Bible Studies

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Many children, not wanting to face their parents because of trouble that have gotten into, may want to put off going home as long as possible.

In the spiritual realm, we have an appointed “going home” event when we will come face to face with God. This appointment will not be put off or delayed.

This individually appointed time might be decades away, but could also be before the sun goes down today, or rises tomorrow morning.

Secular statistics estimate over 150,000 souls depart this world every day. The Intake Center in Heaven and Hades are busy places. Many now-departed souls went to bed last night with no thought of not waking up this morning on Earth. Many who did wakeup will depart before the sun goes down today, with their departure being the last thing that was on their mind when they woke up this morning.

Each one of us, believer or not, has an appointed time and date when he or she will depart this world, and a time when he or she will come face to face with God. Rather or not we can look forward with confidence (1) to coming face to face with God is dependent on rather or not we have been sealed (marked for identification) as a child of God (2); have had our dead spirit regenerated (3); and have become the recipient of the (4) gift of eternal life (5).

This is what it means to be “saved.” Saved from what? Saved from spending all of eternity in what the Bible (6) calls, the lake of fire. The sealing, regeneration, and the giving of eternal life are manifestations of the irreversible Work of God (not clergy) that takes place the moment the individual soul believes in a presentation of the unadulterated Gospel Message.

Note that eternal security (7) is not a license to sin. Although eternal condemnation has been taken off the table, born-again believers are subject to divine discipline (8) here on Earth, and can forfeit specific heavenly reward and privileges (9) that they could have received in addition to the gift of eternal life.

Coming face to face with God after departing this world is not the time we should be getting to know Him. Our coming face to face with God can (and should be) the continuation of intimate fellowship that we develop here on Earth.

We get to know God by developing the mind of Christ (10) while here on Earth. What we know (or don’t know) about the Written Word of God (The Bible), is what we know or don’t about the Living Word (11) of God (The Lord Jesus Christ).

Through discipleship, born- again believers have the opportunity to develop intimate fellowship with God. . . . No one can ever be any more or any less “saved” than what he or she became the moment he or she was born again (12).

So what does the Bible mean when it tells believers to draw near to God and He will draw near to them (13)?

The short answer to this question is that James 4: 8 is speaking of being in fellowship with God, and developing personal intimacy in one’s daily walk with Him.

Sad to say, but for many, God is perceived to be Someone seated in the 3rd Heaven (14) on a throne somewhere beyond the expanse of the physical universe, far beyond the reach of Fallen Man.

For the born again believer, who becomes an edified disciple, God is acknowledged as One who indwells his or her physical body (15) while here on Earth, and is one with whom the believer seeks to have an intimate relationship.

Known sin that has not been confessed takes a born again Christian out of fellowship with God.

Confessed sin that is not then forsaken, results in a born-again believer spending much of his or her post salvation spiritual life in a revolving doorway, going around and around, in and out of fellowship with God, and never moving forward in the plan of God.

The longer one spends time out of fellowship with God, the more of a tolerance for sin he or she will develop, and more resistant he or she becomes to repentance.

It was Adam and the woman’s consciousness of sin caused them to try to hide from God (16), but as they would soon discover, believers out of fellowship will find that one can run, but one can not hide from God.

When God called out to Adam and the woman, “Where are you?,” He was not seeking to learn of their physical location. God knew exactly where they were and what they had done.

God’s asking was for Adam and Eve to see where they were in their relationship with Him.

End of Part One
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(1) Romans 8: 1/John 8: 32 (2) Eph. 4: 30 (3) Titus 3: 5); (4) Romans 6: 23/Eph. 2: 8, 9 (5) John 3: 16 (6) Rev. 20: 15 (7) Romans 8: 1 (8) Heb. 12: 6 (9) 1Cor. 3:15/Rev. 2/Rev. 3 (10) 1Cor. 2: 16 (11) John 1: 1 (12) John 3:7 (13) James 4: 8 (14) 2Cor. 12: 2 (15) 1Cor. 3: 16 (16) Gen. 3: 8

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