60 重生Rebirth
作者: 史鮑爾 (R.C. Sproul) 譯者: 姚錦榮
摘自《神學入門》《Essential Truths of the Christian Faith》p.158 , 更新傳道會出版
當卡特當選美國總統時，他形容自己是個「重生的基督徒」。後來，尼克松總統在白宮時的一位親信柯森（Charles colson）, 也曾寫過一本名為《重生》（borm again）[註1] 的暢銷書，記載自己歸信基督的過程。由於這兩位名人都提到重生一詞，因此使得這詞變得十分流行。
其實稱某人是重生的基督徒，在修辭學上是犯了累詞語病，因為實際上，並沒有非重生的基督徒。「非重生的基督徒」是個矛盾用語，正如「重生的非基督徒」是矛盾用語一樣。
耶穌是第一位宣告屬靈的重生是進神國度之必要條件的人。他對尼哥底母說：「我實實在在的告訴你，人若不重生，就不能見神的國。」（約三3）耶穌藉「就不能」一詞，來表明見神的國和進神的國所不可或缺的一個條件，那就是重生。重生因此也是基督教很重要的一部分；人若不重生，便不能進神的國。
重生（regeneration）, 是一個神學名詞，指的是一個新生、新的創造、新的開始。重生比〔開始新的一頁〕更進一步，它是一個完全被更新了的人，新生命開始的標記。彼得說：「你們蒙了重生，不是由於能壞的種子，乃是由於不能壞的種子，是借著神活潑常存的道。」（彼前一23）
重生是聖靈在靈性死亡的人身上所作的工作（見弗二1～10）。聖靈在人的心中重新創造，使人從屬靈的死亡中復蘇過來，得著屬靈的生命。重生之人是神的新創造，從前他們對關於神的事沒有興趣、不喜愛、也不傾慕，但是現在他們的性情和愛慕是傾向神的。神在人重生時，把一種人本來所沒有的對神的傾慕植於人心中。
我們不要將重生與整個悔改歸主的經驗混為一談。正如出生只是一個開始，是我們離開母腹進入世界的起點，屬靈的重生也是我們屬靈生命的一個起點。它是出於至高神主動的作為，是立時而瞬間的工作。也許我們察覺自己歸主的過程十分緩慢，但重生本身卻是立即性的；沒有人只是部分地重生，正如沒有婦人只是部分地懷孕一樣。
重生不是人信心所結的果子，重生先於信心，它是信心的必要條件。我們自己不會傾慕重生，也不可能與聖靈同工，使重生得以實現。我們是在領受了神全權的重生恩典之後，才會選擇基督，回應基督並相信基督的。神不會代我們相信，我們是憑自己的信稱義，而神為我們作的則是覆蘇我們的屬靈生命，拯救我們脫離黑暗、捆綁和屬靈的死亡。神復蘇我們，使我們能夠相信，且真正的相信。
總結
1. 所有真基督徒都是重生的人。
2. 所有真正重生的人都是基督徒。
3. 重生是進神的國所必備的先決條件。
4. 重生是聖靈全權、恩典的作為。
5. 重生先於信心，是神救贖計劃中的第一項作為
救恩的步驟：
重生-- > 信心 --> 稱義 --> 成聖 -->得榮
思考經文：
申卅6；結卅六26-27；羅八30；多三4-7
[註1] Charles colson,born again (old tappan,NJ,:Revell,1977)
Rebirth
When
Jimmy Carter was elected president of the United States he described himself as
a "born-again Christian." Then Charles Colson, former hatchet man in
the Nixon White House, wrote a best-selling book by the title Born Again. In
it, he chronicled his own experience of conversion to Christianity. Since these
two famous personalities popularized the phrase born again, it has become part
of the currency of modern speech.
To
describe someone as a born-again Christian is, technically speaking, to be
guilty of redundancy. There is no such thing as a non-born-again Christian. An
unregenerate (non-born-again) Christian is a contradiction in terms. Likewise,
a born-again non-Christian is a contradiction.
It
was Jesus who first declared that spiritual rebirth was an absolute necessity
for entering the kingdom of God. He declared to Nicodemus, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God" (John 3:3). The word unless in Jesus' teaching signals a universally
necessary condition for seeing and entering the kingdom of God. Rebirth, then,
is an essential part of Christianity; without it, entrance into God's kingdom
is impossible.
Regeneration
is the theological term used to describe rebirth. It refers to a new
generating, a new genesis, a new beginning. It is more than "turning over
a new leaf"; it marks the beginning of a new life in a radically renewed
person. Peter speaks of believers "having been born again, not of
corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and
abides forever" (1 Peter 1:23).
Regeneration
is the work of the Holy Spirit upon those who are spiritually dead (see
Ephesians 2:1-10). The Spirit recreates the human heart, quickening it from
spiritual death to spiritual life. Regenerate people are new creations. Where
formerly they had no disposition, inclination, or desire for the things of God,
now they are disposed and inclined toward God. In regeneration, God plants a
desire for Himself in the human heart that otherwise would not be there.
Regeneration
is not to be confused with the full experience of conversion. Just as birth is
our initiation, our first entrance into life outside the womb, so our spiritual
rebirth is the starting point of our spiritual life. It occurs by God's divine
initiative and is an act that is sovereign, immediate, and instantaneous. An
awareness of our conversion may be gradual. Yet rebirth itself is
instantaneous. No one can be partially reborn any more than a woman can be
partially pregnant.
Regeneration
is not the fruit or result of faith. Rather, regeneration precedes faith as the
necessary condition for faith. We also do not in any way dispose ourselves
toward regeneration or cooperate as coworkers with the Holy Spirit to bring it
to pass. We do not decide or choose to be regenerated. God chooses to
regenerate us before we will ever choose to embrace Him. To be sure, after we
have been regenerated by the sovereign grace of God, we do choose, act,
cooperate, and believe in Christ. God does not have faith for us. It is our own
faith by which we are justified. What God does is quicken us to spiritual life,
rescuing us from darkness, bondage, and spiritual death. God makes faith
possible and actual for us. He quickens faith within us.
1. All who are truly Christians are born again.
2. All who are truly born again are Christians.
3.
Rebirth is a necessary precondition to entering the kingdom of God.
4.
Regeneration is the sovereign, gracious work of the Holy Spirit.
5. Regeneration precedes faith. It is God's
divine initiative in salvation.
The
Essential Truths of the Christian Faith devotional is excerpted from Essential
Truths of the Christian Faith Copyright © 1992 by R. C. Sproul. All rights
reserved.
