申三十19~20 ……我将生命与死亡，祝福与咒诅，陈明在你面前，所以你要拣选生命，使你和你的后裔都得存活；且爱耶和华你的神，听从祂的话，紧联于祂，因为祂是你的生命，你的日子长久也在乎祂。这样，你就可以在耶和华向你列祖……起誓要赐给他们的地上居住。

　　神……要人活着是借着粮食，像人活着是靠着神一样。“因我们生活、行动、存留都在于祂。”〔徒十七28〕所以你就看见说，神在〔创世记二章〕用两棵树来对我们说出一点寓意的话。生命树和善恶知识树，乃是一种寓言，在这里就是给我们看见，人有两种不同的粮食：人所以能够活着，或者是借着生命，或者是借着善恶知识，或者说是借着分别是非。……两棵树摆在这里，是要给我们看见，人活在世界上，特别是基督徒活在世界上，是凭着两种不同的原则而生活：人活着，也许是凭着是非，也许是凭着生命。有的人作基督徒，他生活的原则是以是非为定准；有的人作基督徒，他生活的原则是以生命为定准（倪柝声文集第三辑第十册，一八五至一八六页）。

　　Deut. 30:19-20 …I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse; therefore choose life that you and your seed may live, in loving Jehovah your God by listening to His voice and holding fast to Him; for He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell upon the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers…

　　God wanted man to depend on Him for his living in the same way that he was dependent upon food for his living. “For in Him we live and move and are” (Acts 17:28). Thus, God uses two trees to speak to us in a parable. The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil are a kind of parable. They show us that man has two different kinds of food and can live either by life or by the knowledge of good and evil, that is, the knowledge of right and wrong….The two trees were put there to show us that man, especially a Christian, can live on earth according to two different principles. Man can live according to the principle of right and wrong or according to the principle of life. Some Christians take the principle of right and wrong as the standard for their living, while other Christians take the principle of life as their standard for living. (Watchman Nee, Two Principles of Living (booklet), pp. 2-3)

　　〔我们需要〕来看这两种不同的生活原则：什么叫作一个人凭着是非来活着，什么叫作一个人凭着生命来活着？有许多人，在他的生活里，只有善恶知识树。有许多人，在他的生活里，有生命树。有的人在他的生活里两种都有。但是，神的话是告诉我们，吃善恶知识树的必定死，吃生命树的必定活。

　　我们行事为人，我们在那里问一个问题，就是有一件事，我这样作，到底对不对？是不是？我这样作，到底是善的，或者是恶的？你在那里问善恶的问题，你问你自己：我这样作是是的呢，或者是非的呢？许多人在那里考虑：这一件事是善的呢，或者是恶的呢？……这一件事我可以作呢，或者我不可以作？这一件事到底是对的呢，或者是不对的？你已经是个基督徒，你就很仔细地考虑，然后你说，这件事很好，是善的，是是的；你就去作，你就以为：我这样作基督徒是很好了。

　　神的话是这样说，“只是善恶知识树上的果子，你不可吃，因为你吃的日子必定死。”（创二17）达到极点，还不过是分别善和恶；达到极点，还不过是挑选拒绝—拒绝恶的，挑选善的。……这是旧约，这是律法，这是全世界的宗教，这是人的道德、人的伦理；这不是基督徒的信仰。

　　基督徒的信仰是生命，……不是……问：这件事是对，或者不对，……〔乃是说，〕你作这件事，你里面的生命怎么说？神所赐给你的新生命，在你里面对于这件事怎么说？……我……里面的生命如何？那一个生命在我里面有能力，是活着的，我就能够作；那一个生命在我里面是冷的，是萎的，我就不能作。我生活的原则是凭着里面，不是凭着外面。……基督徒的生活的标准，不只说是对付恶的问题；基督徒的生活的标准，也是对付善的问题，也是对付是的问题。许多事情，虽然是是的，但是和生命不对，就是错的。……是凭着里面神的生命是升起来，或者是瘪下去来定规的。……里面对于这件事有没有喜乐？有没有属灵的快乐？有没有属灵的平安？这一件事断定我们属灵的道路（倪柝声文集第三辑第十册，一八六、一八八至一九○、一九三页）。

　　参读：申命记生命读经，第九、二十四、二十七、三十篇；倪柝声文集第三辑第十册，两种生活的原则；新约总论，第二百六十五篇；神人的生活，第十四篇。

　　[We need] to see these two principles for living. What does it mean when a person lives according to right and wrong? What does it mean when a person lives according to life? Many people only have the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in their lives. Other people have the tree of life in their lives. Some have both trees. The Word of God tells us, however, that he who eats of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil shall surely die, while he who eats of the tree of life shall live.

　　If our conduct is controlled by the principle of right and wrong, then we ask if something is right or wrong whenever we have to make a decision. Would it be good to do this, or would it be evil? When we ask whether it is good, we are, in effect, asking ourselves, “Am I right to do this or not?” Many people consider much whether something is good or evil. They consider whether they can or cannot do a certain thing. They ask, “Is this right or wrong?” As they carefully consider a certain matter, being Christians, they determine whether it is good and right to do that thing. By taking care to decide whether or not something is good and right, they consider themselves to be good Christians.

　　God’s Word says, “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). At the most, this practice is only a discerning of good from evil. At best, it is merely choosing and rejecting—choosing good and rejecting evil. This is…the Old Testament, the law, worldly religions, human morality, and human ethics, but it is not Christianity.

　　Christianity is life,…not a matter of asking whether something is right or wrong…[but] of checking with the life inside us whenever we do something. What does the new life which God has given us tell us inwardly about this matter?…What does our inner life say? If the life is strong and active within us, we can do this; if the life is cold and retreating within us, we should not. Our principle for living is inward instead of outward. The standard of Christian living does not only deal with evil things but also with good and right things. Many matters are right according to human standards, but the divine standard pronounces them wrong because they lack the divine life….Decisions should be made according to God’s life as it rises up or recedes within us….Do we feel joyful inwardly about this matter? Do we have spiritual happiness and peace? These are the matters that decide our spiritual path. (Two Principles of Living (booklet), pp. 2-3, 6-9, 13-15)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msgs. 9, 24, 27, 30; CWWN, vol. 56, “Two Principles of Living,” pp. 418-432; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msg. 265; CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 3, “The God-man Living,” ch. 14