burned up in the judgment fire, we will still be saved. He was talking about things we do in our own strength or for our own glory. They don’t endanger our salvation but neither do they qualify us for any reward. They’re of no value.
雅各書 2:14-18 RCUVSS
我的弟兄們,若有人說自己有信心,卻沒有行為,有什麽益處呢?這信心能救他嗎? 若是弟兄或是姊妹沒有衣服穿,又缺少日用的飲食; 你們中間有人對他們說:“平平安安地去吧!願你們穿得暖,吃得飽”,卻不給他們身體所需要的,這有什麽益處呢? 信心也是這樣,若沒有行為是死的。 但是有人會說:“你有信心,我有行為。”把你沒有行為的信心給我看,我就藉著我的行為把我的信心給你看。
James 2:14-17 NKJV
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
你們要常在我裡麵,我也常在你們裡麵。枝子若不常在葡萄樹上,自己就不能結果子;你們若不常在我裡麵,也是這樣。 - 約翰福音15:3-5
哥林多前書 9:24 RCUVSS
你們不知道在運動場上賽跑的,大家都跑,但得獎賞的隻有一人?你們也要這樣跑,好使你們得著獎賞。
聖靈給我的光照和啟示:
1)行為從信那時刻就開始有,它是信心的結果。信心的行為可以僅僅是意誌,思想或情感的行為,也可以是語言和其他身體的行動。
2)有永恒價值的行為,是出於信心,是有聖靈感動的結果,就是結出永恒的果實,也就是哥林多前書第三章講的用金 、 銀 、寶石做的工作,經得起火的考驗;沒有永恒價值的行為,是出於信心和自我,就是用草木 , 禾秸建造的工作,經不起火的考驗, 是沒有永恒價值的行為 。
3) 在馬太福音13章播種者的寓言裏,第三種情形,就是有信心和行為,但沒有神靈的感動,因為沒有接受主為生命的主,所以沒有結果,但能得救。(播種寓言裏的第一種情形,完全沒有接受福音的道,即在理智上心裏沒有任何接受神的道的土壤,頭腦和心是硬的,完全是石頭;第二種情形,理性上認識接受,但心是硬的,即上麵是薄土,下麵是硬石頭,所以道不能紮根,不算信,也不能得救;第三種有土壤,神的道能紮根, 但不是好土壤,長有荊刺,即 世 上 的 思 慮 、 錢 財 的 迷 惑,即信以後沒有接受主耶穌為生命之主, 隻是認罪悔改接受祂為救主, 雖然靈得到重生與聖靈結合, 但還是自己做主,隻信靠神為自己生命的祝福者保護者, 所以不能結永恒的果子,但能得救;第四種是神的道落在好土壤,理性上接受,心裏紮根,接受主為救主和生命的主,又得救又結果,即在聖靈的引領下,行為有永恒價值。現代大部分基督徒屬於第三和四種之間。)
4) 馬太福音13章講得葡萄樹和枝子的寓言, 也是講論得救以後如何結果的問題。
5) 哥林多前書 9:24講的獎賞, 就是結果後得到的獎勵, 即靠著聖靈的感動, 在主裏麵, 憑著信心, 努力做工, 得到永恒價值的行為, 結出聖靈果實的獎勵。