What Does the Bible Say About a Person's Relationship with God?

While we can be affected by sin, the Bible says that all sin is against God. King David, after committing adultery with another man's wife, getting her pregnant and then having the woman's husband killed so that he would not find out, prayed to God "against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight" Psalm 51:4. So, while sin can affect people, all sin is against God.

So what is sin? Have you sinned?

Sin is breaking God's Law - The Ten Commandments. So let's take a look at the Law of God (Exodus 20) to see how you will do on the day of judgment:

1. "You shall have no other gods before me" - Have you ever worshiped any God other than the true God Almighty? Have you broken this Law?

2. "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" - Have you ever made an idol out of anything? Remember, this idol is not just something you make with your hands. It can also be something you make with your mind. If you imagine God as a god who would not punish sin, or as a god who does not care about what you do, then you are making an idol in your mind. Have you broken this Law?

3. "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." - Have you ever used God's name as a cuss word? Have you ever used the holy name of Jesus Christ or God to express anger, frustration, fear or anything other than as a way to express them in a way that is glorifying to God? Have you broken this Law?

4. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" - Do you keep the Sabbath day holy? Have you broken this Law?

5. "Honor your father and your mother" - Have you always honored your father and your mother? Have you broken this Law?

6. "You shall not murder" - The commandments are not limited to the acts they describe. God is so sensitive to sin that He even sees hate as murder. 1 John 3:15 says "everyone who hates his brother is a murderer". Have you broken this Law?

7. "You shall not commit adultery" - Just as before, the commandments are not limited to the acts they describe. In Matthew 5:28 Jesus says that "everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Have you broken this Law?

8. "You shall not steal" - Have you ever taken something that did not belong to you? It does not matter how much it was worth. The question is one of "yes" or "no" because it is about the action, not the value of what was taken. Have you broken this Law?

9. "You shall not bear false witness" - Have you ever lied before? Have you ever broken this Law?

10. "You shall not covet" - Have you ever desired to have something that was not yours? Have you broken this Law?

If we we break even one of these Laws, we are guilty of breaking all of them. The book of James says "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all" (James 2:10).

Further, even our BEST DEEDS are worthless to God. Isaiah 64:6 says "all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." This reference here to polluted garment is referring to a garment that is so polluted that it has to be burned. A polluted garment is a cloth that was wrapped around the skin of someone with leprosy. Because leprosy is contagious, the cloth could not be washed or reused. It had to be burned and destroyed.

Back to Top  

What if we are found guilty on that day? What will happen to us? The Bible tells us in the book of Revelation 20:11-14 what that day will be like:

"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire."

We see another account of what will happen on that day in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. This is how the Apostle Paul describes that day:

"the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints"

What will hell be like?

The Bible says that it will be a "fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:50), and the Bible says in Revelation 14:11 of the people who go to hell that "the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night,"

The Bible tells us that "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23), and so that means that all are guilty under the Law of God. According to the scriptures we will all be judged by our works, and therefore be guilty because we have all sinned. If we are all guilty, and deserve hell (Romans 2:2-6), then how can we be made right with God? How can we escape His just wrath?

Back to Top


The Goodness of God
The Bible says in Romans 5:7-8 that "one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity (1 John 5:7; 2 Corinthians 13:14; I Peter 1:2), who is God in the flesh (Titus 2:13), and who lived a perfect, sinless life (Hebrews 4:15) took our punishment on the cross at Calvary (1 Peter 2:24).

What we need on judgment day is RIGHTEOUSNESS. How do we get righteousness? Look at Romans 3:20-22:

"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe."

You receive righteousness through faith alone in Jesus Christ as the payment for your sin. Nothing you do can save you. The only hope you have is to put all of your faith in Jesus Christ as the only suitable payment for your sins against God. If your faith is in Jesus Christ, then you will be saved. John 3:16-17 says that "God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."

If your belief is real, it will always be accompanied by repentance. Repentance is turning from the sin in your life and doing the things that please God.
Back to Top


Examining Yourself
Jesus said in John 3:3 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” You can know (2 Peter 1:10) if you have received salvation (been truly born again) by testing your faith. John says in 1 John 5:13 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."

To be born again is to be "sealed with the promised Holy Spirit" (Ephesians 1:13). Galatians 5:22-23 says that "the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." Look for the evidence of the Holy Spirit in you. Titus 2:12-14 says the Holy Spirit will be "training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works."

According to 1 John 3:9 "No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God." Does that mean that we will stop sinning completely? No, it does not. In 1 John 2:1 it says "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." If a Christian does stumble into sin then we are to confess our sin to God (1 John 1:9) and continue to depend on Jesus Christ alone for our righteousness. Look at what Philippians 3:8-11 says:

"I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

If you have truly put your faith in Jesus Christ as the only suitable payment for your sins, then you will see the fruit of repentance. You will see the Holy Spirit at work in your life through a desire to do the things that please God.
Back to Top



Proper Understanding