802 英翻中 (502) Jesus is the son of God. 耶穌是上帝的兒子. 18/7/2024

802 英翻中 (502)            Jesus is the son of God.                耶穌是上帝的兒子.             18/7/2024 

2.  Reconciliation: What God Did for the Gentiles (2:13–18)                                                                  2. 和好：神为外邦人所做的事（2:13-18） 

The “but now” in Ephesians 2:13 parallels the “but God” in Ephesians 2:4. Both speak of the gracious intervention of God on behalf of lost sinners. “Enmity” is the key word in this section (Eph. 2:15–16), and you will note that it is a twofold enmity: between Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:13–15) and between sinners and God (Eph. 2:16–18). Paul described here the greatest peace mission in history: Jesus Christ not only reconciled Jews and Gentiles, but He reconciled both to Himself in the one body, the church.                                                                                                       以弗所书 2:13 中的“但现在”与以弗所书 2:4 中的“但神”相似。两者都谈到上帝为失丧的罪人进行的仁慈干预。 “敌意”是这一部分的关键词（弗 2:15-16），你会注意到它是双重的敌意：犹太人和外邦人之间（弗 2:13-15）以及罪人与上帝之间（弗 2:16-18)。保罗在这里描述了历史上最伟大的和平使命：耶稣基督不仅使犹太人和外邦人和好，而且在一个身体里，即教会里，他与自己和好。

The word reconcile means “to bring together again.” A distraught husband wants to be reconciled to his wife who has left him; a worried mother longs to be recon[1]ciled to a wayward daughter; and the lost sinner needs to be reconciled to God. Sin is the great separator in this world. It has been dividing people since the very begin[1]ning of human history. When Adam and Eve sinned, they were separated from God. Before long, their sons were separated from each other and Cain killed Abel. The earth was filled with violence (Gen. 6:5–13), and the only remedy seemed to be judgment. But even after the flood, men sinned against God and each other, and even tried to build their own unity without God’s help. The result was another judgment that scattered the nations and confused the tongues. It was then that God called Abraham, and through the nation of Israel, Jesus Christ came to the world. It was His work on the cross that abolished the enmity between Jew and Gentile and between sinners and God.                                                                         和解这个词的意思是“重新聚集在一起”。心烦意乱的丈夫想要与离开他的妻子和解；忧心忡忡的母亲渴望与任性的女儿和解；失丧的罪人需要与上帝和好。罪是这个世界上最大的分隔符。从人类历史开始，它就一直在分裂人。当亚当和夏娃犯罪时，他们与上帝隔绝了。不久，他们的儿子彼此分开，该隐杀死了亚伯。地球充满了暴力（创世记 6:5-13），唯一的补救办法似乎是审判。但是，即使在洪水之后，人们仍然得罪上帝并彼此犯罪，甚至试图在没有上帝帮助的情况下建立自己的团结。结果是又一次审判，使列国分散，方言混乱。就在那时，上帝呼召亚伯拉罕，耶稣基督通过以色列国来到世上。正是他在十字架上的工作消除了犹太人与外邦人之间以及罪人与上帝之间的仇恨。

The enmity between Jews and Gentiles (vv. 13–15). God had put a difference between Jews and Gentiles so that His purposes in salvation might be accomplished. But once those purposes were accomplished, there was no more difference. In fact, it was His purpose that these differences be erased forever, and they are erased through the work of Christ in reconciliation.                             犹太人和外邦人之间的仇恨（13-15 节）。上帝在犹太人和外邦人之间做了区分，以便他拯救的目的可以实现。但是一旦这些目的实现了，就没有什么区别了。事实上，他的目的是永远消除这些差异，而它们通过基督在和好中的工作而消除。

It was this lesson that was so difficult for the early church to understand. For centuries, the Jews had been different from the Gentiles—in religion, dress, diet, and laws. Until Peter was sent to the Gentiles (Acts 10), the church had no problems. But with the salvation of the Gentiles on the same terms as the Jews, problems began to develop. The Jewish Christians reprimanded Peter for going to the Gentiles and eating with them (Acts 11), and representatives of the churches gathered for an important conference on the place of the Gentiles in the church (Acts 15). Must a Gentile become a Jew to become a Christian? Their conclusion was, “No! Jews and Gentiles are saved the same way— by faith in Jesus Christ.” The enmity was gone!                                                                       正是这个教训让早期教会难以理解。几个世纪以来，犹太人在宗教、服饰、饮食和法律方面都与外邦人不同。直到彼得被派往外邦人（使徒行传 10 章），教会才没有问题。但随着外邦人以与犹太人相同的条件得救，问题开始发展。犹太基督徒斥责彼得去外邦人那里与他们一起吃饭（使徒行传 11 章），并且教会的代表们聚集在一个重要的会议上，讨论外邦人在教会中的地位（使徒行传 15 章）。外邦人必须成为犹太人才能成为基督徒吗？他们的结论是，“不！犹太人和外邦人以同样的方式得救——因信耶稣基督。”仇恨消失了！

The cause of that enmity was the law, because the law made a definite distinction between Jews and Gentiles. The dietary laws reminded the Jews that God had put a difference between the clean and unclean (Lev. 11:44–47). But the Gentiles did not obey these laws; therefore they were unclean. Ezekiel the prophet reminded the priests that their task was to teach the Jews “the difference between the holy and the profane” (Ezek. 44:23). The divine ordinances given by God to Israel stood as a wall between the Jews and the other nations. In fact, there was a wall in the Jewish temple, separating the court of the Gentiles from the rest of the temple areas. Archeologists have discovered the inscription from Herod’s temple, and it reads like this:                                         這種敵意的原因是法律，因為法律對猶太人和外邦人做出了明確的區分。飲食法提醒猶太人，上帝已區分潔淨與不潔淨（利11：44-47）。但外邦人並沒有遵守這些律法；因此他們是不潔淨的。先知以西結提醒祭司們，他們的任務是教導猶太人「聖潔與世俗的區別」（以西結書 44:23）。神賜給以色列的神聖法令就像一道牆，隔離在猶太人和其他國家之間。事實上，猶太聖殿裡有一堵牆，將外邦人的庭院與聖殿的其他區域分開。考古學家發現了希律神殿的銘文，內容如下：

No foreigner may enter within the barricade which surrounds the sanctuary and enclosure. Anyone who is caught doing so will have himself to blame for his ensuing death.                             任何外國人不得進入聖堂和圍牆周圍的路障。任何被發現這樣做的人都將為自己隨後的死亡負責。

It was this wall that the Jews thought Paul and his Gentile friends crossed when the Jews attacked him in the temple and threatened to kill him (Acts 21:28–31).                                                             當猶太人在聖殿裡攻擊保羅並威脅要殺死他時，猶太人認為保羅和他的外邦朋友正是越過了這堵牆（使    21：28-31）。

In order for Jews and Gentiles to be reconciled, this wall had to be destroyed, and this Jesus did on the cross. The cost of destroying the enmity was the blood of Christ. When He died, the veil in the temple was liter[1]ally torn in two, and the wall of separation (figuratively) was torn down. By fulfilling the demands of the law in His righteous life, and by bearing the curse of the law in His sacrificial death (Gal. 3:10–13), Jesus removed the legal barrier that separated Jew from Gentile. For centuries, there was a difference between them. But today, “there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:12–13).                                               為了讓猶太人和外邦人和解，這堵牆必須被摧毀，耶穌在十字架上做到了這一點。消滅敵意的代價是基督的寶血。當他死時，聖殿裡的幔子[1]實際上被撕成兩半，隔離牆（象徵性的）也被推倒了。耶穌以公義的生活履行了律法的要求，並以犧牲的死亡承受了律法的咒詛（加拉太書 3:10-13），從而消除了分隔猶太人和外邦人的法律障礙。幾個世紀以來，他們之間一直存在著差異。但今天，「猶太人和希臘人之間沒有區別。因為萬有同一個主對所有呼求祂的人都是豐富的。因為凡求告主名的就必得救」（羅 10:12-13）。

In Jesus Christ, Jew and Gentile become one. “He is our peace” (Eph. 2:14). Through Christ, the far-off Gentile is made nigh (Eph. 2:13, 17), and both Jew and Gentile are made one. The consequences of Christ’s work are, then, the destroying of the enmity by the abolishing of the law, and the creating of a new man—the church, the body of Christ. The word abolish simply means “to nullify.” The law no longer holds sway over either Jew or Gentile, since in Christ believers are not under law but under grace. The righteousness of the law, revealing God’s holiness, is still God’s standard. But this is fulfilled in the believer by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:1–4). It took the early church a long time to get accustomed to “there is no difference!” In fact, some religious groups have not learned the lesson yet, for they are trying to get Christians back under law (Gal. 4:8–11; 5:1; Col. 2:13–23).                                                                                                                        在耶穌基督裡，猶太人和外邦人合而為一。 「祂是我們的和平」（弗 2:14）。藉著基督，遙遠的外邦人得以近了（弗 2:13, 17），猶太人和外邦人合而為一。那麼，基督工作的結果就是透過廢除律法來消滅敵意，並創造一個新人－教會，基督的身體。廢除這個字的意思就是「廢除」。律法不再統治猶太人或外邦人，因為在基督裡信徒不在律法之下，而是在恩典之下。律法的義彰顯神的聖潔，仍是神的標準。但這是透過聖靈在信徒身上實現的（羅馬書8：1-4）。早期教會花了很長時間才習慣“沒有區別！”事實上，有些宗教團體還沒有學到教訓，因為他們正試圖讓基督徒重新受律法約束（加    4:8-11；5:1；西    2:13-23）。

A man stopped in my office one day and said he wanted to get help. “My wife and I need a re-cancellation!” he blurted out. I knew he meant “reconciliation.” But in one sense, “re-cancellation” was the right word. They had sinned against each other (and the Lord), and there could be no harmony until those sins were cancelled. A God of love wants to reconcile the sinner to Himself, but a God of holiness must see to it that sin is judged. God solved the problem by sending His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins, thereby revealing His love and meeting the demands of His righteousness. It was truly a “re-cancellation” (see Col. 2:13–14).                                                      有一天，一名男子來到我的辦公室，說他想尋求幫助。 “我和我的妻子需要重新取消！”他脫口而出。我知道他的意思是「和解」。但從某種意義上說，「重新取消」這個詞是正確的。他們彼此（以及主）犯了罪，除非這些罪被取消，否則不可能有和諧。慈愛的神想要使罪人與祂和好，但聖潔的神必須確保罪受審判。神解決了這個問題，派祂的兒子為我們的罪獻祭，從而彰顯祂的愛並滿足祂公義的要求。這確實是一次「重新取消」（參考西 2：13-14）。

Christ “is our peace” (Eph. 2:14) and He made “peace” (Eph. 2:15). That verb to make in Ephesians 2:15 means “to create.” The church, the body of Christ, is God’s new creation (2 Cor. 5:15). Everything in the old creation is falling apart because of sin, but in the new creation there is unity because of righteousness. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28). You may contrast the old position of the Gentiles with their new position and see how wonderfully Christ worked on their behalf on the cross:                                                                                                                           基督“是我们的和平”（弗 2:14），他创造了“和平”（弗 2:15）。以弗所书 2:15 中的动词 to make 的意思是“创造”。教会，基督的身体，是上帝的新创造（林後 5:15）。旧造中的一切都因罪而分崩离析，但在新造中因公义而合一。 “没有犹太人，也没有希腊人，没有捆绑，也没有自由，也没有男性和女性：因为你们在基督耶稣里都成为一了”（加拉太书 3:28）。你可以将外邦人的旧立场与他们的新立场进行对比，看看基督在十字架上为他们做了多么奇妙的工作：

             Old  Position                                      New Position                                                                                     旧职位                                                新职位                                                      

             “without Christ”                               “in Christ” (Eph.  2:13)                                                                 “没有基督”                                                               “在基督里”（弗 2:13）

            “aliens”                                              “a holy nation” ( 1 Peter 2:9)                                                       “外邦人”                                                                      “圣洁的国度”（彼前 2:9）

      

            “stranger”                                          “no more strangers” (Eph.  2:19)                                               “ 外人”                                                                              “不再作外人”（弗 2:19）

                

            “no hope”                                          “called in one hope” (Eph.  4:4)                                                      “没有指望”                                                          “只求一个指望”（弗 4:4）                                   

            “without  God”                                “The God and Father of our                                                         “没有上帝”                                                                “我们的上帝和父亲

             (Eph.  2:12)                                       Load Jesus Christ” (Eph.  1:3)                                                     （弗 2:12）                                                                        加载耶稣基督”（弗 1:3）

           The enmty between sinners and God (vv. 16–18). Not only did the Gentiles need to be reconciled to the Jews, but both the Jews and the Gentiles needed to be reconciled to God! This was the conclusion the apostles came to at the Jerusalem Conference recorded in Acts 15. Peter said that God “put no difference between us [Jews] and them [Gentiles], purifying their hearts by faith.… But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Acts 15:9, 11). It was not a question of the Gentile becoming a Jew to become a Christian, but the Jew admitting he was a sinner like the Gentile. “For there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:22–23). The same law that separated Gentile and Jew also separated men and God, and Christ bore the curse of the law.                                                     罪人与上帝之间的仇恨（16-18 节）。不仅外邦人需要与犹太人和好，犹太人和外邦人都需要与神和好！这是使徒们在使徒行传第 15 章记载的耶路撒冷会议上得出的结论。彼得说上帝“不加分别我们[犹太人]和他们[外邦人]，凭着信心洁净他们的心……但我们相信，是借着恩典”我们因主耶稣基督而得救，正如他们一样”（使徒行传 15：9、11）。成为基督徒不是外邦人成为犹太人的问题，而是犹太人承认自己和外邦人一样是罪人。 “因为并没有分别，因为世人都犯了罪，亏缺了上帝的荣耀”（罗马书 3:22-23）。将外邦人和犹太人分开的同一律法也将人

A man stopped in my office one day and said he wanted to get help. “My wife and I need a re-cancellation!” he blurted out. I knew he meant “reconciliation.” But in one sense, “re-cancellation” was the right word. They had sinned against each other (and the Lord), and there could be no harmony until those sins were cancelled. A God of love wants to reconcile the sinner to Himself, but a God of holiness must see to it that sin is judged. God solved the problem by sending His Son to be the sacrifice for our sins, thereby revealing His love and meeting the demands of His righteousness. It was truly a “re-cancellation” (see Col. 2:13–14).                                                       有一天，一位男士在我的办公室停下来，说他想寻求帮助。 “我和我的妻子需要重新取消！”他脱口而出。我知道他的意思是“和解”。但从某种意义上说，“重新取消”是正确的词。他们彼此（和主）得罪，除非这些罪被取消，否则不可能有和谐。仁爱的上帝想要使罪人与自己和好，但圣洁的上帝必须确保罪受到审判。神通过差遣他的儿子为我们的罪作祭来解决了这个问题，从而彰显了他的爱，满足了他公义的要求。这确实是一次“重新取消”（见西 2：13-14）。

Jesus Christ “is our peace” (Eph. 2:14). He “made peace” (Eph. 2:15), and He “preached peace” (Eph. 2:17). As the Judge, He could have come to declare war. But in His grace, He came with the message of peace (Luke 2:8–14; 4:16–19). Jew and Gentile are at peace with each other in Christ, and both have open access to God (Rom. 5:1–2). This reminds us of the rent veil at the time of Christ’s death (Matt. 27:50–51; Heb. 10:14–25). Reconciliation is complete!                                     耶稣基督“是我们的平安”（弗 2:14）。他“创造和平”（以弗所书 2:15），并“传讲和平”（以弗所书 2:17）。作为审判者，他本可以来宣战。但在他的恩典中，他带着和平的信息而来（路加福音 2：8-14；4：16-19）。犹太人和外邦人在基督里彼此和好，并且都可以敞开地接近上帝（罗马书 5：1-2）。这让我们想起基督受死时裂开的幔子（马太福音 27:50-51；希伯来书 10:14-25）。和解完成！