Prison Packet

This ministry will send a free Prison Packet to anyone currently in prison. This Packet has won thousands of prisoners throughout the world to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Packet consists of the following:

Booklet titled: Father Forgive Them

Tract titled: Muhammad or Jesus the Prophet Like Moses

Tract titled: The Great White Throne Judgment.

To request a Prison Packet, please email the ministry with the prisoners name and mailing address. If you want to pay for the packet send any donation to the ministry.

Exciting News How the Booklet is Being Used Throughout the World

About The Author: John McTernan was a federal agent with the United States Treasury for 26 years until he retired in 1998. He was one of the cofounders of International Cops For Christ. John has brought this message to many prisons throughout the country.

The booklet Father Forgive Them follows:

Father Forgive Them

“And there were also two other, malefactors (criminals), led with him to be put to death.” Luke 23:32

When I was a youngster growing up, my idea of Jesus Christ and Christianity was a bunch of strangely dressed men performing rituals in a church building. I did not know what they were doing nor did I care. I saw no connection between the church and the world I lived in. When my parents stopped forcing me to go to church, I stopped going.

When I was 26 years old, I realized that God really loved me, and the Bible had power for everyday living. Committing my life to Jesus Christ and living according to His word completely changed my life. I went from an atheist to a believer in Jesus Christ, and my life was changed forever.

Maybe you have the same attitude that I once had. You see no connection between Jesus Christ and His death on the cross nearly 2,000 years ago and your life in prison today. Perhaps you cannot see how the death of the Lord Jesus could have any effect on you today, when you are behind bars.

Did you know that although Jesus Christ is honored and worshipped by millions, that 2,000 years ago He was arrested as a criminal; tried as a criminal; and executed as a criminal? He died in the place of a criminal and hung on the cross between two condemned criminals. Because of Jesus Christ went through the entire system as a criminal, He knows exactly what you are going through. The Lord can help you prison. He knows exactly what it is like.

The Bible reveals that Jesus Christ was not just an ordinary man. He was God in a human body, “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,” 2 Corinthians 5:19. God loves you so much that He became a man so He could personally know what you are going through in life:

“Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest...(18) For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour (aide) them that are tempted” Hebrews 2:17,18.

God is not far away and unconcerned about you, but God loves you and sent Jesus so you can have eternal life with Him. God personally cares for and loves you. Maybe you had no one in the world that loved you, but that does not change God’s love for your. The proof of God’s love for you is that the Lord Jesus was sent into the world that we might not perish in eternity:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

There are no testings which you face in this life that Jesus Christ has not already faced and overcome. The Lord Jesus faced every procedure in the legal system, including the death penalty. Christ knows exactly what you are going through, and even though you are guilty of breaking the law, the Lord wants to forgive you of all you sin and face the problems with you:

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” Hebrews 4:15.

You might be in prison without a friend in the world. Maybe your family has left you. Maybe you are severely depressed because your life has been ruined or you face heavy time. Maybe you are thinking of suicide. Because the Lord Jesus went through the entire legal system even to death, God personally knows what you are going through. He wants to forgive you of all your sin and go through prison with you.

God wants to put peace and joy in your life, even though you are in prison. With Christ walking with you, you can have peace and joy even in prison, and there is no reason to fear:

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27.

The Lord Jesus never failed. Everything the world threw at Him, He overcame. He never sinned. Jesus Christ wants to break the hold fear, depression, hate, violence, alcohol, and immoral sex has over people, and replace this with His love, peace and joy. Because the Lord never sinned and He overcame the world, when you trust Him as your Lord and Savior, you too can have God’s peace in your life:

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” John 16:33.

The amazing thing about the Lord Jesus and your life in prison is that there is nothing, I repeat, nothing, in prison which you face that He already has not faced. The Lord Jesus was not afraid to be treated as a criminal. This was needed so He could pay the price for sin, and we could then have eternal life with God.

Right now, even if you are on death row, the Lord Jesus can give you inner peace and go through it with you. Remember, He already was executed as a criminal, and because He rose from the dead He can personally help you.

The Lord Jesus Faced the Legal System

A simple study of the Bible shows that Jesus Christ went through the entire legal system of His day. This system closely resembled our legal system. Remember, when you read this section, that Jesus Christ was innocent of all the charges against Him. He allowed Himself to be treated like a criminal for the redemption of mankind.

The Lord never on any occasion sinned and broke the human or the divine law. He is the sinless only begotten Son of God. When reading this section, remember He was sinless and innocent of any crime.

· ARRESTED: John 18:3,12

The Lord Jesus healed the sick and fed the multitudes, yet a large number of soldiers came to arrest Him. He was then brought before the authorities to face a mock trial. Do you think He was advised of His Constitutional rights?

The Lord knows what it is like to be publicly arrested and bound (handcuffed) by the police.

“Judas then, having received a band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons...Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him.”

· Close Friend Informed.

He Was Set Up: Matthew 26:14-16

Judas was one of Jesus’ most trusted disciples. He held all the money and gave it out as needed. One of the Lord’s closest and most trusted friends set Him up for money. He received 30 pieces of silver for informing on the Son of God. He told the authorities were Jesus stayed at night, and they then knew where to find Him for the arrest.

Even though you maybe guilty of the crime, did someone inform upon you? The Lord knows all about it.

“Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.”

· After His Arrest,

All His Friends Left Him: Mark 14:50

The Lord spent years with His disciples, but at His arrest they all ran and left Him alone. He was left to face the authorities all by Himself. He was not given a legal aid attorney. He faced the trial all by Himself. His disciples all fled and left Him. One of the disciples even denied Him when He was confronted with being associated with Jesus.

When you were arrested, did all friends leave you? The Lord knows all about it.

“And they all forsook him, and fled.”

· Interrogated - Questioned

By The Authorities: Luke 22:66-71

The leading authorities of the day questioned Him. The crime was the Lord Jesus claimed to be the Christ, the Son of God. Were you questioned by the police and the government authorities?

The Lord knows all about.

“The elders of the people and the chief priests and the scribes came together, and led him into their council, saying, Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go...then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am...And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.”

· False Witnesses: Matthew 26:59,60

Jesus Christ never committed one crime in His entire life, so false witnesses came forth to frame Him. They gave false testimony against Him so He could be convicted. Lots of false witnesses came forward to testify against Him, but they could not agree on their lies.

Did a false witness testify against you? Jesus Christ knows all about it.

“Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses.”

· Indicted: Matthew 26 65,66

Jesus Christ stood before the grand jury of His day and was indicted. The charge was He claimed to be the Son of God which meant the death penalty. They refused the proof that He was the Son of God. The healings He did and the feeding of the multitudes did not matter. The raising people from the dead did not matter.

Were you indicted or do you have to face the grand jury? The Lord Jesus knows all about it.

“Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. What think ye? They answered and said, He is guilty of death.”

· Indictment Charge: John 19:7

The charge against Jesus Christ was He claimed to be the Son of God. With all the miracles He did by raising the dead, healing all kinds of diseases and feeding multitudes with virtually no food, He was charged with blasphemy. Jesus never answered His accusers. He was silent before them as they charged Him with the crime.

How did it feel to have the indictment charge read to you? Jesus Christ knows exactly what it is like.

“The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”

· Cruel Guards Beat Him: Matthew 26: 67

Matthew 27:30

The Bible says that Jesus Christ was beaten so bad that He was unrecognizable. He was beaten with rods on the face and His beard was pulled off His face. He back was beaten with a whip. It is called flogging. A crown with huge thorns was placed on His head and driven into His skull. The pain of all this had to be incredible. This is what He endured before He went to the cross and died for the sin of mankind.

There is nothing that a cruel guard can do to you that was not already done to the Lord. He did real “hard time.”

“Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.”

· Trial: Matthew 27:2,11

The Lord Jesus stood trial before the Roman government. He faced the death penalty as an innocent man. All proof in His favor was ignored. He was wanted out of the way.

Even though you are guilty of a crime, the Lord Jesus knows what you went through.

“And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest.”

· His Case Was Appealed: Luke 23:7,11

“And as soon as he (Pontius Pilate) knew that he belonged unto Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who himself also was at Jerusalem at that time....Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing....And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him....And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.”

· Blew Trial

Public Execution: Matthew 27:31,39,41

The Lord was found guilty and sentenced to death by crucifixion. This was one of the most horrible ways to die ever imagined. Huge nails were driven into the persons hands and feet, and the person was nailed to the cross. It was a terrible slow death in horrible pain. Remember, He was the Son of God and innocent of all the charges against Him.

If you face long time or even the death penalty, Jesus Christ knows exactly what it is like. He has been there!

“And led him away to crucify him.... And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads,...Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders,”

· Given Poor Food: Matthew 27:34

During His execution, Jesus Christ was given sour wine mixed with gall. Gall is like a slime from bile. It is real nasty. He refused to take it.

Christ knows what prison life is really like.

“They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.”

· Jesus Christ Was Rejected

and Lonely: Matthew 27:46

When Christ was arrested, all His disciples fled from Him. He faced the authorities by Himself. There was no one to help Him. At His trial, He faced an angry crowd who hollered, “Crucify Him, Crucify Him.” While He was hanging on the cross, the crowd mocked Him. His mother and a few women stayed with Him as He died. God the Father even turned away from Jesus Christ while He was on the cross.

Are you lonely in prison, who is not? No one can be any more lonely than the Lord Jesus on the cross. He died separated from both God and man. The very last people He spoke with could have been the dying criminals who were next to Him.

Jesus Christ knows what it is to be rejected.

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

· Jesus Died In Place Of

A Criminal: Matthew 27:15-17, 20,26

At the time of Jesus, there was a custom at the feast of Passover one criminal was set free. There was a criminal there named Barabbas. Barabbas was condemned to death and Pontius Pilate offered to let Jesus go in place of Barabbas. This failed, as the people wanted Jesus Christ killed. So Barabbas was let go, and the innocent Jesus Christ died in his place.

This is a picture of the Lord Jesus dying in the place of sinners including those in prison!

“Now at that feast the governor was wont to release unto the people a prisoner, whom they would. And they had then a notable prisoner, called Barabbas. Therefore when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?... But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus...Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.”

· He Died Between Two Criminals: Luke 23:32,33

The Lord Jesus the only begotten Son of God who was sinless was executed at the same spot all criminals were crucified. He was crucified between two other criminals. The Son of God died as a common criminal.

The Lord Jesus died with criminals. He knows what it is to feel like a criminal because that is how He died.

“And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.”

Hell: The Eternal Prison

The Bible reveals that God is holy, righteous and just. Because God is holy, He must punish sin. All sin brings the death penalty. This penalty means eternal separation from God in a place of torment called hell.

A person who breaks the penal code is called a felon, and is subject to the punishment of the law. A person who breaks God’s law is called a sinner. Sin can be viewed as a felony against God’s law. If you can understand that sin is just like a felony to God, then you can easily understand God’s legal system. You will be able to understand why the Lord Jesus had to die for your sin.

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law” 1John 3:4.

A person who sins is subject to the full penalty of the law:

“For the wages of sin is death...” Romans 3:23.

On Judgment Day all of a person’s life will be examined and judged for sin. This judgment will include all actions, thoughts and words. Everything done will fall under God’s judgment and nothing will escape Him.

All of mankind who has rejected Jesus Christ as Savior will stand in judgment before holy God. All sin will be accounted for and the sentence will be decreed by God. The sentence will be death which is separation from God in hell. This separation is called the second death.

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:14,15.

Hell is not a joking matter. The death of Jesus Christ shows how serious the penalty of sin is with God. Hell then, is the place where sinners go for breaking God’s law just as prison is the place where criminals go for breaking man’s law. If you understand man’s legal system, then it is easy to understand God’s legal system. The difference being, God’s judgment is perfect with no exceptions for anyone.

Everyone will be judged the same by God. All have committed sin before God. If you leave this life without having Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you will be eternally separated from God in His prison. This prison is a place called hell.

Christ Took The Rap For You

While it is true God is holy, righteous, just and must punish sinners, God really loves man and sent Jesus Christ as the Savior. God loves you so much that He was willing to become a man and die a horrible death so you would not have to face hell. Jesus Christ on the cross took all the punishment that you deserved.

Although He was sinless, He died as a sinner separated from God the Father. On the cross, He shouted out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me” as He bore our sin. God the Father turned His back to the Son.

The reason God the Father turned from Jesus on the cross was Christ became sin, and He was paying the penalty for sin. He paid the full penalty for sin, which is death. He paid the price for sin, so those that believe in Him could be free of the death sentence. He died for you! Jesus Christ died in your place: “He should taste death for every man.” Hebrews 2:9.

In modern terms, the Lord Jesus Christ took the full “rap” for your sin. The sinless Son of God became sin, so you could have assurance of eternal life with God. God made a trade with mankind. Through the death of the Lord Jesus, He takes our sin, and then God replaces the sin with Christ’s righteousness. Righteousness means to be able to stand before God without sin. The verses to show this follow:

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” 2Corinthians 5:21.

“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed”. 1 Peter 2:24.

“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit”: 1 Peter 3:18.

The death of Jesus Christ nearly 2,000 years ago is very important to you today. By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ you can be set free from the penalty for your sin. God loves everyone equally. He loves you in prison just as much as a person walking free out in the street. Through faith in the Lord Jesus and what He did on the cross, you can be forgiven of all your sins! Yes, all of them.

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” Colossians 1:14.

You do not have to “clean-up your act” to come to Christ. God loves you just as you are right now. When you come to Jesus in repentance of your sin, He will “clean-up your act.” Even if you were a Barabbas, the murderer, through faith in Jesus Christ, you can be forgiven of sin and be at peace with God and yourself.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8.

Jesus Christ Your Defense Attorney

With God

When a person is arrested and faces serious criminal charges, he wants the best possible defense attorney to represent him. If the charge was the death penalty, you would sell all you had to obtain the best attorney. With God, the penalty for committing sin is death. Therefore, before God’s court of law, you want the best possible attorney to represent you.

God in His love has provided you with the best possible attorney. He provided an Attorney who was willing to take your sin and die in your place! He has provided Jesus Christ to defend you. The word used in the Bible for attorney is an advocate. An advocate is someone that comes along side of you to plead your case.

In God’s legal system the Lord Jesus is there to plead the case of all those who want Him as his Advocate. He will turn no one down who comes to Him. He does not charge to be your Advocate as He only responds to someone’s faith.

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate (Attorney) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:” 1John 2:1.

God has provided His Son to defend you. With Jesus Christ defending you, how you can lose? Christ already paid the price for your sin. With the Lord as your attorney, you have all your sin forgiven and assurance of eternal life with God. Jesus has paid the price for your sin, and He intercedes for you before God the Father. The shed blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Advocate is your freedom from the eternal death penalty. Jesus intercedes on your behalf.

Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Romans 8:34.

Because the Lord Jesus is your defense attorney, you can have absolute assurance of eternal life. You can have assurance that all your sin is forgiven and be at peace with God. With Christ as your Advocate, how can you ever lose? What it takes on your part is repentance of your life of sin and calling on Christ to forgive you of sin and to be your Lord and Savior. With Jesus Christ as your Savior, based on the word of God, you have assurance of eternal life.

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25.

A Prison Without Bars

You don’t have to be behind bars to be in prison. Prison is a place where you are kept against your will. In prison, you are restrained and not free to go when you want and where you want. The walls and fences of a prison are obstacles which restrain your freedom and will.

The Bible shows that you can be free on the outside but imprisoned to sin on the inside. Sin in your life acts like handcuffs and chains. The power of sin is like high walls and fences which keep you locked in confinement to sin.

The power of sin is real and no joke. How many people are imprisoned to drugs? They are chained to drugs and can’t be free. How many are imprisoned to alcohol and a literal slave to the bottle? How many are imprisoned to hatred and violence? Everything they do seems to turn ugly. The list of sins which can imprison you is endless. The power of sin is an awesome barbed wire fence that you can’t get over. It is a terrible thing to be imprisoned by yourself with no hope of being set free.

The Bible shows that you can know to do what is good and right but can’t because of the prison of sin you are in. You can want to do what is right, but something bends us from doing what is right. The Bible calls this inner prison the law of sin and death.

You can really want what is right, but don’t have the ability to do it. This is being in the prison of sin with no escaping on our own. You don’t have to be in a physical jail to be in prison. You can be free from jail yet still in a prison of sin.

The Bible calls this prison the law of sin. The Scriptures show how the prison of sin works. Sin is a part of us, and it operates in our being. It is a force that only God through the power of His Holy Spirit can break. The law of sin is in us. It has taken us captive or imprisoned us to its power.

Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.

(19) For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. (20) Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. (21) I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. (22) For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:

(23) But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

God sent Jesus to bust the handcuffs of sin and set you free from the high prison walls of sin. God sent Jesus to bring His light into your life and free you from the terrible prison of yourself. Jesus came to set you free from the chains of the bottle or the needle. He came to free you from the prison of hatred and violence.

This is what the prophet Isaiah said the Lord was sent by God to do for everyone.

“I the LORD have called thee (Jesus) in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” Isaiah 42:6,7.

Look what the Lord Jesus did for you. He took the rap for your sin, and, then He became your court appointed Defense Attorney. But this wasn’t enough, so then Jesus, as a warden, sets you free from the prison walls and handcuffs of sin in your life. The Lord has the authority and power to free you from the prison of sin. He is the only one who has the power and authority to do this for you.

“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.” Romans 6:22.

Results of Turning to Jesus Christ

As Your Savior and Lord

Forgiveness of sin is only half the gospel. The second part is because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from the dead, you can become a new creation with God’s power in your life. The Bible states in 1John 3:2, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” Think of this - in prison you can be forgiven of sin and become a child of God.

The same power that raised Jesus from the dead will resurrect you from the death of your sin. God does not patch over your nature, but He gives you a new inner man.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” 2Corinthians 5:17.

God will put all the power needed to break the hold that fear, depression, hate, violence, drugs alcohol, homosexuality or anything else may have over you. If you will allow God, He will clean-up your life. God will replace fear and hate with love, peace and joy. God’s love and power are so great that even in prison you can have peace and joy.

Through faith in the Lord Jesus, you become a new creation with God’s power in you which enables you not to commit crime. This is true rehabilitation.

God’s Rehabilitation

The Bible shows what causes man to commit sin. Sometimes this sin involves breaking the law and people end up in prison. Man calls it crime, but God calls it sin. The problem lies with the heart of man. Jeremiah the prophet said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9.

Man’s nature is deceitful and wicked and this is the source of sin. The Lord Jesus touched upon the root of crime and sin. Like Jeremiah, He also said it was the heart of man.

“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7:21-23.

The Lord showed that the heart of man is the source of evil. Sometimes the evil is subtle and involves sin like hatred and lying. These sins are not against the criminal law, but they are still evil. While the more obvious evil is bank robbery and murder, all the evil comes from the same source, the heart of man.

Today, literally billions of dollars have been spent by the government to try and rehabilitate prisoners. Every form of psychology and education has been tried with very little success. These programs last a few years and then are discarded. The reason these programs do not work is they fail to touch the heart, man’s sin nature. The programs can reach the mind, but not the heart of man. Man needs to have a heart transplant to be free from his evil nature.

God says if you will trust Jesus as your Savior, He will take the heart of stone, the sin nature, out of you and replace it with a brand new heart. How many times have you tried to stop sinning only to go right back to it? The pull of the old heart is always back to sin. The real rehabilitation is when your evil heart is broken and replaced with a new heart from God.

Only God can put a new heart in you. The government can’t do it. You can’t do it by yourself. God does not patch up the old heart, but gives you a brand new heart! Only God can give you a new heart.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26.

You can’t be free from the power of sin on your own because the natural heart is always wanting to sin. It is when God puts a new heart within you, that the power of sin is broken. The new heart is pure and holy.

God gives you the same heart as His Son. What a trade with God! He takes away your old heart that is like stone, deceitful and wicked, and replaces it with a heart that has a nature like His! This is the true rehabilitation that only comes from God.

“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.

Rahab the Harlot

The Bible shows the supernatural birth of Jesus. His mother was a virgin; therefore He was born without the sin nature we all have. The Bible also gives the genealogy of the Lord Jesus’ stepfather. This was family He would be raised in and identified with. Jesus’ stepfather came through a long line of royalty, the kings of Israel. His genealogy is traced through Abraham and King David.

When you study His genealogy in Matthew chapter 1, an amazing thing is revealed. The genealogy lists all men with the exception of just four women. These women are Tamar, Rahab the harlot, Ruth the Moabitess and Bathsheba.

The amazing thing about the Lord’s adopted genealogy is the background of each woman. Tamar tricked her father-in-law into having sexual relations with him. Rahab was a pagan harlot. Ruth was a pagan social outcast while Bathsheba was involved in adultery with king David. David and Bathsheba had a son named Solomon. He became king after David, and he also is in the Lord’s genealogy.

The Bible does not hide these women but actually lists them for all to see in the Lord’s genealogy. Most people would try and hide things like this, but Jesus was not ashamed of them. There was a reason He was not ashamed of them.

The Bible says that Rahab was a harlot. She lived in the pagan city of Jericho. She proved her love for God by helping the Jews as they entered into the promised land. When the city was destroyed, she and her family where the only ones spared. She married a Jewish man and became in the direct line of the Lord Jesus. Think of this, a pagan harlot was a direct ancestor of the Son of God! She turned from her sin to the living God. God forgave her of all the paganism. She was then listed in the open in the Lord’s adopted genealogy for everyone to see.

Ruth was from Moab. Moab was a