林后四16 所以我们不丧胆，反而我们外面的人虽然在毁坏，我们里面的人却日日在更新。

　　罗十二2　 不要模仿这世代，反要借着心思的更新而变化，叫你们验证何为神那美好、可喜悦、并纯全的旨意。

　　以色列人从逾越节到进入美地有两代。第一代由出埃及的人所组成，第二代由进美地的人所组成。这指明在我们信徒身上有两代。……第一代是我们的旧人，第二代是我们的新人。

　　除了另有一个灵的约书亚和迦勒以外，第一代都死了。约书亚和迦勒属于新的一代，不属于旧的一代。那就是他们经历双重的浸的原因。第一次的浸在他们过红海的时候，第二次在他们过约但河的时候。旧的一代经过红海，但过约但河的是新的一代（哥林多前书生命读经，五一二页）。

　　2 Cor. 4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.

　　Rom. 12:2 And do not be fashioned according to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

　　With the children of Israel from the Passover to the entering of the good land, there were two generations. The first generation was made up of those who came out of Egypt, and the second, of those who entered the good land. This indicates that we believers have two generations….The first generation is our old man, and the second generation is our new man.

　　With the exception of Joshua and Caleb, who had another spirit, the first generation died out. Joshua and Caleb belonged to the new generation, not to the old generation. That is why they experienced a double baptism, the first baptism when they passed through the Red Sea and the second when they crossed the Jordan River. The old generation passed through the Red Sea, but it was the new generation that crossed the Jordan. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, p. 432)

　　在红海第一次的浸和约但河第二次的浸之间，以色列人在经历变化。……你也许希奇他们怎能作神的子民。……他们一直争吵、发怨言并批评。但在过红海和过约但河之间的四十年里，有许多与变化有关的对付。这就是说，按属灵说，这段期间以色列人被变化。不错，旧的一代倒毙在旷野，这对我们是警告。但新的一代产生了，这是变化。他们过约但河以后，就成为强大的军队。

　　我们若思想以色列人的历史，就不会对自己失望。反之，我们会领悟，我们就好比在茧里经历变化过程的毛毛虫。不要失望，乃要从你的“茧”里敬拜主。……这工作越进展，我们就越从我们的茧里出来。有些年轻人也许只有小部分脱茧而出，而其他的圣徒在茧外的部分比较大。赞美主，毛毛虫正被变化，茧逐渐消失！这是在主恢复里召会生活中真实的情形。

　　我们在主的恢复里需要在生命里长大。长大就是从茧里出来。在生命里长大也是消除旧的一代，并在我们的心思、情感和意志里得更新。这包含变化。变化是消除旧的一代—旧人，穿上新的一代—新人。这就是完全从茧里出来，并且得着释放，像蝴蝶一样。

　　今天我们在享受基督，但我们还没有据有祂作包罗万有的地。我们若要这样据有基督，我们的旧人必须死去，新人必须出来。……我们许多人能见证，自从我们进到主的恢复里，就有一种改变在我们里面进行。这改变就是旧人死去，新人长大。这就是变化，这就是在生命里的长大。

　　保罗写这封书信给哥林多人的用意，是要帮助他们经历旧人死去，新人长大。他在林前三章用生长这辞，说他栽种了，亚波罗浇灌了，而神叫人生长〔6〕（哥林多前书生命读经，五一三至五一五页）。

　　参读：哥林多前书生命读经，第四十七至四十八篇；一个在灵里之人的自传，第十章。

　　Between the first baptism at the Red Sea and the second baptism at the Jordan River, the children of Israel were experiencing transformation….You may have wondered how they could be God’s people....They were fighting, murmuring, and criticizing. But during the forty years between passing through the Red Sea and crossing the Jordan River, there were many dealings related to transformation. This means that, spiritually speaking, during this time the children of Israel were transformed. Yes, the old generation was strewn in the wilderness, and this is a warning to us. But a new generation came forth. This is transformation. After they crossed the Jordan, they became a mighty army.

　　If we consider the history of the children of Israel, we shall not be disappointed with ourselves. Instead, we shall realize that we can be compared to caterpillars in a cocoon undergoing the process of transformation. Do not be disappointed, but worship the Lord from within your “cocoon.”…The more this work progresses, the more we emerge from our cocoon. Some of the young ones may have only a small part free from the cocoon, whereas other saints have a greater percentage of their being outside the cocoon. Praise the Lord that the caterpillars are being transformed and that the cocoons are gradually disappearing! This is the real situation in the church life in the Lord’s recovery.

　　To grow in life is also to eliminate the old generation and to be renewed in our mind, emotion, and will. This involves transformation. Transformation is a matter of eliminating the old generation, the old man, and putting on the new generation, the new man. This is to fully come out of the cocoon and be released as a butterfly.

　　Today we are enjoying Christ, but we have not yet possessed Him as the all-inclusive land. If we would possess Christ in this way, our old man must die out, and the new man must come forth….Many of us can testify that since we have come into the Lord’s recovery, a change has taken place within us. This change is the dying out of the old man and the growing up of the new man. This is transformation, the growth in life.

　　Paul’s intention in writing this Epistle to the Corinthians was to help them to experience the dying out of the old man and the growing up of the new man. He uses the word grow in chapter 3, saying that he planted, Apollos watered, and God gives the growth. (Life-study of 1 Corinthians, pp. 433-435)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of 1 Corinthians, msgs. 47-48; CWWL, 1967, vol. 2, “An Autobiography of a Person in the Spirit, ” ch. 10