Grace

This brings us to the next thought. For while it is true that in ourselves we cannot come to Christ and so lie under God’s just condemnation, the main point of these verses is that God has nevertheless acted in grace toward some. Earlier this was expressed by saying that Christ died for the sheep; in other words, by the doctrine of a particular redemption (v. 11). In this section we are told that Jesus has given eternal life to the same people (v. 28), and that these are those whom God has given him (v. 29).

You cannot trace the origins of our salvation farther back than that. In this, as in all things, the origins are to be found in God. Some say, “But surely God called them because he foresaw that some would believe.” But it does not say that. Others say, “He chose them because he knew in advance that they would merit salvation.” It does not say that either. What it does say is that the initiative in salvation lies with God and that this is found, on the one hand, in God’s electing grace whereby he chooses some for salvation entirely apart from any merit on their own part (which, of course, they do not have) and, on the other hand, in Christ’s very particular atonement by which he bore the penalty for the sins of these people.

恩典

這給我們帶來了下一個想法。因為，雖然我們靠着自己確實無法來到基督面前，因此會受到上帝公義的譴責，但這些經文的要點是，上帝仍然以恩典對待某些人。早些時候，這句話是通過基督為羊而死來表達的。換句話說，是根據特定救贖的教義（11節）。本節告訴我們，耶穌已將永生賜給了同樣的人（第 28 節），而這些人就是神賜給祂的人（第 29 節）。

我們救恩的起源無法追溯到更遠的地方。在這方面，就像在所有事物中一樣，起源都可以在上帝身上找到。有人說：“但神呼召他們，肯定是因為他預見到有些人會相信。”但它並沒有這麼說。其他人則說：“祂選擇了他們，因為祂事先知道他們會得到救贖。”它也沒有這麼說。它確實說的是，救恩的主動權在於神，並且這一點可以在神揀選的恩典中找到，藉此祂選擇一些人來得救，完全不考慮他們自己的任何功績（當然，他們也沒有），另一方面，在基督非常特定的救贖中，祂為這些人的罪承擔了懲罰。