只是問一下 (15)：我們和你們

我不是猶太人。
所以，每當聖經說「你們」，我從沒戴著猶太人的眼鏡來理解。
我以為這是指「我」，沒有其他。
從來沒有想過這可以是一個猶太人對另一個非猶太人說的！

同樣，當經文說「我們」，我就直覺理解為「我們基督徒」。
當然也從未考慮過這可以是「我們猶太人」，當中包括舊約聖經提到所有給猶太人的應許和特權。還有「我們信徒」。

當我讀到以弗所書第二章時，這種理解的缺欠尤其嚴重：

8 你們得救是本乎恩，也因著信；這並不是出於自己，乃是上帝所賜的；9 也不是出於行為，免得有人自誇。10 我們原是他的工作，在基督耶穌裏造成的，為要叫我們行善，就是上帝所預備叫我們行的（弗二8～10《和修》）。

你們（8節）和我們（10節）一同出現，使我有點頭昏腦脹。

「你們」也許較易辨認。
因為「你們」之前的第10節，明顯指涉「外邦人」：

11 所以你們應當記念：你們從前按肉體是外邦人，是稱為沒受割禮的；這名原是那些憑人手在肉身上稱為受割禮之人所起的（弗二11《和修》）。

認出「你們」是誰之後，誰又是「我們」呢？

現在要回答的是，是誰組成上帝的工作？
只有猶太人？
只有外邦人？
抑或猶太人和外邦人一同組成一個得救的身體——教會？

經文從何處開始離開了個人和私下的解讀：「我是上帝的工作」？

只是問一下。

Just Asking (15): We and you

I am not a Jew.
So whenever the Bible says “you”, I’d never read it with a Jewish lens.
I thought it must have meant “me”; nothing more.
Never thought it could have been spoken from the perspective of a Jew towards a non-Jew!

Similarly when it says “we”, intuitively I take it as “we Christians”.
Certainly never considered it could be “we Jews” with all Jewish promises and privileges mentioned in the Old Testament. And “we believers”.

This lack of appreciation reaches a head when I read:

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Eph 2:8-10, NLT) .

You (v. 8), and we (vv. 9&10) appear in concert kind of mess things up for me.

 “You” maybe easier to identify.
For “you” immediately follows verse 10 where clearly it has “gentiles” as the referent:

11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts (Eph 2:11, NLT) .

Having settled the referent of “you”, what about “we”?

Now who make up God’s masterpiece then?
Jews alone?
Gentiles alone?
Or Jews and Gentiles as one saved Body, the Church?

Where does it leave the individualistic and personal reading that “I am God’s masterpiece”?

Just asking.