0201 神的呼召
基督差遣我，原不是為施洗，乃是為傳福音。《哥林多前書 1:17》
保羅在這裡說，神的呼召是傳福音。但請記住保羅所說的「福音」是何意，即在我們主耶穌基督里救贖的真實。我們往往傾向於將成聖作為我們傳道的目標。保羅以個人經歷為例加以說明，但這並非事情的終結；我們奉差遣不是宣揚救贖或成聖，而是高舉耶穌基督（見約翰福音12:32）。我們說耶穌基督救贖的勞苦是要使我成為聖徒，這是不公正的；耶穌基督救贖的勞苦，是要救贖整個世界，並將其完美地復原在神的寶座前，但我們能夠經歷救贖的事實，說明了救贖真實的力量，而這種經歷只是救贖的副產品，而並不是救贖的目標。如果神是人，祂對我們不斷地為我們的救贖和成聖提出要求，會感到何等厭惡和厭倦。我們從早到晚為我們自己或為我們想要解脫的事祈求，我們使祂精力背負重擔啊！當我們最終觸及神福音真實的根基時，我們就再也不會因為小小個人抱怨而打擾祂了。
保羅一生中唯一的熱情就是傳揚神的福音。他歡然接受心碎、幻滅和苦難，只有一個原因，就是這些事情使他在委身神的福音中堅定不移。
來自章伯斯的智慧
基督徒生活中的許多痛苦並不是因為魔鬼與我們交鋒，而是因為我們從未理解我們本性的簡單法則。我們必須把身體視為基督耶穌的僕人：當身體說「坐下」，而祂說「去」，那就去！當身體說「吃」，而祂說「禁食」，那就禁食！當身體說「休息」，而祂說「禱告」，那就禱告！《聖經倫理》
0201 The call of God
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. —1 Corinthians 1:17
Paul states here that the call of God is to preach the gospel. But remember what Paul means by “the gospel,” namely, the reality of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. We are inclined to make sanctification the goal of our preaching. Paul refers to personal experiences only by way of illustration, never as the end of the matter. We are not commissioned to preach salvation or sanctification— we are commissioned to lift up Jesus Christ (see John 12:32). It is an injustice to say that Jesus Christ labored in redemption to make me a saint. Jesus Christ labored in redemption to redeem the whole world and to place it perfectly whole and restored before the throne of God. The fact that we can experience redemption illustrates the power of its reality, but that experience is a byproduct and not the goal of redemption. If God were human, how sick and tired He would be of the constant requests we make for our salvation and for our sanctification. We burden His energies from morning till night asking for things for ourselves or for something from which we want to be delivered! When we finally touch the underlying foundation of the reality of the gospel of God, we will never bother Him anymore with little personal complaints.
The one passion of Paul’s life was to proclaim the gospel of God. He welcomed heartbreak, disillusionment, and tribulation for only one reason— these things kept him unmovable in his devotion to the gospel of God.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
Much of the misery in our Christian life comes not because the devil tackles us, but because we have never understood the simple laws of our make-up. We have to treat the body as the servant of Jesus Christ: when the body says “Sit,” and He says “Go,” go! When the body says “Eat,” and He says “Fast,” fast! When the body says “Yawn,” and He says “Pray,” pray! —Biblical Ethics, 107 R