439. 相信一切善皆來自於主, 就會避免將實踐義行的功績歸己
有些人將所行善舉的功績來換取拯救, 這對他們是有害的; 因為這種"邀功"的心態中掩藏著不易察覺的惡:否定上帝對人的影響與做工; 關於得救之事上, 信靠自己的能力; 靠自己力量稱義與得救; 輕視神性的恩惠與憐憫; 拒絕靠神性之方法的改造與更新; 特別是漠視主上帝拯救者的功與義, 因為他們聲稱這些當歸為自己。另外, 他們還不停地考慮回報,並視之為主要目標; 他們還淹沒與扼殺對主和對鄰舍的愛。他們對天國之愛(不居功之愛)的快樂完全無知, 且無法感受; 他們感受的一切愛都是愛自己。
人們以回報為優先, 拯救為其次, 以至於得救是為了得回報, 這就將規則顛倒了。他們的內在欲望沉溺於自我當中, 並以肉體之惡來敗壞這些欲望。因此, 在天人的眼中, 行出來用以換取功績的良善像起來像生銹之色; 不為功德之善, 則是紫色。
[2]主在『路加福音』中教導, 不應該為了邀功而行善:你們若善待那善待你們的人, 有什麼可酬謝的呢？你們倒要愛仇敵, 也要善待他們, 並要借錢給人不指望償還, 你們的賞賜就必大了, 你們也必作至高者的兒子, 因為祂恩待那忘恩的和作惡的(路加福音6:33-36)。
我們在『約翰福音』中還學到, 除非來自主, 一個人無法行本質上的善:你們要常在我裡面, 我也常在你們裡面。枝子若不常在葡萄樹上, 自己就不能結果子; 你們若不常在我裡面, 也是這樣。因為離了我, 你們就不能做什麼(約翰福音15:4-5)。若不是從天上賜的, 人就不能得什麼(約翰福音3:27)。
439. As Long as We Believe That Everything Good Comes from the Lord, We Do Not Take Credit for the Things We Do As We Practice Goodwill
It is damaging for us to take credit for things we do for the sake of our salvation. Hidden within our credit-taking there are evil attitudes of which we are unaware at the time: denial that God flows in and works in us; confidence in our own power in regard to salvation; faith in ourselves and not in God; [the delusion that] we justify and save ourselves by our own strength; contempt for divine grace and mercy; rejection of reformation and regeneration by divine means; and especially disregard for the merit and justice of the Lord God our Savior, which we then claim as our own. In our taking credit there is also a continual focus on our own reward and perception of it as our first and last goal, a stifling and an extinction of love for the Lord and love for our neighbor, and total ignorance and unawareness of the pleasure involved in heavenly love (which takes no credit), while all we feel is our love for ourselves.
People who put their own reward as the first priority and salvation as the second, and therefore seek salvation as a reward, turn the proper arrangement upside down. They drown their inner desires in self-absorption and physically pollute them with evils belonging to their flesh. For this reason, goodness that we do to earn merit looks to the angels like a rust-colored plant disease, while goodness that we do not do to earn merit looks a rich purplish-red.
The Lord teaches in Luke that we are not supposed to do good for the purpose of getting a reward:
If you benefit people who benefit you, what grace do you have? Rather, love and benefit your enemies, and lend [to people] expecting nothing back. Then your reward will be large, and you will be children of the Highest, since he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. (Luke 6:33-36)
It is also taught in John that we cannot do anything truly good except from the Lord:
Live in me and I [shall live] in you. As a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it lives in the vine, neither can you unless you live in me, because without me you cannot do anything. (John 15:4-5)
We cannot receive anything unless it is given to us from heaven. (John 3:27)
439. XIII. In the exercise of charity a person avoids attributing merit to deeds, so long as he believes that all good is from the Lord.
To attribute merit to deeds executed to gain salvation is ruinous; for evils lie hidden in this of which the doer is quite unaware. Among these are denial of God's influence and working on people, trust in one's own powers in matters concerning salvation, faith in oneself and not in God, self-justification, salvation by one's own strength, the cancelling of Divine grace and mercy, the rejection of reformation and regeneration by Divine means; in particular they detract from the merit and righteousness of the Lord God the Saviour, since they claim these for themselves. Moreover they have constantly in view the reward which they regard as their first and last aim; they drown and kill love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. They are totally ignorant of and unable to feel the pleasure of heavenly love, which is free from all idea of merit; all they feel is self-love. Putting the reward first and salvation second, so that salvation is for the sake of the reward, turns the order upside down; and such people plunge the interior desires of their minds in the self (proprium), and in the body they befoul them with the evils of the flesh. That is why in the sight of the angels good done to gain merit looks like rust, and good not done to gain merit like purple.
[2] The Lord teaches in Luke that good is not to be done to gain merit:
If you do kindnesses to those who do them to you, what credit is that to you? Rather love your enemies, and do kindnesses, and lend without expecting any return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked, Luke 6:33-36.
We learn in John that a person can do no good which is essentially good, except from the Lord:
Remain in me, and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it remains part of the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me, because without me you can do nothing, John 15:4-5.
And elsewhere:
A man cannot take anything, unless it is given him from heaven, John 3:27.
439. XIII. IN THE EXERCISES OF CHARITY MAN DOES NOT PLACE MERIT IN WORKS SO LONG AS HE BELIEVES THAT ALL GOOD IS FROM THE LORD.
To ascribe merit to works that are done for the sake of salvation is harmful because evils lie concealed in so doing of which the doer is wholly ignorant. There also lies hid in it a denial of God's influx and operation in man; also a confidence in one's own power in matters of salvation; faith in oneself and not in God; self-justification; salvation by one's own abilities; a reducing of Divine grace and mercy to nought; a rejection of reformation and regeneration by Divine means; especially a limitation of the merit and righteousness of the Lord God the Savior, which such claim for themselves; together with a continual looking for reward, which they regard as the first and last end; a submersion and extinction of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; a total ignorance and lack of perception of the delight of heavenly love as being without merit, and a sense only of self-love. For those who put rewards in the first place and salvation in the second, and who value salvation for the sake of the reward, invert order and immerse the interior desires of the mind in what is their own [proprium], and defile them in the body with the evils of the flesh. This is why the good that claims merit appears to the angels as rust, and the good that does not claim merit as purple. That good ought not to be done for the sake of reward, the Lord teaches in Luke:
If ye do good to them who do good to you, what thank have ye? But rather love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and then your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High for He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil (Luke 6:33-35).
And that man cannot do good that in itself is good, except from the Lord, He teaches in John:
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye except ye abide in Me; for apart from Me ye can do nothing (15:4, 5). And again,
A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).
439. XIII. IN THE EXERCISE OF CHARITY, A MAN DOES NOT ASCRIBE MERIT TO WORKS SO LONG AS HE BELIEVES THAT ALL GOOD IS FROM THE LORD.
It is harmful for men to ascribe merit to works which are done for the sake of salvation; for in this lie concealed many evils of which the agent is unaware. These hidden evils are: a denial of God's influx and operation with man; trust in one's own power in matters concerning salvation; faith in oneself and not in God; self-justification; trust in salvation by one's own strength; making of no account the Divine grace and mercy; rejection of reformation and regeneration by Divine means; especially disparagement of the merit and righteousness of the Lord God the Savior, which such men claim for themselves; besides a continual expectation of reward, which with them is the first and last end to be regarded. There is also the suffocation and extinction of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; complete ignorance concerning the delight of heavenly love which is free from any idea of merit, and inability to perceive it, the only love they experience being the love of self.
Those who put reward in the first place and salvation in the second, and who thus regard salvation for the sake of reward, invert the order of things and immerse the interior things of the mind in their own proprium, and in the body defile them with the lusts of the flesh. This is the reason why the good which regards merit appears in the sight of angels the color of rust, and that which does not regard merit like purple. That good ought not to be done with a view to reward, the Lord teaches in Luke:
"If ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye?... But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil" 6:33-36;
and that a man cannot do good which in itself is good, except from the Lord, He teaches in John:
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me... for without me ye can do nothing" 15:4-5.
And in another place:
"A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven" 3:27.
439. Quod homo in exercitiis Charitatis non ponat meritum in Operibus, dum credit quod omne bonum sit a Domino.
Meritum ponere in operibus, quae fiunt salutis causa, damnosum est, in illo enim latent mala, de quibus factor nihil scit; latet negatio influxus et operationis Dei apud hominem; fiducia propriae potentiae in rebus salutis; fides in se et non in Deum; justificatio sui; salvatio ex propriis viribus; annihilatio gratiae et misericordiae Divinae; rejectio reformationis et regenerationis per Divina media; in specie derogatio meriti et justitiae Domini Dei Salvatoris, quae sibi vindicant; praeterea continua intuitio mercedis, quam pro fine primo et ultimo spectant; submersio et exstinctio amoris in Dominum et amoris erga proximum; totalis ignorantia et imperceptibilitas jucundi amoris Coelestis, quod est absque merito, et sola sensatio amoris sui; nam qui mercedem primo loco ponunt, et salutem secundo, ita hanc propter 1 illam, invertunt ordinem, ac desideria interiora mentis suae immergunt proprio suo, et in corpore conspurcant illa malis suae carnis: inde est, quod bonum meriti coram Angelis appareat sicut rubigo, et bonum non meriti sicut purpura.
[2] Quod non faciendum sit bonum fine mercedis, docet Dominus apud Lucam; Si benefacitis illis, qui benefaciunt vobis, quae vobis gratia est; potius diligite inimicos vestros, et benefacite, atque mutuo date nihil inde sperantes; tunc erit merces vestra multa, et eritis filii Altissimi, quia ille benignus super ingratos et malos, Cap. 6:33-36. Quod homo non possit facere bonum, quod in se bonum est, nisi a Domino, apud Johannem, Manete in Me, et Ego in vobis; quemadmodum palmes non potest fructum ferre a se ipso, nisi manserit in vite; ita neque vos nisi in Me manseritis, quia sine Me non potestis facere quicquam, Cap. 15:4-5. Et alibi, Non potest homo sumere quicquam, nisi sit datum illi e Coelo, Cap. 3:27.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: proptcr.