罗四7　不法得赦免，罪得遮盖的人，是有福的。

　　约二十22~23　说了这话，就向他们吹入一口气，说，你们受圣灵。你们赦免谁的罪，谁的罪就赦免了；你们留下谁的罪，谁的罪就留下了。

　　以弗所四章说，神是因着耶稣基督饶恕了我们的罪（32）。在约翰二十章主说，祂的门徒有权柄赦免，就是“你们赦免谁的罪，谁的罪就赦免了”（23）。然后约壹一章九节说，我们基督徒若承认我们的罪，神必赦免。马太六章十四至十五节又说，我们若赦免别人，神必赦免我们；我们若不赦免，我们必不得赦免。雅各书五章十四至十五节也说，我们若犯了罪，请长老来为我们祷告，就必蒙赦免。我们若读这五处经节，就发现它们都说到赦免的问题，但它们说到五种不同的赦免，不只一种（倪柝声文集第二辑第二十六册，一八七页）。

　　Rom. 4:7 “Blessed are they whose lawlessnesses have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered over.”

　　John 20:22-23 ...He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you retain, they are retained.

　　According to Ephesians 4:32, we were forgiven by God in Christ. According to John 20:23, the disciples have the authority to forgive: “Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven.” According to 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins, He will forgive us. According to Matthew 6:14-15, if we forgive others, God will forgive us, and if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. According to James 5:15, if we have sinned and we ask the elders to come and pray for us, we will be forgiven. By reading these five passages we note that they all speak of the matter of forgiveness. They also speak of five different kinds of forgiveness, not just one kind. (CWWN, vol. 46, p. 1277)

　　关于我们得救的赦免，可给它起一个名字，叫作神永远的赦免。这就是主耶稣在路加二十四章所说的赦免：“并且人要靠着祂的名，传悔改以得赦罪之道，从耶路撒冷起，直到万邦。”（47）这就是永远的赦免。罗马四章七节所说的赦免，也是永远的赦免。

　　这一类的赦免，所以称它作永远的赦免，乃是因为神一次赦免我们的罪，就把我们的罪永远赦免了！神把我们的罪扔在大海里，丢在深渊里，祂就不再看见，不再记念了。这就是我们得救的时候所得着的赦免。每一个人，当他一信主耶稣的时候，主耶稣就赦免他一切的罪，除去他一切的罪。他在神面前再没有留下一个罪了。这就叫作永远的赦免。

　　许多时候，是神自己对人说，“我赦免你！”也有许多时候，是神借着召会来宣告说，“神赦免了你的罪！”所以在圣经里，另外有一种赦免，我们称它作假借的赦免。约翰二十章二十二至二十三节：“说了这话，就向他们吹入一口气，说，你们受圣灵。你们赦免谁的罪，谁的罪就赦免了；你们留下谁的罪，谁的罪就留下了。”在这里主是将祂的圣灵赐给祂的召会，叫召会在地上代表祂，作祂的器皿来赦免人的罪。这就叫作假借的赦免。……是主向召会吹入一口气，说，“你们受圣灵！”受圣灵的结果，就是说，你们能够知道谁的罪要留下，谁的罪要赦免。你们能够在那里宣告：谁的罪留下，谁的罪赦免。召会所以有这一个权柄，是因为在圣灵的权柄底下。……所以这一种假借的赦免，乃是神借着召会作器皿来赦免人的。

　　你们看见有一个人是真信，你们就能对他说，“你今天接受了主，你可以感谢神，神已经赦免了你的罪！”……就是因为召会运用主所给她的权柄，……这乃是在圣灵的权柄底下说的。……这是圣经里第二种的赦免。神不是直接赦免人的罪，乃是假借召会的手来赦免人的罪。……永远的赦免是神直接赦免人的罪；……假借的赦免是神借着人的手来宣告说，谁的罪得赦免了（初信造就下册，一二八至一三一页）。

　　我成了基督徒以后，常常跌倒。我知道我不该如此，我却如此。我已往的罪得了赦免，我却又犯罪，……我得救，成了基督徒以后，若再犯罪，我就失去与神的交通。我仍是祂的儿子，但我不喜欢见祂的面。……身为基督徒，我不会失去我的生命，但我会失去与神的交通。……所以在约壹一章九节约翰说，“我们若认自己的罪，神是信实的，是公义的，必要赦免我们的罪。”……〔主的话〕说，我们若认自己的罪，我们必得赦免〔约壹一9〕。……这里的赦免是恢复我们的交通（倪柝声文集第二辑第二十六册，一八九至一九○页）。

　　参读：倪柝声文集第二辑第二十六册，第一百九十三篇。

　　Let us call the forgiveness that comes with our salvation God's eternal forgiveness. This is the forgiveness spoken of by the Lord Jesus in Luke 24:47: “That repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” This is eternal forgiveness. The forgiveness spoken of in Romans 4:7 is eternal forgiveness as well.

　　This forgiveness is called eternal forgiveness because once God forgives our sins, He forgives them eternally. God casts our sins into the depths of the sea and the abyss. He no longer sees or remembers our sins. This is the forgiveness we obtained at the time we were saved. The moment we believe in the Lord Jesus, we are forgiven of all our sins; the Lord removes all of our sins, and we are left with no trace of sin before God. This is called eternal forgiveness.

　　God often tells man directly, “I forgive you.” But often He declares His forgiveness through the church: “God has forgiven your sins.” Therefore, the Bible shows us another kind of forgiveness which we call instrumental forgiveness. John 20:22-23 says, “And when He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you retain, they are retained.” In sending the Holy Spirit to His church, the Lord charged the church to be His representative on earth. The church has become His vessel. Forgiveness is now granted through the church. This is called instrumental forgiveness....After the church receives the Holy Spirit, it has the power to retain and forgive sins. The church can declare that the sins of certain ones are retained, while the sins of others are forgiven. The church has such authority because it is under the authority of the Holy Spirit....This is a kind of indirect forgiveness. In this forgiveness God forgives men through the church; the church acts as His channel.

　　If a person has truly believed, you may say to him, “You have accepted the Lord today. You can thank Him because He has forgiven you of your sins!”...This is an exercise of the authority that the church has received from the Lord....Such a statement must be made under the authority of the Holy Spirit....This is the second kind of forgiveness described in the Bible. In this forgiveness, God does not forgive directly; He does it through the church. Eternal forgiveness is God's direct forgiveness of men. Instrumental forgiveness is God's proclamation of forgiveness through man. (CWWN, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3),” pp. 667-669)

　　After we have become a Christian, we often fall. We know that we should not and yet we do. The sins of the past have been forgiven and yet we sin again....If we sin after we have been saved, we lose our communion with God. We are still His sons, but we cannot look into His face....As a Christian we cannot lose our life, but we can lose fellowship with God....The Word says that if we confess our sins, we will be forgiven [1 John 1:9]....This forgiveness restores our fellowship. (CWWN, vol. 46, pp. 1278-1279)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 46, ch. 194