Luke 6:27-28, 31 (NKJV) “But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you…. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.
God loves us with Agape love, which is an unconditional love, and He expects us to use Agape love to love others. How we can accomplish this can be illustrated using three things: a mirror, a glove, and a palm.
The mirror represents the law, which many of us attempt to live by. However, the law cannot make us just and righteous due to the weakness of the flesh. The glove represents the individual who tries to live life with God. We can possess a form of religion yet deny the power of God to genuinely transform us. However, if we allow the palm, which represents the Holy Spirit, to live in and through us (the glove), we are empowered to live a victorious life from the inside out!
Before we were born again, we used to repay an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but God asked us to do good to those who hate us and bless those who curse us. Therefore, go the extra mile and pray for those who spitefully use us!
We are to do unto others as we want others to do unto us. This means we should initiate love towards others and treat them as we wish to be treated. It is not an easy task, as it contradicts what our flesh desires to do. However, if we consider how merciful God has been to us by sending Jesus as a propitiation for our sins, not giving us what we deserve, we ought to extend the same to our enemies, by being merciful and forgiving towards those who have wronged and hurt us.
It is not a pleasant feeling to be taken advantage of by others, so our flesh will want to hate and curse them. When we are faced with the choice to either curse them with our words or bless them, it is helpful to remember to live from the inside out.
Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
We need to die to ourselves, but we don’t have to wait until water baptism to do so. Baptism is an outward expression of our inward conviction. Our identification at baptism signifies that we have died with Christ when submerged in the water, like a form of burial, and we arise as a new man. Whether you have been baptised or not, you are dead to self and alive in Christ.
Sermon Series: Dying to Self
镜子、手套与手掌
路加福音6:27-28, 31 只是我告诉你们这听道的人：要爱你们的仇敌，善待恨你们的人；祝福诅咒你们的人，为凌辱你们的人祷告……你们愿意人怎样待你们，你们也要怎样待人。
神以「圣爱」（Agape）爱我们——这是一种无条件的爱，祂也期待我们用圣爱去爱他人。如何实践这种爱？我们可以透过三样物件来理解：镜子、手套和手掌。
镜子代表律法，是许多人试图遵循的生活准则。然而，因肉体的软弱，律法并不能使我们成为义人。手套象征试图与神同行的个人——我们可能持守宗教形式，却否认神改变生命的大能。唯有让手掌（代表圣灵）住在我们里面并透过我们（手套）行动，我们才能从内而外活出得胜的生命！
重生之前，我们以眼还眼、以牙还牙；但神却吩咐我们要以善报恶、以祝福回应诅咒。因此，当有人强迫你走一里路，就主动陪他走第二里！
我们要“愿意人怎样待你们，就先怎样待人”— 这意味着要主动以爱待人。这实在不易，因这完全违背肉体的本能。但当我们思想：神曾以何等怜悯待我们，差遣耶稣为我们的罪作了挽回祭，没有按我们的过犯待我们，我们也当如此恩待仇敌，宽恕那些伤害我们的人。
被利用的滋味固然不好受，肉体的本能会催逼我们怨恨。但每当面临“诅咒或祝福”的选择时，请记住：要活出内在生命的本质。
加拉太书2:20我已经与基督同钉十字架，现在活着的不再是我，乃是基督在我里面活着；并且我如今在肉身活着，是因信神的儿子而活，祂是爱我，为我舍己。
我们需向自己死——但不必等到受洗才行动。洗礼是内在信心的外在宣告。浸入水中的仪式，象征与基督同死；从水中起来，表明与祂同活。无论你是否已受洗，在基督里，你已是向己死、向神活的新造之人。
讲章系列： 治死老我
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