第三週．週一
晨興餧養
羅六３ 『豈不知我們這浸入基督耶穌的人，是浸入祂的死麼？』
林前一３０ 『但你們得在基督耶穌裏，是出於神，這基督成了從神給我們的智慧：公義、聖別和救贖。』
信徒浸入基督並浸入祂的死裏。受浸不是一種形式或儀文，乃是我們與基督聯合的表明。藉著受浸，我們浸入基督，以祂為我們的範圍，使我們在祂的死與復活裏，與祂聯合為一。
羅馬六章三節說到我們浸入基督，這是在基督裏生機的聯結，也就是我們與基督生機聯結這一思想最強的佐證，這聯結乃是我們與基督之間所存在的生機聯結。若沒有浸入基督，我們絕不可能享受並經歷基督。我們生在一個人—亞當裏，但我們相信並受浸時，就進入另一個人—基督裏。…因著浸入基督，我們就進入基督，成為祂的一部分。…所以，受浸是極其有意義的經歷，因為其中發生了一種轉移。…我們受浸脫離一個範圍或領域，進到另一個範圍或領域，就是脫離頭一個人亞當，（林前十五45上，47上，）進到第二個人（47下）基督裏。（一30，加三27。）…基督是我們浸入的範圍或領域。現今我們在祂裏面，祂是我們的享受，也是我們可以經歷的那一位。（新約總論第十冊，四三至四四頁。）
信息選讀
我們該讚美主，我們已浸入基督。雖然我們生在亞當裏，但藉著受浸，我們已聯於基督的死與復活。藉著死與復活，基督從肉體變化形像成為那靈。…同樣，藉著聯於基督的死與復活，我們已從亞當遷出，並且進入基督。我們浸入基督，就從亞當的一部分轉為基督的一部分。如今我們不再在亞當裏—我們完全在基督裏。
一面，我們是浸入基督的人位；另一面，我們是浸入祂的死。祂的死將我們從世界和撒但黑暗的權勢分別出來，並且將我們天然的生命、舊性、自己、肉體，甚至我們整個的歷史，一併了結。…在羅馬六章三節保羅不是說我們浸入基督的復活，乃是說我們浸入祂的死，這是很有意義的。…我們浸入基督並浸入祂的死，這事實指明基督與祂的死乃是聯合為一的。基督的復活帶著祂有功效之死的元素。因此，信徒浸入基督，自然而然就浸入基督的死。將基督的死與基督自己分開是不可能的。復活基督的所是，包括祂有功效之死的元素。基督之死的功效，是祂包羅萬有之所是的一個成分。所以，浸入基督就是浸入祂的死。
在亞當裏的死與基督的死之間有極大的不同。我們厭惡在亞當裏的死，…〔但基督〕的死是可親、可愛的，我們可安息的住在其中。何等奇妙，信徒浸入包羅萬有的基督，也就被放進基督的死裏！宣信（A. B. Simpson）所寫的一首詩歌說，『與基督同死，何等的安適！』（詩歌三六五首。）我們在基督的死裏，尋得安息與得勝。
每個要受浸的人，就是一個願意經過死的過程的人。藉著受浸，這樣的人被放在死裏。他既已聯於基督並祂的死，就浸在水裏埋葬了。藉著受浸，他就進入與基督同死的真實經歷。（新約總論第十冊，四四至四六頁。）
參讀：新約總論，第二百九十九篇。
WEEK 3 — DAY 1
Morning Nourishment
Rom. 6:3 Or are you ignorant that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?
1 Cor. 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.
The believers have been baptized into Christ, even into His death. Baptism is not a form or a ritual; it signifies our identification with Christ. Through baptism we are immersed into Christ, taking Him as our realm, that we may be united with Him as one in His death and resurrection.
Romans 6:3, which speaks of our having been baptized into Christ, is the strongest support for the thought of the organic union in Christ, the organic union we have with Christ. We can never enjoy and experience Christ without being baptized into Christ. We were born in one person, Adam, but when we believed and were baptized, we entered into another person, Christ…By being baptized into Christ, we entered into Christ and became a part of Him…Baptism, therefore, is an extremely significant experience, for in it a transfer takes place…We have been baptized out of one realm, one sphere, into another realm, another sphere, that is, out of Adam, the first man (1 Cor. 15:45a, 47a), into Christ (1:30; Gal. 3:27), the second man (1 Cor. 15:47)…Christ is a realm, a sphere, into which we have been baptized. Now we are in Him, He is our enjoyment, and He is the very One whom we can experience. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3049-3050)
Todays Reading
We should praise the Lord that we have been baptized into Christ. Although we were born in Adam, by baptism we have been identified with Christ in His death and resurrection. Through death and resurrection Christ was transfigured from the flesh into the Spirit…Likewise, through identification with Christ in His death and resurrection, we have been transferred out of Adam into Christ. When we were baptized into Christ, we
were transferred from being a part of Adam into being a part of Christ. Now we are no longer in Adam—we are absolutely in Christ.
On the one hand, we have been baptized into Christ’s person; on the other hand, we have been baptized into His death. His death has separated us from the world and the satanic power of darkness and has terminated our natural life, our old nature, our self, our flesh, and even our entire history. It is significant that in Romans 6:3 Paul says that we have been baptized not into Christ’s resurrection but into His death…The fact that we are baptized into Christ and into His death indicates that Christ and His death are one. The resurrection of Christ carries the element of His effective death. Thus, when
a believer is baptized into Christ, he is spontaneously baptized into the death of Christ. It is impossible to separate Christ’s death from Christ Himself. The being of the resurrected Christ includes the element of His effective death. The effectiveness of Christ’s death is one of the ingredients of His all-inclusive being. Therefore, to be baptized into Christ is to be baptized into His death.
There is a tremendous difference between death in Adam and the death of Christ. We loathe death in Adam…Christ’s death is dear and lovable, and we may abide restfully in it. How wonderful that a believer baptized into the allinclusive Christ is also placed into the death of Christ! In the words of a hymn written by A. B. Simpson, “It is so sweet to die with Christ” (Hymns, #482). Rest and victory are found in Christ’s death.
Every candidate for baptism is a person in the process of dying. Through baptism such a person is put to death. Having been identified with Christ and His death, he is immersed in water and is buried. Through baptism he enters into the actual experience of death with Christ. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 3050-3051)
Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 299
