843 英翻中 (543) Act 1—The Private Consultation (2:1–2) 私下的协商. 6/9/2024

843 英翻中 (543) Act 1—The Private Consultation (2:1–2).   私下的协商. 6/9/2024

This, then, is the cast of characters. Acts 15 should be read along with Galatians 2:1–10 to get the full story of the event.                                                                                                                              这些角色就是參加會議的阵容。使徒行传15章，应与加拉太书2章1-10等節一起阅读，以了解事件的全部内容。

Act 1—The Private Consultation (2:1–2)                                                                                              第一幕 — 私下的协商（2：1-2）

Paul and Barnabas had returned to Antioch from their first missionary journey, excited about the way God had “opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27). But the Jewish legalists in Jerusalem were upset with their report; so they came to Antioch and taught, in effect, that a Gentile had to become a Jew before he could become a Christian (Acts 15:1).                                  保罗和巴拿巴从他们的第一次传教旅程回到安提阿，对上帝 “为外邦人敞开信心之门” 的方式感到兴奋(徒   14:27)，但耶路撒冷的犹太律法师对他们的报告感到不满; 所以他们来到安提阿，实际上教导外邦人在成为基督徒之前，必须先成为犹太人（徒   15：1）。

Circumcision, which they demanded of the Gentiles, was an important Jewish rite, handed down from the days of Abraham (Gen. 17). Submitting to circumcision meant accepting and obeying the whole Jewish law. Actually, the Jewish people had forgotten the inner, spiritual meaning of the rite (Deut. 10:16; Jer. 4:1–4; Rom. 2:25–29), just as some churches today have lost the spiritual meaning of baptism and have turned it into an external ritual. The true Christian has experienced an inner circumcision of the heart (Col. 2:10–11) and does not need to submit to any physical operation (Phil. 3:1–3).                                                                                                              猶太人要求外邦人行割礼是犹太律法的重要仪式，从亚伯拉罕时代传下来的（创   17）。接受割礼的意思是遵守整个犹太教的律法。实际上，犹太人已经忘记該仪式的内在和屬靈意义（申   10:16; 耶   4：1-4; 罗   2：25-29），正如今天的一些教会，已经失去了教会的屬靈的意义一样，把洗禮变成了外在的仪式。真正的基督徒经历了内心的割礼（西   2：10-11），不需要接受任何身体部分的割除（腓   3：1-3）。 

When Paul and Barnabas confronted these men with the truth of the gospel, the result was a heated argument (Acts 15:2). It was decided that the best place to settle the question was before the church leaders in Jerusalem. We should not think that this “Jerusalem Conference” was a representative meeting from all the churches, such as a denominational conference; it was not. Paul, Barnabas, Titus, and certain other men from Antioch represented the Gentile Christians who had been saved totally apart from Jewish law; but there were no representatives from the churches Paul had established in Gentile territory.                                                                              当保罗和巴拿巴用福音的真理面对猶太律法師时，结果是激烈的争论（徒   15：2）。决定解决问题的最佳地点是在耶路撒冷教会的领袖面前。我们不应该认为这次 “耶路撒冷大公会议” 是所有教会的代表性会议，例如，教派会议; 它不是。保罗，巴拿巴，提多和安提阿的其他一些人代表了完全脱离犹太律法的外邦基督徒; 但保罗在外邦人领土上建立的教会中没有代表。

When the deputation arrived in Jerusalem, they met privately with the church leaders. Paul did not go to Jerusalem because the church sent him; he “went up by revelation”—that is, the Lord sent him (compare Gal. 2:1 and 1:12). And the Lord gave him the wisdom to meet with the leaders first so that they would be able to present a united front at the public meetings.                当代表团抵达耶路撒冷时，他们私下会见了教会领袖。保罗不是因为教会的指派去耶路撒冷; 他是 “通过启示而上耶路撒冷” —— 也就是说，是主派他去的（比较  加2：1和1:12）。主赐给他智慧，先与领袖会面，以便他们能够在公开会议上意見一致。

 “Lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain” (Gal. 2:2) does not mean that Paul was unsure either of his message or his ministry. His conduct on the way to the conference indicates that he had no doubts (Acts 15:3). What he was concerned about was the future of the gospel among the Gentiles, because this was his specific ministry from Christ. If the “pillars” sided with the Judaizers, or tried to compromise, then Paul’s ministry would be in jeopardy. He wanted to get their approval before he faced the whole assembly; otherwise a three-way division could result.                                                                                                                                                       “惟恐我現在, 或是從前, 徒然奔跑”（加   2：2）并不是說保罗不确定他的信息或他的事工。他在前往会议途中的行为, 表明他毫不怀疑（徒   15：3）。他所关心的是外邦人福音的未来，因为这是他从基督那里得到的具体事工。如果 “支柱”  与犹太律法師站在一边，或试图妥协，那么保罗的事工就会处于危難之中。他想在面对整个集会之前, 得到他们的认同; 否则可能會导致三方面的分裂的結果。

What was the result of this private consultation? The apostles and elders approved Paul’s gospel. They added nothing to it (Gal. 2:6b) and thereby declared the Judaizers to be wrong. But this private meeting was only the beginning.                                                                                                私下咨询的结果是什么？使徒和长老们都认可保罗的福音。他们没有添加任何内容                    （加   2：6 節下半段），因此宣称犹太律法師是错的。但这私下会议只是大公會議的开始。

Act 2—The Public Convocation (2:3–5)                                                                                                第二幕 —— 公開討論（2：3-5）

The historical account of the Council of Jerusalem is recorded by Luke (Acts 15:6–21). Several witnesses  presented the case for the gospel of the grace of God, beginning with Peter (Acts 15:7–11). It was he who had been chosen by God to take the gospel to the Gentiles originally (Acts 10); and he reminded the assembly that God gave the Holy Spirit to the believing Gentiles just as He did to the Jews, so that there was “no difference.”                                                                                  路加福音记载耶路撒冷大公会议的历史记录（徒   15：6-21）。几位見證者从彼得开始，提出了关于上帝恩典福音的案例（徒   15：7-11）。是上帝选择将福音传给外邦人的人（徒    10 章）;  彼得提醒大会成員说，上帝将圣灵赐给外邦人的信徒，正如祂对犹太人所做的那样，所以  “没有区别。”

This had been a difficult lesson for the early Christians to learn, because for centuries there had been a difference between Jews and Gentiles (Lev. 11:43–47; 20:22–27). In His death on the cross, Jesus had broken down the barriers between Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:11–22), so that in Christ there are no racial differences (Gal. 3:28). In his speech to the conference, Peter made it clear that there is but one way of salvation: faith in Jesus Christ.                                                                          这对早期的基督徒来说是艰难的功課，因为几个世纪以来，在犹太人和外邦人之间有区别（利   11：43-47; 20：22-27）。當耶稣死在十字架上时，耶稣打破了犹太人与外邦人之间的隔阂（弗   2：11-22），因此在基督里没有种族差异（加   3:28）。彼得在会议的讲话中明确指出，只有一种救赎的方式：就是对耶稣基督的信心。

Then Paul and Barnabas told the assembly what God had done among the Gentiles (Acts 15:12), and what a “missionary report” that must have been! The “false brethren” who were there must have debated with Paul and Barnabas, but the two soldiers of the cross would not yield. Paul wanted the “truth of the gospel” to continue among the Gentiles (Gal. 2:5).                                      然后，保罗和巴拿巴告诉大会, 上帝在外邦人中所做的事（徒  15:12），以及必须有的 “宣教报告”！在那里的 “假弟兄” 必须与保罗和巴拿巴辩论，但衛護十字架的两名戰士沒有屈服。保罗希望在外邦人中继续 “福音的真理”（加   2：5）

It seems that Titus became a test case at this point. He was a Gentile Christian who had never submitted to circumcision. Yet it was clear to all that he was genuinely saved. Now, if the Judaizers were right (“Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved,” Acts 15:1), then Titus was not a saved man. But he was a saved man, and gave evidence of having the Holy Spirit; therefore, the Judaizers were wrong.                                                                          在这一点上，提多似乎成了试驗的案例。他是沒有受割礼的外邦基督徒。但很明显，他是真的得救了。现在，如果犹太律法師是對的（“你们要按照摩西的律法行割礼，否則你们不能得救”（徒   15：1），那么提多就不是得救的基督徒。但他是得救的人，并且证明他有圣灵;  因此，犹太律法師是错误的。

At this point, it might be helpful if we considered another associate of Paul—Timothy (see Acts 16:1–3). Was Paul being inconsistent by refusing to circumcise Titus, yet agreeing to circumcise Timothy? No, because two different issues were involved. In the case of Timothy, Paul was not submitting to Jewish law in order to win him to Christ. Timothy was part Jew, part Gentile, and his lack of circumcision would have hindered his ministry among the people of Israel. Titus was a full Gentile, and for him to have submitted would have indicated that he was missing something in his Christian experience. To have circumcised Titus would have been cowardice and compromise; not to have circumcised Timothy would have been to create unnecessary problems in his ministry.                                                                                                                                              在这点上，如果我们考虑保罗的另一位同伴 —— 提摩太（见  徒   16：1-3），對这點可能会有所帮助。保罗是堅決的拒绝提多受割礼，而又同意给提摩太行割礼，是矛盾吗？不，因为涉及两種不同的情況。在提多的情形下，保罗没有遵守犹太律法，却使提多赢得基督。提摩太是部分犹太人,  部分外邦人。 若沒有為他行割礼，会阻碍他在以色列人中传福音。提多是完完全全的外邦人，若為提多行割禮，就表明他在基督徒的经历中遗失了某些东西。為提多行割礼是怯懦和妥协;  若提摩太没有受过割礼，会在他的事工中制造不必要的麻煩问题。

James, the leader of the church, gave the summation of the arguments and the conclusion of the matter (Acts 15:13–21). As Jewish as he was, he made it clear that a Gentile does not have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian. God’s program for this day is to “take out of the Gentiles a people for His name.” Jews and Gentiles are saved the same way: through faith in Jesus Christ. James then asked that the assembly counsel the Gentiles to do nothing that would offend unbelieving Jews, lest they hinder them from being saved. Paul won the battle.                  教会领袖雅各总结了爭论和為大公會議作结论（徒   5：13-21）。作为犹太人的雅各，明确的表示外邦人不必要先成为犹太人，而後成为基督徒。上帝今日的计划是 “因祂的名得到外邦人。”  犹太人和外邦人以同样的方式得救：是通过对耶稣基督的信心。雅各然后要求大会劝告外邦人不要做任何冒犯及擾亂不信的犹太人的事，以免他们不能得救。保罗赢得了这场战斗。

His view prevailed in the private meeting when the leaders approved his gospel and in the public meeting when the group agreed with Paul and opposed the Judaizers.                                              当领导人同意保羅的福音时，和当小组在公开会议同意保罗，并反对犹太律法師時, 他的观点在私下会议中占了上风。

Echoes of the Jerusalem Conference are heard repeatedly in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. Paul mentioned the “yoke of bondage” (Gal. 5:1), reminding us of Peter’s similar warning (Acts 15:10). The themes of liberty and bondage are repeated often (Gal. 2:4; 4:3, 9, 21–31; 5:1), as is the idea of circumcision (Gal. 2:3; 5:3–4; 6:12–13).                                                                              耶路撒冷大公会议的影響, 常常在保罗给加拉太人的书信中反复的出現。保罗提到了“束缚的轭”（加   5：1），提醒我们彼得的类似警告（徒   15:10）。经常在考慮割礼的意念（加   2：3; 5：3-4; 6：12-13），重复述說自由和束缚的主题（加   2：4; 4：3,9,21-31; 5：1）。

Centuries later, today’s Christians need to appreciate afresh the courageous stand Paul and his associates took for the liberty of the gospel. Paul’s concern was “the truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:5, 14), not the “peace of the church.” The wisdom that God sends from above is “first pure, then peaceable” (James 3:17). “Peace at any price” was not Paul’s philosophy of ministry, nor should it be ours.                                                                                                                                                      几个世纪之后的今天，基督徒需要重新感謝保罗及其同伴为福音自由所采取的勇敢立场。保罗关心的是 “福音的真理”（加   2：5,14），而不是 “教会的平靜”。上帝从天上发出的智慧是 “先聖洁，然后平安”（雅   3:17） 。 “不惜任何代价去得到的和平” 不是保罗的事奉的哲学，也不应该是我们的。

Ever since Paul’s time, the enemies of grace have been trying to add something to the simple gospel of the grace of God. They tell us that a man is saved by faith in Christ plus something—good works, the Ten Commandments, baptism, church membership, religious ritual—and Paul made it clear that these teachers are wrong. In fact, Paul pronounced a curse on any person (man or angel) who preaches any other gospel than the gospel of the grace of God, centered in Jesus Christ (Gal. 1:6–9; see 1 Cor. 15:1–7 for a definition of the gospel). It is a serious thing to tamper with the gospel.                                                                                                                                          自从保罗时代以来，恩典的敌人，一直试图在上帝恩典的简单福音中添加一些东西。他们告诉我们，人因對基督的信心而得救，還要加上善行，十诫，洗礼，教会成员，宗教仪式 —— 保罗明确指出这些教师是错的。事实上，保罗对任何其他传福音的人（人或天使）, 不是以耶稣基督为中心的上帝恩典的福音者,  都诅咒他們（加   1：6-9; 见 林前   15：1- 7 对福音的定义）。篡改福音是一件严肃的事。

Act 3—The Personal Confirmation (2:6–10)                                                                                        第3幕 —— 个人的确认（2：6-10）

The Judaizers had hoped to get the leaders of the Jerusalem church to disagree with Paul. By contrast, Paul made it clear that he himself was not impressed either by the persons or the positions of the church leaders. He respected them, of course. Otherwise he would not have consulted with them privately. But he did not fear them or seek to buy their influence. All he wanted them to do was recognize “the grace of God” at work in his life and ministry (Gal. 2:9), and this they did.                                                                                                                                          犹太律法師希望让耶路撒冷教会的领袖不同意保罗。相比之下，保罗清楚地表明他自己并没有受到耶路撒冷教会的领袖本人或他們的职位所加的壓力。当然，保羅尊重他们。否则他就不会私下咨询他们。但他并不害怕他们或试图购买他们的影响力。他所要他們做的就是肯定他的生命和事工所致力的 “上帝的恩典” 的教義（加 2：9），他们做到了。

Not only did the assembly approve Paul’s gospel, and oppose Paul’s enemies, but they encouraged Paul’s ministry and recognized publicly that God had committed the Gentile aspect of His work into Paul’s hands. They could add nothing to Paul’s message or ministry, and they dared not take anything away. There was agreement and unity: One gospel would be preached to Jews and to Gentiles.                                                                                                                                                    大公会議不仅赞成保罗的福音，而且反对保罗的敌人，但他们鼓励保罗的事工，并公开承认上帝将祂的工作中的外邦人方面交给了保罗的手中。他们不能为保罗的信息或事工增添任何东西，他们也不敢拿走任何东西。意見相同和合一：传给犹太人和外邦人的只有一種福音。

However, the leaders recognized that God had assigned different areas of ministry to different men. Apart from his visit to the household of Cornelius (Acts 10) and to the Samaritans (Acts 8), Peter had centered his ministry primarily among the Jews. Paul had been called as God’s special ambassador to the Gentiles. So, it was agreed that each man would minister in the sphere assigned to him by God.                                                                                                                          然而，领导者认识到上帝已将不同的事工领域分配给不同的人。除了访问哥尼流家族（徒 10章）和撒玛利亚人（徒 8章）之外，彼得主要将他的事工集中在犹太人身上。保罗被称为上帝对外邦人的特别使者。所以，大家同意他們兩人都会在上帝指派给他們的范围内服事。

 “The gospel of the circumcision” and “the gospel of the uncircumcision” are not two different messages; it had already been agreed that there is only one gospel.  Rather, we have here two different spheres of ministry, one to the Jews and the other to the Gentiles. Peter and Paul would both preach the same gospel, and the same Lord would be at work in and through them (Gal. 2:8), but they would minister to different peoples.                                                                               “割礼的福音” 和 “不受割礼的福音” 不是两个不同的信息; 大會已经同意只有一種福音。反而，在这里我們有两種不同的事工领域，一是犹太人，另一是外邦人。彼得和保罗都会传講同样的福音，并且同一位主将在他们中间工作（加 2：8），但他们会服侍不同的種族。

This does not mean that Paul would never seek to win the Jews. To the contrary, he had a great burden on his heart for his people (Rom. 9:1–3). In fact, when Paul came to a city, he would first go to the Jewish synagogue, if there was one, and start his work among his own people. Nor was Peter excluded from ministering to the Gentiles. But each man would concentrate his work in his own sphere assigned to him by the Holy Spirit. James, Peter, and John would go to the Jews; Paul would go to the Gentiles (Gal. 2:9b, where the word heathen means “Gentile nations”).                这并不意味着保罗永远不会寻求赢得犹太人。相反，他为自己的同族带来了沉重的负担    （罗 9：1-3）。事实上，当保罗来到一个城市时，如果有犹太教堂，他都会首先去該教堂，并在他自己的同族中，开始他的工作。彼得也没有被排除在外邦人之外。但每个人都会将自己的工作集中在由圣灵分配给他的自己的范围内。雅各，彼得和约翰会去犹太人那裡;  保罗会去外邦人中（加 2：9 下，其中，异教徒的意思是 “外邦人的國家”）。

The Jerusalem Conference began with a great possibility for division and dissension; yet it ended with cooperation and agreement. “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Ps. 133:1). Perhaps we need to practice some of this same cooperation today.  耶路撒冷大公会议开始时，很有可能造成分裂和糾紛; 但它却以合作和协议结束。 “看哪，弟兄们和睦合一，多么美好，多么愉快”（诗 133：1）。也许我们今天需要操練同样的合一。

We need to recognize the fact that God calls people to different ministries in different places; yet we all preach the same gospel and are seeking to work together to build His church. Among those who know and love Christ, there can be no such thing as “competition.” Peter was a great man, and perhaps the leading apostle; yet he gladly yielded to Paul—a newcomer— and permitted him to carry on his ministry as the Lord led him. Previously, Paul explained his independence from the apostles (Gal. 1); now in Galatians 2 he points out his interdependence with the apostles. He was free, and yet he was willingly in fellowship with them in the ministry of the gospel.                    我们需要认识到這事實，上帝是呼召人到不同地方去做不同事工; 然而 都传講一样的福音，并且共同一致努力的寻求建立上帝的教会。在那些认识和爱基督的人中，不可能有   “竞争”这样的事。彼得是伟人，也许是領頭的使徒; 然而他很乐意屈服于保罗 —  新工人 — 并允许保羅在主引导他的时候继续他的事工。以前，保罗解释了他的使徒職責是独立（加 第1章）;  现在在加拉太书第2章中，他指出了他与所有使徒的相互依赖。他是自由的，但他却愿意在福音的事工中与他们相交。

We move next from the theological to the practical—helping the poor (Gal. 2:10). Certainly these things go together. Correct doctrine is never a substitute for Christian duty (James 2:14–26). Too often our church meetings discuss problems, but they fail to result in practical help for the needy world. Paul had always been interested in helping the poor (Acts 11:27–30), so he was glad to follow the leaders’ suggestion.                                                                                                                我们接下来从神学談到实际 —— 帮助穷人（加 2:10）。当然这些教義都是合一的。正确的教义永远不能以基督徒的职责來代替（雅 2：14-26）。我们的教会会议常常讨论问题，但它们未能为有需要的世界提供实际帮助。保罗一直有兴趣帮助穷人（徒  11：27-30），所以他很高兴听从领导人的建议。

Even though the conference ended with Paul and the leaders in agreement, it did not permanently solve the problem. The Judaizers did not give up, but persisted in interfering with Paul’s work and invading the churches he founded. Paul carried the good news of the council’s decision to the churches in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia (Acts 15:23) and in the other areas where he had ministered (Acts 16:4). But the Judaizers followed at his heels (like yelping dogs, see Phil. 3:1–3), starting at Antioch, where they even swayed Peter to their cause (see Gal. 2:11ff.).                            虽然大公会议以保罗和领导人的协议结束，但并没有永久地解决问题。犹太律法師并没有放弃，而是坚持干涉保罗的工作，并進入他所创立的教会。保罗向安提阿，叙利亚和基利家的教会（徒  15:23）以及他所服事的其他地区（徒 16：4）传达了大公会議决定的好消息。但犹太律法師紧随其后（就像哈巴狗纏身，见  腓 3：1-3），从安提阿开始，在那里他们甚至摇摆了彼得的事工（见  加  2：11 比照研讀）。

There is little question that the Judaizers went to the churches of Galatia to sow their seeds of discord, and for this reason Paul had to write the letter we are now studying. It may have been written from Antioch shortly after the Council of Jerusalem, though some scholars date it later and have Paul writing from either Ephesus or Corinth. These historical details are important, but they are not vital to an understanding of the letter itself. Suffice it to say that this is probably Paul’s earliest letter, and in it we find every major doctrine that Paul believed, preached, and wrote about in his subsequent ministry.                                                                                                毫无疑问，犹太律法師去加拉太教堂播下不和谐的种子，因此保罗才必须写我們正在研究的這封加拉太書信。它可能是在耶路撒冷大公会议之后不久，从安提阿写的，尽管有学者们認為寫書的時間稍后，認為是保罗在以弗所或哥林多写的。該历史细节很重要，但它们对于理解信的本身并不重要。我只想说，这可能是保罗最早的一封信，因為，在書信中我们發現，在保罗随后的事工中所相信的，传讲和写下的每个主要教义都已早在於該信內。

The curtain falls on this drama, but it will go up to reveal another. Once again God’s “freedom fighter” will have to defend the truth of the gospel, this time before Peter.                                          戲幕在这局戏剧上落下，但它会在另一局戲中升起。上帝的 “為自由而戰的斗士” 必须再次捍卫福音的真理，这次是在彼得面前。