840 英翻中 (540) BORN FREE! 生來自由！ 3/9/2024

 840 英翻中 (540)                 BORN FREE!                                生來自由！                       3/9/2024            

CHAPTER TWO                              BORN FREE!                                     Galatians 1:11–24              第二課                                                生來自由！                                         加拉太書1：11–24

Who would be a man must be a nonconformist.”  So wrote Emerson, and many a thinker agrees with him.                                                                                                                                                    愛默生如此寫道， “成為男人者，肯定是不守成規的人。” 許多思想家都同意他的觀點。

The English art critic John Ruskin said, “I fear uniformity. You cannot manufacture great men any more than you can manufacture                                                                                                      英國藝術評論家約翰·魯斯金（John Ruskin）說， “我害怕一樣。你製造不出偉大的人，比製造黃金更相同。”

The German philosopher Schopenhauer wrote, “We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.”                                                                                                                                德國哲學家叔本華寫道，“為了跟別人一樣，我們捨棄了四分之三的自己。”

Francis Asbury, first bishop of the Methodist Church in the United States, once prayed at a deacon ordination, “O Lord, grant that these brethren may never want to be like other people.”  美國衛理公會教堂的首任主教弗朗西斯 · 阿斯伯里（Francis Asbury）曾經在執事會上祈禱說，“主啊，請允許這些弟兄們永遠都不想像別人一樣。”

Of course, there is a wrong kind of individualism that destroys instead of fulfills; but in a society accustomed to interchanging parts, it is good to meet a man like Paul, who dared to be himself in the will of God.  But his freedom in Christ was a threat to those who found safety in conformity.當然，存在一種錯誤的個人主義，它破壞而不是實現。但是在一個習慣於交換零件的社會中，遇見像保羅這樣敢於成為上帝旨意的人是一件好事。但是他在基督裡的自由對那些找到合規的人構成了威脅。

Paul’s enemies pointed to his nonconformity as proof that his message and ministry were not really of God. “He claims to be an apostle,” they argued, “but he does not stand in the apostolic tradition.” It is this misrepresentation that Paul answered in this section of Galatians. His nonconformity was divinely deliberate. God had chosen to reveal Himself in a different way to Paul.                                                                                                                                                          保羅的敵人指出他的不合條規之處，證明他的信息和傳道不是真正的有關上帝。他們爭辯說，“他聲稱自己是使徒，但他並不站在使徒傳統中。”  保羅在加拉太書的這一部分回答了這種錯誤的陳述。他的不合情理是故意的。上帝選擇保羅是以不同的方式來彰顯自己。

In Galatians 1:11–12, Paul stated his theme: His message and ministry are of divine origin. He did not invent the gospel, nor did he receive it from men; but he received the gospel from Jesus Christ. Both his message and his apostolic ministry were divinely given. Therefore, anybody who added anything to Paul’s gospel was in danger of divine judgment, because that gospel was given by Jesus Christ from heaven (1 Cor. 15:1–11).                                                                                     保羅在加拉太書1章11-12等節中陳述了他的主題：他的信息和事工是神聖的。他沒有發明福音，也沒有從別人那裡得到福音，他是從耶穌基督那裡親自得到這福音。他的信息和使徒事奉都得到了神聖的傳達。因此，任何在保羅的福音中添加任何內容的人，都有受神聖審判的危險，因為那福音是耶穌基督從天上賜予的（林前  15：1-11）。

The best way for Paul to prove his point was to reach into his past and remind the Galatian Christians of the way God had dealt with him. Paul stated that his past life was already known to his readers (Gal. 1:13),  but it was obvious that they did not fully understand what those experiences meant. So, Paul flashed on the screen three pictures from his past as evidence that his apostleship and his gospel were truly of God.                                                                                       保羅證明自己觀點的最好方法是以他的過去，及提醒加拉太信徒上帝對待他的方式。保羅說，他的前世已經為他的讀者所了解（加  1:13），但是很明顯，他們並不完全了解這些經歷的含義。因此，保羅在屏幕上閃現了他過去的三張照片，以證明他的使徒身份和福音確實是由上帝那兒來的。

1. The Persecutor (1:13–14)                                                                                                                      1. 迫害者（1：13–14） 

Paul began with his past conduct as an unconverted Jewish rabbi. (For a vivid account of these years from Paul’s own lips, read Acts 22 and 26, as well as Acts 9.) In this historical flashback, Paul pointed out his relationship to the church (Gal. 1:13) and to the religion of the Jews (Gal. 1:14). He was persecuting the church and profiting and progressing in the Jewish religion. Everything was going his way, and he was rapidly being recognized as a spiritual leader in Israel.保羅以他過去作為一個未悔改的猶太拉比的行為開始。 （為生動描述這些年來保羅的口吻，請讀使徒行傳22和26兩章以及使徒行傳9章。）在這一段歷史性的述敘中，保羅指出了他與教會（加  1:13）和宗教的關係猶太人（加  1:14）。他在迫害教會，並在猶太宗教中獲利和高昇。萬事如意，他迅速成為以色列的屬靈領袖。

It is interesting to note the words that are used to describe Paul’s activities when he was “Saul of Tarsus” persecuting the church. He “consented” to the murder of Stephen (see Acts 8:1), and then proceeded to “make havoc of the church” (see Acts 8:3) by breaking up families and putting believers in prison. The very atmosphere that he breathed was “threatening and slaughter” (Acts 9:1). So bent on destroying the church was Paul that he voted to kill the believers (Acts 22:4–5; 26:9–11). He mentioned these facts in his letters (1 Cor. 15:9; Phil. 3:6; 1 Tim. 1:13), marveling that God could save such a sinner as he.                                                                                               有趣的是，這些詞語用來形容保羅在 “大數的掃羅” 生命中逼迫教會時的活動。他 “同意”司提反被謀殺（見  徒  8：1），然後通過破壞家庭和將信徒關進監獄來“破壞教會”（見徒 8：3）。他呼吸的氣氛是“威脅和宰殺”（徒 9：1）。保羅如此專心於毀滅教會，以至於他投票殺死了信徒（徒 22：4-5； 26：9-11）。他在信中提到了這些事實（林前  15：9；腓 3：6； 提前  1：13），驚嘆上帝可以拯救像他這樣的罪人。

Paul actually thought that Jesus was an impostor and His message of salvation a lie. He was sure that God had spoken through Moses, but how could he besure that God had spoken through Jesus of Nazareth? Steeped in Jewish tradition, young Saul of Tarsus championed his faith. His reputation as a zealous persecutor of “the sect of the Nazarenes” became known far and wide (see Acts 9:13–14). Everybody knew that this brilliant student of Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3) was well on his way to becoming an influential leader of the Jewish faith. His personal religious life, his scholarship (Acts 26:24), and his zeal in opposing alien religious faiths all combined to make him the most respected young rabbi of his day.                                                                                           保羅實際上以為耶穌是冒名頂替者，而祂的救恩信息則是謊言。他確定上帝是通過摩西來傳講的，但是他如何確定上帝是通過拿撒勒人耶穌傳講的呢？ 年輕的大數（Tarsus）年輕的信仰猶太傳統宗教者，擁護他的信仰。他作為 “拿撒勒教派”的熱心迫害者的聲譽已廣為人知（見  徒  9：13-14）。每個人都知道，這位拉比·加瑪列（Rabbi Gamaliel）的才華橫溢的學生（徒  22：3）在成為有影響力的猶太信仰領袖的道路上步入正軌。他的個人宗教生活，學術成就（徒  26:24）以及他對反對外來宗教信仰的熱忱使他成為當時最受尊敬的年輕拉比。

Then something happened: Saul of Tarsus, the persecutor of the church, became Paul the apostle, the preacher of the gospel. This change was not gradual; it happened suddenly and without warning (Acts 9:1–9). Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians; a few days later he was in Damascus preaching to the Jews that the Christians are right. How could the Judaizers explain this sudden transformation?                                                                                     然後發生了一些事情：教會的迫害者塔爾蘇爾（Saul of Tarsus）成為使徒保羅，福音的傳道人。這種變化不是漸進的。它突然發生，沒有任何警告（徒  9：1-9）。掃羅在去大馬士革的路上逼迫基督徒。幾天后，他在大馬士革向猶太人宣講基督徒是對的。猶太人如何解釋這種突然的轉變？

Was Saul’s remarkable “about-face” caused by his own people, the Jews? Unthinkable! The Jews were  encouraging Saul in his program of persecution, and his conversion was an embarrassment to them.                                                                                                                                                     掃羅的非凡的  “面子”  是由他自己的人民猶太人引起的嗎？不可思議！猶太人在掃羅的逼迫中鼓勵了掃羅，他的悔改信基督，對猶太人來說是一個尷尬。

Was Saul’s change caused by the Christians he was persecuting? Certainly the believers prayed for him, and no doubt the death of Stephen—and especially the glorious testimony he had given—affected Paul deeply (Acts 22:19–20). But the Christians ran from Paul (Acts 8:1, 4; 9:10–16), and, as far as we know, they had no idea that the young rabbi would ever become a Christian.     掃羅的改變是由他所迫害的基督徒引起的嗎？ 當然，信徒們為他祈禱，毫無疑問，司提反的去世 —— 尤其是他所提供的榮耀上帝的見證 —— 深深地影響了保羅（徒  22：19-20）。但是基督徒是從保羅那裡逃出來的（徒  8：1、4； 9：10-16），據我們所知，他們不知道年輕的拉比會成為基督徒。

But if the amazing change in Paul was not caused by the Jews or the church, then who caused it? It had to have come from God!                                                                                                          但是，如果保羅的驚人變化不是猶太人或教堂造成的，那是誰造成的呢？ 必須來自上帝！

No matter how you look at it, the conversion of Paul was a spiritual miracle. It was humanly impossible for Rabbi Saul to become the apostle Paul apart from the miracle of God’s grace. And the same God who saved Paul also called him to be an apostle, and gave him the message of the gospel. For the Judaizers to deny Paul’s apostleship and gospel was the same as denying his conversion! Certainly Paul was preaching the same message that he himself had believed—the truth that had changed him. But no mere human message could effect such a change. Paul’s argument was conclusive: His past conduct as a persecutor of the church plus the dramatic change that he experienced proved that his message and ministry were from God.                            無論怎麼看，保羅的信靠基督却是屬靈上的奇蹟。除了上帝的恩典的奇蹟以外，拉比掃羅成為人類的使徒保羅是不可能的。救了保羅的那位上帝也叫他成為使徒，並把傳福音的信息的職事委託他。要讓猶太人否認保羅的使徒身份，和福音就等於否認他的悔改信耶穌基督！當然，保羅在傳講他自己曾經相信過的同樣的信息 —— 改變了他的真理。但是，沒有任何人的信息可以實現這種改變。保羅的論斷是結論性的：他過去作為教會的迫害者的舉止，加上他經歷的戲劇性變化，證明了他的信息和傳道是來自上帝的。

2.  The Believer (1:15–16b, 24)                                                                                                                    2.  信徒（1：15–16b，24）

Having discussed his past character and conduct, Paul went on to explain his conversion; for, after all, this was the crucial thing in his life. “What I preach to others, I have experienced myself,” he was saying to his accusers. “This is the true gospel. Any other gospel is ounterfeit.” In these verses Paul explained the characteristics of his conversion experience.                                    在討論了他過去的性格和舉止之後，保羅繼續解釋了他的悔改信基督。畢竟，這是他一生中至關重要的事情。 他對控告者說，“我向別人宣講的東西，我自己經歷了，這是真正的福音。其他福音都是假的。”  保羅在這些經文中解釋了他悔改經歷的特徵。

God did it (vv. 15a, 16a). “It pleased God … to reveal His Son in me.” Whenever Paul spoke or wrote about his conversion, it was always with emphasis on the fact that God did the work. “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9).                                                                                                    上帝做到了（15，16兩節的前半段）。 “使上帝喜悅……將祂的兒子顯露在我體內。” 每當保羅講或寫關於他悔改的事時，總是著重於上帝所做的作為。 “救恩是主的”（拿  2：9）。

God did it by grace (v. 15b). Paul’s experience reminds us of young Jeremiah (Jer. 1:4–10) and also of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5–17). Salvation is by God’s grace, not man’s efforts or character. Grace and called (Gal. 1:15b) go together, for whomever God chooses in His grace He calls through His Word (1 Thess. 1:4–5). The mysteries of God’s sovereign will and man’s responsibility to obey are not fully revealed to us. We do know that God is “not willing that any should perish” (2 Peter 3:9), and that those who do trust Christ discover they have been “chosen … in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).                                                                   上帝藉著恩典做到了（15節下半段）。保羅的經歷使我們想起了年輕的耶利米（耶 1：4-10）和施洗約翰（路  1：5-17）。得救是靠上帝的恩典，而不是人為的努力或他的品格。恩典和呼召是一起發生的（加  1：15節下半段），因為上帝揀選祂要賜予恩典的人，都通過他的話語呼召（帖前  1：4-5）。上帝的主權和人遵守的回應，尚未完全向我們揭示。我們確實知道上帝 “不願任何人滅亡”（彼前  2：3），而那些信靠基督的人發現自己已經  “……在世界建立之前就被揀選了……”（弗  1： 4）。

God did it through Christ (v. 16a). In another letter Paul makes it clear that he had plenty to boast about when he was an unconverted man (Phil. 3). He had religion and self-righteousness, as well as reputation and recognition; but he did not have Christ! When, on the Damascus Road, Paul saw his own self-righteous rags contrasted to the righteousness of Christ, he realized what he was missing. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ” (Phil. 3:7).           上帝是通過基督成就的（16節前半段）。 保羅在另一封信中清楚地表明，當他是一個未悔改的人時，他有很多值得誇耀的地方（腓 3章）。 他有宗教信仰和自以為是，並享有聲譽和認可。 但他沒有基督！ 當保羅行在大馬士革路上，看到自己的自以為是的破布與基督的正義相對照時，他意識到自己所有的多麼渺小。 “但是凡以前我認為與我有益的，我現在因基督都當作有損的”（腓  3：7）。

God revealed Christ to Paul, in Paul, and through Paul. The “Jews’ religion” (Gal. 1:14) had been an experience of outward rituals and practices; but faith in Christ brought about an inward experience of reality with the Lord. This “inwardness” of Christ was a majortruth with Paul (Gal. 2:20; 4:19).                                                                                                                                      上帝通過保羅，向保羅啟示了基督。 “猶太人的宗教”（加  1:14）是一種外在儀式和習俗的經歷的宗教。 但是對基督的信仰是帶來了與主內住的實存的主觀經歷。 基督的這種“內住” 是保羅的主要真理（加  2:20; 4:19）。

God did it for His glory (v. 24). As a fanatical rabbi, Paul had all the glory a man could want; but what he was doing did not glorify God. Man was created to glorify God (Isa. 43:7), and man is saved to glorify God (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Bringing glory to God was ever a compelling motive in Paul’s life and ministry (Rom. 11:36; 16:27; 1 Cor. 10:31; Eph. 1:6; 3:20–21; Phil. 4:20). The Judaizers were interested in their own glory (Gal. 6:11–18). That is why they were stealing Paul’s converts and leading them astray. If Paul had been interested in glorifying himself, he could have remained a Jewish rabbi and perhaps become Gamaliel’s successor. But it was the glory of God that motivated Paul, and this ought to motivate our lives as well.                                                      上帝为了祂的荣耀有所作為（第24节）。作为狂热分子拉比保罗，拥有人可能想要的所有荣耀;  但他所做的并没有荣耀上帝。人的创造是為了要荣耀上帝（赛  43：7），所以人的得救是為了荣耀上帝（林前  6：19-20）。在保罗的生平和事工中，把荣耀歸给上帝，一直是引人注目的动机（罗  11:36; 16:27;  林前  10:31;  弗  1：6; 3：20-21; 腓 4:20）。犹太律法師对他们自己的荣耀感兴趣（加  6：11-18）。这就是他们偷东西的原因，及偷取保罗帶領信主的信徒，并引导他们误入歧途。如果保罗仍對他荣耀感兴趣，倒頭來仍然是犹太人的拉比，也许成为迦玛列的继任者。但这是上帝的荣耀鼓励保罗，同時也是激励我们自己的生活。

When Charles Haddon Spurgeon was a young preacher, his father, the Rev. John Spurgeon, suggested that Charles go to college to gain prominence. It was arranged for him to meet Dr. Joseph Angus, the principal of Stepney College, London. They were to meet at Mr. Macmillan’s home in Cambridge, and Spurgeon was there at the appointed hour. He waited for two hours, but the learned doctor never appeared. When Spurgeon finally inquired about the man, he discovered that Dr. Angus had been waiting in another room and, because of another appointment, had already departed. Disappointed, Spurgeon left for a preaching engagement. While he was walking along, he heard a voice clearly say to him, “Seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not!” (see Jer. 45:5). From that moment, Spurgeon determined to do the will of God for the glory of God; and God blessed him in an exceptional way.                                                                                  当司布真还是年轻的传道人，他的父亲，约翰司布真牧师，建议他的兒子上大学，以获得突出地位。如是安排他的兒子去见伦敦斯蒂芬学院校长约瑟夫安格斯博士在Macmillan先生在剑桥的家和司布真指定的时间见面。司布貞等了約两小时，但博学的博士校長从未出现过。什么时候他发现，司布真最终询问了那个人安格斯博士一直在另一个房间等，并且，由于另一次约会，已经离去。失望，司布真离开去讲道。当他走路时，他听到了声音清楚地对他说，“你要找你自己的偉大的东西？不要去求他们！“（见  耶  45：5）。从那一刻開始，司布真决心遵照上帝的旨意，为了上帝的荣耀;上帝赐予他特殊講道方法的祝福。

Paul has pictured himself as a persecutor, and has reviewed his character and conduct. He has also pictured himself as a believer, reviewing his conversion. He now presents a third picture.      罗把自己描绘成迫害者，并且已经回顾了他的性格和行为。他还想象过他自己是信徒，回顾他的转变。他现在提出第三张照片。