Building on the Atonement

. . . present . . . your members as instruments of righteousness to God —Romans 6:13

I cannot save and sanctify myself; I cannot make atonement for sin; I cannot redeem the world; I cannot right what is wrong, purify what is impure, or make holy what is unholy. That is all the sovereign work of God. Do I have faith in what Jesus Christ has done? He has made the perfect atonement for sin. Am I in the habit of constantly realizing it? The greatest need we have is not to do things, but to believe things. The redemption of Christ is not an experience, it is the great act of God which He has performed through Christ, and I have to build my faith on it. If I construct my faith on my own experience, I produce the most unscriptural kind of life— an isolated life, with my eyes focused solely on my own holiness. Beware of that human holiness that is not based on the atonement of the Lord. It has no value for anything except a life of isolation— it is useless to God and a nuisance to man. Measure every kind of experience you have by our Lord Himself. We cannot do anything pleasing to God unless we deliberately build on the foundation of the atonement by the Cross of Christ.

The atonement of Jesus must be exhibited in practical, unassuming ways in my life. Every time I obey, the absolute deity of God is on my side, so that the grace of God and my natural obedience are in perfect agreement. Obedience means that I have completely placed my trust in the atonement, and my obedience is immediately met by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.

Beware of the human holiness that denies the reality of the natural life— it is a fraud. Continually bring yourself to the trial or test of the atonement and ask, “Where is the discernment of the atonement in this, and in that?”

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振作

將肢體獻給義作奴僕，以至於成聖。 （羅六19）

我不能救自己，叫自己成聖，也不能贖罪；我不能救贖世界，把歪的弄直，把不純的變為純淨，把不潔的變為聖潔。這完全是神至高無上的作為。我對主耶穌成就的一切，有沒有信心呢？他成就完全的救恩，我有沒有時刻緊記？最重要的不是作什麼，而是相信。基督的救贖不是一個經驗，乃是神透過基督成就的大作為，我要把信心建基其上。若我的信心寄託再自己的經歷上，就產生最不合聖經的模式－－一個孤立的生命，因為我只注視自身的潔白。要提防那種不以主的救贖為根基的敬虔。這生命毫無用處，只是避世的退隱。對神無用處，對人也無裨益。要以主耶穌來衡量每一種經歷。除非我們把所有事物建在主的救贖上，否則一切所作的都不能討神喜悅。

主耶穌的救贖必須在我的生活上，產生實際自然的功效。每次我順服，神就在我這一方，他的恩典與我天然的順服，就契合為一了。順服就是把一切都沒在主的救贖上，於是就立即得著神恩典的悅納。要否定天然生命的阿敬虔，因這只是個假殼。要經常去到救贖的案前，問自己：救贖在這件或那件事上，有顯明出來麼？

祈禱◆主啊，我來到你的面前，求你自己像一團火那樣四面護衛我，而你的榮耀就在其中。這個祈求聽起來全屬自私，可是，我卻不懂得用別的方法來表達。噢，主啊，你是最清楚知道的。