Cong Fang

作者：Stephen Rees

       改革宗信仰的核心——合乎圣经的基督教的核心——是以神为中心：坚信神本身是至高无上的。我们以神为中心来定所有的教义。罪之所以可怕，是因为它是对神的冒犯。救赎之所以美妙，是因为它荣耀神。天堂之所以是天堂，是因为那里神是一切的一切。地狱之所以是地狱，是因为它是神彰显公义愤怒的地方。”以神为中心” 是改革宗信仰的显著特征。一个基督徒可能会说许多关于罪的真理 (例如罪是有害的，罪会导致痛苦等)，但如果不是以神为中心，那么最关键的重点就会被忽略。

       我记得多年前读到 莱昂·莫里斯 (Leon Morris) 的一篇文章，深感震惊，他问：”罗马书中最常见的字是什么？”（我想他忽略像 “这” 或 “那” 这样的定冠词.）你会猜是什么呢？恩典？信心？相信？律法？不——罗马书中出现频率最高的字是 “神”。

       只要略读开头几章，你就会立刻看到。罗马书中所有重要的神学宣言都以神为主题的：”神任凭他们” (1:24, 26)、”神必照各人的行为报应各人” (2:6)、”神借耶稣基督审判人的隐秘事” (2:16)、”神设立耶稣做挽回祭” (3:25)、”神称罪人为义” (4:5)、”神已将祂的爱浇灌在我们心里” (5:5)、”神的爱就在此向我们显明了” (5:8)。

       我们可以传讲真理——我们甚至可以作 “五点加尔文主义者”——但如果我们失去了那 “万有都是本于祂、倚靠祂、归于祂” (11:36) 的认知，我们就失去了基督教的核心。

       以神为中心的教义必须在 “以神为中心的敬虔” 中实现。再说一次，这是基督教改革宗信仰的独特之处。我们对神着迷；我们被祂的威严，祂的美丽，祂的圣洁，祂的恩典所震撼。我们寻求祂的荣耀，我们渴望祂的同在，我们以祂的品性为生活的榜样。

       其他基督徒可能会说传福音、宣教、复兴或重建是他们最关心的事，但我们只有一件事——神自己——认识祂、效法祂、看见祂得荣耀。唯独这件事是绝对的：失丧之人的得救对我们重要是因为能让神的名被尊为圣以及神的国降临、城市的宣教对我们重要是因为能让神的旨意行在地上如同行在天上、圣经学习和祷告对我们重要是因为能让我们与神相交。

       这是几个世纪以来基督教改革宗信仰的重要标志。无论你是在读像 博纳尔 (Andrew Bonar) 这样的长老会教徒的日记，还是像 约翰·牛顿 (John Newton) 这样的英国圣公会教徒的书信，或是像 司布真 (C. H. Spurgeon) 这样的浸信会教徒的讲稿，这都是贯穿始终的主旋律：他们痴迷于上帝，无论是生活、神学研究或事奉都围绕着对上帝的强烈爱慕，一切都是从他们对上帝的敬仰和充满敬畏的爱中流露出来。

原文: The Heart of the Reformed Faith

The Heart of the Reformed Faith
by Stephen Rees

       The heart of the Reformed faith—the heart of biblical Christianity—is God-centeredness: the conviction that God himself is supremely important. We define all our doctrine in a God-centered way. Sin is horrible because it is an affront to God. Salvation is wonderful because it brings glory to God. Heaven is heaven because it is the place where God is all in all. Hell is hell because it is the place where God manifests his righteous wrath. That God-centeredness is the distinctive feature of the Reformed faith. A Christian may say lots of true things, say, about sin (sin is damaging, sin leads to wretchedness, etc.), but if there is not the God-centered perspective, the most important emphasis of all has been missed.

       I remember how struck I was years ago, reading an essay by Leon Morris, asking, “What is the most common word in Romans?” (I presume he’s omitting such words as “the”—I’m not sure.) What would you guess? Grace? Faith? Believe? Law? No—the most frequent word in Romans is God.

       Just skim through the opening chapters and you will see it immediately. All the great theological statements in Romans have God as their subject: “God gave them over” (1:24, 26). “God ‘will give to each person according to what he has done’ ” (2:6). “God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ” (2:16). “God set [him] forth as a propitiation” (3:25 NKJV). “[God] justifies the ungodly” (4:5 NKJV). “God has poured out his love into our hearts” (5:5). “God demonstrates his own love for us in this” (5:8).

       We can preach things that are true—we can even be five-point Calvinists—but if we lose that “from him and through him and to him are all things” (11:36) awareness, then we’ve lost the heart of Christianity.

       God-centered doctrine must work itself out in God-centered piety. Again, this is the distinctive note of Reformed Christianity. We are obsessed with God himself. We are overwhelmed by his majesty, his beauty, his holiness, his grace. We seek his glory, we desire his presence, we model our lives on his attributes.

       Other Christians may say that evangelism, or mission, or revival, or reconstruction is their great concern. But we have only one concern—God himself—to know him, to mirror him, to see him glorified. We refuse to absolutize any other objective. The salvation of the lost is only important to us insofar as it leads to the hallowing of his name and the coming of his kingdom. The purifying of society is important to us only insofar as it leads to the doing of his will on earth as in heaven. Bible study and prayer are only important to us insofar as they lead us into communion with him.

       This has been the great hallmark of Reformed Christianity down through the centuries. Whether you’re reading the journals of Presbyterians like Andrew Bonar, or the letters of Anglicans like John Newton, or the sermons of Baptists like Charles Spurgeon, this is the note that comes throbbing through. They are obsessed with God himself. They live their lives and do their theology and fulfill their ministry in passionate admiration for God himself. Everything else flows out of their awed worship of God and their trembling love for him.

上帝拯救我们的原因是为了祂的儿子 (弗 1:4-6)，同时也是因为祂爱我们 (弗 2:4-5)，而上帝爱我们的原因只因祂爱我们 (申 7:7-8)。

【弗 1:4-6】就如神从创立世界以前，在基督里拣选了我们，使我们在他面前成为圣洁，无有瑕疵；又因爱我们，就按着自己的意旨所喜悦的，预定我们借着耶稣基督得儿子的名分，使他荣耀的恩典得着称赞；这恩典是他在爱子里所赐给我们的。(cf. 西 1:16)

【弗 2:4-5】然而，神既有丰富的怜悯，因他爱我们的大爱，当我们死在过犯中的时候，便叫我们与基督一同活过来。你们得救是本乎恩。

【申 7:7-8】耶和华专爱你们，拣选你们，并非因你们的人数多于别民，原来你们的人数在万民中是最少的。只因耶和华爱你们，又因要守他向你们列祖所起的誓，就用大能的手领你们出来，从为奴之家救赎你们脱离埃及王法老的手。