提要
罪能致人於死。若你認為這是句誇大之辭，請再想一想。讓我們先從你的觀點來看，然後再從聖經的角度來看。且讓我們用一個「無心的邂逅」作例子。
假設有個配偶心中老覺得飢渴。如果是個做太太的，那種想法可能是：「我的丈夫再也不注意我了。我需要被注意、被擁抱、被看為特別。」如果是為人夫的，想法可能是：「我妻子愈來愈乏味了。她對我不再感興趣。我需要一些刺激感，一位覺得我很刺激的人。」
於是，在一個社交場合裡，他或她與某人的眼光接觸，起初只是「隨便聊聊」、用餐時湊巧坐在鄰座……後來又有幾次「意外」的在餐廳見面，經過數周或數月，熱情爆發，配偶、孩子、和上帝都被拋在腦後，可預期的家庭破裂和傷害於焉發生。為了一份追求新的關係，本來聯結在一起的舊關係被拋棄而死亡了。
上帝看到什麼呢﹖祂看到兩個關係斷絕的人。他看到十五年後，一個白髮蒼蒼的老父想和已成年的子女敘敘天倫之樂，卻被摒斥在外。祂看到一個輕易拋棄承諾的婦人，結果也被她的不肖男友拋棄了。最令人難過的是，對那些不願認罪、悔改的人，上帝在他們身上看到永遠的死亡。罪能致人於死，那叫做「罪和死的律」（8：2）。但別忘了，耶穌也有殺傷力──祂殺死罪！
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Overview
Sin kills. Before you dismiss this as an overstatement, think again. Let’s look at it from our point of view. Then, with the Bible’s perspective, we’ll try to look at it from God’s point of view. And let’s take an “innocent flirtation” as our example of sin.
It starts with a hungry thought. Depending on your gender it might be something like, “My husband hardly notices me anymore. I have a need to be noticed, to be special, to be held.” Or, “My wife is getting dull. She doesn’t interest me anymore. I need some excitement, and someone who finds me exciting.” Then follows that first eye contact across the room at that social gathering, held for a moment, but held. Then the casual comment, the jovial verbal jousting, the “positioning” in the seating or in the line at the backyard barbeque, the lingering. This cultivation continues with “accidental” meetings at restaurant, or “legitimate” family get-togethers. Then, after weeks or months, the explosion of passion, when spouses, children, and God are forgotten; and the predictable fracturing of family and lives occurs. For the sake of the new relationship, the old, bonded relationships are discarded and die.
Then there’s God looking on. What does He see? He sees two people erasing their names from life. He sees 15 years down the line when the delinquent father wants to re-enter the lives of his now-adult children and is odd man out. He sees a woman who so easily discarded her own commitments, now discarded by her knight in not-so-shining amour. And, most disturbing of all, in the case of those who have not confessed and repented, He sees an eternity of death. Sin kills. It’s called “the law of sin and death” (8:2). But never forget that Jesus kills too – He kills sin!
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Prayer
Thank you, Father God, for our Lord Jesus Christ, because through faith in Him we have been justified and have peace with You. According to Your promise, give us the necessary supply of grace so we may recognize this as a fact everyday, knowing we are dead to sin but alive to God through our Lord Jesus Christ, so that sin should not reign in our mortal bodies. Thank You, Lord God. Amen! |
