9.5 惟独在得荣耀的状态中,上帝使人的意志达于完全、
1 弗4:13;来12:23;约壹3:2;犹24。
9.5 The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to do good alone in the state of glory only.1
1 Eph 4:13; Heb 12:23; 1 Jn 3:2; Jude 24.
之前,在这一章里,
Earlier in this Chapter, we noted that free will is not the absolute ability to choose anything that comes to your mind, and that having less choices does not mean that your will is less free. These commonly mistaken ideas are most amply demonstrated in this last paragraph on the will in the state of glory.
在天堂的完美状态里,我们不会被带回到我们没有犯罪却还能犯罪(
In the perfection of heaven, we will not be brought back into the initial state of innocency in which we are without sin but still able to sin (posse peccare), but we will be both completely devoid of sin as well as entirely unable to sin (non posse peccare), and immutably (or unchangeably) so. Our eternal happiness in heaven depends upon this fact that the threat of falling into sin and suffering the misery it brings will no longer remain a choice or a possibility to us. We will not be under probation like Adam and Eve were, but we will be fully and finally confirmed in and transformed into the righteousness of Christ, never again to know the slightest taint of sin or even its temptation, and forever able to choose and to do only what is that good, acceptable, and perfect will of God (Rom 12:2).
换言之,得荣耀的状态是我们变得完全像基督、
In other words, the state of glory is where we become fully like Christ in his impeccable righteousness, because then we will see Christ as he is (Eph. 4:13; 1 John 3:2). Heaven is where our wills are most perfectly conformed to God’s own will, who is himself not only incapable of sin, but so absolutely contrary to it that his only reaction to sin can be to hate and eradicate every trace of it.
这在神学的范围里是很重要的,能帮我们了解意志本身的本质。
This is important theologically to help us to understand the nature of the will itself. Opponents of the Reformed doctrine of the fallen will often claim that if one is unable to choose to do good, then he does not have free will and thus also cannot be responsible for failing to do good and only doing evil. But if that is true, then the reverse must also be true—that since God cannot choose to do evil, he must therefore not have free will and so is not responsible (and so should not be praised) for only doing what is good! This also means that, of all our previous states, we will actually be the least free in heaven! Surely there must be some misunderstanding here!
但事非如此——我们在天堂里能享有最多的自由,
But no, we will be most free in heaven, even more than Adam and Eve—free forever from the deception, distraction, and enticements of sin and the fear of its punishment; and free to serve and enjoy God with a will which is able to choose no other than to love him with all the heart, soul, strength, and mind. What a glorious day that will be (and no wonder it is called the state of glory)! Praise the Lord that “free will” does not mean that we will forever still be able to sin and fall again!
原文作者: 林集章 、蔡林斯 、欧阳效正
中文譯者: 何恩杰,刘行
來源: Westminster Confession of Faith — With Brief Pastoral Comments
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