双语灵修（葛培理牧师）：7月16日 更加爱主

7月16日

更加爱主

“但记这些事要叫你们信耶稣是基督，是神的儿子，并且叫你们信了祂，就可以因祂的名得生命。”

约翰福音20:31

在基督里，我们成为新造的人。“若有人在基督里，他就是新造的人，旧事已过，都变成新的了！”（哥林多后书5:17）。神可以让那些把自己献给祂的人，在生命中生发出伟大的善来。

如果神要从我们的世界除去一切罪恶只留下人类，那就意味着人的本性要被毁灭而变成机器人。

让我解释一下我的意思：如果神通过编制程序，让人类单单行善而消灭罪恶，人类就会失去他独特的标志——自由选择的能力。他将不再是一个自由的道德体，而沦为机器人。

让我们进一步来看：机器人没有爱，而上帝造人时赋予人爱的能力。爱是基于一个人有爱的选择权。我们可以让别人服侍我们、服从我们，但我们不能强迫他们爱我们。真正的爱是建立在人的自由选择上。人类如果被编程去行善，爱的元素就失去了。如果人被迫行善，或许不再痛苦，但爱也同时消失了。生活在一个没有爱的世界会是什么样子呢？

因此，我们可以看到，若上帝用祂的力量消除罪恶，并不能解决苦难，结果会陷入更糟糕的境地。要么人在没有爱的世界里会沦为机器人，要么人会被毁灭。如果有选择的话，我宁愿选择为自己的行为负责，也不愿做一个没有责任感的机器人。

今日祷告：

天父，我们自愿地从心底里爱祢，为此，我们无比喜乐。祷告奉耶稣的名，阿们。

July 16

REDUCED TO ROBOTS

These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,the son of God,and that believing this you may have life through his name.John 20:31,JB

In Christ we can become new people.“If anyone is in Christ,he is a new creation;the old has gone,the new has come!”(2 Corinthians 5:17,NIV).God can produce great good out of any life dedicated to Him.

If God were to remove all evil from our world(but somehow leave man on the planet),it would mean that the essence of“humanness”would be destroyed.Man would become a robot.

Let me explain what I mean by this.If God eliminated evil by programming man to perform only good acts,man would lose his distinguishing mark-the ability to make choices.He would no longer be a free moral agent.He would be reduced to the status of a robot.

Let’s take this a step further.Robots do not love.God created man with the capacity to love.Love is based upon one’s right to choose to love.We cannot force others to love us.We can make them serve us or obey us.But true love is founded upon one’s freedom to choose to respond.Man could be programmed to do good,but the element of love would be lost.If man were forced to do good,suffering would be eliminated-and so would love.What would it be like to live in a world without love?

Thus we can see that God’s use of His power to eliminate evil would not prove to be a positive solution to the problem of suffering.The results of such action would create greater dilemmas.Either man would be reduced to the status of a robot in a loveless world or he would be annihilated.Given the choice,I would choose to be responsible for my actions rather than to be a robot without responsibility!

Pray for the Day:

Father,we love You freely from our hearts,and in this we have great joy;in Jesus’Name,Amen.