八福
最被人误解的福
经文
路加福音六27-40
27 只是我告诉你们这听道的人，你们的仇敌，要爱他！恨你们的，要待他好！
28 咒诅你们的，要为他祝福！凌辱你们的，要为他祷告！
29 有人打你这边的脸，连那边的脸也由他打。有人夺你的外衣，连里衣也由他拿去。
30 凡求你的，就给他。有人夺你的东西去，不用再要回来。
31 你们愿意人怎样待你们，你们也要怎样待人。
32 你们若单爱那爱你们的人，有什么可酬谢的呢？就是罪人也爱那爱他们的人。
33 你们若善待那善待你们的人，有什么可酬谢的呢？就是罪人也是这样行。
34 你们若藉给人，指望从他收回，有什么可酬谢的呢？就是罪人也藉给罪人，要如数收回。
35 你们倒要爱仇敌，也要善待他们，并要藉给人不指望偿还，你们的赏赐就必大了，你们也必作至高者的儿子；因为他恩待那忘恩的和作恶的。
36 你们要慈悲，像你们的父慈悲一样。
37 你们不要论断人，就不被论断；你们不要定人的罪，就不被定罪；你们要饶恕人，就必蒙饶恕（饶恕：原文作释放）；
38 你们要给人，就必有给你们的，并且用十足的升斗，连摇带按，上尖下流的倒在你们怀里；因为你们用什么量器量给人，也必用什么量器量给你们。
39 耶稣又用比喻对他们说：瞎子岂能领瞎子，两个人不是都要掉在坑里吗？
40 学生不能高过先生；凡学成了的不过和先生一样。
信息分享
八福中的第五福──「怜恤人的人有福了！因为他们必蒙怜恤」，和前面的几福颇为不同。在之前的四个福，需求和满足之间有着对比。那些「虚心」的人接受天国；那些「哀恸」的人得到安慰；「温柔」的人承受地土；「饥渴慕义」的人得到饱足。但在第五福，主题却改变了：「怜恤人的必蒙怜恤」。彷佛我们不怜恤别人的话，就不能得到怜恤。
我们在这里必须小心，因为没有任何福比这个福更容易被人误解。有些人认为这句话表示我们能够饶恕别人有多少，神才会饶恕我们有多少。他们把某类经文与第五福连上关系，例如：「赦免我们的罪，因为我们也赦免凡亏欠我们的人」（路十一4），以及「你们各人若不从心里饶恕你的弟兄，我天父也要这样待你们了」（太十八35）。
他们将这些经文放在一起解释，以为圣经很清楚表明，我们饶恕别人的程度，正是神饶恕我们的程度。如果是这样的话，救恩便是靠行为而不是靠恩典了。在我们解释圣经时，不能与其他经文相矛盾。主耶稣在第五福所表达的意思是，当我们怜恤别人时，神的怜恤才可以更深入地渗透我们的生命和个性。要记得，施予让我们更能接受。
「施予让我们更能接受」
进深研究
林后九1-6；箴十一25，二十二9；太十8
1.播种和收割的法则是什么？
2.耶稣给门徒的指示是什么？
祈祷
天父，求您帮助我不要在真理上跌倒。让我看到虽然我对别人的饶恕不是救恩的条件，但却是救恩所带来的果子，奉耶稣的名祈求。阿们。
The Beatitudes
Most misunderstood Beatitude
Bible reading:
Luke 6:27-40
27 "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
29 If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.
30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
33 And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.
34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full.
35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
39 He also told them this parable: "Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?
40 The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher.
Message
The fifth Beatitude - "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" - is quite different from the ones that precede it. In the first four, there is a contrast between the need and the fulfilment. The "poor in spirit" receive the kingdom, those "who mourn" are comforted; "the meek" inherit the earth; those who "hunger and thirst" are satisfied; but in the fifth Beatitude the theme changes: "the merciful will be shown mercy". It is as though we cannot receive mercy without first giving it.
We must move carefully here, for no Beatitude has been more misunderstood than this one. There are those who take these words to mean that we can only be forgiven by God to the extent that we forgive others. They bring alongside this Beatitude such passages as: "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us" (Luke 11:4), and "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart" (Matt. 18:35).
Putting all these Scriptures together, they claim that it is the clear meaning of the Bible that we are forgiven by God only to the degree that we forgive others. If this is so, then salvation is by works and not by grace. We must never interpret Scripture in a way that contradicts other Scriptures. What our Lord means in this fifth Beatitude is that when we demonstrate mercy to others, we make it possible for God's mercy to penetrate deeper into our own lives and personalities. The act of giving makes us more able to receive.
"Giving makes us more able to receive"
Prayer
O Father, help me not to stumble over this truth. Show me that although my forgiveness of others is not a condition of salvation, it must be a consequence of it. In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.
Further study
2 Corinthians 9:1-6
Proverbs 11:25; 22:9
Matthew 10:8
1. What is the law of sowing and reaping?
2. What was Jesus' instruction to the disciples?
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背景音乐版权属 赞美之泉音乐事工 所有，承蒙允准使用。