Elijah House was founded with the mandate to restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:5-6). This is being accomplished by equipping the saints with biblical tools founded upon universal laws in the Word of God, to enable discernment of root issues and allow true healing.

These scriptural and universal laws are as follows:

Honor your father and mother...that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you (Deuteronomy 5:16)

Do not judge, lest you be judged (Matthew 7:1-2)

Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap (Galatians 6:7-8)

For in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. (Romans 2:1)

These Universal Laws are as sure as the law of gravity, and we are all subject to them whether or not we believe in them. When we break these laws, we set in motion forces that (without God's intervention) must be reaped by simple, impersonal law—law that is absolute and eternal. In our sinful responses to wounding, we begin early on to develop patterns of behavior that cause us to reap in adulthood the very things we have worked so hard to avoid.

Add to these laws the principle of increase: what we sow (both good and evil) will come back upon us multiplied, "For they sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind” (Hosea 8:7a NAS). The laws of God are both natural and spiritual. An example in the natural, in physics: "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." In the spiritual: ”Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7b NAS).

Why do we need to be healed? Although Christ has fully accomplished our death on the cross, our flesh refuses to accept death—it springs back to life: "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled” (Hebrews 12:15 NAS).

Many Christians have rightly celebrated salvation as a free gift, but have not understood that they are to grow up into it. They have celebrated with Paul that "by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are [being] sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14), not noticing that the second part of that verse is ongoing. They have not understood that sanctification is a process and have not acknowledged with Paul, "Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12).

As Christians, we tend to press on in terms of managing behavior rather than renewing our mind and receiving a new heart, which naturally changes behavior. Many have tried to forget "what lies behind" (Philippians 3:13) by ignoring the past rather than by letting the Holy Spirit search the innermost parts of the heart in order to allow Jesus to put deeply ingrained attitudes behind us through His cross. They have attempted to put aside the old self with its practices of anger, wrath, malice and slander, as if these were only external expressions, whereas Jesus called the Pharisees (and us) to "clean the INSIDE of the cup" (Matthew 23:36).

In ministry conducted at Elijah House and imparted through our training, there are several ingredients to facilitate the process of sanctification. All ingredients are grounded in Scripture. At their center are these three, which call us to wholeness:

Confession: bringing to the light what has been held in secret.

Repentance: exercising godly grief based in love for God and for those who have been wounded, resulting in real change.

Forgiveness: releasing to God those who have hurt us, as well as asking Him to forgive us for our own sin.

It is by these three acts that we are reconciled to God and to one another. Christ's work is complete, but God is still at work in our lives. True freedom requires recognizing that many of today's problems have their roots in our sinful responses to yesterday's wounds. These problems cannot easily be erased by fleshly efforts at good behavior.

For more in-depth information about sanctification and transformation, read John and Paula Sandford's classic book, Transforming the Inner Man.