Covenant-Keeping God (1) 守约的神 By Dr. Greg Bahnsen What we know about God we know because of His own self-disclosure to us. As men, and especially as sinful men, we have no ability and no prerogative to determine for ourselves what God would be like. He must reveal Himself to us - which He has clearly done through the created order, the words of Scripture, and supremely in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. 我们之所以能够认识神是因为神自己向我们启示。做为人，特别是有罪的人，我们没有能力也没有权利为自己决定神的所是。而必须由神向我们亲自启示祂自己 – 而祂也已经清楚明确地做了到这一点，通过祂创造的秩序、圣经的话语、尤其伟大的是通过祂的儿子，主基督耶稣。 We learn a great deal about God from His revelation of Himself in the Bible. We learn that He created all things, that He is personal, and that all men depend upon Him. We learn of His omnipotence and eternality. We learn of His holiness and justice. We learn of His love and mercy - and many other things. When theologians gather together all that the Bible teaches us about God and offer a summary of it, they usually speak about His person and attributes, as well as about His works. The works of God, such as creation, redemption and consummation, are properly understood only in the light of God's person and attributes; likewise, the attributes of God are illustrated and explained in His works. 从圣经中我们对上帝所启示的祂自己已经了解甚多。我们知道祂创造万有，是所有人都需要仰赖的、个人化的神。我们了解到祂的无所不能、自有永有。我们知道祂的圣洁和公义。我们还明白了祂的爱与怜悯 – 还有其他很多事。若神学家们能聚集在一起就圣经中关于上帝的教导做总结的话，他们会诉说神的个性和属性，以及祂所做的大工。只有从上帝个性和属性的亮光中才能正确理解上帝所做的大工，诸如创造大工、救赎大工、成全大工；同样的，上帝的大工亦诠释了祂的属性。 Of the many things which we can know about God from the scriptures - something which is too often ignored or played down by evangelical theologians - is that He is a covenant-keeping God. This is one of the primary attributes of God which the Bible reveals, an attribute which is intimately involved with what God has done and continues to do - with His works. Thus to know God as He is specifically revealed in His word - to know the God of the Bible - we must think of Him in terms of His covenant. 虽然通过圣经我们已经能明白关乎上帝的很多事情 – 而有些事情却往往被忽略或被福音神学所淡化 – 那就是祂是守约的上帝。这是圣经所启示的上帝的主要属性之一，这一属性与上帝已经成就的和继续要做的都密切相关 – 都是关乎祂所做的大工。因此要想了解那位特别透过祂自己话语启示的神 – 圣经中的上帝 – 我们就必须透过祂的圣约来理解祂。 From the very outset of the Bible we find God, the Creator, in a personal relationship with man, the creature. This relationship was not arbitrary or haphazard; it had a specific character and content. God sovereignly established and transacted the relationship, in virtue of being man's Creator. In this relationship God granted blessings to man which were not, strictly speaking, "earned" or meritorious. 从圣经一开始我们就会发现上帝，那位造物主，和被造者，人之间就存有个人化的关系。这种关系不是任意或偶然发生的，它有其特定的性质和内容。凭着是创造人类的造物者，上帝至高主权地建造并保持了这样的关系。在这个关系里，上帝赐福予人，严格来说，这福分不是人能够“努力挣得”或立功赢得的。 The blessings of existence and providential sustaining were not somehow earned by Adam and Eve. The very first thing God did after creating Adam and Eve, according to the Bible, is this: "And He blessed them" (Gen. 1:28 ). God's first word was a word of promise or favor, not one of demand or judgment. This was a gracious relationship, one which blessed our first parents before they had done anything good or evil. Further, the blessing of walking and talking with God in intimate communion did not wait until Adam had accomplished certain meritorious works, but was granted from the moment of his creation. And even if Adam had perfectly obeyed God's subsequent commandments (e.g., Gen. 1:28 ; 2:16-17 , 24 ) he would not have merited any special favor from God - any more than a watch which works properly deserves anything from its maker (it is, after all, only doing what it is made to do). 这种赐福之所以存在并为神所主导维护不是凭着亚当和夏娃努力挣得的。上帝创造亚当和夏娃之后的所做的首要事情，根据圣经上，是这样写着的：“祂祝福他们”（创世记1：28）。上帝最先的话语是承诺、祝福的言语，而不是索取或审判。这就是满有恩典的关系，在我们始祖尚未行善或做恶之先就先赐福。进一步来说，亚当并未等到他完成特别业绩之后才被赐予与神同行、与神对话、与神亲密交流的福份，而是在他被造的那一刻起就开始享有这一切。而且即使亚当能够完全遵守上帝后来的诫命（例如创1：28；2：16；24），他也不能凭此从上帝那里得到更特殊的恩惠，就如同一只钟表不会因其正常工作就配从它制造者那里得着额外嘉奖一样 （毕竟它只是恪尽天职而已） Adam was called upon to trust the word of the Lord, and to trust it simply on the authority of God. This relationship of trust entailed submission to God, seen in obedience to His commandments - such as the prohibition of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God's command carried the sanction of blessing (continued communion with God) and curse - "in the day that you eat from it you will surely die" (Gen. 2:17 ). God was bound to this compact as much as were Adam and Eve. God's justice would not allow Him to reverse His word, condemning obedience but overlooking (or even blessing) disobedience. When our first parents transgressed the prohibition of eating from the tree, they separated themselves from the Source of life (in all its facets: spiritual, physical, etc.). According to God's word and character, they had to die. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:23 ). 亚当被呼召要相信上帝的话语，并且要单纯信靠上帝的权柄。在这个信靠的关系里，需要对上帝的顺服，从需要对祂诫命的遵守就可见一斑 – 比如禁止吃分辨善恶树上的果。 上帝的诫命中即含带有条件的祝福（继续与神相伴）又包括咒诅 – “因为你吃的日子必定死。” （创2：17）。上帝自己也同亚当夏娃一样被此约定束缚。上帝的公义不会允许祂违背自己的话语，从而做出责罚顺服、忽略（甚至祝福）悖逆的事。然而当我们始祖违犯禁令从树上偷吃禁果之后，他们就把自己与生命之源隔绝开了（所有方面：灵性，肉体等）。根据上帝的话语及其属性，他们必须死。“罪的工价就是死”（罗马书6：23） The Bible terms the kind of relationship or arrangement which existed between God and Adam a "covenant." We can define "covenant" as a mutually binding compact between God and His people, sovereignly transacted by the Lord, wherein a promise is made by God which calls for trust on the part of His people and entails obligations of submission which are sanctioned by blessings and curses. By checking the preceding discussion we can find all of these theological elements of the concept of a covenant in the relationship between God and Adam. Moreover, the Bible explicitly speaks of Adam's relationship to God in covenantal terms. For instance, in Hosea 6:7 the prophet indicts the rebels of his generation by likening them to the first man, Adam, who rebelled against God. Notice what Hosea says Adam transgressed: "But they like Adam have transgressed the covenant." Scripture speaks of Adam being in "covenant" with God; like Hosea's contemporaries, Adam proved to be a covenant-breaker, rather than a covenant-keeper. In fact, the Bible teaches us that all men are covenant-breakers, where presumably the covenant which they violate is the one transacted between God the Creator and their first parents, Adam and Eve. Isaiah 24:5-6 says: "The earth also is polluted under the inhabitants therefore because they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and they who dwell in it are found guilty." 圣经中把这种上帝和亚当的关系或安排形容为“圣约”。我们可以把它视之为对上帝和祂子民都具约束力的“圣约”，完全由上帝至高主权地发起，基于上帝所做出的承诺，呼召祂的子民信靠并承担顺服的责任，这就是所说的带有条件的祝福和咒诅。查考一下前面的讨论我们就会发现在上帝和亚当的关系中涵盖了关于“圣约”概念的所有神学要素。此外，圣经也明确用“圣约”的措辞来描述上帝与亚当的关系。例如何西阿书6：7，先知指出他们这悖逆的一代正如第一个悖逆违抗上帝的人，亚当一样。注意何西阿是这样描述亚当的“他们却如亚当背约”。圣经叙述亚当当时是在与上帝的“圣约”里；正如何西阿同时代的人一样，亚当被证明是个背约者，而非守约者。事实上，圣经中的教导是我们所有人都可追溯其源地违背了那起初的“圣约”就是上帝那位创造者与我们始祖亚当夏娃所立的约。以赛亚书24：5-6 说：“地被其上的居民污秽。因为他们犯了律法，废了律例，背了永约。 所以地被咒诅吞灭，住在其上的显为有罪。 ” The point to be made here is that from the very outset of the Biblical story, we find God revealed as the God of the covenant. From a literary standpoint, anybody reading the Bible from the start - from the book of Genesis forward - should not miss this important aspect of God's character and actions. God is the covenant-keeping God. Just a few chapters beyond the account of man's creation and fall, after the crisis of the flood, we read that "God spoke unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying: 'And I, behold I, establish my covenant with you and with your seed after you and with every living creature" (9:8-10). Then in the days of Abraham God called a people to be His own, from among the other families on earth. God appeared to Abraham and uttered both a promise and demands (12:1-3), which are later explained in these words: "Jehovah appeared to Abram and said unto him, I am God Almighty; walk before me and be perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and you..." (17:1-2). 从圣经的开篇故事，就能阐明这里要叙述的重点，即我们发现上帝启示祂是立约的上帝。从文学的角度来看，任何人若打开圣经从头开始阅读 – 从创世记看到后面-都不应该错过上帝这个重要的属性和行动。上帝是守约的上帝。仅在记述了人类的被造与堕落的之后的几章，也就是洪水危机过后，我们就读到：“我与你们和你们的后裔立约， 并与你们这里的一切活物，就是飞鸟，牲畜，走兽，凡从方舟里出来的活物立约。”（创9：8-10）。在随后亚伯拉罕的日子里，上帝呼召他从地上其他家庭分别出来做祂的子民。祂向亚伯拉罕显现并做出应许和提出要求（12：1-3），下面这段话说明了此事：“ 耶和华向他显现，对他说，我是全能的神。你当在我面前作完全人， 我就与你立约，使你的后裔极其繁多。” （创17：1-2）。 God kept covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Their family eventually went down into Egypt and multiplied greatly, but at last came under miserable slavery. What is it that sets up the story of the exodus and conquest of the promised land? We read in Exodus 2:24 , "And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob." The background for the redemption from Egypt - and the rest of the Biblical story - is precisely the covenant-keeping character of God. He is the God of the covenant. Accordingly, what God revealed through Moses was the law, but specifically the law "of the covenant" (Ex. 34:27-28 ). And as Israel prepared to enter the promised land, Moses reminded God's people of the basis and character of their blessing: "Know therefore that Jehovah your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments..." (Deut. 7:9 ). 上帝持守了祂与亚伯拉罕、以撒、雅各的约。这些人的子孙最后下到埃及并生养众多，然而却最终悲惨地沦落为奴。究竟是什么在贯穿《出埃及记》的故事以及后来征服应许之地？我们在出埃及记2:24读到“神听见他们的哀声，就记念他与亚伯拉罕，以撒，雅各所立的约. ” 在埃及得到救赎和圣经中其余的故事 – 都精准地显明了上帝守约的属性。祂是“圣约”的上帝。因此，上帝通过摩西所启示的律法，其实是“圣约”的特别诫命。（出埃及记34：27-28）。而且就在以色列人要准备进入应许之地的时候，摩西提醒上帝的子民之所以能得到祝福的根本及条件：“所以，你要知道耶和华你的神，他是神，是信实的神。向爱他，守他诫命的人守约，施慈爱，直到千代。” （申命记7：9） As we read through the Bible this feature of God's character and actions continually comes to our attention. God made a "covenant" with David and his seed (2 Sam. 23:5 ; Ps. 89). Many years later, in the days of Isaiah, Jehovah declared "I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David" (55:3). When Jeremiah the prophet ministered to God's people, God revealed the coming of that day when all of His previous promises would come to realization and fulfillment - in the days (just as you would expect) of a "new covenant" (31:31-34). 当我们通读圣经时，上帝这一属性及其行动特点贯穿全书，引人注目。上帝与大卫及其子孙立约（撒母耳记下23：5；诗篇89）。此约立定多年之后，在以赛亚的日子里，耶和华宣告“我必与你们立永约，就是应许大卫那可靠的恩典。” （55：3）。在先知耶利米服事上帝子民的时代里，上帝启示所有祂先前的应许都能实现和完成的一天终必来到 – 新约时代 （正如你所期待的）。 We cannot properly understand the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ without a covenantal perspective. The birth of Jesus was an open declaration that God had remembered "his holy covenant" (Luke 1:72 ). Before going out to be crucified for the sins of His people, Jesus ordained the cup of the "new covenant" (Luke 22:20 ). His resurrection and redemptive work were specifically the blessing of "the covenant God made with your [Jewish] fathers" (Acts 3:25-26 ). The New Testament explicitly calls Jesus "the Mediator of the New Covenant" (Heb. 12:24 ) and views His work of salvation in covenantal terms: "Now the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant..." (Heb. 13:20 ). 没有“圣约”的概念，我们就无法正确理解耶稣基督的救赎大工。耶稣的降生就是上帝宣告祂纪念“祂的圣约”的开始( 路加福音1：72)。在耶稣出去为祂的百姓的罪钉十字架之前，祂擎起了“新约”的杯。（路加福音22：20）。祂的复活和救赎大工是“上帝与你们[犹太]祖宗所立的约”的特别祝福。（使徒行传3：25-26）。新约福音书里不仅明确称呼耶稣是“新约的中保”（希伯来书12：24）更是从圣约的角度来解读祂的救赎大工“但愿赐平安的神，就是那凭永约之血使群羊的大牧人我主耶稣，从死里复活的神，…”（希伯来书13：20）