弗四20~21 但你们并不是这样学了基督；如果你们真是听过祂，并在祂里面，照着那在耶稣身上是实际者，受过教导。

　　彼前二21 ……基督也为你们受过苦，给你们留下榜样，叫你们跟随祂的脚踪行。

　　罗八29　 ……祂也预定他们模成神儿子的形像，使祂儿子在许多弟兄中作长子。

　　新约很重地指明，我们应当活基督。保罗……宣告说，“在我，活着就是基督。”〔腓一21〕但以弗所四章二十节这里告诉我们，我们学了基督。

　　基督对我们不仅是生命，也是榜样（约十三15，彼前二21）。我们照着祂的榜样跟祂学（太十一29），不是凭我们天然的生命，乃是凭祂在复活里作我们的生命。……主耶稣并没有直接进到我们里面作生命。祂乃是在地上活了三十年之后，又尽职了三年半。祂在地上三十三年半的一生当中，设立了模型，模子，榜样……。写四福音书的一个原因，就是要给我们看见，神所要之生命的模型是什么，能满足神并完成祂定旨之生命的模子是什么。因这缘故，新约从四方面给我们一部独特的传记—主耶稣的传记。主耶稣设立了启示在福音书里的模型之后，就被钉在十字架上，然后进入复活。祂乃是在复活里，进到我们里面作我们的生命（以弗所书生命读经，四七四至四七五页）。

　　Eph. 4:20-21 But you did not so learn Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him as the reality is in Jesus.

　　1 Pet. 2:21 …Christ also suffered on your behalf, leaving you a model so that you may follow in His steps.

　　Rom. 8:29 …He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.

　　The New Testament strongly indicates that we should live Christ…Paul declares, “To me, to live is Christ” [Phil. 1:21]…In Ephesians 4:20 we are told that we have learned Christ.

　　Christ is not only life to us but also an example (John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21). We learn from Him (Matt. 11:29) according to His example, not by our natural life but by Him as our life…The Lord Jesus did not come into us as life directly. Rather, after living on earth for thirty years, He ministered for another three and a half years. During the thirty-three and a half years of His life on earth, He set up a pattern, a mold, a model…One reason the four Gospels were written was to show the pattern of the life that God desires, the mold of the life that can satisfy God and fulfill His purpose. For this reason the New Testament gives us a unique biography, the biography of the Lord Jesus, written from four directions. After the Lord Jesus set up the pattern revealed in the Gospels, He was crucified on the cross, and then He entered into resurrection. It is in resurrection that He comes into us to be our life. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 380-381)

　　得救乃是被神放在基督里。林前一章三十节说，“但你们得在基督耶稣里，是出于神。”当神把我们放在基督里，祂是把我们放在一个模子里。……罗马八章二十九节指明，我们要模成基督的形像，使基督在许多弟兄中作长子。长子是模型，……学基督就是被模成基督的模型，也就是模成基督的形像。

　　借着浸，神把我们放在作为模型的基督里。受浸就是被放在作为模子的基督里。……浸入基督〔罗六3，加三27〕就是埋葬在基督里。这个受浸的坟墓就是模型、模子。在神眼中，我们受浸时，就被放在这模子里。借着被放在模子里，我们脱去了旧人并穿上了新人。借着被埋葬在基督里，我们从亚当和旧造里被带出来。借着浸，我们已被放在基督里，祂是我们的生命和模型。这说明为什么保罗在说到学了基督时，是用过去式。我们学了基督，是在我们受浸，埋葬在祂里面的时候。这意思是说，学基督就是被放在作为模子的基督里，就是模成主在地上年日中所设立的模型。

　　基督设立了模型后，就被钉死，然后进入复活，在复活里成了赐生命的灵（林前十五45）。祂乃是作为那灵进到我们里面，作我们的生命。……当我们相信主耶稣并受浸归入祂时，神就把我们放在祂里面，以祂作我们的模型和模子。所以保罗能对以弗所人说，他们“学了基督”。照着新约的亮光，并按着我们的经历，学基督就是被神放在基督里。在神那一面，祂已把我们放在基督里；在我们这一面，我们乃是借着被放在祂里面，而学了基督。

　　一个人得救之后，他里面深处就渴望，照着主耶稣所设立的模型过生活。然而，许多人不是忽视这渴望，就是错误地培养这渴望，以为凭着自己的努力可以成功地效法祂。我们以为靠着运用天然的生命可以效法基督，这是错误的。基督的信徒应当效法祂，但他们不该照着天然的生命效法祂（以弗所书生命读经，四七五至四七六页）。

　　参读：以弗所书生命读经，第四十六、四十九篇；长老训练第二册，第四章。

　　To be saved is to be put by God into Christ. First Corinthians 1:30 says, “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus.” When God put us into Christ, He put us into the mold…Romans 8:29 indicates that we are to be conformed to the image of Christ, the Firstborn among many brothers. To be conformed is to be molded…To learn Christ is simply to be molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, to be conformed to the image of Christ.

　　By means of baptism God has put us into Christ, who is the pattern. To be baptized is to be placed into Christ as the mold…To be baptized into Christ [Rom. 6:3; Gal. 3:27] is to be buried into Him. The tomb of this baptism is the pattern, the mold. In God’s eyes, we were put into this mold when we were baptized. Through being placed into the mold, we have put off the old man and have put on the new man. By being buried into Christ, we have been brought out of Adam and the old creation. By baptism we have been put into Christ, who is both our life and our pattern. This explains why Paul uses the past tense in speaking about learning Christ. We learned Christ when we were buried into Him in baptism. This means that to learn Christ is to be put into Christ as the mold. It is to be molded into the pattern set up by Him during His years on earth.

　　After Christ established the pattern, He was crucified, and then He entered into resurrection, becoming in resurrection the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). It is as the Spirit that He comes into us to be our life…At the time we believed in Christ and were baptized in Him, God put us into Him as the pattern, the mold. Therefore, Paul could tell the Ephesians that they “did… learn Christ.” According to the light of the New Testament and according to our experience, to learn Christ is to be placed into Christ by God. On God’s side, He has put us into Christ. On our side, we have learned Christ by being put into Him.

　　After a person is saved, deep within him he desires to live a life in the pattern established by the Lord Jesus. However, many either ignore this desire or cultivate it in a mistaken way, thinking that by self-effort they can succeed in imitating Him. It is a mistake to think that we can imitate Christ by the exercise of our natural life. The believers in Christ should imitate Him, but they should not do so according to their natural life. (Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 381-382)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Ephesians, msgs. 46, 49; CWWL, 1984, vol. 2, “Elders’ Training, Book 2: The Vision of the Lord’s Recovery,” ch. 4