4月24日 我们的良善不足够
我们的良善不足够
你们“如今却蒙神的恩典，因基督耶稣的救赎，就白白地称义”（罗3:24）。
另一种显明你仍在倚仗“自身美德”的属灵骄傲，就是“自鸣得意的骄傲”。 这种心态在内心暗处高抬自己，低声私语：“我也许也不完全，但我肯定比我所认识的大多数基督徒都好。”灵魂眼睛的每一次这种“偷窥”，本质上都是属灵的淫乱，甚至是偶像崇拜。一旦你将内心的信靠与真实的敬拜献给了自己的“义”，这就是极大的罪孽。在亚当之后，神就已经为天国之门换上了新锁，你却还想拿着那把名为“行为”的旧钥匙去开门。
你若真是一名基督徒，就必须承认，你进入称义地位的起点，完全基于白白的怜悯。你们“如今却蒙神的恩典，因基督耶稣的救赎，就白白地称义”（罗3:24）。既然已得与神和好，如今你欠谁的债？是欠你自己的良善、顺服，还是欠基督的？若不让基督在你一切所行的事上居首，你必会发现恩典之门正向你关闭。“神的义正在这福音上显明出来；这义是本于信，以致于信……义人必因信得生”（罗 1:17）。我们不只是借着基督得生命，更是靠着基督而活。通向天国的每一寸道路，都是由恩典与怜悯铺成的。
为什么神如此坚持要我们支取祂的恩典，而丝毫不倚靠自己的行为呢？因为祂深知我们自己的行为根本无法胜任救赎的重任。事实便是如此：倚靠自己，只会有无尽的烦扰与心碎；唯有仰赖神的恩典，才有长久的平安与喜乐。
倚靠自身的良善，最终会毁掉良善本身。 所谓“内在的美德”，其本质是脆弱的。若你强迫它去拖动律法的巨轭，它迟早会因拉不动你那“旧人”的沉重肉体而瘫痪在路旁。你所需的是基督的轭，但若不先卸下那套将你拴在行为上的轭，你便无法负祂的轭。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：民1章，诗35章，
个人灵修：传11章，多3章
APRIL 24, FRIDAY
OUR GOODNESS IS INADEQUATE
You were “justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).
Another form of spiritual pride that shows you are depending on the worth of your own grace is self-applauding pride.This is when the heart is secretly lifted up and says of itself, “I may not be perfect, but I’m certainly better than most Christians I know.” Every such glance of the soul’s eye is adulterous—in fact, idolatrous. Any time you give your own righteousness the inward worship of your confidence and truth, this is great iniquity indeed. You come to open heaven’s gate with the old key, when God has put on a new lock.
If you are truly a Christian, you must acknowledge that your first entrance into your justified state was by pure mercy. You were “justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Having been reconciled, to whom are you now indebted—to your own goodness, to your obedience, to yourself—or to Christ? If Christ does not lead in all you do, you are sure to find the door of grace shut to you. “The righteousness of God [is] revealed from faith to faith… [for] the just shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). We are not only made alive by Christ, but we live by Christ. Heaven’s way is paved with grace and mercy from beginning to end.
Why is God so insistent that we use His grace instead of our own? Because He knows our grace is inadequate for the task. The truth is this: Trusting in our own grace only brings trouble and heartache; trusting in God’s grace brings lasting peace and joy.
In the first place, trusting in your own goodness will eventually destroy it. Inherent grace is weak. Force it to endure the yoke of the law, and sooner or later it will faint by the wayside, unequal to the task of pulling the heavy load of your old nature. What you need is Christ’s yoke, but you cannot take it until you shed the one that harnesses you to works.