【双语灵修】安多尼古和犹尼亚：新造的人ANDRONICUS AND JULIUS, NEW CREATIONS

罗马书 16:7

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。

4月26日

安多尼古和犹尼亚：新造的人

“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。” - 罗马书16:7

塑造了我们本月灵修主题的经文（《哥林多后书》5:17）中，有一个重要且简短的句语，在《罗马书》16章7节这里再次出现，那就是：“在基督里”。

这是使徒保罗最喜欢用的句语，用来描述那些已经信靠主耶稣、在祂里面蒙救赎，并且正在被转化为基督样式的人--他们是“在基督里”。基督是他们的家，是他们的安息之所，是他们的生命源头。

今天，我们通常称这些人是基督徒。但保罗说他们是“在基督里”的人。安多尼古和犹尼亚，连同保罗在《罗马书》16章提到的所有其他人，都是“在基督里”新造的人。而且，据保罗所说，他们比保罗自己更早成为“在基督里”的信徒。此外，他们“在基督里”的品格引导他们跟随基督，与保罗一同坐监。他们为主所做的服事如此卓越，以至于保罗形容他们在“使徒中是有名望的”。

这两个人是如何成为“在基督里”的呢？是神吸引他们信靠耶稣—那位唯一的救主。神对他们的爱，把他们变成了爱神的人。主把他们变成了新造的人，而他们的转变暗示着一件大事：（这是）神的新创造！

如果神也在你身上成就了这事，请与我一同感谢神！

祷告

神啊，感谢你在所有“在基督里”的人身上所做的工作—从教会早期直到如今。我们都是你新造的人！阿们。

Romans 16:7

SUNDAY, APRIL 26

ANDRONICUS AND JULIUS, NEW CREATIONS

Andronicus and Julius, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me . . . are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. —Romans 16:7

The text that has shaped our month’s devotions (2 Corinthians 5:17) has an important, little phrase that shows up again here, in Romans 16:7: “in Christ.”

This phrase is one of the apostle Paul’s favorite descriptions of people who have come to believe in the Lord Jesus, are redeemed in him, and are being transformed into the likeness of Christ. They are “in Christ.” Christ is their home, their resting place, their source of life.

Today it is more common to say that these people are Christians. Paul said that they are “in Christ.”

Andronicus and Julius are new creations “in Christ,” along with all of the other people Paul mentions in Romans 16. And, according to Paul, they were believers “in Christ” before Paul himself was. In addition, their “in Christ” character led them to follow Christ into imprisonment alongside Paul. Their service for the Lord was so remarkable that Paul described them as “outstanding among the apostles.”

How did these two people become “in Christ”? God drew them into faith in Jesus, the one and only Savior. God’s love for them turned them into people who loved God. The Lord made them into new creations. And their transformation hints at something big: God’s new creation!

Thank God with me if he has done that for you too!

Thank you, God, for your work in all who are “in Christ,” from the early days of the church to the present. We are all your new creations! Amen.