罗三24　但因神的恩典，借着在基督耶稣里的救赎，就白白地得称义。

　　弗一7　我们在这蒙爱者里面，借着祂的血，照着神恩典的丰富，得蒙救赎，就是过犯得以赦免。

　　来九12　并且不是借着山羊和牛犊的血，乃是借着祂自己的血，一次永远地进入至圣所，便得到了永远的救赎。

　　全世界各种的物质，到最末了就成为灰。我不是从化学方面来看，我是从人方面来看，物质的最末了一步就是灰。……一个东西变到底了，再也不能变下去了，就是灰。

　　现在这一只母牛，一切都烧了。我们要特别注意的就是血。在这灰里面，有皮、有血、有肉，意思就是在这灰里面有基督的赎罪，和赎罪的永远功效。基督在神面前是一直有效力的，祂已经烧成灰了。祂流血的工作是永远有效力的。在这里，血已经成功作灰。赎罪的工作已经成功了；纯红的母牛，就是主耶稣救赎的工作，已经变成灰了（神的福音，五六八页）。

　　Rom. 3:24 Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

　　Eph. 1:7 In [the Beloved] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses, according to the riches of His grace.

　　Heb. 9:12 And not through the blood of goats and calves but through His own blood, entered once for all into the Holy of Holies, obtaining an eternal redemption.

　　Ashes are the final state of everything in the world. I am not referring to the facts of chemistry, but to our everyday experience…. When something has reached its very end, and cannot be changed to something else anymore, it is ashes.

　　Everything of the heifer is burned. Note particularly the blood. In these ashes are the skin, the flesh, and the blood. This means that in these ashes are the redemption of Christ and the eternal efficacy of His redemption. Christ is eternally efficacious before God. He has become the ashes. The shedding of His blood is eternally efficacious. Even the blood has become ashes. The work of redemption is finished. The red heifer portrays the Lord's redemptive work, and this work has now become ashes. (CWWN, vol. 29,”The Gospel of God (2),” p. 483)

　　从民数记十九章十一节起，告诉我们这灰的用法。……九节告诉我们什么是除污秽的水：“要有一个洁净的人收起母牛灰，放在营外洁净的地方，为以色列人会众留着，用以作除污秽的水；这是赎罪祭。”这里说的污秽是指摸了死尸的污秽。为什么摸死尸是污秽的呢？死是罪的凭据，没有罪就没有死，有死就证明有罪。死尸就是罪作了工，罪作工的结局就是叫人死。所以在旧约里，麻风预表可得医治的罪，死尸预表不能医治的罪。人死在罪恶过犯之中，人在肉体中死了，他就是死尸。主耶稣说这样的人乃是死人。祂说，让死人埋葬他们的死人（太八22）。你接触死人，你与世界来往，你与世界有交情，你活在世人中间，你就是摸着死尸。你摸着死尸，难免不受传染。你摸着死尸，你就污秽了。基督徒就是因为与世界接触的缘故，所以犯罪失败了。在这时候，这灰就有用处。

　　这里说，把这灰（就是十字架的工作）和活水调在一起（民十九17），就成功作除污秽的水。活水是指着圣灵说的。以色列人在路上的时候，有一次击打磐石，就有活水流出来（出十七6）。林前十章四节说，这磐石就是基督，所以活水就是指自基督流出来的东西，就是圣灵。把这活水调作除污秽的水，意思就是有圣灵的能力，加在我们身上。没有圣灵的工作，主耶稣的工作就白作了。光有母牛犊的灰，而没有活水，就没有用处。有了主耶稣的工作，再需要圣灵来，二者相调，才能使我们得着洁净。不是主耶稣再来死一次，乃是应用主耶稣那一次工作的效力来洁净。纯红母牛的灰代表主耶稣十字架的工作，永远常存不变的效力；是那个效力洁净我们。因为主耶稣死了，祂死的效力存到永远；现在借着圣灵，把那效力应用在我们身上。我们每一次犯罪，不需要再牵一只牛到神面前来。二千年前主耶稣那一次工作的效力，一直继续到今天。凭着那灰，我们就能得着洁净（神的福音，五六九至五七一页）。

　　参读：神的福音，第二十五篇。

　　From Numbers 19:11 on we are told about the function of the ashes….Verse 9 tells us about this water for impurity.”And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and place them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel as water for impurity; it is a sin offering.” The impurity spoken of refers to the impurity of touching a dead body. Why is touching a dead body considered an impurity? It is because death is the evidence of sin. Without sin there would be no death. Therefore, where there is death, there is also sin. A dead body means that sin has done its work. The result of the work of sin is death. For this reason, the Old Testament uses leprosy as a symbol of curable sin and a dead body as a symbol of incurable sin. When a man is dead in sin and trespasses and therefore dead in his flesh, he is a dead body. The Lord Jesus talked about these dead ones. He said to let the dead bury the dead (Matt. 8:22). If you touch these dead ones, if you have intercourse with the world, if you build up a friendship with it, and if you have your living among it, you are touching dead bodies. If you touch dead bodies, you will surely be infected and defiled with impurities. When Christians sin and fail through touching the world, the ashes are needed.

　　The ashes are the work of the cross. They are put into the living water (Num. 19:17) and become the water for impurity. The living water typifies the Holy Spirit. Once while the children of Israel journeyed, they struck the rock and out came living water (Exo. 17:6). First Corinthians 10:4 says that the rock was Christ. Hence, the living water refers to what flows forth from Christ, which is the Holy Spirit. Taking the living water and making it the water for impurity means that there is the need for the power of the Holy Spirit to be upon us. Without the work of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Lord will be in vain. If there are only the ashes of the red heifer without the living water, they will not be of much use. With the work of the Lord Jesus, there is still the need of the Holy Spirit. Only by the mixing together of the two will we be purified and cleansed. The Lord Jesus does not have to die again. We merely apply the efficacy of the one-time work of the Lord for our cleansing. The ashes of the red heifer represent the eternal and immutable efficacy of the Lord's work on the cross. It is this efficacy that is cleansing us. Because the Lord Jesus has died, the efficacy of His ashes becomes eternal, and by the Holy Spirit He is now applying this efficacy to us.

　　Every time we sin, we do not have to bring a bull to God again. The efficacy of the Lord's work two thousand years ago continues until today. By those ashes we are cleansed. (CWWN, vol. 29,”The Gospel of God (2),” pp. 484-485)

　　Further Reading: CWWN, vol. 29,”The Gospel of God (2),” ch. 25