No Longer Yourself 不再是你自己

[Dexu Xia]

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

In the summer of 1859, Monsieur Charles Blondin became the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope—something he would go on to do hundreds of times. Once he did it with his manager Harry Colcord on his back. Blondin gave Colcord these instructions: “Look up, Harry . . . you are no longer Colcord, you are Blondin. . . . If I sway, sway with me. Do not attempt to do any balancing yourself. If you do, we will both go to our death.”

Paul, in essence, said to the Galatian believers: You can’t walk the line of living a life that is pleasing to God apart from faith in Christ. But here’s the good news—you don’t have to! No amount of attempting to earn our way to God will ever cut it. So are we passive in our salvation? No! Our invitation is to cling to Christ. Clinging to Jesus means putting to death an old, independent way of living; it’s as if we ourselves have died. Yet, we go on living. But “the life [we] now live in the body, [we] live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave himself for [us]” (Galatians 2:20).

Where are we trying to walk the tightrope today? God hasn’t called us to walk out on the rope to Him; He’s called us to cling to Him and walk this life with Him.

How can you stop trying to please God on your own? Where do you need to cling to Jesus today, trusting His righteousness?

Dear Jesus, thank You for doing for me what I could never do for myself. I turn away from trying to please You on my own. I’m so glad I don’t need to earn Your love.

不再是你自己

我已经与基督同钉十字架，现在活着的不再是我，乃是基督在我里面活着；并且我如今在肉身活着，是因信上帝的儿子而活，祂是爱我，为我舍己。—加拉太书2章20节

在1859年夏天，查尔斯 · 白朗定（Monsieur Charles Blondin）成为走钢索横越尼加拉瀑布的史上第一人。此后，他更重复此壮举数百次。其中一次，白朗定是背着自己的经纪人柯考特（Harry Colcord）一同走过去。他事前叮嘱柯考特：“记得向上看！你不再是柯考特，你是白朗定！我摇摆时你要跟着摇摆，不要试图靠自己保持平衡。否则，我们两人将共赴黄泉！”

其实，保罗也教导加拉太的信徒：如果不相信基督，你们就不可能走在上帝的道路上讨祂喜悦。这里有个好消息，那就是你们不必靠自己的能力！因为不管我们多么努力想要达到上帝的标准，终必徒劳无功。那么对于得救，我们是被动的吗？不！上帝要我们紧紧倚靠基督，就是要舍弃从前靠自己的生活方式，看自己如同已死。我们虽仍在世上生活，但“[我们]如今在肉身活着，是因信上帝的儿子而活，祂是爱[我们]，为[我们]舍己”（加拉太书2章20节）。

今天我们想要靠自己走钢索吗？上帝并没有叫我们靠自己沿着钢索走到祂跟前，而是叫我们信靠祂，与祂同活。

你如何不再凭己力讨上帝喜悦？
今天你在何事上需要信靠基督，并相信祂的公义呢？

耶稣，谢谢祢为我做成我靠自己绝不可能成就的事。
我不再凭己力讨祢喜悦，因我知道我无须赚取祢的爱。