於2011-11-07發佈

藉由研讀聖經來瞭解神的公平

詩篇八十九篇14節告訴我們:『公義和公平是祂寶座的根基』,所以祂國度的權柄將在公義和公平中被找到。公義就是行神眼中看為正的事,而公平是祂審判的應用。倘若我們不瞭解祂的公平,我們就無法完全瞭解祂的審判。就像神的審判一樣,這類的主題很少在今日的基督教裡提到,對瞭解時候卻是非常重要。

公義是神所認為對的事,不是我們認為。同樣,公平是以祂的審判為基礎,不是我們的。聖經的存在就是為了讓祂國度這兩個基柱,堅固地建造在我們的生命中。墮落的人常常追求與公義和公平完全相反的事物,我們心思意念尚未更新變化的程度,使我們也可能與神這些根基背道而馳。要將我們的生命建造在神的國度上,我們必須根本瞭解並致力於祂的公義和公平。要這樣做,除了那些已成為真正門徒的人之外,我們將會與全世界的人走相反方向。

我們要擁有聖經的世界觀到一個地步,我們的世界觀完全由神在聖經中所啟示的觀點所塑造。然而,正如研究調查所顯示的,除了很小比率的基督徒外,大多數基督徒的世界觀都受到非聖經的其他來源所塑造。這些觀點可能來自世俗媒體、我們的老師、教練或其他們我們所敬重的人,包括一些在基督肢體的牧者與教師,他們可能有也可能沒有健全的聖經根基。我們每個人都應該檢視自己認識這世界的來源,倘若我們要照所蒙召的做光做鹽,我們定意要將認識神的觀點放在高優先順序中。

許多人問我是怎麼得著我的觀點,他們有權知道。聖經勸我們要『敬重(知道)那在你們中間勞苦的人』(參考帖撒羅尼迦書上5:12),所以你們應該知道我教導的基礎。我最常被問及的一個問題是如何學習寫作。首先,我不認為自己是很好的作家,但我的確認為我書中的內容可以彌補其他地方的不足,這些內容來自多年不間斷的研讀。我認為只要願意像我一樣研讀,也可以做得和我一樣好,可能更好。我這樣說並不是因為謙卑─而是事實。以下是我的研讀歷程。

我成為基督徒的頭兩年,我嘗試一星期花四十小時研讀聖經,以及基督教古典文學,尤其是教會歷史。我的兼職工作只為滿足生活上的基本需要,之後我便開始全職服事,但信主的頭三十年,我仍維持這樣層級的閱讀。在過去十年,因職責所致,我只有過去一半的時間,但我仍花許多時間研讀。

信主的頭三十年,我使用很簡單的聖經研讀方法。每一天我讀新舊約各兩章,詩篇五篇,箴言一章。這使我可以每年讀一次舊約,好幾次新約,一個月讀一次詩篇和箴言。我也有特定主題的研讀,聽起來好像很多,但我總覺得不夠,就像是每一天找尋到最珍貴的寶藏。我是如此熱愛研讀,以致於我對天堂的一個想法便是無止境的圖書館,在那裡我可以用永恆的時間來學習。我知道這也許是一些人對地獄的概念,但這些人一旦開始找到智慧的寶藏和研讀中所產生的知識,我認為他們會和我一樣上癮。

在過去十年,我讀聖經的進度比以往慢,卻更深入。現在我一天只讀一、兩章,但花的時間卻是一樣多,代表我花更多時間反覆思想我所讀的內容。我已經讀過聖經三十多次,卻仍驚訝於我尚未領會的有何其多,無疑聖經是進入神的道路與人的道路無限洞察力的來源。

我的大半生平均一星期讀一本書,包括不同主題,但大多數是關於神、聖經、國度或教會,特別是教會歷史。儘管我有神學博士的學位,我仍認為自己是一個學生而非師傅。對我而言,我學的越多越意識到自己不瞭解,促使我想更多學習。

想一想一本書裡面的寶藏─一個人花一生將所學寫成一本書,我們只要花幾小時就可以獲取其洞見,我真的認為書籍是此生其中一個最棒的寶藏與滿足。我也認為其是我們可以順服基督身體的一個方式,藉此領受他人的觀點、洞見和教導,特別是那些在歷史上走在我們前頭的偉大聲音。

 (摘自 喬納 word for the week, Week 42, 2011)


The Judgments of God, Part 5
Understanding the Justice of God Through Devotion to the Scriptures
Week 42, 2011

We are told in Psalm 89:14 that righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. So the authority of His kingdom will be founded on both righteousness and justice. Righteousness is doing what is right in the sight of the Lord. Justice is the application of His judgment. We cannot fully understand His judgments if we do not understand His justice. Like the judgments of God, this is a subject that is rarely addressed in Christianity today, but it is crucial for understanding the times.

Righteousness is what God thinks is right, not us. Likewise, justice is based on His judgment, not ours. The Bible was written so that we could have these two basic pillars of His kingdom firmly established in our lives. Fallen mankind is often pursuing the exact opposite of righteousness and justice. To the degree that we have not yet been transformed by the renewing of our minds, we too are probably in opposition to God’s basis for these. For a life built on the kingdom, we must have a strong foundational understanding of and devotion to God’s righteousness and God’s justice. To do this, we will be going in the opposite direction of virtually the whole world except for the others who have become true disciples.

We have a biblical worldview to the degree that our view of the world is shaped by God’s perspective as revealed in the Scriptures. Yet as studies have revealed, all but a small percentage of Christians have their worldview shaped by a diversity of other sources rather than the Scriptures. These perspectives can be from secular media, our teachers, coaches, or others we respect, including pastors and teachers in the body of Christ who may or may not have a solid foundation in these. We should each examine our own source of understanding the world and resolve that it is a high priority that we know God’s perspective if we are going to be the salt and light we are called to be.

Many ask me what I did to get my perspective, which they have the right to know. The Scriptures exhort us to “know those who labor among us” (see I Thessalonians 5:12), and you deserve to know the basis of my teaching. One of the most often asked questions is how I learned to write like I did. First, I do not consider myself to be a great writer, but I do think I have good content that makes up for my other deficiencies. The content has come through persistent study over many years. I think just about anyone willing to study as much as I have could do the same things, and maybe much better. I’m not trying to be humble by saying this—it is a fact. Here is what I did:

For the first two years I was a Christian, I tried to spend at least forty hours a week in the Scriptures, as well as reading classic Christian literature, especially church history. I took a part-time job where I could make enough to meet my basic needs. After this, I was thrust into full-time ministry, but I was generally able to maintain this level of study for the first thirty years of my Christian walk. For the last ten years, my duties have been such that this amount of time has been cut in half, but I still spend a lot of time in study.

For the first thirty years of my Christian walk, I used a simple reading program for Bible study. I read two chapters in both the Old and New Testament, five Psalms, and one chapter of Proverbs every day. This enabled me to read the entire Old Testament every year, the New Testament several times a year, and Psalms and Proverbs once a month. Then I would do studies on specific subjects, too. It may sound like a lot, but it never felt like enough to me. It was like finding the most valuable treasure every day. I loved studying so much that one of my concepts of heaven was an endless library where I could spend eternity learning. I know this would be some people’s concept of hell, but once these started finding the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that study can produce, I think even they would become addicted as I did.

For the last ten years, I’ve been doing a much slower Bible reading, but much deeper study. I now only read one or two chapters a day, but I spend about the same amount of time as I always have, meaning I am taking more time to deeply ponder what I read. I’m amazed at how much I missed through the previous thirty plus times I read the Bible. The Bible is no doubt a source of limitless insight into God’s ways and man’s ways.

For most of my life, I think I’ve also averaged reading about a book a week. These have been on a great diversity of subjects, but mostly about God, the Bible, the kingdom, or the church, especially church history. Even though I do have an earned doctorate in theology, I still consider myself a student rather than a master. It is true for me that the more I’ve learned, the more I realize I don’t know and the more I want to learn.

Think about the treasure that a book can be—a person can spend a lifetime learning about something, write it in a book, and we can gain their insight in just a few hours! I do consider books one of the great treasures and pleasures in this life. I also consider it one way that we can submit to the body of Christ, receiving the perspectives, insights, and teachings of others, especially the great voices in history who went before us.