教会是活神的家_3: 真理的柱石和根基

提前三 15~16『倘若我耽延，你也可以知道在神的家中当怎样行；这家就是活神的
教会，真理的柱石和根基。并且，大哉！敬虔的奥秘！这是众所公认的，就是：他
显现於肉体，被称义於灵里，被天使看见，被传於万邦，被信仰於世人中，被接去
於荣耀里。』

    教会是支持真理的柱石，也是托住真理的根基。〔提前三章十五节〕的『真理』，
是指照著神新约的经纶，在新约里所启示，关乎基督与教会的真实事物。教会是支
持这一切实际的柱石，也是托住这一切实际的根基。地方教会该是这样的建筑，托
住、担负并见证基督与教会的真理─实际。


    神新约的经纶由两个奥秘所组成：基督是神的奥秘（西二 2），教会是基督的
奥秘（弗三 4）。基督与教会，头与身体，乃是神新约经纶之实际的内容。教会既
是支持真理的柱石，和托住柱石的根基，就为『基督是神的奥秘，教会是基督的奥
秘』这个实际（真理）作见证。

    按照上下文，我们可以说提前三章十五节的真理，是指十六节敬虔的奥秘，就
是神在肉体的显现。宇宙间独一的真理，独一的实际，乃是三一神显现於肉体。…
神这个显现不仅在基督身上，也是在教会中（新约总论第七册，二一七页）。

    神显现於教会，教会乃是基督的身体，也是活神的家，成为神在肉体扩大、团
体的彰显。…〔提前三章十六节〕的『他』就是基督，是神显现於肉体，作为敬虔
的奥秘。从『敬虔的奥秘』转到『他』，含示神在肉体的显现，基督，就是敬虔的
奥秘（西一 27，加二 20）。这敬虔的奥秘就是正当教会的生活，这样的生活也就
是神显现於肉体。

    提前三章十五至十六节含示：不仅作为头的基督是神显现於肉体，作为身体的
教会也是神显现於肉体。当教会在基督里以神的增长而长大时（西二 19），她就会
尽功用，为著神在地上的行动作活神的家，并作支持真理的柱石和托住真理的根基，
带著基督和他身体神圣的实际，向世界作见证。然后教会要成为基督作神显现於肉
体的延续。这是敬虔的极大奥秘：基督作为神在肉体的显现，从教会活出来。…教
会乃是神显现於肉体的扩增和扩大。这是神按照新约成为肉体的原则，以一种更广
泛的方式显现於肉体。

    提前三章十六节开头的连接词『并且』，指明保罗在十五节说到关于教会的话，
还没有结束。这个连接词指出，教会不仅是活神的家，真理的柱石和根基，也是敬
虔的奥秘。照上下文看，敬虔是指神活在教会中，就是那是生命的神在教会中活出
来而得著彰显。…基督和教会，二者都是敬虔的奥秘，在肉体里彰显神。因此，敬
虔的奥秘就是正当教会的生活，这样的生活乃是神在肉体的显现。这个显现开始於
基督在地上的时候，如今在教会中延续。愿我们都看见教会是神的家这个异象。

    参读：新约总论，第十三、十六、二十六、二百三十一篇；神的经营，第二十
三章；提摩太前书生命读经，第六篇。


1 Tim. 3:15-16 "But if I delay, I write that you may know how one ought 
to conduct himself in the house of God, which is the church of the living 
God, the pillar and base of the truth. And confessedly, great is the mystery 
of godliness: He who was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, 
seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken 
up in glory."

    The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of the truth. [In 
1 Timothy 3:15] truth refers to the real things revealed in the New Testament 
concerning  Christ  and  the  church  according  to  God's  New  Testament 
economy. The church is the supporting pillar and holding base of these realities.
 A local church should be such a building that holds, bears, and testifies 
the truth, the reality, of Christ and the church.

    God's New Testament economy is composed of two mysteries: Christ as 
the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 
3:4). Christ and the church, the Head and the Body, are the contents of 
the reality of God's New Testament economy. As the pillar which bears the 
truth and the base which upholds the pillar, the church testifies the reality,
 the truth, of Christ as the mystery of God and the church as the mystery 
of Christ.

    According to the context, we may say that the truth in 1 Timothy 3:15 
denotes the mystery of godliness, the manifestation of God in the flesh, 
in verse 16. The unique truth, the unique reality, in the universe is the 
manifestation of the Triune God in the flesh....This manifestation is not 
only in Christ but also in the church. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, 
pp. 2232-2233)

    God is manifested in the church, the Body of Christ and the house of 
the living God, as the enlarged, corporate expression in the flesh....In 
Greek, the antecedent of"who" [in 1 Timothy 3:16] is omitted but easily 
recognized. The antecedent is Christ, who was God manifested in the flesh 
as the mystery of godliness. The transition from"the mystery..." to"who" 
implies that Christ as the manifestation of God in the flesh is the mystery 
of godliness (Col. 1:27; Gal. 2:20). This mystery of godliness is the living 
of a proper church. Such a living is also the manifestation of God in the 
flesh.

    First Timothy 3:15 and 16 imply that not only Christ Himself as the 
Head is the manifestation of God in the flesh but also that the church as 
the Body is the manifestation of God in the flesh. When the church grows 
in Christ with the growth of God (Col. 2:19), it will function as the house 
of the living God for His move on earth and as the supporting pillar and 
holding base of the truth, bearing the divine reality of Christ and His 
Body as a testimony to the world.
Then the church will become the continuation of Christ's manifestation of 
God in the flesh. This is the great mystery of godliness: Christ lived out 
of the church as the manifestation of God in the flesh....The church, then, 
is the increase, the enlargement, of the manifestation of God in the flesh. 
This is God manifested in the flesh in a wider way according to the New 
Testament principle of incarnation.

    The conjunction and at the beginning of 1 Timothy 3:16 indicates that 
Paul's speaking about the church in verse 15 is not finished. This conjunction 
indicates that, as the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the 
truth, the church is also the mystery of godliness. According to the context,
 godliness denotes the living of God in the church, that is, God as life 
lived out in the church to be expressed....Both Christ and the church are the mystery 
of godliness, expressing God in the flesh. Therefore, the mystery of godliness 
is the living of a proper church, and such a living is the manifestation 
of God in the flesh. This manifestation began with Christ when He was on 
earth, and now it continues in the church. May we all see this vision of 
the church as the house of God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 
2233-2234)

    Further Reading: The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 13, 16, 
26, 231; The Economy of God, ch. 23; Life-study of 1 Timothy, msg. 6


- 未完待续

教会是活神的家_2