our daily bread
Dexu Xia
I Just Can’t Do It
The law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24 nkjv
“I just can’t do it!” lamented the dejected student. On the page he could see only small print, difficult ideas, and an unforgiving deadline. He needed the help of his teacher.
We might experience similar despair when we read Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44). Anger is as bad as murder (v. 22). Lust equals adultery (v. 28). And if we dare think we can live up to these standards, we bump into this: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (v. 48).
“The Sermon on the Mount produces despair,” says Oswald Chambers. But he saw this as good, because at “the point of despair we are willing to come to [Jesus] as paupers to receive from Him.”
In the counterintuitive way God so often works, those who know they can’t do it on their own are the ones who receive God’s grace. As the apostle Paul put it, “Not many of you were wise by human standards. . . . But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise” (1 Corinthians 1:26–27).
In God’s wisdom, the Teacher is also our Savior. When we come to Him in faith, through His Spirit we enjoy His “righteousness, holiness and redemption” (v. 30), and the grace and power to live for Him. That’s why He could say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
Thank You, Lord, for blessing those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, and who hunger and thirst for Your righteousness. You are our righteousness!
Read more from Oswald Chambers at utmost.org.
Through the Son we can enjoy life in God’s kingdom.
我办不到
律法是我们训蒙的师傅，引我们到基督那里，使我们因信称义。-加拉太书3章24节
有个学生垂头丧气地哀叹：“我办不到，我就是不会！”在书页上，他只看到蝇头小字、难以理解的观念，还有不容延误的作业缴交期限。他非常需要老师的帮忙。
或许我们在读登山宝训时，也会感到沮丧。耶稣告诉我们，要爱我们的仇敌（马太福音5章44节） ，发怒就等同于杀人（22节） ，动了淫念就是犯奸淫（28节） 。或许我们以为能达到这些标准，但耶稣还说：“所以你们要完全，像你们的天父完全一样。”（48节）
难怪章伯斯曾经说道：“登山宝训令人绝望。”但他认为这是好的，因为在此绝望之中，我们才会甘愿像个一无所有的人，谦卑地来到耶稣的面前接受祂的帮助。
上帝的作为往往违反常理，那些承认自己办不到的人，才能领受祂的恩典。正如使徒保罗所言：“你们蒙召的，按着肉体有智慧的不多，……上帝却拣选了世上愚拙的，叫有智慧的羞愧。”（哥林多前书1章26-27节）
耶稣不单教导我们登山宝训，祂也成为我们的拯救者，这就是上帝的智慧。我们只要相信耶稣，就可藉由圣灵得享祂的“公义、圣洁、救赎”（30节），并得着恩典与能力为祂而活。正因如此，耶稣才会说：“虚心的人有福了，因为天国是他们的。”（马太福音5章3节）
感谢主赐福给饥渴慕义的人，
更感谢祢让我们因信称义。
我们靠着耶稣，活出上帝子民的生命。