經文: 「你們受洗歸入基督的，都是披戴基督了。」— (聖經·加拉太書 3章27節)
這兒譯成「披戴」，意思就是「穿上衣服」的意思。我們已經「穿上新人」，意思就是我們有「新的性情」，如外袍披上，別人都可看出我們是怎樣的人。保羅說凡受洗歸入基督的，都是披戴基督了。一個人藉著所穿的衣服，可以認出這個人，同樣，一個基督徒，也可藉著他流露的性情，顯出他是屬基督的。
保羅也再次強調，「披戴基督」不只是在悔改得救那時刻，而是天天「披戴基督」，就像你每天都穿戴衣服一樣。當我們披戴上帝，就不再放縱肉體私慾，而是願意學像基督，彰顯出祂的形象。
穿戴基督，是密室生活必要的課程，但朋友們，這必須花時間等候在主面前。就像衣服能遮雨禦寒，穿戴基督也能幫助我們抵擋惡者的火箭，並成為我們的喜樂與妝飾；當我與耶穌合一時，祂就將祂的性情生命注入我們裡面，強化我們的靈命，使我們每日可與祂同行，並緊緊與祂相連。
喔！弟兄姐妹們，花時間默想這真理，就像你每天要梳理穿戴好才出門；同樣地，你每天辦事接觸人前，也要穿戴好基督，住在祂裡面，每日都與祂同行。
安靜在主面前的時間，不可太匆促，否則會流於形式與膚淺。花時間耐心地等候在主面前，真等到你感覺到主，摸著祂，再開始禱告交談。不要怕麻煩，或覺得浪費時間，絕對不會的，你所花的時間，是最有價值的，上帝要在這段分別為聖的時間向你說話，賞賜你。
—《 神 的 心 意 》
(每日靈修 7月5日)
作者：慕安德烈
編輯：榮華興
(圖片版權屬「基督教靈糧之家」所有，在此僅供分享福音用途。)
『 The Blessing of the CROSS 』
Scripture: “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” — (Galatians 6:14)
One of the blessings of the cross consists in this, that it teaches us to know the worthlessness of our efforts, and the utter corruption of our own nature. The cross does not offer to improve human nature, or to supply what man is unable to do. Many people, indeed, use it in this way, like patching a new cloth on an old garment. But this rends the garment, and such persons walk about in torn clothes, and go from one minister to another, without finding what they seek. No, the old garment, our old man, must be laid aside, and given over to the death of the cross. And the cross causes all that is of the lost nature of man to die the accursed death, and the “I” takes the place of a malefactor ; it breaks the staff over all that is of the old nature.
Whosoever has been brought to the cross through the Spirit, has learnt to pronounce the death sentence on his old nature, he has broken the staff over himself, for whatever does not bear the mark of the cross, lies under the curse. He who would save his life, remains under the curse. If we have learned through the Spirit to understand the cross, then we have lost our life, and will no longer expect any good from our old nature, and will not judge others, but ourselves only.
But as long as we have not been taught this lesson through the Spirit, we shall try to find good in ourselves, something of worth in God’s sight, and upon which the sentence of death need not be passed. And if we find nothing at all, we fall into a false grief, which the Evil One eagerly uses to make us despair, by saying: “You may as well give up; God will not trouble about you; there is nothing for you but failure.”
But this is not what God desires. What we possess by nature must be nailed to the cross and we must put on the new man. The cross brings man to utter bankruptcy of himself, and then God can come to our aid. The cross brought the disciples of Jesus once to such an end of themselves, which even the words of the Master had failed to do. It took from them the aureole of holiness which they thought they had won in the three years that they followed Jesus, and it taught them to know themselves. And so they were prepared to receive the Holy Spirit, Who would impart a new nature and a new life. For we cannot separate the cross from the Spirit. We can have no Easter and no Pentecost, until we have first had a Good Friday.
Through the cross alone we are prepared for life in the fulness of God; only he who is crucified with Christ can be a vessel unto honour.
Our “old man” must be crucified with Christ (Rom. vi. 6), and in the resurrection of Christ we find the roots of our new life (1 Pet. i. 3). Whosoever loses his life, shall find it. We must learn the lesson of the cross, as condemned and rejected ones, who have been crucified with Christ. Then the door will be open for a life of power and blessing. All that belongs to death must be given over to death, even as the body is laid away in the earth, because it belongs to the earth.
The Holy Spirit, the Eternal Spirit, is unchangeable. He brought Christ our Head to the cross, and us His children with Him. For this work in us is twofold. On the one hand, it leads us to death, and all that belongs to death; and on the other hand, to that life which God has placed within us, and which leads from glory to glory.
— God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray ( 5 July )
