Have You Been Born Again?

by J.C. Ryle

교회 안에는 두 종류의 사람이 있다. 하나는 예수님을 믿게 되면서부터 마음과 생활이 완전히 변한 진짜 거듭난 사람이다. 다른 하나는 변하지 않았으면서 스스로가 거듭났다고 착각하는 사람인데, 하나님의 말씀이 기록된 성경을 읽어도 기뻐하지 않는데다가 기도나 봉사를 의무감으로 한다. 우리는 어디에 속한 사람일까?

‘진실로 거듭났는지 스스로를 시험하고 확증하라!’ 복음주의자 J. C. 라일의 『당신은 거듭났는가?』는 ‘거듭남’에 대한 분명한 자기 진단서다. ‘거듭남’에 대해 명쾌하게 설명한 다음, 우리가 습관처럼 교회를 다니는 사람인지, 아니면 거듭난 사람인지 분명히 확인할 수 있도록 인도한다. 특히 거듭난 사람의 삶과 성품에서만 발견되는 아름다운 열매를 보여줌으로써, 우리에게 도전하고 있다. 아울러 거듭남에 대한 거짓 교리에 속지 않는 성경적 지혜를 건넨다.

6 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2013

About the author

(John Charles Ryle) Ryle started his ministry as curate at the Chapel of Ease in Exbury, Hampshire, moving on to become rector of St Thomas's, Winchester in 1843 and then rector of Helmingham, Suffolk the following year. While at Helmingham he married and was widowed twice. He began publishing popular tracts, and Matthew, Mark and Luke of his series of Expository Thoughts on the Gospels were published in successive years (1856-1858). His final parish was Stradbroke, also in Suffolk, where he moved in 1861, and it was as vicar of All Saints that he became known nationally for his straightforward preaching and firm defence of evangelical principles. He wrote several well-known and still-in-print books, often addressing issues of contemporary relevance for the Church from a biblical standpoint. He completed his Expository Thoughts on the Gospels while at Stradbroke, with his work on the Gospel of John (1869). His third marriage, to Henrietta Amelia Clowes in 1861, lasted until her death in 1889.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Precise questions pulled from 1 John. A helpful diagnosis for the presence of a "heart of flesh."

This tool is not for morbid introspection. I would recommend it as a yearly read, a sort of progress marker in the categories Ryle lays down in this nifty tract.