“And the disciples came, and said unto Him (Jesus), Why speakest Thou unto them in parables? ¹¹ He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. ¹² For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.  ¹³ Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. ¹⁴ And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

¹⁵ For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. ¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” Matthew 13:10-16.

Sadly, religion has blurred the lines between the inspired Word of God and the paraphrased Word of God.  Too many are “Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7) because they are blindly following the doctrines of man.  The inspired Word of God has not pierced the soul and spirit because it is the paraphrased Word of God.  The experience of being born again into a new creature has been replaced with the ritual of the rehabilitation process.

Understand me, the only One Who can “quicken our mortal bodies” (Romans 8:11) and give us the power to yield our physical body to that which is Righteous (Romans 6:12-13) is the Holy Spirit.  Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is only commissioned to quicken our mortal bodies when our faith is placed solely and exclusively in Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary’s Cross (Romans 8:2, “the law of the Spirit”)…NOT our self efforts and self will through the rituals, festivals and 40 days of motivational and rehabilitation processes.

I want you to know that Salvation does not consist of reciting a prayer and a series of classes consisting of a psychology test to determine your place in the Kingdom of God and going on to rehabilitate the old man.  I want you to know that Jesus Christ is Alive and HE will Author and Finish your faith.  The Lord wants you to seek HIM, for Who He is and what He has done. HE reconciles us to God and we are a NEW creature.  Our old man, that was dead in sin and trespasses, cannot be rehabilitated.  This we must realize.  Too often the sinner doesn’t realize they are a sinner and simply tries to rehabilitate the sinner.  Jesus Christ came to save the sinner…not rehabilitate the sinner.  Religion stands between the sinner and the Lord, not allowing Him to circumcise the heart but instead they (the religious) attempt to circumcise the flesh.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18. 

There is only one way a person can be born again and that is through the Blood of Jesus Christ.  We are RECONCILED to God through Jesus, not rehabilitated through schemes of man.  Allow the Lord to reconcile you to God through faith in Him and His finished work.  Quit holding on to those old things and allow them to pass away through the cleansing Blood of Jesus.  Trust in Him and through the power of the Holy Spirit, all things become new.  Jesus is the One Who commissions the Holy Spirit to regenerate and renew through our faith in Him.  Our self efforts to rehabilitate are laid waste by the power of the Holy Spirit to regenerate.

The inspired Word of God says all things become new.  Don’t skew the lines between the inspired Word of God and the paraphrased Word of God.  Don’t mistake rehabilitation with reconciliation.  “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33.

-Donna Clark Warren