聖潔之美
雷克-喬納 Rick Joyner
翻譯：Kate 2022.4.27
轉載/轉寄 請註明出處：國度禱告網
你們既作順命的兒女，就不要效法從前蒙昧無知的時候那放縱私慾的樣子。
那召你們的既是聖潔，你們在一切所行的事上也要聖潔。
因為經上記著說：你們要聖潔，因為我是聖潔的。（彼得前書1：14-16）。
聖潔在我們這時代的許多基督徒中幾乎成了一個負面的字。這通常是因與那些對聖潔採取法律主義態度的運動和教義有關。即便如此，聖潔不僅是真正的基督教的根本，希伯來書12:14勸告我們："你們要追求與眾人和睦，並要追求聖潔；非聖潔沒有人能見主。"成聖是經常可以與聖潔互換的字，聖潔的意思是被分別、被潔淨等等。正如這段經文所宣稱的，如果我們期待見到主，就必須成為聖潔。
最近研究顯示，那些自稱是重生的基督徒和非基督徒之間的道德水準不再有可衡量的差異。基督徒現在正快速地滑向放蕩，以至於不久之後，如果作為一個整體來衡量，基督徒的道德水準將低於非信徒，誠信度也低於非信徒。更令人震驚的是，這片土地上的每個講台和聚會場所都沒有發出警報！
現在有理由說基督徒是偽君子了。偽君子是指那些聲稱相信或做這件事，卻做另一件事的人。我們也不要忘記，耶穌自己也嚴厲譴責偽君子。如果我們去教堂，自稱是基督徒，但卻做著我們知道聖經所譴責的事情，我們就是他所說的人。我們是那些讓他最榮耀的名蒙羞的人。
然而，主對那些謙卑和悔改的人充滿了恩典和憐憫。甚至當以色列最邪惡和崇拜偶像的國王之一亞哈王在他生命的最後時刻懺悔時，主也立即用憐憫回應他（見《列王紀》21:20-29）。如果我們陷入了邪惡的網羅，我們必須跑向主，而不是遠離他。他將憐憫並幫助我們。
聖靈就是上帝聖潔的化身，他也是幫助者。神不會要求我們做任何他不會透過他的聖靈授權我們做的事情。然而，我們必須明白，這是聖靈名字中有”聖”一字是有原因的。如果我們想在我們的生活中得到聖靈的充滿，我們也必須是聖潔的。
過聖潔生活的真正關鍵不只是確定我們要停止做我們知道是錯誤的事情，而是簡單地回到我們起初的愛--上帝。這就是為什麼主用兩條誡命總結了整個摩西的律法：愛主和愛我們的鄰舍。如果我們愛上帝，我們就不會崇拜偶像或做冒犯他的事，因為我們是他聖靈的殿。如果我們愛我們的鄰舍，我們就不會謀殺、偷竊，甚至妒忌他們。如果我們的生活致力於愛上帝和我們的鄰舍，我們就不會做錯事，因此會履行律法。真正的聖潔不是出於恐懼，而是出於愛。
教會被呼召的真正聖潔不是害怕如果她不完美她的新郎會懲罰新婦。真正的聖潔是一個熱切地愛著新郎的新婦，她希望在各方面都能為他完美。因此，要恢復我們因墜入罪中而失去的靈性基礎，第一步是祈求神憐憫我們，恢復我們起初的愛。然後保持在這條路上，就是簡單的奉獻，在對他和我們的鄰舍的愛中成長。
The Beauty of Holiness
Rick Joyner
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in
your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all
your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy" (I Peter 1:14-16).
Holiness has almost become a bad word among many Christians in our time. This is usually because it is associated with movements and teachings that are legalistic in their approach to holiness. Even so, not only is holiness fundamental to true Christianity, we are exhorted in Hebrews 12:14: "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord." Sanctification is a word that is often interchangeable with holiness, which means to be set apart, purified, etc. As this Scripture declares, we must be holy if we expect to see the Lord.
Recent studies indicate that there is no longer a measurable difference between the morality of those who claim to be born again Christians and non-Christians. Christians are now sliding into debauchery so fast that soon Christians will, when measured as a whole, be less moral, and have less integrity than unbelievers! What is even more shocking is that there are not alarms being sounded from every pulpit and meeting place in the land!
There are now grounds to justify calling Christians hypocrites. A hypocrite is someone who claims to believe or do one thing, but does another. Let us also not forget that Jesus Himself reserved His most fierce denunciations for hypocrites. If we are going to church and claiming to be Christians, but are doing the things that we know the Scriptures condemn, we are the ones that He was talking about. We are the ones who are bringing shame to His most glorious name.
However, the Lord is full of grace and mercy to those who humble themselves and repent of their iniquity. Even when King Ahab, one of Israel's most evil and idolatrous kings, repented near the end of his life, the Lord immediately responded to him with mercy (see I Kings 21:20-29). If we have been caught in the snares of evil, we must run to the Lord, not away from Him. He will have mercy and help us.
The Holy Spirit, who is the personification of the holiness of God by His very name, is also the Helper. God does not require us to do anything that He will not also empower us to do by His Holy Spirit. However, we must understand that this is His name for a reason. If we want the fullness of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we too must be holy.
The true key to living a holy life is not just determining that we are going to stop doing what we know is wrong, but to simply return to our first love, God. That is why the Lord summed up the entire Law of Moses with the two commandments: to love the Lord, and to love our neighbors. If we love God, we will not worship idols or do the things that offend Him because we are the temple of His Holy Spirit. If we love our neighbors, we will not murder, steal, or even envy them. If we live a life devoted to loving God and our neighbors, we will not do wrong things, and will therefore fulfill the Law. True holiness is not motivated by fear, but love.
The true holiness to which the church is called is not that of a bride who is afraid that if she is not perfect her bridegroom will punish her. True holiness is that of a bride who is so passionately in love with her Bridegroom that she wants to be perfect for Him in every way. Therefore, the first step in recovering any spiritual ground that we have lost by falling into sin is to pray for God to have mercy on us and restore to us our first love. To then stay on the path is a simple devotion to growing in love for Him and our neighbors.