"My fellow believers, you must realize that religion is useless. You must also realize that you can never find any satisfaction from any religion. The Bible says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Just as this passage says, no one can actually live by the bread of the flesh alone. Because man is a spiritual creature, he can’t help but have religious beliefs. But these religious beliefs should be replaced with faith in the Truth and in God, and not laden with superstition. Remember this clearly. You can never find any satisfaction from any religion. You and I must realize clearly that we can never go to the Kingdom of Heaven through any religion.
If you have now realized the imperfection of religion, you must return to God. You must divulge all your sins to the Lord exactly as they are, ask for God’s mercy, and recover the blessings that mankind had enjoyed at the beginning. When you return to God, do not try to fix and spruce up yourself, but go to Him exactly as you really are. Meet a true leader with this right attitude. If you want to receive the remission of sins into your heart, and if you want to enter the Kingdom of God, it’s absolutely indispensable for you to find assistance from a priest, that is, a servant of God, just as the Bible says, “So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him” (Leviticus 4:35).
Without a spiritual priest—that is, if you do not trust in your spiritual leader who has the righteousness of God—you cannot receive the remission of sins. You should realize and believe that there are such priests on this earth. As God is invisible, God has placed such people of faith in this world for you to see them. It is through these priests whom God has prepared, through the people who teach us right and lead us properly, that we can truly meet God.
My fellow believers, whenever you approach God, make sure to approach Him exactly as you are. As this God is full of love, He will then meet you without fail. He will recover your original glory perfectly. Take a look at what the Word of God says in today’s Scripture passage. When the prodigal son returned from the world and said to his father, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son,” the father said to his servants: “Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
When the prodigal son returned exactly as he was, his father told his servants to bring the best robe and clothe the son with it. What does this mean? It means that God has compassion on those who return to Him. It means that He will restore them to their original, righteous state in the likeness of His image.
It is indeed a mystery to grasp this Truth and believe in it. In the world this is often described as finding the path. How can a human being approach God and become righteous? It’s made possible by realizing the Word of God and knowing the Truth, and this is the mysterious way to the Kingdom of God. The Bible says, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3)."
Paul C Jong
