801 英翻中 (501) Jesus is the way, the truth, and life. 耶穌是惟一的道路, 絕對的真理, 和這生命. 17/7/2024 19/07/2024

801 英翻中 (501) Jesus is the way, the truth, and life. 耶穌是惟一的道路, 絕對的真理, 和這生命.    17/7/2024      

CHAPTER FIVE                      THE GREAT PEACE MISSION               Ephesians 2:11–22             第五課                                           伟大的和平使命                                                                             以弗所书 2:11-22  

"Peace in our time! Peace with honor!”                                                                                                    "我们时代的和平！和平与荣誉！”

Some of us still remember those words of British Prime Minister, Sir Neville Chamberlain, when he returned from conferences in Germany in September 1938. He was sure that he had stopped Adolf Hitler. Yet one year later, Hitler invaded Poland, and on September 3, 1939, Great Britain declared war on Germany. Chamberlain’s great peace mission had failed.                                        我们中的一些人还记得英国首相内维尔·张伯伦(Neville Chamberlain)爵士 1938 年 9 月从德国会议归来时所说的话。他确信自己阻止了阿道夫·希特勒。然而一年后，希特勒入侵波兰，1939 年 9 月 3 日，英国向德国宣战。张伯伦伟大的和平使命失败了。

It seems that most peace missions fail. I read somewhere that from 1500 BC. to AD 850 there were 7,500 “eternal covenants” agreed on among various nations with the hope of bringing peace, but that no covenant lasted longer than two years. The only “eternal covenant” that has lasted—and that will last—is the one made by the eternal God, sealed by the blood of Jesus Christ. It is Christ’s peace mission that Paul explained in this section, and three very important words summarize this great work: separation, reconciliation, and unification.                                            似乎大多数和平任务都失败了。我从公元前 1500 年在某处读到过。到公元 850 年，为了带来和平，各个国家之间达成了 7,500 个“永恒的盟约”，但没有一个盟约持续时间超过两年。唯一持久的“永恒之约”是永恒的上帝所立的，并以耶稣基督的宝血为印记。保罗在这一部分解释了基督的和平使命，三个非常重要的词概括了这项伟大的工作：分离、和好和合一。

1.  Separation: What the Gentiles Were ?(2:11–12)                                                                                  1. 分离：外邦人是什么?（2:11-12）

In the first ten verses of Ephesians 2, Paul discussed the salvation of sinners in general, but now he turned to the work of Christ for Gentiles in particular. Most of the converts in the Ephesian church were Gentiles, and they knew that much of God’s program in the Old Testament involved the Jews. For centuries, the “circumcision” (Jews) had looked down on the “uncircumcision” (Gentiles) with an attitude that God had never intended them to display. The fact that a Jew had received the physical mark of the covenant was no proof he was a man of faith (Rom. 2:25–29; Gal. 5:6; 6:15). Those who have trusted Christ have received a spiritual circumcision “made without hands” (Col. 2:11).                                                                                                                      在以弗所书 2 的前十节，保罗大体讨论了罪人的救恩，但现在他特别转向基督为外邦人所做的工作。以弗所教会的大多数的信徒都是外邦人，他们知道旧约中上帝的大部分计划都涉及犹太人。几个世纪以来，“受割礼的人”（犹太人）一直以上帝从未希望他们表现出的态度轻视“未受割礼的人”（外邦人）。犹太人接受了盟约的物质标记，这一事实并不能证明他是一个有信心的人（罗    2:25-29；加  5:6；6:15）。那些相信基督的人已经接受了“非人手”的属灵割礼（西 2:11）。

But since the hour that God called Abraham, God made a difference between Jews and Gentiles. He made this difference, not that the Jews might boast, but that they might be a blessing and a help to the Gentiles. God set them apart that He might use them to be a channel of His revelation and goodness to the heathen nations. Sad to say, Israel kept this difference nationally and ritually, but not morally. Israel became like the lost nations around her. For this reason, God often had to discipline the Jews because they would not maintain their spiritual separation and minister to the nations in the name of the true God.                                                                                                      但是自从上帝呼召亚伯拉罕的那一刻起，祂就在犹太人和外邦人之间做出了区分。祂使他們不同，不是为了犹太人可以自夸，而是为了他们可以成为外邦人的祝福和帮助。上帝将他们分别出来，以便祂可以使用他们作为向异教国家传达祂的启示和良善的渠道。可悲的是，以色列保持这种差异在国内和仪式，但没有道德。以色列变得像她周围失落的国家一样。出于这个原因，上帝经常不得不管教犹太人，因为他们不会以真上帝的名义保持他们的靈性的分离，并为列国服务。

The one word that best describes the Gentiles is without. They were “outside” in several respects.最能描述外邦人的一句話是  “没有他們”。從多方面看他们都是“外来者”。

Without Christ. The Ephesians worshipped the goddess Diana and, before the coming of the gospel, knew nothing about Christ. Those who claim that pagan religions are just as acceptable to God as the Christian faith will have a problem here, for Paul cites the Ephesians’ Christless state as a definite tragedy. But then, keep in mind that every unsaved person, Jew or Gentile, is “outside Christ,” and that means condemnation.                                                                                  没有基督。以弗所人崇拜戴安娜女神，在福音到来之前，他们对基督一无所知。那些声称异教与基督教一样为上帝所接受的人在这里会有问题，因为保罗引用以弗所人没有基督的心态是非常明确的悲剧。但是，请记住，每个未得救的人，无论是犹太人还是外邦人，都“在基督之外”，这意味着定罪。

Without citizenship. God called the Jews and built them into a nation. He gave them His laws and His blessings. A Gentile could enter the nation as a proselyte, but he was not born into that very special nation. Israel was God’s nation, in a way that was not true of any Gentile nation.              没有公民身份。上帝呼召犹太人，把他们建立成国家。祂赐给他们祂的律法和祝福。外邦人可以作为传教士进入这个国家，但他不是出生在那个非常特殊的国家。以色列是上帝的国家，在某种程度上，任何外邦国家都不是这样。

Without covenants. While the blessing of the Gentiles is included in God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen. 12:1–3), God did not make any covenants with the Gentile nations. The Gentiles were “aliens” and “strangers”—and the Jews never let them forget it. Many of the Pharisees would pray daily, “O God, I give thanks that I am a Jew, not a Gentile.”                                          无盟约。虽然外邦人的祝福包含在上帝与亚伯拉罕的约中（创    12:1-3），但上帝并没有与外邦人立约。外邦人是“外星人”和“陌生人”— 犹太人从未让他们自己忘记这一点。许多法利赛人每天都会祈祷,“上帝啊，我感谢我是犹太人，不是外邦人。”

Without hope --- Historians tell us that a great cloud of hopelessness covered the ancient world. Philosophies were empty; traditions were disappearing; religions were powerless to help men face either life or death. People longed to pierce the veil and get some message of hope from the other side, but there was none (1 Thess. 4:13–18).                                                                                          没有希望   — 历史学家告诉我们，古代世界笼罩在一片绝望的乌云中。哲学是空洞的；传统正在消失；宗教无力帮助人们面对生或死。人们渴望揭开面纱，从另一边得到一些希望的信息，但没有（帖前    4:13-18）。

Without God. The heathen had gods aplenty, as Paul discovered in Athens (Acts 17:16–23). Someone in that day said that it was easier to find a god than a man in Athens. “There be gods many and lords many,” wrote Paul (1 Cor. 8:5). But the pagan, no matter how religious or moral he might have been, did not know the true God. The writer of Psalm 115 contrasted the true God with the idols of the heathen.                                                                                                                    没有上帝。正如保罗在雅典所发现的那样，异教徒有很多神（使    17：16-23）。当时有人说在雅典找神比找人容易。 保罗這樣描述,“神多，主多，”（林前  8:5）。但异教徒，无论他多么虔诚或道德，都不认识真神。诗篇 115 篇的作者将真神与异教徒的偶像进行了对比。

It is worth noting that the spiritual plight of the Gentiles was caused not by God but by their own willful sin. Paul said the Gentiles knew the true God but deliberately refused to honor Him (Rom. 1:18–23). Religious history is not a record of man starting with many gods (idolatry) and gradually discovering the one true God. Rather, it is the sad story of man knowing the truth about God and deliberately turning away from it! It is a story of devolution, not evolution! The first eleven chapters of Genesis give the story of the decline of the Gentiles, and from Genesis 12 on (the call of Abraham), it is the story of the Jews. God separated the Jews from the Gentiles that He might be able to save the Gentiles also. “Salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22).                      值得注意的是，外邦人的属灵困境不是由上帝造成的，而是由他们自己故意犯罪造成的。保罗说,    "外邦人认识真神，却故意拒绝荣耀祂." （罗    1:18-23）。宗教史并不是人类从多神（拜偶像）开始，逐渐发现独一真神的记录。更确切地说，这是人知道了关于上帝的真理而故意远离祂的悲惨故事！这是关于权力下放的故事，而不是演化的故事！创世记前十一章讲述了外邦人衰落的故事，从创世记十二章（亚伯拉罕的呼召）开始，就是犹太人的故事。上帝将犹太人与外邦人分开，以便祂也能拯救外邦人。 “救恩是為猶太人設立的” (約  4:22)。

God called the Jews, beginning with Abraham, that through them He might reveal Himself as the one true God. With the Jews He deposited His Word, and through the Jews He gave the world the Savior (Rom. 9:1–5). Israel was to be a light to the Gentiles that they too might be saved. But sad to say, Israel became like the Gentiles, and the light burned but dimly. This fact is a warning to the church today. When the church is least like the world, it does the most for the world.              上帝呼召犹太人，从亚伯拉罕开始，就是要借着他们显明祂(自己)是独一的真神。将祂的话语存放在犹太人身上，并通过犹太人将救主耶穌基督赐给了世界（罗    9:1-5）。以色列要成为外邦人的光，使他们也可以得救。但很可惜，以色列成为像外邦人和轻烧，但依稀。这个事实是对今天教会的警告。当教会最不像俗的世界时，教會为世界做的最多的事奉。