Relationship Breaker

Habakkuk 1:12-13 “Wast thou not from the beginning, O Lord my God, my holy one, and we shall not die? Lord, thou hast appointed him for judgment: and made him strong for correction. Thy eyes are too pure to behold evil, and thou canst not look on iniquity.” 

In our Friday evening small group Bible Study, we continued to look in depth at developing an authentic, genuine and meaningful relationship with our Lord God. In having a “real” relationship with God, the first step is to know and understand when we do and when we don’t, and why. In an age when so many in our society lack integrity, when our ethics and moral actions rest completely on our personal judgment, feelings, desires, and opinions, and absolutes are challenged and rejected by those who do not even see that they are truly lost. In all honesty, we have to realize that we are lost and see our need to be saved, before we can joyfully accept the rescuer. Those who do not believe that they need to be saved (physically or spiritually), will never accept a “Savior”. We need to truly know the seriousness of sin and understand the sovereignty of our Almighty God, then how our Lord God defines sin and what sin leads to in our relationship with Him and affects our life, now & eternally. Awareness and comprehension of the “Truth” is the key. Then we can willfully and purposefully work to fix what is broke, if we so choose, or not and leave in broke. We can reject or believe a lie, but we cannot say that we didn’t know. This it why we “speak the truth in love” – Ephesians 4:11-15.

Sin is a tough subject, but must be understood because it is the relationship breaker . What exactly is sin? 1 John 5:17 says “All unrighteousness is sin.” Unrighteousness is living contrary to what God says is “right”. 1 John 3:4 explains that “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” When we think in sin, many times we think of robbery, murder, stealing, rape, et cetera, but the Bible tells us that sin is anything that doesn’t please God or a transgression (violation or breaking) of His law. Anything that we shouldn’t do, but willfully do anyway, are sins of commission (the act of committing to and doing). James 4:17 “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. Failures to do what ought toward God and men are sins of omission (leaving out of account or neglecting to do). There are not only sins in deeds of action, but also sins in word and thought, like lying, lust, pride and hatred. Naturally, because of our fallen nature, when men fail to honor God and obey His Word and seek to replace Him with their own “wisdom”, it always results in tragedy. Our first instinct as lawless sinners is to build our doctrine (principles of belief) around ourselves and our self-perceived well-being. Faith is taking God at His Word, believing what He says is true.

Isaiah 53:6  “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned— every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Iniquity is a synonym for sin meaning great injustice or wickedness, willfully choosing to walk in a way contrary to what is right in the eyes of the Lord, but look what Lord does for those who believe in Jesus, the Christ. Romans 3:9-10 says, “Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous — not even one.” And continuing in verse 23: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” So what does sin produce? Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. We are all born sinners on the same wide road to destruction, a slave to sin, separated in our relationship with God, and dead in our sins. Don’t believe the lie (Genesis 3:4-5); sin has serious and eternal consequences. Where is salvation, redemption, and restoration to be found? Who shall save us from this slavery to sin and damnation that we earned and deserve? Good news!

John 3:16-18 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” & Romans 10:9 “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is the Gospel! God turns defeat into victory and separation into a hallelujah! A relationship Maker.

Philippians 1:9-11 “And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

In Christ, Brian