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355. 無義之信並非信, 無信之義亦非義; 若非來自於主, 二者皆無生命
現今教會已將信與義分割開來。教會說, 唯獨信,無需守律法的行為, 便可使我們稱義得救。還說, 義無法與信結合, 因為信來自於上帝, 而義(到一定程度變為現實的行為)來自於人自己。
然而這樣的觀念從未進入任何使徒的頭腦中, 從他們的書信可明顯得知。當一位上帝被分裂成三個位格,並且各自有平等的神性之時, 這樣(將義與信)的分離與割裂就被引入到基督徒教會之中。
無義則無信, 無信則無義, 若非主賜生命, 二者都是死的。為了鋪墊, 接下來的觀點需要說明:
(1)人可以自己獲取信。
(2)義也是如此。
(3)義與信之中的生命也是如此。
(4)然而, 信,義,以及信或義中的生命, 沒有絲毫來自於自己, 唯獨從主而來。
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355. 5. Faith without Goodwill Is Not Faith; Goodwill without Faith Is Not Goodwill; and Neither of Them Is Living Unless It Comes from the Lord.
The church today has separated faith from goodwill. The church says that faith alone apart from the works of the Law justifies us and saves us. It says that goodwill cannot be united to faith, because faith comes from God while goodwill (to the extent that it becomes actual in deeds) comes from ourselves.
These concepts, however, never entered the minds of any apostle, as their letters make obvious. This separation and division was introduced into the Christian church when the one God was partitioned into three persons and each was allotted equal divinity.
The next part of this chapter will illustrate that there is no faith without goodwill or goodwill without faith, and that neither of them has life except from the Lord. Here the following points need to be demonstrated in order to pave the way:
a. We are able to acquire faith for ourselves.
b. The same is true of goodwill.
c. The same is also true of the life within each of them.
d. Nevertheless, no faith, no goodwill, and none of the life within faith or goodwill comes from ourselves; instead they come from the Lord alone.
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355. V. Faith without charity is no faith, and charity without faith is no charity, and both are lifeless unless the Lord gives them life.
It is perfectly plain from the Epistles written by the Apostles that it never so much as entered the mind of any of them, that the present-day church would have separated faith from charity, alleging that faith alone without the deeds prescribed by the law justifies a person and saves him; and that as a result charity cannot be linked with faith, since faith comes from God, and charity, in so far as it is realised in deeds, comes from man. But this separation and division was introduced into the Christian church at the time when they split the one God into three persons, attributing to each equal divinity. It will be explained in the next section that there is no faith without charity, nor any charity without faith, and both are lifeless unless the Lord gives them life, Here to smooth the path I shall prove that:
(i) A person can acquire faith for himself;
(ii) also charity;
(iii) and a life of faith and charity,
(iv) But still faith, charity or life in either of them is not in the least created by man, but only by the Lord.
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355. V. FAITH WITHOUT CHARITY IS NOT FAITH, AND CHARITY WITHOUT FAITH IS NOT CHARITY, AND NEITHER HAS LIFE EXCEPT FROM THE LORD.
It is very evident from their Epistles that it never entered the mind of any of the apostles that the church of this day would separate faith from charity by teaching that faith alone justifies and saves apart from the works of the law, and that charity therefore cannot be conjoined with faith, since faith is from God, and charity, so far as it is expressed in works, is from man. But this separation and division were introduced into the Christian church when it divided God into three persons, and ascribed to each equal Divinity. But that there is no faith apart from charity, nor any charity apart from faith, and that neither has life except from the Lord, will be made clear in the following chapter. At present, to prepare the way, it shall be shown:
(1) That man can acquire for himself faith.
(2) And also charity.
(3) And also the life of both.
(4) And yet that nothing of faith, of charity, or of the life of either, is from man, but from the Lord alone.
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355. V. FAITH WITHOUT CHARITY IS NOT FAITH, AND CHARITY WITHOUT FAITH IS NOT CHARITY, AND NEITHER HAS ANY LIFE EXCEPT FROM THE LORD.
The present day Church has separated faith from charity by declaring that faith alone, without the works of the law, justifies and saves; and also, that charity cannot be united with faith, because faith is from God, while charity, so far as it finds expression in works, is from man. That the Church would adopt such a position never entered the mind of any of the apostles, as is evident from their epistles; but this separation and division was introduced into the Christian Church when they divided the one God into three persons, and ascribed to each equal divinity. It will be shown in the succeeding section that there is no faith without charity, and no charity without faith, and that neither has life except from the Lord; but here, in order to prepare the way, proof of the following propositions will be presented:
(1) A man can acquire faith for himself;
(2) And also charity;
(3) And further, the life of both;
(4) But nothing of faith, or of charity, or of the life of both, is from man, but from the Lord alone.
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355. V. Quod Fides absque Charitate non sit fides, et quod Charitas absque fide non sit charitas; et quod utraque nisi a Domino non vivat.
Quod hodierna Ecclesia fidem separaverit a Charitate, dicendo, quod Sola Fides absque operibus legis justificet et salvet, et quod sic Charitas non possit cum Fide conjungi, quoniam Fides est a Deo, ac Charitas quantum est actualis in operibus, ab homine, nusquam in alicujus Apostoli mentem venit, ut manifeste patet ex Epistolis illorum: sed haec separatio et divisio in Ecclesiam Christianam introducta est, quando Deum unum partiti sunt in tres Personas, et unicuique addicaverunt aequalem Divinitatem. Quod autem non sit Fides absque Charitate, nec Charitas absque fide, et quod utrique non sit vita nisi a Domino, in sequente Lemmate illustrabitur; hic ad applanandam viam demonstrabitur. 1. Quod homo sibi comparare possit fidem. 2. Quod etiam Charitatem. 3. Et quoque utriusque Vitam. 4. At quod usque nihil fidei, nihil charitatis, et nihil vitae utriusque sit ab Homine, sed a Solo Domino.