Fellowship With God
I have been amazed for many years by the truths of Romans 1:18-32, because of how well they describe the spiritual condition of those who reject God's revelation of Himself. It is clear that God desires to have fellowship with all people. He reveals Himself to everyone through His creation and through His punishment of all ungodliness and unrighteousness.(v.18-20) However, people reject His revelation. They would rather worship created things instead of the Creator. They would rather sin, instead of following the Lord, even with all of the results of sin.(v.22-32)
It is our personal sins that separate us from God. Just like Adam and Eve decided to break God's one command to them, and they were separated from God by that sin. Our fellowship with God is broken when we choose to sin. Just as God came to the garden and called out to Adam after he had sinned, He comes and He calls out to us to turn to Him for forgiveness. We need to respond in repentance and faith, so we can be right with God. Personal sin breaks our fellowship with God, because it is our rejection of Him.(Isaiah 59:1,2; Psalm 66:18)
This is why it is so important to understand the seriousness of sin, not just sin, in general, but "sins." I John 1:9 is written to believers, but it tells us we need to confess our sins, even after becoming a child of God through salvation, so they can be cleansed and our fellowship with God can be restored. We do not lose our salvation when we sin after salvation, but our fellowship with God is strained.
This is also why we need to speak to unbelievers about their sins, when we witness to them about coming to Christ. They need to understand that to turn to the Lord means to turn from their sins. God is the only one who can save them, and He does all of the saving. Repentance is surrendering to God. It is not a work for salvation. Then, we can put our faith in Christ, and He will forgive our sins, the way God did for Abraham in the Genesis 15:6. His faith was not a work, either. It was a surrendering to God to trust Him.(Romans 4)
Therefore, I pray that all of us will understand that God loves us and desires our fellowship, but our sins separate us from God. He is waiting to restore that fellowship, if we will turn to Him in faith.
Today, I read Isaiah 58-61.
It is our personal sins that separate us from God. Just like Adam and Eve decided to break God's one command to them, and they were separated from God by that sin. Our fellowship with God is broken when we choose to sin. Just as God came to the garden and called out to Adam after he had sinned, He comes and He calls out to us to turn to Him for forgiveness. We need to respond in repentance and faith, so we can be right with God. Personal sin breaks our fellowship with God, because it is our rejection of Him.(Isaiah 59:1,2; Psalm 66:18)
This is why it is so important to understand the seriousness of sin, not just sin, in general, but "sins." I John 1:9 is written to believers, but it tells us we need to confess our sins, even after becoming a child of God through salvation, so they can be cleansed and our fellowship with God can be restored. We do not lose our salvation when we sin after salvation, but our fellowship with God is strained.
This is also why we need to speak to unbelievers about their sins, when we witness to them about coming to Christ. They need to understand that to turn to the Lord means to turn from their sins. God is the only one who can save them, and He does all of the saving. Repentance is surrendering to God. It is not a work for salvation. Then, we can put our faith in Christ, and He will forgive our sins, the way God did for Abraham in the Genesis 15:6. His faith was not a work, either. It was a surrendering to God to trust Him.(Romans 4)
Therefore, I pray that all of us will understand that God loves us and desires our fellowship, but our sins separate us from God. He is waiting to restore that fellowship, if we will turn to Him in faith.
Today, I read Isaiah 58-61.