Love to hear from and know who is listening
I grew up all my life hearing this statement, “Your sin separates you from God!” I have heard this many times, even from people who are speaking to believers. When I hear this statement some questions start to go through my head. First, how long am I separated from God after I sin, a day, a week, a year? Second, what do I need to do to get reconnected to God? Do I need to ask for forgiveness and repent, or do some kind of good deed to counter balance my sin? Third, What happened to Jesus if my sin separates me from God, didn't he pay for my sins and if that is true, why do my sins separate me from God? Maybe you have asked yourself these questions too. Whether we ask them out loud or just in your own minds, doubt and fear may start to creep in. I don't know about you but I am dazed, confused and little fearful just thinking about how far my many sins may have separated me from God!!! Here is the truth from the word of God!
Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Unbelievers are separated from God by their sin. That is why they need to put their faith in Jesus Christ. But believers are not separated from God by our sin! Let me say that one more time, believers are not separated from God by their sins!!! Why is it important to know this truth? Thinking you can be separated from God by your sin wreaks havoc on your relationship with God. You may believe that because of your sin, bad choices, or wrong doing, that God is not listening to you anymore, that God is far from you, or that you can't feel the presence of God in your life. Is there any place in the New Testament that says our sin, as believers, separates us from God? Nope!!! The fact is, it says the opposite.
Romans 8: 38-39 NIV For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing created can separate you from the love of God. Your sin cannot separate you either. This is very good news!
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
If you think of yourself as being a new creation after you accepted Christ, but you still sin, you have to wrestle with the idea that if Jesus made me new, why do I still sin? I shouldn’t sin anymore, so if I do, I need to work on making myself better, or, even worse, maybe I’m not really saved. We are born into a spiritual existence and given the Holy Spirit to help us walk in this dark world. Christ makes our spirit new, He renews our mind, and gives us a new heart. However, we still have our sinful nature. And, those two parts of our being, our flesh and our spirit, fight against each other. But, that does not mean when we sin we are separated from God. Our spirit can never be separated from Him! We can stand firmly grounded in faith that God will not leave us because of our sin. Remember, He died for it!!!
