Sermon on the Mount: Law and Grace

A Philip Yancey Chapter Summary

The Sermon on the Mount asks us to be perfect because our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). This requires giving away all of our wealth (Matthew 19:16-30); not using the word “fool” (Matthew 5:22); inviting a bully to bully us again (Matthew 5:39); loving God with all our hearts (Matthew 22:37); and loving others, including our enemies, as ourselves (Matthew 5:44, 7:12).
 
Did Jesus expect us to give to every panhandler crossing our path, abandon all consumer rights, and cancel our insurance policies? Let’s learn from Russian novelists Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.
 
Tolstoy deeply respected God’s standards and earnestly tried to live up to them. For example, he freed his serfs, gave away his copyrights, and disposed of his estate. Yet he saw himself inadequate and was deeply unhappy. He died like a vagrant in a rural railroad station.
 
Dostoevsky’s novels communicate grace and forgiveness. He accepted he was ultimately unable to follow God’s standards. His solution was love. To him, we could love only if we are loved, and we love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19).
 
Examples of God’s forgiveness and love include Christ forgiving an adulteress, a criminal on the cross, and those who nailed Him (Luke 23:34); selecting Peter (who had denied ever knowing Him) to found His church; recruiting Paul (a murderer of Christians) to be His chief gentile evangelist; and blessing the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the meek.
 
Tolstoy looked at the kingdom of God within him and saw his failure. He taught us to never feel comfortable in view of God’s standards. Dostoevsky looked at Christ within him and saw grace. He taught us to always be comforted by God’s forgiving love (Romans 8:1).
 
The Sermon on the Mount tells us what God is like: perfect (so should we strive to be); compassionate even to those against Him (so love our enemies); and generously loving (so trust Him and don’t live in anxiety; even earthly fathers take care of their children).
 
The Sermon on the Mount also tells us that the Pharisees’ legalism isn’t good enough (Matthew 5:20).
 
Though we can never reach God’s standards, we keep striving towards them, while always relying on God’s grace through Christ.
 
Summary of Chap 7 “Message: A Sermon of Offense” in “The Jesus I Never Knew” by Philip Yancey



登山宝训: 律法与恩典
 
登山宝训要求我们要完全，因为我们的天父是完全的（马太福音 5:48）。我们需要把所有的财富都捐出去（马太福音 19:16-30）； 不使用“愚人”这个词（马太福音 5:22）； 让欺负我们的人再次欺负自己（马太福音5:39）； 全心全意地爱神（马太福音22:37）； 并爱人如己，包括爱我们的仇敌（马太福音 5:44、7:12）。
 
耶稣是否希望我们向每一个遇到的乞讨者施舍，放弃所有消费者权利，和取消所有购买的保险呢？ 让我们向俄国小说家托尔斯泰和陀思妥耶夫斯基学习。
 
托尔斯泰深深地尊重上帝的标准，真诚努力地达到这些标准。 例如他解放了农奴，放弃了版权，并卖掉了自己的财产。 然而他依然看自己为不足，仍然非常不高兴。 最终，他像流浪汉一样死在乡村火车站。
 
陀思妥耶夫斯基的小说传达了恩典和宽恕。 他接受自己无法遵循上帝标准的事实， 他的解决办法就是爱。对他来说，人只有通过被爱才能爱， 我们爱是因为神先爱我们（约翰一书 4:19）。
 
神的宽恕和慈爱的例子包括基督赦免了一个行淫的妇人、一个钉在十字架上的罪犯以及那些钉死祂的人（路加福音23:34）。 祂拣选了否认认识主的彼得来建立祂的教会；招募杀害基督徒的保罗作祂的首席外邦传道者； 祂祝福虚心的、哀恸的和温柔的人。
 
托尔斯泰看着他内心的上帝之国，看到了他的失败。 他教导我们因为不及上帝的标准而永远不要感到自在。 陀思妥耶夫斯基看着他内心的基督，看到了恩典。 他教导我们要因上帝通过基督所发出的宽恕之爱而感到安慰（罗马书8:1）。
 
登山宝训告诉我们上帝是怎样的一位上帝：完美（所以我们应努力去做到）； 甚至对那些敌对的人也充满同情（所以我们应爱自己的仇敌）； 以及慷慨地爱（所以我们应信靠祂，不要生活在焦虑中; 即使是地上的父亲也会照顾他们的孩子）。
 
登山宝训还告诉我们法利赛人的律法主义不够好（马太福音5:20）。
 
尽管永远无法达到上帝的标准，我们要始终依靠上帝通过基督的恩典，继续向这些目标努力。