第三週．週五
晨興餧養
加三２７ 『你們凡浸入基督的，都已經穿上了基督。』
太二八１９ 『所以你們要去，使萬民作我的門徒，將他們浸入父、子、聖靈的名裏。』
馬太福音結束於主吩咐我們將萬民浸入三一神裏，以及主應許祂要天天與我們同在，直到這世代的終結。（二八19～20。）這兩節是深奧且包羅的。我們都必須看見，我們已經浸入三一神裏。…在〔二十八章〕十九節，三一神被比喻為受浸的水。當我們將人浸入水裏，這表徵我們把他們擺進三一神裏。
〔加拉太三章二十七節〕是非常好的一節。這節不是說，『奉基督受浸，』乃是說，『浸入基督。』這其中大有分別！我們不是奉基督受浸，乃是浸『入』基督。…如果你浸入了基督，你當然就穿上了基督。…羅馬六章三節也表達同樣的觀念：『豈不知我們這浸入基督耶穌的人，是浸入祂的死麼？』我們已經浸入基督耶穌，現今我們有基督耶穌遮蓋著我們。我們已經穿上了基督。這是按照虛空的話而舉行的形式或儀文麼？絕對不是！這乃是靠著主信實的話所完成的實際。（李常受文集一九七二年第二冊，二二○至二二三頁。）
信息選讀
保羅在加拉太三章二十六節告訴我們，我們『藉著相信基督耶穌，都是神的兒子』。二十七節原文開頭有『因為』一辭，這就把這兩節連起來，並指明二十七節是解釋我們如何藉著相信基督耶穌成為神的兒子。我們是神的兒子，因為我們在基督裏；而我們在基督裏，是因為我們已經浸入了基督。二十七節說，『〔因為〕你們凡浸入基督的，都已經穿上了基督。』浸入基督乃是得以在基督裏的路。基於我們已經浸入基督的事實，我們可以說，我們已經穿上了基督。…保羅在二十八節繼續說，『沒有猶太人或希利尼人，沒有為奴的或自主的，也沒有男和女，因為你們眾人在基督耶穌裏，都是一了。』這裏我們看見，信徒在基督裏是一，乃是憑著祂復活的生命和祂神聖的性情，成為一個新人，如以弗所二章十五節所說的。這一個新人是完全在基督裏的。我們天然的人，天然的性情和天然的性格，在這裏毫無地位；在這一個新人裏，基督是一切，又在一切之內。（西三10～11。）
在羅馬六章三節…我們看見，當我們浸入基督耶穌時，同時也浸入基督的死。一面，我們浸入了基督的人位裏；另一面，我們也浸入了基督的死裏。…根據馬太二十八章十九節，信徒是浸入三一神的名裏，就是浸入父、子、聖靈的名裏。…在林前十二章十三節，我們看見受浸的另一面：『因為我們不拘是猶太人或希利尼人，是為奴的或自主的，都已經在一位靈裏受浸，成了一個身體，且都得以喝一位靈。』照這一節看來，我們也浸入了身體。
在以弗所二章十五至十六節，保羅說，『在祂的肉體裏，廢掉了那規條中誡命的律法，好把兩下在祂自己裏面，創造成一個新人，成就了和平；既用十字架除滅了仇恨，便藉這十字架，使兩下在一個身體裏與神和好了。』在這些經文裏有一個思想，就是猶太、外邦所有的信徒，都在一個身體裏與神和好了，並且在基督裏被創造成一個新人。在歌羅西三章十至十一節保羅說，『並且穿上了新人；這新人照著創造他者的形像漸漸更新，以致有充足的知識；在此並沒有希利尼人和猶太人、受割禮的和未受割禮的、化外人、西古提人、為奴的、自主的，惟有基督是一切，又在一切之內。』（加拉太書生命讀經，二一八至二二○頁。）
參讀：加拉太書生命讀經，第二十一篇。
WEEK 3 — DAY 5
Morning Nourishment
Gal. 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Matt. 28:19 Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
The book of Matthew…ends with the command to baptize people into the Triune God and with the Lord’s promise that He will be with us all the days until the consummation of this age (28:19-20). These verses are profound and allinclusive. We all must realize that we have been baptized into the Triune God… In Matthew 28:19 the Triune God is likened to the water of baptism. When we baptize people into water, this signifies that we put them into the Triune God.
Galatians 3:27…is a wonderful verse. It does not say, “baptized in Christ,” but, “baptized into Christ.” There is a great difference! We have not been baptized in Christ but into Christ…If you were baptized into Christ, you surely have put on Christ. The same concept is expressed in Romans 6:3: “Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” We have been baptized into Christ Jesus, and now we have Christ Jesus covering us. We have put on Christ. Is this a form or a ritual conducted according to a vain word? Absolutely not! This is a reality accomplished by the faithful word of the Lord. (CWWL, 1972, vol. 2, “The Kingdom,” pp. 170-171)
Todays Reading
In Galatians 3:26 Paul tells us that we “are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Verse 27 opens with the word for, which connects these verses and indicates that verse 27 gives an explanation of how we are sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. We are sons of God because we are in Christ, and we are in Christ because we have been baptized into Christ. Verse 27 says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” To be baptized into Christ is the way to be in Christ. Based upon the fact that we have been baptized into Christ, we can say that we have put on Christ. In verse 28 Paul continues, “There cannot be Jew nor Greek, there cannot be slave nor free man, there cannot be male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Here we see that we are one in Christ by His resurrection life and His divine nature to be the one new man, as mentioned in Ephesians 2:15. This new man is absolutely in Christ. There is no room for our natural being, our natural disposition, or our natural character. In this one new man Christ is all and in all (Col. 3:10-11).
In Romans 6:3…we see that when we were baptized into Christ Jesus, we were also baptized into the death of Christ. On the one hand, we have been baptized into Christ’s person; on the other hand, we have been baptized into Christ’s death. According to Matthew 28:19, the believers are baptized into the name of the Triune God, into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 12:13 we see yet another aspect of baptism: “Also in one Spirit we were all baptized into one Body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free…” According to this verse, we have also been baptized into the Body.
In Ephesians 2:15-16 Paul says, “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace, and might reconcile both in one Body to God through the cross, having slain the enmity by it.” In these verses we have the thought that all believers, Jews and Gentiles alike, have been reconciled to God in one Body and in Christ have been created into one new man. In Colossians 3:10-11 Paul says, “Have put on the new man, which is being renewed unto full knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, where there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all and in all.” (Life-study of Galatians, pp. 175-176)
Further Reading: Life-study of Galatians, msg. 21
