Living in Christ’s Church session 21
《教会论与教会生活》 第21讲
主讲：林慈信牧师_校对：刘加立、爱的天空&ZJY(CGY)_文字：傅昱川
Chapter 7 ，第七章，the Church, the Body of Christ，教会，基督的身体。
引言 Introduction（这个引言蛮长的）：
Many figures are used for the church in the New Testament. 新约圣经里用各种的暗喻、比喻来指教会，It is pictured as a bride, 新约描述教会是新妇、新娘，a flock, 羊群；a vine,葡萄树；a field, 田地；a temple. 圣殿。But in the letters of Paul one figure is repeatedly used. 但是，在保罗书信里面重复地使用另外一个暗喻，The apostle describes the church as a body. 使徒保罗形容教会是一个身体。
Now that may appear to be a commonplace image，对我们来说，好像很平凡的一个比喻，we think of any organization as a body of people，我们一般认为任何的组织都是一群或是一体人，a body of people The term corporation means just that，corporation 这个字呢，香港是翻译为有限公司、台湾是财团法人，这个字就是“身体”的意思，a group of people，一组人，who are joined as one body by a legal fiction. 财团法人或者有限公司里，只是用一个法律上虚构的概念，来连结一帮人成为一体。The state is a public body, 政府也是一个公众的体，having a corporate unity and identity. 有一个整体的合一性，和整体的身份的。
The New Testament figure for the church is not simply that it is a body of people，新约圣经讲到教会的时候，不仅仅是指教会是一体的人，a body of people，but that it is the body of Christ.乃是基督的身体。这里在英文是这样的，a body of people, the body of Christ. 不是「一组」人，是「那个」基督独特的身体。
Evidently that means more than that the church is a Christian corporation. 很明显地，这个意思不仅仅是说教会是一个基督徒的财团法人，或是一个群体，We should not be surprised that the body figure for the church is related to Christ，我们不应该稀奇，教会这个作为身体这个比喻是与基督有关的，-all the figures for the church are related to Christ. 《圣经》所用的关于教会所有的暗喻都是与基督有关的。If the church is a bride，教会若是新娘，Christ is the Bridegroom; 基督就是新郎；if the church is a flock，教会若是羊群，Christ is the Shepherd; 基督是牧羊人；if the church is a temple， 教会若是圣殿，Christ is the Builder, the Foundation or the Cornerstone. 基督就是建造者、根基或者房角石。
The linking of Christ with His church is particularly clear in the figure of the vine. 基督与教会的连结，透过葡萄树这个比喻，是最清楚的。 In the prophecy of Isaiah God describes Israel as the vine he planted, 在以赛亚的预言里，上帝形容以色列是祂所种植的“葡萄树”，the plant of His delight” (Is. 5:7)，祂所喜悦的葡萄树。以赛亚书 5:7 节：“万军之耶和华的葡萄园，就是以色列家；祂所喜爱的树就是犹大人，祂指望的是公平。”所以，葡萄树其实是指以色列。Christ said to His disciples, “I am the vine, ye are the branches” (John 15:5). 基督对祂的门徒说：“我就是葡萄树，你们是枝子。”（约翰福音15:5节）。
That union of Christ and his church，基督与教会的这个联合，is also expressed in the figure of the body，也透过身体这个暗喻表达出来。Christians are joined together by being joined to Christ. 基督徒与基督联合，因此彼此连结。They are a body because they are Christ’s body. 基督徒是一体，因为他是基督的身体；基督徒是一体，因为他们是基督的身体。But what does the figure of the body of Christ really mean? 但是，基督的身体这个暗喻， 究竟是什么意思呢？It has always been the conviction of the Christian church that，基督教教会一直以来的信念，乃是说，it expresses a high mystery. 身体是表达一个很崇高的奥秘。
Yet the “mystical body of Christ”，但是，基督奥秘的身体，has sometimes been made so mysterious，有时候说得那么地奥秘，that it has been vaporized rather than exalted.奥秘到不是被高举， 乃是好像蒸发掉了。Churchmen may be all too ready to pay lip service to the mystical body of Christ，教会领袖们可能都很愿意在口头上承认：教会是基督奥秘的身体。so long as they are free to run the earthly organization of the church in their own way. 只要他们有自由，在地上用他们的方法，随意地来管理这个教会地上的组织。
The apostle Paul, however, spoke of the church as the body of Christ to set straight church problems at Corinth, in Asia Minor, at Rome. 可是，使徒保罗是因为他要纠正在哥林多、亚西亚、罗马的教会一些的问题，所以，他论到教会的时候说：教会是基督的身体。If we come to grips with what Paul says about the body of Christ，假如我们掌握到保罗所说基督的身体是什么意思的时候，we will not escape the practical consequences.我们不能逃避在实际上的一些推论、一些后果。
What does Paul mean by calling the church the body of Christ? 保罗称“教会为基督的身体”，他的意思是什么呢？First we must understand why the physical body of Christ is so important for the apostle. 首先，我们必须要了解为什么基督肉身的身体，对使徒保罗是那么地重要。On the road to Damascus，去大马色的路上，Saul, the persecutor of the church，was confronted by the risen Lord and became Paul the servant of Jesus Christ. 扫罗——那位逼迫教会的扫罗，有复活的主耶稣面对他、面责他，扫罗就成为耶稣基督的仆人保罗了。He never forgot the sight that blinded him, 他永远不会忘记，使他瞎眼的那幅景象，the glory of the Lord in his resurrection body. 就是耶稣基督在祂复活身体里的主耶稣基督的荣耀。
Many years later he wrote to the church at Philippi，很多年之后，他写信给腓立比的教会，about the Savior who would come again from heaven, 论到有一天要从天上再临的救主。腓立比书3:21 节：“祂要按着那能叫万有归服自己的大能，将我们这卑贱的身体改变形状，和祂自己荣耀的身体相似。”Much of his first letter to the Corinthians is concerned with the temptation of these Greeks to deny the resurrection of the body. 他所写的哥林多前书很重要的篇幅是，谈到这些讲希腊语的基督徒，他们面对的试探，就是不愿意承认我们的身体有一天会复活的。所以，基督的复活身体很重要。
It is not only the risen body of Christ that is important for Paul. 对保罗来说，不单单是基督那个复活身体是那么的重要，Even more frequently he speaks about the crucified body of Christ. 保罗更多次的论到基督钉十字架的身体。In Colossians 1:22 . 在歌罗西书第一章22节，他是这样讲的，第22节：如今他藉着基督的肉身受死，叫你们与自己和好，都成了圣洁，没有瑕疵，无可责备，把你们引到自己面前。
When Christ died on the cross，当基督在十字架上死的时候，He died as the representative of his people. 祂是以祂的子民的代表的身份死的，we are therefore “dead to the law through the body of Christ” (Rom. 7:4) 。因此，就正如罗马书7:4节这样说的：“你们藉着基督的身体，在律法上也是死了。“As Peter puts it,. Christ “bore our sins in his own body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24)正如彼得所说的，彼得前书2：24节：”他被挂在木头上，亲身担当了我们的罪，使我们既然在罪上死，就得以在义上活。因他受的鞭伤，你们便得了医治。“祂亲身的在祂身体上，担当了我们的罪。Our sins deserve the death penalty，我们的罪使我们配受死刑，but Christ bore that penalty, 但是，基督承担了那个刑罚，dying in our place.代替了我们，死了。
In God’s judgment the death of Christ’s body was our death, 从上帝审判的角度来看，基督肉身的死就是我们的死，just as surely as if we had died on His cross. 就等于我们在基督十字架上死那么地真、那么地确实。Christ died and rose in one body, 基督是在同一个身体死了，和复活的。and believers died with Him and rose with Him in that one body. 信徒就是在基督那一个身体里与祂同死，就是在基督那一个身体里与祂同复活的。This representative union between Christ and his people，耶稣基督和祂的子民这种代表性的合一，has deep roots in the Old Testament. 是植根于旧约圣经的。
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Paul’s summary of the gospel was，保罗是怎么总结他所宣讲的福音的呢？哥林多前书15:3-4节：“我当日所领受又传给你们的，第一，就是基督照圣经所说，为我们的罪死了。而且埋葬了。又照圣经所说，第三天复活了。“Much that the New Testament says about Christ’s death in the place of sinners uses the language of Isaiah 53. 新约圣经论到基督代替罪人的死的教训，都是用了以赛亚书第53章的用词。That prophecy tells us that，那一段的先知书告诉我们：the Servant of the Lord bore the sin of many. 耶和华的仆人担当了众人的罪，He carried our griefs, 祂承担了我们的忧伤；He was wounded for our transgressions, 因为我们的过犯，祂受伤；His soul was made an offering for our sin. 祂的灵魂、祂的生命是作为代替我们的罪所献的祭。
In that passage，在以赛亚书五十三章这段经文，the Servant represents the people of God，上帝的仆人、耶和华的仆人代表了上帝的子民，and fulfills God’s covenant, 也实现了、成全了，也是遵守了上帝的约，which requires that His people serve Him.上帝的约要求祂的子民必须服事祂的。He is the Lord of the covenant，上帝的仆人是盟约的主，and they are His servants.祂的子民是祂的仆人们。所以，你这里看到又是仆人、又是主，弥赛亚又是仆人、又是主。
In God’s covenant the patriarchs represented the generations to follow. 在上帝的约里，列祖（亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各）代表了他们以后要来的一代一代的人。God delivered Israel from Egypt to keep His promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.上帝搭救以色列出埃及，是为了要守住祂向亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各所给的应许。So also the prophets, priests and kings represented the people of the covenant. 同样地，先知们、祭司们、君王们就是代表约民的。They bore reproach for the sake of God and the people (Ps. 69:9). 他们是为了上帝的缘故，也是为了上帝的子民的缘故，受到辱骂的。诗篇69:9 节：“因我为你的殿心里焦急，如同火烧，并且辱骂你人的辱骂，都落在我身上。“
顺便一提，在约翰福音第二章，门徒们就想到这段经文，当主耶稣把买卖的人赶出圣殿的时候，耶稣基督为圣殿大发热心，因为世界上的辱骂都落在耶稣基督——我们的先知、祭司、君王的身上。
But neither the nation as God’s servant nor any individual servant could keep God’s covenant and fulfill his calling. 但是，不论是以色列国身为上帝的仆人，或者任何一个个别的犹太人，上帝的仆人都不可能遵守上帝的约，实现上帝的约在他身上的呼召，不可能的-only the Messiah can do that. 唯有弥赛亚才做得到，He is not only God’s chosen Servant, 弥赛亚不单单是上帝所拣选的仆人，He is God’s beloved Son. 祂是上帝所爱的爱子。The body of Christ offered on the cross is the body of the Servant，耶稣基督在十字架上所献上的身体，是那仆人的身体，who bears the sin of many as the representative head of the New Covenant. 这位仆人是新的约的代表、新的约的头，担当了多人的罪。
In Ephesians 2:11 ff. 在以弗所书第二章，从11节起那一段，Paul writes that the Gentiles were “separate from Christ，alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise. “保罗说，外邦人以前是外邦人没有受割礼，是与基督无关的，在以色列国民以外，在所应许的各种的约上都是局外人，没有盼望、没有上帝的。
To be separated from Christ is to be excluded from God’s covenant.在基督以外，就是在上帝的约以外。这句话很重要，所以在恩典之约里面就是在基督里，与基督无关，就是在上帝的约之外，被排除的。But in the blood of Christ-the blood of the New Covenant，但是借着基督的宝血，就是新约的血，those who were afar off are made nigh. 那些远方的人，现在就变成邻近了。”Through Him we both [ Jews and Gentiles]have our access in one Spirit unto the Father” (Eph. 2:18). 以弗所书2:18节：“因为我们两下藉着他被一个圣灵所感，得以进到父面前。“
Gentiles are no longer strangers and sojourners，外邦人现在不再是陌生人，不再是流浪客，but are fellow citizens with the saints， 现在是与众圣徒同作国民的，and of the household of God. 与众圣徒同作上帝家里的人。Believing Jews and Gentiles are built together in one holy temple for God’s dwelling in the Spirit. 相信主耶稣的犹太人和外邦人，现在是同被建造，成为上帝的灵所居住的一个的，同一个圣殿。There is one commonwealth, 只有一个共和体；one household,一个家；one temple ，一个圣殿，and also one body. 一个身体。
Christ made Jews and Gentiles to be one，基督使犹太人、外邦人成为一体（以弗所书2:15-16节)。为了什么呢？而且以自己的身体废掉冤仇，就是那记在律法上的规条，为了将两下藉着自己造成一个新人，如此便成就了和睦。既在十字架上灭了冤仇，便藉着十字架使两下归为一体，与上帝和好了。
我们下一讲继续讲教会是基督的身体，讲完这段之后，后面要讲的一个饼、一个身体，又要讲到教会作为基督的身体，是圣灵的殿，再讲到一个身体，却有不同的肢体。
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