罗十17　　可见信是由于听，听是借着基督的话。

　　约六63　　赐人生命的乃是灵，肉是无益的；我对你们所说的话，就是灵，就是生命。

　　按照罗马十章十七节，信来自听见话。因此，信的源头乃是话，但我们必须认识这一点的结晶。话有三方面：首先有神写出来的话—圣经（约十35）；然后有神活的话—基督（一1）；最后有神应用的话—那灵（弗六17，约六63）。

　　圣经是写出来的话，基督是活的话。然而，若没有那灵，活的话就不能应用在我们身上。借着那灵，活的话成了应用的话。神只有一种话。首先祂说话，而祂所说的写在一本书上，那就是圣经。只有一本书是神的话（李文集一九九四至一九九七年第一册，三五一至三五二页）。

　　Rom. 10:17 So faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

　　John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

　　According to Romans 10:17, faith comes out of the hearing of the word. Thus, the source of faith is the word, but we have to realize the crystallization of this point. There are three aspects of the word. First, there is the written word of God—the Bible (John 10:35). Then there is the living word of God—Christ (1:1). Finally, there is the applied word of God—the Spirit (Eph. 6:17; John 6:63).

　　The Bible is the written word, and Christ is the living word. Without the Spirit, however, the living word cannot be applied to us. The living word becomes the applied word through the Spirit. God has only one kind of word. First, He spoke, and what He spoke was written in a book. That is the Bible. There is only one book that is the word of God. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 286-287)

　　当圣经的话讲给我们听的时候，写出来的话立即就成了活的话。那就是基督。当活的话应用在我们身上，被我们得着的时候，就成了那灵的话。然后我们所听见那灵的话，就成了我们信的源头。信是来自听见这出于写成的圣经，借着活的基督，并凭着那灵所应用的话。

　　你可能清晨读圣经，却没有祷告或呼求主的名。这样，神的话对你就不过是写出来的话。神的话在主观上与你无关。所以你必须借着呼求主并祷读主的话，与主有一些接触。当你呼求主，并祷读主的话，你立即有很深的感觉，基督活在你里面。然后你会说，“主，我爱你。我爱这里的话。我多么爱希伯来十一章六节：‘到神面前来的人，必须信神是〔直译〕，且信祂赏赐那寻求祂的人。’”这写出来的话，对你立即成了活的话，也成了应用的话。然后你上车，开车到办公室。当你开车的时候，有一样活的东西应用在你身上，你就有信。信是来自这个源头。

　　这三者—写出来的话、活的话、应用的话—都指神自己。“太初有话，…话就是神。”（约一1）在这里，话是个人位。神在圣经里写出来的话，成了基督这活的话，应用到我们里面作那灵，就是那灵的话；那就是神自己。你越是这样得着神，神就越成为你的信。

　　因此，信的源头乃是神。…我们能借着来到圣经这写成的话这里，而得着神。…我们读圣经之前，最好呼求主至少两三次：“哦，主耶稣。哦，主耶稣。”立即，圣经这写出来的话就成为活的话。那就是基督。然后我们对祂有反应，祂就成了是灵的话，也就是那灵所应用的话。这样，我们就得着神。神就加到我们里面，这位神乃是信的源头。

　　信的结晶乃是信神是。信的源头的结晶，乃是神在祂写出的话中给我们接触为活的话，并应用为那灵的话，使我们能得着那能称无为有、又赐生命给死人的三一神。这一位乃是具体化在基督里，并实化为那灵。所以信是具体化并实化的三一神。…神具体化在基督里并实化为那灵，就是信（李文集一九九四至一九九七年第一册，三五二至三五四页）。

　　参读：罗马书的结晶，第八篇。

　　When the word of the Bible is spoken to us and heard by us, right away the written word becomes the living word. That is Christ. When the living word is applied to us and received by us, it becomes the word of the Spirit. Then this word of the Spirit heard by us is the source of our faith. Faith comes from the hearing of this applied word by the Spirit through the living Christ out of the written Bible.

　　Early in the morning you may read the Bible but without prayer and without calling on the name of the Lord. Then the word of God is merely the written word to you. It has nothing to do with you subjectively. So you have to have some contact with the Lord by calling on Him and pray-reading the Word. When you call on Him and pray-read the Word, right away you have the deep sensation that Christ is living within you. Then you would say, “Lord, I love You. I love this word here. How I love Hebrews 11:6: ’‘He who comes forward to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.’” Right away this written word becomes a living word and then an applied word to you. Then you get into your car and drive to your office. While you are driving, you have something living applied to you. Then you have faith. Faith comes from this source.

　　All three—the written word, the living word, and the applied word—refer to God Himself. “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God” (John 1:1). The Word here is a person. God’s written word in the Bible becomes Christ as the living word, who is applied into us as the Spirit, the word of the Spirit. That is God Himself. The more that God is gained by you in this way, the more He becomes your faith.

　　Thus, the source of faith is God… We can gain God by coming to the Bible, the written word… Before reading the Bible, it is good to call on the Lord at least two or three times, “O Lord Jesus. O Lord Jesus.” Right away, the written word of the Bible becomes the living word. That is Christ. Then we react to Him, and He becomes the word as the Spirit, the word applied by the Spirit. Then we have God. God is added into our being, and this God is the source of faith.

　　The crystallization of faith is to believe that God is. The crystallization of the source of faith is God in His written word contacted as the living word and applied as the word of the Spirit so that we can gain the Triune God, who is able to call the things not being as being and give life to the dead. This One is embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit. So faith is the Triune God embodied and realized… God embodied in Christ and realized as the Spirit is faith. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” pp. 287-289)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” ch. 8