“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Religion will attempt to explain grace to us by means of head knowledge.  Then, ironically, it will direct us in ways to “gain” God’s grace.  Sadly, we then begin to perform these doctrines and expect more blessings.  Often these doctrines are very Scriptural in nature but done with the wrong motivation.  We begin to feel “holier” or more “righteous” because we have successfully completed the said religious doctrine.  It is kind of like graduating from Christianity 101.  Our religious works are quite esteemed among the fellow religious.  Without fail, these religious doctrines performed with the wrong motivation lead to destruction if we continue on that path…it is the wrong path.

Eventually, the religious walls crumble and we are left barren with water washing away our castle of sand.  We were and are saved through faith, it is a gift of God.  Upon our Salvation we don’t try to “gain” God’s grace, we continue to maintain His grace.  It is our obedience to His grace that enables us to keep God’s commandments.  Obedience to God’s grace requires faith, not works, in His plan for Salvation and Sanctification – Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  We don’t gain grace, we maintain grace through faith…faith in Jesus and His finished work on Calvary’s Cross.

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12.

For example, as is obvious, I blog almost every day.  It is not because I try, albeit poorly at times, to exalt the Lord as much as a human can that God blesses me.  The Lord blesses because of Who He is, not because of what we do.  In other words, fighting the fight of faith for me is not allowing myself to ever think that the Lord is using me because I write.  It is quite the opposite, I write because He is using me in that capacity.  We preach, we praise and we exalt the Lord Jesus Christ because of Who He is and what He has done.  Jesus did not go to the Cross because we preach and we praise…we preach and we praise because He went to the Cross.  Do you see the mindset of the religious?  They will not see it in these terms, but their fruit is discerned by their actions and their words.

I hope this is making sense to some of you out there.  I have often said when speaking of temptations of the devil, that he is satan and that is what he does.  We know and recognize pain, emotional pain and physical pain but the grace of God we don’t know until we are born again.  It has been there all of our life, we just couldn’t see it at the time.

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine Nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4.

You see, we cannot be partakers of the Divine Nature, God’s Nature, until we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.  It is only through our faith in Jesus and His finished work that we are reconciled to God, saved from death, hell and the grave and given dominion over our sin nature.  We cannot “gain” God’s grace through our works but we can “maintain” God’s grace through our faith in Jesus.  God’s Grace, Mercy and Righteousness is Who He is…that’s what He does.

“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2.  The Holy Spirit is only commissioned to dethrone our sin nature, who rules and reigns in a sinner’s heart, when faith is placed in Jesus for our Salvation.  Religion will then attempt to redirect our faith to our works, self efforts and self will to “gain” more of God’s grace.  This will in turn frustrate God’s grace because we have turned to a law to “gain” God’s grace.  Our sin nature then regains it’s throne in our heart because our faith is misappropriated in our efforts and not Jesus’ finished work.

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.  I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.”  Galatians 2:20-21.

We are saved by grace through faith.  We are righteous because of our faith in what Jesus did on Calvary’s Cross, not because of our works.  Don’t frustrate God’s grace.  This Gospel we have been given is a gift from God…it is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, It is about Him…not us.

-Donna Clark Warren

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. ³ And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: ⁵ That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. 

Religion will direct our faith to the wisdom of man.  Man’s wisdom seeks the power of God and even claims the power of God but results in the power of self – self efforts and self will.  What I’m trying to say, albeit poorly, is the modern church exalts the power of God without ever standing in the power of God because they have left the power of God for wisdom of man.

“For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18.

The modern church has left the Cross of Christ, which is the power of God, for their spiritual growth.  They no longer seek the Lord for spiritual wisdom and knowledge, they seek man’s wisdom on the Lord.  The new Believer starts out believing in the power of God, looking to the power of God but sadly, their faith is often destroyed because they don’t see the power of God in their lives.  They don’t have the victory we “Christians” speak of and begin to believe God must not love them, they are not good enough or even this whole God thing is a farce.  All of this is a result of religion, not a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.  The sincere and well intentioned Believers are pointing new Believers to shemitahs, harbingers, blood moons, feasts, festivals, 40 days of purpose and every other wind of doctrine in order to “keep them interested”.  Understand this, no amount of religious activity can fill that void in our heart that is meant for the Lord.  It is merely a distraction until the next scheme of man comes down the pike.

I want you to know, the power of God is real.  If religion has stunted your spiritual growth it is not too late to turn back to the power of God for restoration.  The Lord Jesus Christ will give back everything the devil has taken.  Even if your growth has been stunted for 30 years wrapped up in religion, the Lord will loose the chains that bind.  Faith in the wisdom of religious men does not set the captives free.

The power of God is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Wisdom of man will give Jesus a nod and then motivate the Believer to believe in themselves for deliverance, to forgive themselves and forgive God…the wisdom of man is about man and appeals to our flesh.  The power of God is about Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done on Calvary’s Cross for all of humanity.  Why would we ever seek routines and rituals over Jesus Christ?  Because they are deceiving and appeal to our flesh.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.” 1 John 5:21.

We don’t need a substitute to deliver us, we need the Lord Jesus Christ.  If it pulls us away from Jesus and His finished work, it is pulling us away from the power of God.  Place your faith squarely and solely in the power of God – Jesus Christ and Him crucified…He is knocking.

-Donna Clark Warren

“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, ¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. ¹⁶ Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” Philippians 3:13-16.

Upon understanding our glorious Salvation through what Jesus did on Calvary’s Cross, we don’t stop there and look to man’s feeble ways for sanctification.  We keep on the narrow path we started on, we press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.  The Lord has given us His Word and His Holy Spirit to teach us, guide us and lead us into all Truths.  Our victory over our sin nature remains in Jesus and His Sacrifice that paid our sin debt to God.  Jesus came to earth as the Sacrificial Lamb of God, He came to die on Calvary’s Cross, to reconcile us to God the Father and give us dominion over our sin nature.  It is only through our faith in Jesus that the Holy Spirit is commissioned to dethrone and isolate our sin nature (Romans 8:2).  It is only through our faith in Jesus and we have dominion over our sin nature – not psychology, not 12 steps, not 40 days, not 21 days – JESUS CHRIST AND JESUS CHRIST ALONE.

I want you to know there is victory, there is deliverance, there is life and life more abundant…it is all freely given to us by Jesus Christ.  Now if you think I’m preaching a prosperity Gospel, I am – but it is prosperity IN JESUS.  If you are looking for prosperity in this world, well evidently your cares are of this world.  When we begin looking to Jesus, learning about HIM, seeking HIM and relying on HIM, the concerns of this world fall away.  We will still have problems but we know in Whom we believe and we know He will deliver us.  Each and every day we follow the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night…we press toward the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ.

Once we understand this, we still don’t stop – corruption hasn’t put on incorruption this side of Glory.  Every day we seek the Lord for areas in our life we continue to covet, not purposefully but we do.  Things where we continue to lean on our own understanding and not place them into God’s Will.  There is no graduating class.

Many who have been Believer’s there entire life have been deceived by religion and continue to place their faith in their works (self efforts and self will).  They too are not doing this purposefully and love the Lord with all of their heart but they don’t have peace, they don’t have joy…they have religion and the void in their heart remains.  Pray for the Lord to reveal this unto you.  God is calling on His church, He is seeking a holy people to do His work and obey His will.  Look to God, turn back to Him…He will deliver His people.

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2.

-Donna Clark Warren

“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of The Gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” 2 Timothy 1:8-9.

The Lord has not called a sinful people to be His people.  He has not called us according to our works to be His people.  The Lord Jesus Christ has called whosoever will accept Him as their Lord and Saviour to be His people.

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17.

The modern apostate church must repent of playing the harlot and following every wind of doctrine that comes down satan’s pike.   They must repent of seducing the children to another bridegroom for their deliverance and every day living for Christ.  There are many of God’s Children who remain in bondage because they have sought another for their victory.  For some the bondage is religion and they do not see themselves as bound.  They are used as bait by satan to seduce other’s into the same bondage.  They twist the Word of God to make themselves appear holy to the babes and unlearned who blindly follow them into a ditch.

The Lord Jesus Christ did not call us to be holy without equipping us to be able to be holy.  It is not our works that deem us holy.  We are called to be obedient to God’s plan for our Salvation through the Blood of Jesus Christ and our Sanctification through the Blood of Jesus Christ.  The modern church does not teach or preach Sanctification through the Blood of Jesus.  They somehow believe the Lord’s Arm is shortened when it comes to being able to deliver His own and teach their many ways of victory over our sin nature thus deeming us holy.  This is spiritual adultery.

Religion directs our faith to another for our Sanctification.  Let us be clear, if we could overcome our sin nature by any other means than Jesus Christ and His finished work on Calvary’s Cross, Jesus Christ would not have had to go to Calvary’s Cross.  Do you get that?  I’m not trying to be harsh but I want you to know…you cannot have victory, you cannot be delivered nor can you be holy UNLESS your faith is placed solely and exclusively in Jesus and what He has done for us on Calvary’s Cross.   Any other method, no matter how holy and religious it seems will not and cannot give us victory.  “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2.  The law of the Holy Spirit is the requirement of faith in Jesus, Who He is and what He has done, to make us free from sin and death.  With our faith placed in all of these other methods for victory, the Holy Spirit is not commissioned to free us from sin and death.

I realize this flies in the face of most of the religious doctrines running the gamut today.  However, I also realize the harlot of false doctrine is flying in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.  HE is the One Who paid the price for our Salvation.  HE is also the One Who is able to establish unto Himself a holy people.  Please understand, and I say this sincerely, if you don’t see this…well, you are blinded by it.  If you cannot see the faith of God’s children being directed to another for their sanctification through these different schemes of man, then the chances are high that your faith is in another.  Don’t take my word for it though.  Put aside everything I have said and everything you have learned from man and seek the Lord Jesus for answers.  Look unto Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith and the Holy Spirit will guide you into all Truths – line upon line and precept upon precept.  His Arm is not shortened.  The Lord Jesus Christ will deliver His people from the harlot of false doctrine…but we must seek Him for deliverance.

“The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.” Deuteronomy 28:9.

-Donna Clark Warren

“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. ⁹ Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; ¹⁰ And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: ¹¹ And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. ¹² And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.” Isaiah 58:8-12.

Religion is the yoke that speaks vanity to the religious.  It feeds the flesh leaving the soul afflicted.  Religion is about the religious teaching religious activities as the traditions of man.  It is a mere form of Christianity and emptied of all significance.  Speaking vanity, it causes the Believer to believe they are the Creator instead of the creation through speaking things into existence.  This is a form of witchcraft using the Word of God as nothing more than an incantation or spell to further the will of man and not the Will of God.

In the New Testament there are three (3) instances where a Child of God can be cursed.

• “For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” Matthew 15:4.
• “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.  For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.”  Galatians 3:9-10.
• “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.   As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:8-9.

The word of faith doctrine teaches word curses, or blessings for that matter, are dependent upon the individual Believer’s actions.  But the Word of God tells us the only three ways a Child of God can be cursed is by not honoring their Mother and Father, observing the works of the law or preaching another gospel.  Out of our mouth flows the abundance of the heart (Luke 6:45)…it is a heart matter.  Look at the Israelites in the wilderness.  Time and time again the Lord blessed them even though they were disobedient and did not trust Him.  We can never mistake the Lord’s blessings as approval for our unbelief or disobedience, this is His mercy.  The Lord will have mercy on whom he will have mercy (Romans 9:18).  There are far too many rebuking the lesson the Lord is trying to teach them instead of seeking Him for understanding of the lesson.

“For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?” 1 Peter 3:12-13.

Do tell me, who is he that will harm a Child of God who is abiding in His Will?  We cannot use God’s Word against Him to call into existence that which is not His Will.  We abide in Him, believe in Him and follow Him.  The Lord Jesus Christ will satisfy the afflicted soul but we must be about HIS business.  We must seek to further HIS Kingdom and not our own.   Are you seeking traditions?  Are you seeking methods and means as a way to an end?  Or are you seeking Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He has done?

Only you know the answer to these questions.  The only thing I do know is The One Who satisfied this afflicted soul – Jesus Christ.  I didn’t find Him in a religious organization teaching psychology as a method to victory.  I found the Lord when I started searching for Him and leaned not onto my own understanding.  Then as He authored my faith, it began to rise and I couldn’t help but to continually look to Him.  He quickened my soul and I knew, Jesus Christ is alive.  He’s not some religious activity that was empty and void.  His Arm has not shortened.  Seek Him for your victory.  Seek Him for your deliverance.  He is able! – Donna Clark Warren

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. ⁸ But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. ⁹ For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.” Romans 7:7-11

“This people draweth nigh unto Me with their mouth, and honoureth Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me.  But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:8-9

Unbelief is a sin.  One of the sins of the Israelites in the wilderness was unbelief.  Their are too many Believers who don’t realize their own unbelief in God’s Providence.

“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.  ¹⁵ Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Declare unto us this parable.¹⁶ And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? ¹⁷ Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? ¹⁸ But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” Matthew 15:14-18.

I want you to understand so I am going to say it again.  Unbelief in God’s promises through the Blood of His Everlasting Covenant, Jesus Christ, to be a Father unto us and for us to be His children IS A SIN.  So often what proceeds out of the Believer’s mouth is unbelief from the heart and it defiles them…it is a sin.

“Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant,  Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21.

I can’t tell you the number of Believer’s I have spoken to that declare their trust in God but by their fruit you can see their heart is far from Him.  They are saved by the Blood of Jesus through their belief in His work on Calvary’s Cross BUT they will quickly tell you there is more to “Christianity” than the Cross.  According to their beliefs we must follow every new “revelation” that comes out of the mouth every “prophet” for our victory.   Again, what proceeds out of their mouth is unbelief in God’s plan for our victory over sin and they quickly turn to man made schemes for their victory.  Such is spiritual adultery.  We believe in Jesus’ finished work for our Salvation, rightfully and thankfully so but we don’t quite trust Him for our victory in the here and now.  In reality, it is easier to believe what we don’t yet see but we don’t believe what we could see if we just believed. Try wrapping your head around that one….I’m not quite sure I have yet.

I remember when I first accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour I was amazed at all of the different programs offered and rituals required for my “sanctification”.  A certain prayer for a certain python to overcome a particular bondage.  The extra biblical revelation of shemitah’s and harbingers for today.  Then the 40 days of purpose was evidently suppose to consecrate us.  Let us also not forget the soul ties and family curses that many believe remain after our Salvation.

Understand this, when we were saved by the precious Blood of Jesus, all of the family curses and soul ties were shattered.  Every curse against us was broken.  Now, if we picked it back up that’s on us, we gave in to the temptation that exalted itself above the Lord.  The answer to that sin is the same as it was before – JESUS, not some ritual that places the responsibility of our failure on every demon in hell. Demons will be demons, that’s what they do. We as a Believer in Jesus Christ now have the ability to choose because we are spiritually alive unto God.  Please understand, I’m not speaking of oppression.  A Believer can be oppressed but the answer to oppression remains the same – JESUS.  I’m speaking of a Believer failing the Lord, which regrettably we will all do at one time or another.  The point I’m trying to make, albeit poorly, is when we do fail we turn back to Jesus for forgiveness of our sin, not some ritual or ceremony to cleanse us of our soul ties or family curses…THAT is unbelief in Jesus’ cleansing Blood.

Unbelief in God’s promises and ability to take care of His children is a sin.  Any, and I do mean ANY, scheme of man that manipulates our faith away from Jesus as the Author and Finisher of our faith is of the devil.  I’ll say it another way, any scheme of man that causes our faith to be in anything we do to overcome that python, break that curse or have victory over our sin nature is of the devil.  Yes, we have authority in the name of Jesus but that is only when we are abiding and dwelling in Him.  When our faith is in our works (declaring, proclaiming, rituals and ceremonies) we are not abiding in Jesus.  We are not called to be a creator and call things into existence according to our will.  We are called to be a follower of Jesus Christ and HE will create in us a new heart.  He will place in our heart His will.  HE will use us as vessels to make us “perfect in every good work to do His Will” (Hebrews 13:21).

Unbelief is a sin.  Recognize the schemes of man that turn you away from Jesus for that circumcision of the heart and point you to works of the flesh.  The works of the flesh is the fruit of unbelief.

“Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the Cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the Right Hand of the Throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2.

It is because of Jesus’ work on Calvary’s Cross that we are reconciled to God.  It is also because of Jesus’ work on Calvary’s Cross that we are alive unto God and no longer dead in our sins and trespasses.  Every blessing we receive is by the way of the Cross of Jesus.  Stop looking to schemes of man which directs our faith to our own abilities and efforts and look again the Jesus.

“Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” Mark 9:23-24. 

Jesus will author and finish your faith; precept upon precept, line upon line Jesus will strengthen you…He will help your unbelief.  Ask Him to help your unbelief.

-Donna Clark Warren

“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

“Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.  ³ If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. ⁴ And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.”  Leviticus 1:2-4.

Throughout the Old Testament the sacrifices and feasts symbolized Jesus Christ.  The sacrifices which atoned for man’s sin restored fellowship with God.  If the sacrifice was not accepted by God, the fellowship was not restored.  These sacrifices of bulls and goats atoned for man’s sin but did not remove their sin.  The wages of sin was and is death.  The Old Testament Saints still had an account of sin.  However, their faith was in God.  It was their faith that was counted unto them for righteousness.  “For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3.   Sadly, many believe it was the Mosaic Law, which was given to man to reveal their unrighteousness, that made them righteous.  It was the Law that was righteous, not man. 

“Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.” Ephesians 4:8.  The Saints of the Old Testament, who were being held by satan because of their sin debt, were liberated by the One and Only Sacrifice that could take away man’s sin debt – Jesus Christ.  The Old Testaments Saints were now Jesus’ captives and ascended upon high.  Jesus made a show of every demon in hell when He and His captives ascended into Heaven.

“And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the Ghost. And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” Mark 15:37-38.

As soon as Jesus gave up the Ghost (no man took His life), He became our Sin offering and Burnt Offering.  The Lord Jesus Christ was what Leviticus 1:4 symbolized.  He fulfilled the requirement for creation to be reconciled with the Creator, once and for all for whosoever believed.  It was at the Cross of Jesus that we are redeemed.  Jesus Christ is the ONLY Sacrifice God will accept.

I want you to understand, that woman caught in the act of adultery in John 8, the very one who Jesus told to go and sin no more, should have been stoned.  Anyone caught in adultery was to be stoned to death (Deuternonomy 22:24) but Jesus died for her sin.  We, everyone of us no matter how holy we proclaim to be, our guilt is sin and penalty death unless we humble ourselves before the Lord Jesus Christ and understand HE is the only Sacrifice God will accept.  No matter how much “we” do, our sacrifice is Cain’s sacrifice…it profits us nothing!

Until we get the Cross of Jesus right, until we understand what He did on Calvary’s Cross, we cannot live the Resurrected life.  “And he (an Angel)  saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen; He is not here:…” Mark 16:6.   When we fully understand what Jesus did at Calvary and maintain our faith in His finished work for redemption and reconciliation to God the Father, we are baptized into His death.

“Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?  Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:3-4. 

We cannot conjure up the “Resurrection life” by motivation, psychology or schemes of man.  We know that the Lord Jesus Christ IS Resurrected and sitting at the Right Hand of God because we believe that Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son who died on Calvary’s Cross for whosoever will believe and the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit.  He IS Alive and it is through our CONTINUED faith in His finished work at the Cross that we know, that we know, that we know He is alive…His Spirit bears witness.  In other words, what I’m trying to say, albeit poorly, it is through our Baptism into His death that we know He is ALIVE…His Spirit bears witness.  We are now alive unto God and no longer dead in our sin and trespasses.

“For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18.  It is through our faith in Jesus’ atonement and redemption of our sin, His Sacrifice, that the power of God is alive in us.  We are only raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father; we are only resurrected when our faith is placed in what Jesus has done.  This is why we preach the Cross.  It is not the wooden beam but what Jesus there did.  This is where our resurrection life is found and we are now alive unto God, a new creature in Christ.  This is from where every blessing is given – through what Jesus has done on Calvary’s Cross.  It doesn’t matter if you have been saved 5 minutes or 50 years, your victory, my victory – man kinds victory remains in the Cross of Christ.   Fight the good fight of faith – faith in Jesus Christ and Him Crucified.  He is alive and His Spirit will bear witness to the Truth of His Word, not to schemes of man.

“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2.

– Donna Clark Warren