罗七4　　我的弟兄们，这样说来，你们借着基督的身体，向着律法也已经是死的了，叫你们归与别人，就是归与那从死人中复活的，使我们结果子给神。

　　路得在神的创造里，在亚当里是女人，在人的堕落里是摩押女子，因而成了旧人，具有这两面，预表召会在得救之前，是神创造里的人，也是在人的堕落里的罪人，乃是“我们的旧人”（罗六6）。

　　路得是寡妇，死了丈夫，为波阿斯所赎回；波阿斯清理了路得已死丈夫的债务，恢复她已死丈夫所失去的产权；因此路得预表蒙了基督救赎的召会，而召会的旧人乃是已经被钉十字架的丈夫（罗七4上）；基督清理了召会旧人的罪，好恢复神所创造而堕落之天然人所失去的权利。

　　我们的旧人已经与基督同钉十字架（六6）。基督的钉十字架毁坏我们旧人堕落的部分，但救赎受造的部分。基督没有救赎我们旧人堕落的部分；反之，祂乃是将这部分了结。然而，祂救赎我们受造的部分，好恢复我们。所以，基督在十字架上的死了结我们旧人堕落的部分，救赎神所造的部分（路得记生命读经，三八至四○页）。

　　Rom. 7:4 So then, my brothers, you also have been made dead to the law through the body of Christ so that you might be joined to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, that we might bear fruit to God.

　　Ruth, being a woman in Adam in God’s creation and a Moabitess in man’s fall, thus becoming an old man with these two aspects, typifies the church, before her salvation, as men in God’s creation and sinners in man’s fall being “our old man” (Rom. 6:6).

　　Ruth, being the widow of the dead husband, redeemed by Boaz, who cleared the indebtedness of her dead husband for the recovery of the lost right of her dead husband’s property, typifies the church with her old man as her crucified husband (Rom. 7:4a) redeemed by Christ, who cleared away her old man’s sin for the recovery of the lost right of her fallen natural man created by God.

　　Our old man has been crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6). Christ’s crucifixion destroyed the fallen part of our old man, but it redeemed the created part. Christ did not redeem the fallen part of our old man; on the contrary, He terminated it. However, He redeemed our created part in order to recover us. Therefore, Christ’s death on the cross terminated the fallen part of our old man and redeemed the part created by God. (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 28-30)

　　路得被波阿斯赎回以后，成了他的新妻子，预表召会得救以后，因着召会天然的人得了重生而成了基督的配偶（罗七4下）。被赎回的路得怎样成了波阿斯的新妻子，照样，得救并重生的召会，也在与祂生机的联结里，成了祂的新妻子，祂的配偶。

　　路得（拣选跟随拿俄米到以色列地，并）与波阿斯联结，预表外邦罪人联于基督，使他们有分于神应许的产业（弗三6）。

　　路得的身份，第一种是神所创造、甚好的人（创一27、31）。第二，她是在亚当里堕落的人，被神定罪且在神面前被构成为罪人（罗五18上，19上）。第三，她成为旧人，因着离弃神作她的丈夫，作了自己的旧丈夫（六6上，七2），这旧丈夫使她负债。第四，她因旧丈夫的罪而成为负债者。第五，她是摩押女子，被神放弃之乱伦的外邦人（申二三3）。第六，她与神的选民以色列联结，成为神应许的有分者（弗二12~13，三6）。第七，她被她的亲人波阿斯赎回，作她新丈夫的新妻子（得四5、13）。第八，她是保守基督成为肉体这条线的人（太一5下）。第九，她是大卫的曾祖母，生出神所设立地上行政的王室。第十，她成为基督重要的先祖，将基督，就是神的具体化身，带给地上的人。

　　我们可概述路得的身份：她是天然、神所造的人；堕落、败坏的人；旧丈夫—在旧人里与罪、债务牵连的人—的旧妻子；与神的选民联结的人；被赎回的人；新妻子；带进地上神圣行政之王室的人；以及基督重要的先祖，将基督带给人类。简单地说，路得是天然的人、堕落的人、与罪牵连的人、被赎回的人、与新丈夫联结的人、以及将基督带给人类的人（路得记生命读经，四○、四四至四五页）。

　　参读：真理课程三级卷二，第三十四课；召会的意义，第八篇。

　　Ruth, after being redeemed by Boaz, becoming a new wife to him typifies the church, after being saved, through the regeneration of the church’s natural man, becoming the counterpart of Christ (Rom. 7:4b). Just as the redeemed Ruth became a new wife to Boaz, so the saved and regenerated church has become His new wife, His counterpart, in the organic union with Him.

　　Ruth, [choosing to follow Naomi to the land of Israel and] being united to Boaz, typifies the Gentile sinners being attached to Christ that they may partake of the inheritance of God’s promise (Eph. 3:6).

　　Ruth’s first status was that of a God-created person who was very good (Gen. 1:27, 31). Second, she was a fallen person in Adam who was condemned by God and constituted a sinner before God (Rom. 5:18a, 19a). Third, she became an old man to be, by forsaking God as her Husband, an old husband to herself (Rom. 6:6a; 7:2) who brought her into indebtedness. Fourth, she became a debtor in the sin of her old husband. Fifth, she was a Moabitess, an incestuous Gentile abandoned by God (Deut. 23:3). Sixth, she became one who joined God’s elect, Israel, in partaking of God’s promises (Eph. 2:12-13; 3:6). Seventh, she was redeemed by her kinsman, Boaz, to be a new wife to him, her new husband (Ruth 4:5, 13). Eighth, she was one who kept the line of Christ’s incarnation (Matt. 1:5b). Ninth, she was the great-grandmother of David who brought forth the royal family of the God-ordained government on the earth. Tenth, she became a crucial ancestor of Christ who brought forth Christ, the embodiment of God, to men on earth.

　　We may summarize Ruth’s statuses by saying that she was a natural, God-created person; a fallen, corrupted person; an old wife to an old husband—a person in the old man involved with sin, with indebtedness; a person who joined God’s elect; a redeemed person; a new wife; a person who brought in the royal family of the divine government on earth; and one of the crucial ancestors of Christ who brought Christ to the human race. Stated simply, Ruth was a natural person, a fallen person, a person involved in sin, a redeemed person, a person united to a new husband, and a person who brought Christ to humanity. (Life-study of Ruth, pp. 30, 33-34)

　　Further Reading: Truth Lessons—Level Three, vol. 2, lsn. 34; CWWL, 1956, vol. 2, “Three Aspects of the Church, Book 1: The Meaning of the Church,” ch. 8; CWWL, Bible Notes & Hymns, vol. 1, pp. 339-343