2月3日；
罗马书 5:1-11；
唱诗：赞美诗 10:10；
惟有基督在我们还作罪人的时候为我们死，神的爱就在此向我们显明了。（罗 5:8）
为什么有人愿意为敌人、为罪人而死呢？使徒保罗告诉我们，“为义人死，是少有的，为仁人死，或者有敢作的。”（罗 5:7）
这个想法很简单：我们可能会为义人、或善良的人而献出生命。但在这二种情况下，上面所说的这种是一个例外。好人很少有，通常情况下，我们唯一的目标就是确保自身的安全。
这是完全不可想像的，谁会为罪人献出生命，为那与神和我们为敌的人。如此浪费自己的生命，是多么地不负责任啊！
然而，这确实发生了：当我们还是罪人的时候，基督就为我们而死。这便是福音的核心。神没有等到我们悔改，祂不是为义人而死，而是为不敬虔的人而死，为与神为敌、离开神的人而死。如果神没有这样做，没有人能得救。
我们没有任何美德，或可取之处值得神拯救我们，神只被祂自己的爱所驱动。对于我们的得救，我们不能声称有任何的功劳；相反，我们只能敬拜神的慈爱。
我们要注意，这节经文谈到的是神他自己的爱。神的爱不同于人的爱，我们只爱那些会爱我们的人。然而，上帝的爱超越了人的局限，是一种独特和特殊的爱，在它里面我们的救恩是有保障的。
思考问题：我们的爱应该与非信徒的爱有什么不同之处？
February 3
Romans 5:1-11
Song: Hymn 10: 10
GOD'S LOVE FOR SINNERS
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
Why would anyone want to die for an enemy, for sinners? The apostle Paul tells us, "Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die" (Rom 5:7).
The thought is simple: we might give our life to save a righteous or a good person, but, in both cases, this is exceptional. There are few good men, and often our sole objective is to secure our own safety.
It is totally unthinkable that anyone would give his life for sinners, who are God's enemies and our enemies. What an irresponsible waste of our life that would be!
Yet this is precisely what has happened: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Here beats the heart of the Gospel. The Lord did not wait until we repented. He did not die for the righteous, but for the ungodly, for people totally hostile to and estranged from God. If he did otherwise, no one would have been saved.
There was no merit or redeeming virtue in any of us that led God to save us. He was moved and motivated only by his love.We cannot claim any credit for our salvation; instead, we can only adore God's lovingkindness.
We should note that this text speaks of God's own love. God's love is different from human love, for we love those who love us back. God's love, however, transcends human limitations. It is a unique and special love, and our salvation is secure in it.
Question: How should our love be different from the love of non-Christians?
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