11月9日 彼此相爱
11月9日，主日
彼此相爱
……我们应当彼此相爱……（约翰壹书4:7）
我毫不犹豫地说：我们对基督教信仰宣信的最终试验，就是这一件事：我们是否彼此相爱。事实上，我甚至断言，这是比我们的正统更重要的试验。我绝不会轻看正统教义；正统的信仰至关重要，约翰壹书对这点一再强调。我们必须信对真理，否则我们一无所有，也就没有任何立足之地；正确的信仰是绝对必要的。然而，当涉及经历与自我省察时，正统并不是最终的试验。
唉，让我们承认吧——一个人可能完全正确，却仍非基督徒，这是可能的。有人可以完全在理性上认同圣经的命题，对神学充满兴趣，也许还能够辩论哪一个体系更好，甚至热心捍卫正统，却在心里完全没有基督的恩典，也没有神的爱。这是可怕的事实。历史上有些人极其正统，是信仰的捍卫者，却因苦毒的态度否认了他们所捍卫的信仰。因此我再说一次，正统虽然至关重要，却还不够。还有一个更彻底的试验，那就是弟兄相爱——彼此相爱的试验。
默想主题：
我们对基督教信仰宣信的最终试验，是我们是否彼此相爱。
麦琴（麦克谦）读经计划进度
家庭敬拜：王下22章，来4章
个人灵修：珥1章，诗140-141篇
November 9, Sunday
LOVING ONE ANOTHER
. . . let us love one another . . . (1 JOHN 4:7)
I do not hesitate to say that the ultimate test of our profession of the Christian faith is this whole question of our loving one another. Indeed, I do not hesitate to aver that it is a more vital test than our orthodoxy. I am the last man in the world to say anything against orthodoxy, but I am here to say that it is not the final test. Orthodoxy is absolutely essential; this epistle [1 John] has shown us that repeatedly, and it will show it to us again. We must believe the right things, for apart from that we have nothing at all and we have no standing whatsoever; so the correctness of belief is absolutely essential. And yet I say that when we come to the realm of experience and self-examination, the test of orthodoxy is not the ultimate test.
Alas, let us admit it—it is possible for a person to be absolutely correct and yet not to be a Christian. It is possible for men and women to give perfect intellectual assent to the propositions that are to be found in the Bible; it is possible for them to be interested in theology and to say that one theology is superior to another and to accept and defend and argue about it, and yet to be utterly devoid of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the love of God in their hearts. This is a terrible thought, it is a terrible possibility, but it is a fact. There have been men also who have clearly been perfectly orthodox—champions of the faith—and yet they have denied that very faith in the bitterness with which they have sometimes defended it. I repeat, the test of orthodoxy, while it is so vital and essential, is not enough. There is a more thoroughgoing test, and it is this test of brotherly love—love for one another.
A Thought to Ponder: The ultimate test of our profession of the Christian faith is our loving one another.