Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ – John 3:5-7
Pastor Neivillee Tan is one of my heros of faith because God’s work in his life is a testament of how a believer is born again. One of the top 10 on the police wanted list in the 1950s, Pastor Neiville was first convicted of his sin when he was denied a request to visit his critically ill mother. Her death brought about a sense of bitterness which led to a realization that there was no one left to love “a person that the world hated”40 His initial thought of suicide was divinely interrupted by the first verse of the hymn Psalm 23. However, try as he might, he couldn’t locate the hymn, which he knew would bring him comfort in his Gideon’s New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs. In his anger, he flung this bible against the wall. Its spine broke, leaving it open at the exact page he was looking for. Psalm 23. Pastor Neiville recounts his repentant response, “I heard myself crying out in desperation to God, amidst the tears and the sobs, ‘God, if you are really there, take whatever is left of me and do whatever you want with it.’”41
Wesley understood justification as “the believer experiencing a new birth, being born again of God.”42 This experience of the Holy Spirit is a “renewal of righteousness and true holiness.”43 Wesley was quick to clarify that the new birth did not mean that “all sin [in a believer] is destroyed, root and branch”44 but rather, while sin remained in a Christian, it did not have to reign. Simply put, a born-again Christian can lapse into sin after justification, but sin is no longer a necessity.
耶稣回答：“我实实在在地告诉你，人若不是从水和圣灵生的，就不能进上帝的国，从肉身生的就是肉身；从灵生的就是灵，我说‘你们必须重生’。你不要惊讶。” 《约翰福音》3：5-7
陈有达牧师是我的信心英雄之一，因为上帝在他的生命中的工作见证了一个信徒是如何重生的。他在二十世纪五十年代的警察通缉名单中，排名前十位。他第一次认罪是因他拒绝看望他那因病生命垂危的母亲，她的死亡给他带来痛苦的感觉，这导致他意识到没有人会爱上“一个世界恨恶的人”，他起初的自杀念头从《诗篇》第23篇所唱的诗歌第一节所打断。然而，他努力从他的基甸版的只有新约及诗篇与箴言的圣经里翻查，也找不到他所要的经节来安慰他。于是他愤怒地把这本圣经往墙上摔。书本装订线从中破裂，打开的书本正好出现他所要寻找的诗篇23。陈有达牧师讲述了他的悔改的回应，“我听到自己在在泪水和啜泣声中，绝望地向上帝呼喊：'上帝啊，如果你真的在那里，我愿用尽我所有，为你所用。’”
约翰.卫斯理认为称义为“信徒经历重生，在上帝里面持续新的生命”。这种藉着圣灵的经历是“在公义和真正的圣洁里的更新。” 约翰.卫斯理很快澄清说，重生并不意味着“信徒的所有罪都被消灭，从根到枝全部拔除”，而是，即使罪仍存留在基督徒中，但并不一定掌权。简而言之，一个重生的基督徒可能再陷入罪中，但罪不再是必需的。
反思
你同意还是不同意约翰.卫斯理的观点：”为了接受永恒的救恩，重生是必须的“？为什么？
Reflection
“Do you agree or disagree with Wesley’s assessment that ‘the new birth is absolutely necessary in order to [receive] eternal salvation’? Why?”45
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