Living By Faith以信心活着
Author : Ps Andrew Xu
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
There must be a transformation in the life of a Christian. The Christian life is about a journey of change, a process of sanctification where we become more and more like Christ. Transformation is the fruit, but what is the cause of transformation? It is living by faith in our every day and experiencing God through our faithful decision-making. We face a daily decision of whether to live by faith or by sight when we wake up every morning.
We are going through the book of Ruth currently in our cell group curriculum. The theme of Ruth surrounds the word Hesed (or pronounced as Chesed). The simple meaning of this word is faithful or loyal love. The love of God to us is such a faithful and loyal love, a covenantal love. Because of this love, God is willing to do the unimaginable thing to send His one and only begotten Son to die for our sins and save us from death. This decision is made out of Hesed by faith. Similarly, the decision Ruth made to follow her mother-in-law Naomi is one made out of Hesed love by faith. She could have simply gone back to her father’s house. She need not make the choice to suffer with Naomi. Yet, she made this decision out of Hesed, a choice made by faith and not sight. This is a life that is lived by faith and not by sight. We too want to express Hesed love to fulfil the great commandment to love God and to love mankind and living by faith is necessary to do that. Therefore, the decisions we make out of Hesed love are often illogical and require faith to make them. Such decisions out of faith are what pleases God. If we only make logical and reasonable decisions by sight, then what we do is no different from the world.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. There are many Christians who believed in God for many years but yet do not live by faith. If we only believe in Jesus, but do not rely on Jesus to fulfil the great commandment to live out this Hesed love to love God and man, I’m afraid our lives are not one that pleases God, no matter how morally good we are. When we wake up tomorrow morning, let us make a commitment to God that we will live by faith today and live a life that is pleasing in His eyes.
文: 许燕杰传道
“没有信，就不能得到神的喜悦；因为来到神面前的人，必须信神存在，并且信他会赏赐那些寻求他的人。”
基督徒的生命不能没有改变。我们基督徒的生命就是一个改变的旅程，让我们在成圣的过程中越来越像我们的主耶稣。这改变是结果，但什么才是照成改变的原因呢？是每天在信心中活着，并在信心的决定中经历神。我们每天起床的时候都面对着一个的抉择。今天要以信心活着还是要以世界的方式去活。
我们小组最近都在查考路得记。路得记的中心思想围绕着一个字Hesed (或念成Chesed)。这字简单的解释就是信实的爱或忠诚的爱。上帝的爱就是这种信实和忠诚的爱，是一个守约的爱。因为这样的爱，神愿意做那无法想象的事。祂将自己独生儿子耶稣基督的生命献上，为了拯救我们脱离死亡的权势。世人看这样的一个决定是无法理喻的。这个决定是一个因Hesed而发的信心决定。同样的当路得决定跟她的家婆拿俄米一起回伯利恒的时候，也是展现了忠诚和信实的爱。她本可回到她的娘家去被照顾，根本不需要跟着她的婆婆一起受苦。但路得却做了Hesed的决定，一个靠着信心而做的决定。这样的生命就是一个以信心活着的生命，不是以眼见活着的生命。因为我们要以Hesed的爱去回应上帝爱神和爱人的大诫命，我们愿意在生命中以信心去活出这样的爱。也因此，因Hesed所做的决定很多时候看来似乎不合理，但却是在信心中去做的决定。这决定才是神所喜悦的。若我们单单只是以眼见（有逻辑、合理）做决定，那我们跟世人就没有什么差别了。
没有信，就不能得到神的喜悦。很多的基督徒，信主多年但还是没有在信心中活着。若我们只是相信耶稣，却没有依赖耶稣并靠着信心活出那信实和忠诚的爱来完成神所命令的大诫命的话，恐怕我们的生命不管在道德上有多高超，但仍然还是无法讨神的喜悦。明天早上起来的时候，让我们跟神立志，我们要以信心活着，活出一个讨神喜悦的生命。