真實的恩典─啟示錄
聖經告訴我們，我們若認自己的罪，祂不但會赦免，而且不再紀念。沒有被認的罪則會在審判那日抓住我們不放，正如約翰壹書一章9-10節所言：
我們若認自己的罪，神是信實的，是公義的，必要赦免我們的罪，洗淨我們一切的不義。
我們若說自己沒有犯過罪，便是以神為說謊的，祂的道也不在我們心裡了。
我們先前曾談過主的日子稱為『那大而可畏的日子』。我們可能會問：『是哪一個呢？』對某些人是偉大的日子，對另一些人則是可怕的日子。顯然，對已經認罪得潔淨的人而言，那是偉大的日子，對沒有這麼做的人則是可怕的日子。
所以，我們要如何生活，才能為我們時候與審判之日將臨到的審判做好準備呢？一些現在對我們很難的事情，到時會變得容易多了。那些現在只能聽『耳朵發癢』或感覺很好的話，到時可能會很艱難，甚至很『可怕』。
正如我們上週談到，一些極端『超恩典』（“Hyper-grace”）教師說神不再審判，在十字架以後也不再需要悔改，因為耶穌已經為我們的罪付上一切─包括過去、現在和將來。對沒有讀過聖經的人而言，這樣的說法或許合理，但這卻是終極愚昧與欺騙，帶領許多人遭受信仰上的沉船。
我們預備時候與最終審判的主要方式，是將我們的生命與本質建造在悔改的生活形態中。倘若『超恩典』愚昧教導說我們不再需要悔改，因為十字架已經為我們的罪付上代價，耶穌為何在祂復活後還要啟示錄二到三章的七個教會悔改呢？新約清楚說到我們若認我們的罪，神會赦免。認罪只是開始，悔改意味著轉離罪惡。
在耶穌出現前，需要先傳講悔改，耶穌自己也傳講悔改的道。神賜下聖靈的其中一個目的就是使我們知罪，藉此我們可以悔改我們的罪，轉向可以拯救我們脫離罪的唯一解藥，並釋放我們從神的審判中得自由─那就是十字架。然而，祂『來拯救我們脫離罪惡』，不單單是脫離罪的結果。主來到世上和聖靈被賜下來，是為了釋放我們脫離罪的本性，並以祂的天性取而代之。
正如希伯來書六章告訴我們，不必再立悔改的根基，但那並不代表我們不繼續悔改。悔改是基督徒生命的根基，只需要立一次根基，因為一個建築物只有一個根基。那並不代表我們不再使用它，根基乃是我們每天都要走在其上，支撐整個建築物的東西。這就是悔改如何成為真實基督徒生命的根基。
我們總要持守溫和謙卑與痛悔之心，當聖靈使我們知罪時要立刻悔改。正如雅各寫說，我們在許多事上都有過失，我們在新約也看見此，就連最卓越的使徒到生命最後都掉入罪惡的陷阱。經上記著說：『義人雖七次跌倒，仍必興起』（參考箴言24:16）。然而，你若連跌倒了都不知道，便無法起來。
事實上聖經的每個真理都被一些人帶入極端，儘管有一些曲解神恩典的極端教導，我們仍需要祂更多的恩典，而不是更少。許多人太有罪惡意識，過度專注在他們的失敗，勝過專注在祂榮耀的異象，好使我們成為所蒙召的樣式。
毫無疑問許多對恩典的極端教導，是對另一極端教導過度反應的結果，這些教義使人們活在譴責之下、奮力完成在十字架上已經為我們完成的事情。正如我們多次提到的，在生命道路的兩旁各有一條壕溝，過度反應便會掉入另一端的壕溝裡。這兩條壕溝通常一邊是律法主義，另一邊則是不法。讓我們持守在兩條壕溝之間的生命道路上。
在啟示錄關於神的審判還有一些需要談到，我們並不想要掩蓋它們，也不想在祂所關注的事上打折扣。接著我們會來看祂為我們所存留的榮耀異象，在未來我們將會談到。
(摘自喬納word for the week, Week 40, 2018)
True Grace—The Book of Revelation
Week 40, 2018
Rick Joyner
We are told in Scripture that if we have confessed our sins, He has not only forgiven them, but He has also forgotten them. No confessed sin will be held against anyone on that great day. As I John 1:9-10 says:
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
We previously discussed how the day of The Lord is called “the great and terrible day of The Lord.” We may ask, “Well, which is it?” It is great for some and terrible for others. Obviously, it will be great for those who have confessed their sins and been cleansed, and it will be terrible for those who have not.
So how do we live in order to be prepared for the judgments of God that come in our own time and for the Great Judgment Day? Some of the things that will be hard on us now will make it much easier on us then. Those who can only hear the things that “tickle their ears,” or make them feel good now, will likely have it very hard then, even “terrible.”
As we touched on before, some extreme “hyper-grace” teachers have said that not only does God no longer judge, but repentance is no longer needed after the crucifixion because Jesus already paid for our sins—past, present, and future. That may make sense to those who have not read their Bibles, but it is an ultimate folly and deception that has already led to many to suffer shipwreck with regard to their faith.
A primary way that we prepare for the times and for the ultimate Day of Judgment is we build into our lives and nature a lifestyle of repentance. If the “hyper-grace” foolishness teaches that we no longer need to repent since the cross has already paid for our sins, why then did Jesus call the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3 to repent years after His resurrection? The New Testament is clear that God will forgive our sins if we confess them. Confessing them is a beginning, but to repent is to turn away from the sin.
Repentance had to be preached before Jesus was revealed, and Jesus Himself preached repentance. One of the purposes for which The Holy Spirit was given is to convict of sin. This is so we can repent of our sin and turn to the only remedy that can save us from our sin and deliver us from the judgments of God that come because of sin—the cross. However, He “came to save us from our sin,” not just the consequences of sin. He has come, and The Holy Spirit was given, to deliver us from our sinful nature and replace it with His nature.
As we are told in Hebrews 6, we do not lay again a foundation of repentance, but that does not mean that we do not continue to repent. Repentance is a foundation of the Christian life. A foundation is something that you only lay once because you only have one in a building. That does not mean that we no longer use it, but the foundation is what we walk on every day and is what holds the entire building up. That is how repentance is a foundation for the true Christian life.
We must always keep a tender, humble, and contrite heart that is quick to repent when we are convicted by The Holy Spirit. As James wrote, we all stumble in many ways, and as we see in The New Testament, even the most eminent apostles fell into sinful traps right until the end of their lives. It is written, “the righteous fall seven times, but rise yet again” (see Proverbs 24:16). However, you cannot rise up if you do not know that you have fallen.
Virtually every biblical truth does get carried to extremes by some, and even though there are extreme teachings that pervert the grace of God, we need more of His grace, not less. Many are far too sin conscious, too focused on their failures, than they are on the vision we need of His glory that we must have to become what we are called to be.
No doubt many of the extreme teachings on grace are the result of some overreacting to other extreme teachings that keep men under condemnation and striving to accomplish what has already been accomplished for us at the cross. As we discussed, there is a ditch on either side of the path of life, and those who are reactionary often fall into one ditch, and then overreact and fall into the other ditch. The two ditches are usually legalism on one side and lawlessness on the other. Let’s stay on the path of life that is between these ditches.
There is yet a little more to cover about the judgments of God in Revelation, and we do not want to gloss over them, much less discount that which He gave so much attention to. We then come to the glorious vision He has for us, which we are about to cover.