你有没有想过, why you must be born again? Why couldn’t humanity stay the way they were, after the fall? Why isn’t a confession of your faith statement, a church visit, 读圣经, a prayer, ETC. enough? Why is regeneration necessary? Why do we need to be born again?
That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit
耶稣回答对他说, 确实, 确实, 我对你说, 除非一个人重生, 他看不到神的国度 (约翰 3:3)
耶稣回答, 确实, 确实, 我对你说, 人若不是从水和圣灵生的, 他不能进入神的国度. 从肉身生的就是肉身; 从圣灵生的就是灵. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit (约翰 3:5-8).
圣经说, that you must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God and to see the Kingdom of God. 仅有的, if you are born of water and of the Spirit, you will enter and see the Kingdom of God. There is no other way to enter nor to see the Kingdom of God.
The reason why Jesus came to this earth
In order to understand the words of Jesus and the necessity of the new birth, you should know the reason why Jesus Christ, 神的儿子, came to this earth and what His mission was.
Jesus came to the earth to restore the state of fallen man and to reconcile man back to God.
Jesus needed to restore the state of fallen man and reconcile man back to God, because the union between God and man was broken. Who broke the relationship? Man did. (另请阅读: ‘The peace Jesus restored between fallen man and God‘ 和 ‘耶稣恢复了堕落人类的地位').
Let’s go back to the moment in the 伊甸园, in order to understand the necessity of the new birth and the reason why you must be born again.
Man chose the flesh over the Spirit
古往今来, we see that man rather chose the way of the flesh, instead of the way of the Spirit. This already began in the 伊甸园, where Adam and Eve chose the carnal tree of knowledge of good and evil, rather than the sacred tree of life.
God had commanded man, to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God had warned man what would happen if they would eat from that tree. If they would eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would die.
But despite the warning and commandment of God, Adam and Eve chose to eat from the fruit of the forbidden tree.
They were led by curiosity and began to doubt the words of God. They obeyed the devil and became disobedient to God. Because of their disobedience to God death entered.
The sentence of death came upon them and upon everyone, who would be born of the seed of Adam. Therefore the sentence of death came upon the whole human race.
亚当是一个活生生的灵魂, born of the Spirit. 他与神原为一 (dead for sin). But when he became 不顺服神 and sinned, 他被判处死刑. The spirit in man died, and man came under the authority of death. As he was created out of the dust, he would return to dust.
亚当犯罪之前, 他的主要特征是精神. But after Adam sinned his spirit died and came under the authority of death and his predominant characteristic was flesh.
Born of the flesh
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (罗马书 3:23)
男子从岗位上跌落, which God had given to man, and the sentence of death was passed on to the entire human race.
每个人, who would be born of the flesh possesses a sinful nature and is sentenced to death. There is no exception! No one is born of the Spirit when (s)he comes into this world.
Flesh and blood can’t enter the Kingdom of God
因为事实, that everyone is born of the flesh, 作为一个罪人, no one can enter the Kingdom of God, in this carnal sinful state, which is the state of 一个罪人.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us (1 约翰 1:8-10)
The natural carnal man, who exists of flesh and blood and whose spirit is dead, is unspiritual and can’t comprehend, nor receive the things of the Spirit of God, because it’s foolishness unto the carnal man.
但属血气的人不接受上帝之灵的事: 因为他们对他来说是愚蠢的: 他也不可能认识他们, 因为他们在属灵上有辨识力(1 哥林多前书 2:14)
现在我说, 弟兄们, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; 腐败也不会继承廉洁 (1 哥林多前书 15:50)
神是一个灵: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth (约翰 4:24)
从肉身生的就是肉身. 肉体不能讨神喜悦. The flesh is not able to see or enter the Kingdom of God. Therefore a person must be born again in the spirit in order to see and enter the Kingdom of God.
只有当一个人重生时; born of water and the Spirit, a person shall enter the Kingdom of God and receive eternal life. Water and Spirit, means the baptism in water and the baptism with the Holy Spirit (另请阅读: ‘The meaning of water baptism, ‘什么是五旬节?‘ 和 ‘How can a person become born again?').
Faith is the catalyst, which brings you to an encounter with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerates you. 以便, you are born into the heavenly realm and Kingdom, just as you were once born into the natural (earthly) realm and kingdom.
4 Reasons why you must be born again
Let’s look at the 4 reasons why you must be born again:
1. The universal result of sin demands regeneration
因此, 罪恶通过一个人进入了世界, 和因罪而死; 于是死亡临到了所有人, 因为所有人都犯了罪 (罗马书 5:12)
正如它所写的那样, 没有一个是正义的, 不, 不是一个 (罗马书 3:10)
2. Unregenerate man is unable to understand the things of God and His Kingdom nor receive the gifts of God
但属血气的人不接受上帝之灵的事: 因为他们对他来说是愚蠢的: 他也不可能认识他们, 因为他们在属灵上有辨识力 (1 哥林多前书 2:14)
3. Without the new birth everything you do, 每一个冲动和行动都被玷污
为了从内部, 从男人的心里, 继续恶念, 通奸, 淫乱, 谋杀, 盗窃, 贪婪, 邪恶, 欺骗, 淫荡, 邪恶的眼睛, 亵渎, 自豪, 愚蠢: 所有这些邪恶的事情都来自于内心, 并玷污了男人 (标记 7:21-23)
4. Unless you are born again, you have no escape from the judgment of God
And you hath he quickened, 那些死在过犯罪恶之中的人; 在过去的时光里，你们按照这个世界的轨迹行走, 根据空中力量王子的说法, 现在在悖逆之子心中起作用的精神: 我们从前也都在他们中间谈论肉体的私欲, 满足肉体和心灵的欲望; 生来就是可怒之子, 即使和其他人一样 (以弗所书 2:1-3)
“成为地球之盐”
