凭恩典之应许的产品（以撒）
恩典之应许的产品是以撒，他是达成神目的的后裔（创十七19，二一12下）。达成神目的的后裔，一点不差就是基督自己，为神作到我们里面，经过我们，又从我们出来。神所作到我们里面的，带进那作后裔的基督（加三16）。这后裔至终变成了我们的地。现在我们有这后裔作我们的生命，又有地作我们的生活。在里面，我们有基督作生命，我们凭这生命活着；在外面，我们有基督作地，我们在其中活着。这就是教会生活连同基督作我们的生命。这是我们达成神目的惟一的路。
我们不该再把创世记中的故事仅仅当作一种豫言，乃要把这些当作今天实际情形的寓意。恩典、律法、我们天然的力量都在这里，我们却常受试诱，要用天然的力量与夏甲合作，产生以实玛利，来达成神的目的。然而，我们有一个保障－核对在我们日常的生活，以及基督徒的工作中，有没有神的同在。保障不是我们有多少果子，乃是神的同在。你有没有把握，有没有确信，基督逐日作到你里面，成为你内在的生命，使你凭祂活着？你有没有把握，这位基督甚至成为你活在其中的范围？这范围就是教会生活。我们需要后裔和地，就是正确的基督徒生命加上教会生活。我们需要看见这个，不是为别人，乃是为自己。亚伯拉罕的传记就是我们的自传，这两个妇人的寓意就是我们生活的描绘。今天我们活着，需要基督作生命并作土地。
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The Allegory of the Two Women (6) – Gal. 3:16
The Product of the Promise of Grace (Isaac)
The product of the promise of grace is Isaac, who is the seed fulfilling God’s purpose (Gen. 17:19; 21:12b). The seed who accomplishes God’s purpose is, without a doubt, Christ Himself, who is wrought by God into us, passes through us, and comes out of us. What God wrought into us brings forth the Christ who acts as the seed (Gal. 3:16). This seed eventually becomes our good land. Now we have this seed as our life, and we also have the land as our living. Inwardly, we have Christ as life, and we live by this life; outwardly, we have Christ as the land, and we live in Him. This is the church life together with Christ as our life. This is the only way for us to accomplish God’s purpose.
We should no longer treat the stories in Genesis merely as a kind of prophecy, but must take them as an allegory of our actual situation today. Grace, law and our natural strength are all here, yet we are often tempted to use natural strength to cooperate with Hagar to produce Ishmael in order to accomplish God’s purpose. However, we have a safeguard — checking whether we have God’s presence in our daily life and in our Christian work. The safeguard is not how much fruit we have, but God’s presence. Do you have the assurance, do you have the confirmation, that Christ is being wrought into you day by day, becoming your intrinsic life, enabling you to live by Him? Do you have the assurance that this Christ has even become the realm in which you live? This realm is the church life. We need the seed and the land, which is the proper Christian life added to the church life. We need to see this, not for others, but for ourselves. Abraham’s biography is our autobiography, and the allegory of the two women is a sketch of our living. Today as we live, we need Christ to be our life and our land.