Relationship vs. Fellowship

I'm really loving this new believer follow-up material that I'm prepping to use. It's given me insight on stuff that I'd kind of known growing up in a Christian home, but hadn't really digested.

The name of the lesson I'd like to share with you is titled "Experiencing God's Love":

Your relationship with God is here to stay because, through Jesus, you are forgiven and accepted by God.

Along with this relationship, God also longs for you to walk closely with Him, and talk to Him throughout each day. This is called fellowship.

When we sin, our relationship (being God’s children) does not change, but our fellowship is interrupted.

Here’s an example: Your relationship with your earthly Dad will never change. No matter what you do, you will always be his child. But let’s just say you rebelled against your father and left home angry even though he tried to work things out with you.

You would still be your Dad’s child, right? But can you see how you rebelling would change your fellowship with your Dad?

It goes on to describe the Biblical differences between a relationship with God and fellowship with God.

A relationship began when you received Christ, is everlasting, is maintained by God, and never changes.

Fellowship with God began when you received Christ, can be hindered, is maintained (in part) by us, and is affected when we sin.

When we sin (doing what we want instead of what God wants), it inhibits our fellowship with God (1 John 1:6-8) . Christ's death is not only the basis for forgiveness to bring us into a relationship with God, but also forgiveness in our daily fellowship with God.

But here's the cool thing:

Colossians 2:13-14 says—“You were dead in sin and your sinful desires were not yet cut away. Then He gave you a share in the very life of Christ, for He forgave all your sin, and blotted out the charges proved against you, the list of His commandments which you had not obeyed. He took this list of sin and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross.”

Back when this was written, when a criminal was put in jail, a “list of sins” was nailed his prison cell door. It listed every crime prisoner had committed. When the jail sentence was served or the people harmed paid back, the authorities removed the list and wrote “paid in full”. The prisoner used this as proof that he could never be tried for those crimes again. The believer who trusts Jesus’ payment for sin can never be tried again. His or her sins have been “paid in full”. He or she has a full pardon from God.

Here's how the follow-up material outlines how to restore your fellowship with God:

When God brings to your attention that something you have done is sin, confess it. This confession involves at least three factors:

1) Agree with God that you have sinned

2) Thank God that He has already forgiven you

3) Trust God to change your wrong attitudes and actions (repentance).

By turning back to God and away from you sin, you will experience His love and forgiveness provided by Christ's death on the cross. Instead of feeling guilty or condemned, you can know that your fellowship with God is restored.

So maybe you're not feeling so close to God right now. Maybe you're facing a wave of trials and tribulation, and you're wondering, "Is God telling me something here?"

Of course, I am in no position to judge what you're going through, it's between you and God. And maybe you're like Job or Abraham, and God is simply testing you with these trials. Either way--whether there is sin you need to confess or you're simply facing testing--God wants you to draw closer to him! If a child is hurt, will he run away from his father, or straight into his father's arms?

~~~

"My heart and flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." ~Psalm 73:26

In Christ,

Ellie