【双语灵修】新造之人的群体A COMMUNITY OF NEW CREATIONS

罗马书 16:1-16

我对你们举荐我们的姐妹非比，她是坚革哩教会中的女执事。 请你们为主接待她，合乎圣徒的体统。她在何事上要你们帮助，你们就帮助她，因她素来帮助许多人，也帮助了我。问百基拉和亚居拉安。他们在基督耶稣里与我同工， 也为我的命将自己的颈项置之度外。不但我感谢他们，就是外邦的众教会也感谢他们。 又问在他们家中的教会安。问我所亲爱的以拜尼土安，他在亚细亚是归基督初结的果子。 又问马利亚安，她为你们多受劳苦。 又问我亲属与我一同坐监的安多尼古和犹尼亚安，他们在使徒中是有名望的，也是比我先在基督里。 又问我在主里面所亲爱的暗伯利安。 又问在基督里与我们同工的耳巴奴并我所亲爱的士大古安。 又问在基督里经过试验的亚比利安。问亚利多布家里的人安。 又问我亲属希罗天安。问拿其数家在主里的人安。 又问为主劳苦的土非拿氏和土富撒氏安。问可亲爱为主多受劳苦的彼息氏安。 又问在主蒙拣选的鲁孚和他母亲安，他的母亲就是我的母亲。 又问亚逊其土、弗勒干、黑米、八罗巴、黑马，并与他们在一处的弟兄们安。 又问非罗罗古和犹利亚，尼利亚和他姐妹，同阿林巴，并与他们在一处的众圣徒安。 你们亲嘴问安彼此务要圣洁。基督的众教会都问你们安。

4月24日

新造之人的群体

“我对你们举荐我们的姊妹非比，她是坚革哩教会中的女执事。” - 罗马书 16:1

“别把它只叫作‘一份名单’。”这是讲道学教授弗雷德·克拉多克（Fred Craddock）在谈到《罗马书》16章时的建议。这一章汇集了保罗朋友们的名字，尽管其中许多名字对今天的我们来说很陌生，但这绝不仅仅是一份名单。这里每一个人的故事都彰显著神恩典的神迹。

以非比为例。保罗称她为姊妹，并向罗马的读者举荐她，说她是来自坚革哩教会的执事（diaconal servant），坚革哩是希腊哥林多附近的一个港口城镇。显然，在这个旅客往来频繁的城镇里，她曾极力地帮助了许多人。

用本月的主题词汇来说，非比是一个新造的人（《哥林多后书》5:17）。因着信靠耶稣为救主，她是一个“在基督里”的女人：旧的非比正在消失，而一个新的非比正在成形。藉着圣灵在她里面的工作，她变得越来越像耶稣—那位最伟大的施予者和帮助者。她是复活生命的一个持续的提醒，向我们所有人指出神对祂整个创造的更新。

这就是新造的人—像《罗马书》16章里所提到的那些人所做的事。他们成为许多人的极大帮助，因为他们是在基督里，而基督是唯一的救主和最伟大的帮助者。

祷告

主啊，感谢你将我们加入到包括非比和所有其他信徒在内的群体中。求使我们更像耶稣，好叫我们能成为这世界的极大帮助，成为你那将来之新创造的记号。阿们。

Romans 16:1-16

FRIDAY, APRIL 24

A COMMUNITY OF NEW CREATIONS

I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. —Romans 16:1

“Don’t call it ‘just a list.’” That was the advice of preaching professor Fred Craddock as he spoke about Romans 16. This collection of Paul’s friends, with names that are unfamiliar to many of us today, is not merely a list. Every person here has a story revealing a miracle of God’s grace.

Take Phoebe, for example. Paul calls her a sister, and he commends her to his Roman readers as a diaconal servant from the church in Cenchreae, a harbor town near Corinth in Greece. Apparently she was a great help to many people in a town that saw lots of travelers come and go.

To use the language of this month’s theme, Phoebe was a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17). Having come to faith in Jesus as Savior, she was a woman who was “in Christ,” and the old Phoebe was disappearing while a new Phoebe was coming to expression. By the work of the Holy Spirit in her, she was becoming more and more like Jesus, the greatest giver and helper of all. She was an ongoing reminder of resurrection life, pointing us all to God’s renewal of his whole world.

That is what new creations, like the ones named in Romans 16, do. They become a great help to many people because they are in Christ, the one Savior and the greatest helper of all.

Lord, thank you for adding us to the gathering that includes Phoebe and all other believers. Make us more like Jesus so that we may be a great help to the world, a sign of your new creation to come. Amen.