第五週■週四

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晨興餧養

彼前二19 ～ 21『人若因着對神的感覺而忍受憂愁，受冤屈之苦，就是甜美的。…你們若因行善受苦而忍耐，這在神乃是甜美的。你們蒙召原是爲此，因基督也爲你們受過苦，給你們留下榜樣，叫你們跟隨祂的腳蹤行。』

若因着對神的感覺，我們願意忍受憂愁，受冤屈之苦，就是受冤屈對待之苦，這乃是甜美的。彼前二章十九節的『甜美』，直譯，恩典；在此指神聖生命在我們裏面的推動，以及在我們生活中的彰顯，使我們的行事爲人，在人與神眼中，都是甜美、可蒙悅納的。（20。）（彼得前書生命讀經，二○七頁。）

信息選讀

因着對神的感覺，〔彼前二19，〕這話也可譯作：爲着對神的良心。對神的感覺，卽與神關係的感覺；這指明一個信徒是活在與神親密的交通中，向神存着並持守無虧、清潔的良心。

照下文看，彼前二章十九節所說到的冤屈之苦，必是指不信的主人所加的苦待，他們因着信主之僕人身上基督徒的見證而反對、逼迫他們。（三14 ～18，四12 ～ 16。）

這些經文說到我們基督徒日常生活中的行事爲人。基督徒的生活是行事爲人的問題。假定我們裏面沒有神聖的生命，這的確會使家庭生活非常艱難，尤其在與我們的姻親，特別是與岳母、婆婆的關係上。…對夫妻而言，岳母和婆婆都會造成爲難的情況。爲這緣故，按人說，夫妻婚後不與岳母、婆婆同住較好。

這裏的點乃是，我們若是沒有神聖生命的人，無論我們多麼彼此相愛，在婚姻生活中仍會面臨難處。…無論夫妻多麼相像，他們之間的脾氣、個性、習慣、背景、和領會仍會有所不同。丈夫會有他看事情的方式，妻子也會有她的。同樣，妻子會有她的習慣和個性，丈夫也會有他的。所以，因着脾氣、個性、習慣、背景、和領會的方式這五個攪擾的因素，他們會有難處。卽使夫妻彼此非常相愛，又都是文雅、受過教育的人，情況也是如此。至少有時候他們會發覺情況無法忍受，並會彼此爭吵。倘若岳母或婆婆這時候來訪，她會發覺情況全然不愉快、不可蒙悅納。她甚至不願看見這樣不甜美的情況。

但假定夫妻都有神聖的生命，並照着這生命而活。儘管在脾氣、個性、習慣、背景和領會上有不同，卻有恩典在裏面推動夫妻二人。不但如此，這恩典彰顯在他們的生活中。倘若岳母或婆婆親眼看見他們的生活方式，她會發覺那是甜美、愉快、並可蒙悅納的。這就是恩典。

彼得…說，『這…乃是恩典。』（直譯。）然後他告訴我們，基督給我們留下榜樣。恩典與榜樣息息相關。任何人親眼看見三一神作爲恩典從信徒裏面彰顯出來，並承認這是恩典，就指明這人成了基督這榜樣的影印本。在冤屈之苦中彰顯三一神作恩典，就是成爲基督的複製品。因此，我們可以不說，『這是恩典，』而說，『這是基督的複製。』彰顯經過過程之三一神作恩典的生活，不單是恩典—這乃是基督的複製。（彼得前書生命讀經，二○七至二○九、二一八頁。）

參讀：彼得前書生命讀經，第十九至二十篇。

WEEK 5 — DAY 4

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Morning Nourishment

1 Pet. 2:19-21 For this is grace, if anyone, because of a consciousness of God, bears sorrows by suffering unjustly…If, while doing good and suffering, you endure, this is grace with God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you a model so that you may follow in His steps.

If, due to our consciousness of God, we are willing to bear sorrows and suffer unjustly, that is, suffer unjust treatment, this is grace. The Greek word rendered “grace” in 1 Peter 2:19 is charis, referring here to the motivation of the divine life within us and its expression in our living, which becomes in our behavior gracious and acceptable in the eyes of both man and God (v. 20). (Lifestudy of 1 Peter, pp. 172-173)

Today’s Reading

A consciousness of God [1 Pet. 2:19] can also be rendered “for conscience toward God” and is the consciousness of our relation to God. It indicates that a believer is living in an intimate fellowship with God, that he has and keeps a conscience toward God that is both good and pure.

According to the context, the unjust suffering spoken of in 1 Peter 2:19 must be the mistreatment inflicted by the unbelieving masters. These masters opposed and persecuted their believing servants because of their Christian testimony (3:14-18; 4:12-16).

These verses speak about our behavior in our daily life as Christians. The Christian life is a matter of behavior. Suppose we did not have the divine life within us. This would certainly make family life very difficult, especially in relation to our in-laws, and particularly, to the mother-in-law…For both a husband and a wife, a mother-in-law can create a difficult situation. For this reason, humanly speaking, it is better that a married couple not have a motherin- law live with them.

The point here is that if we are those without the divine life, we will face problems in our married life, no matter how much we may love one another… No matter how much alike a husband and a wife may be, there will be differences between them regarding temper, disposition, habit, background, and understanding. The husband will have his way of viewing things, and the wife will have hers. Likewise, the wife will have her habits and disposition, and the husband will have his. Therefore, they will have difficulties with the five troubling factors of temper, disposition, habit, background, and way of understanding. This will be the situation even if the husband and wife love each other very much and are refined, educated people. Sometimes at least they will find the situation intolerable and will quarrel with one another. If a mother-in-law is visiting at such a time, she will find the situation altogether unpleasant and unacceptable. She would not even want to observe such an ungracious situation.

But suppose a husband and wife both have the divine life and live according to this life. In spite of the differences in temper, disposition, habit, background, and understanding, grace inwardly motivates both the husband and the wife. Furthermore, this grace is expressed in their living. If the mother-in-law of either the husband or wife observes their way of living, she will find it gracious, pleasant, and acceptable. This is grace.

Peter…says, “This is grace.” Then he tells us that Christ has left us a model. The grace and the model are closely related. When anyone observes the expression of the Triune God as grace from within a believer and recognizes that this is grace, there is an indication that this one has become a xerox copy of Christ, the model. To express the Triune God as grace in the midst of unjust suffering is to become a reproduction of Christ. Therefore, instead of saying, “This is grace,” it is possible to say, “This is a reproduction of Christ.” The manner of life that expresses the processed Triune God as grace is not only grace—it is a reproduction of Christ. (Life-study of 1 Peter, pp. 173-174, 182)

Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Peter, msgs. 19—20