I am told we are separated from God when we sin! I know in the OT this is what it says

The confusion over this whole thing is based upon one simple reality: an overlooking of the most important person in the most important event in the history of mankind. The problem is NOT with the OT verses that CORRECTLY state that sin separates man from God, the problem is found in the fact that we have learned how to ignore the finished work of Christ in having removed our sin from us when considering this.

Are you following me? Your confusion is understandable because of the little tap dance performed by preachers and teachers down through the centuries that reinforce your fear that your sins have not REALLY been dealt with. We have somehow systematized the amazing thing done by Christ so that we hold His once and for all sacrifice for sin as being true ONLY in an isolated sense. In other words, when we notice that we have sinned we automatically put the whole reality of Christ's complete work on hold because the sin we SEE seems more real than the reconciliation we cannot see.

When you look for sin you will see it, and when you see it, the sin you see will in turn suggest to you that the satisfaction of the cross never really happened. What you and I do is to let this sin-conscious perception tell us who we are, but it only tells us who we were. We can only know who we are from the witness of God Himself, and His testimony of us is found in CHRIST alone. We will either come to the conclusion that the sins we see prove that we are still sinners, or we will recognize that the sins that still happen within our flesh are, in fact, grating against the real life that now defines who we are!

Paul's own stints into the realm of sin came as a result of his attempts to live by law, and this forced him to recognize that the evil he saw happening within him was not really him, but it was sin itself working in him by the power of law. This is why he said, "I am not the one doing it!" This is the conclusion you must also come to see about yourself as you find the conflict within you.

..but aren't we under grace, and can't we approach the throne of Grace, through Jesus now!

Only if Jesus really took care of all that was between God and ourselves, and since He did He has made the way open for us to approach this throne of Grace at every single moment. And realize this, you don't have to go anywhere to find this throne because God has taken up residence within you because of the fact that He is fully satisfied with Christ's doing on the cross.

I have been struggling in areas of my life lately...with unforgiveness...I want to forgive...but one offense leads to a bombardment of multiple offenses...not all the time, but sometimes...and it takes time to get through it all! Sometimes I seem to be dull of hearing the Lord, and consequently don't understand what my problem is...until I'm tormented.

And as you continue to struggle to rid yourself of this you will keep spiraling downward, and the only way to keep yourself from going totally insane will be to create a system of loopholes by which you can justify yourself so that you might be able to cope with this miserable existence. If you get real good at it you might be able to pass certain sins off as being righteous or God's will by using a religious program to twist the fear, guilt, and shame into self-righteousness and pride so that you can temporarily feel good about yourself.

That sounds pretty bleak, huh? :) But it is the only possible end of the empty life we keep trying to hold on to.

Ok..so I'm not a perfect christian!!

If a Christian is one who belongs to Christ then what other kind is there?

Why would God desire to separate me, when it is He I need? What kind of a God would push me away when it's Him whose help I need? I'm really puzzled by all of this!

And puzzled you SHOULD be because this is not the description of the God that has given His son to bring us to Himself. No, no, no, this is the logic of man that disguises itself and calls itself Christian or Biblical, etc, ad nauseum.

I've studied the Grace Message, know we serve a Holy God...and the only two commandments are loving God and loving our neighbour!...which isn't always easy!!

If you will check again you will see that these are the two commandments that sum up the entire LAW. As far as them not being easy is quite an understatement because they are impossible. The whole history of those under the Law underscores the conclusion that MAN + LAW = BROKEN. In other words, the Law was never truly kept. The fact that the reality of Christ is connected with these two commandments is not suggesting that we try to keep the commandments that cannot be kept, but that the Spirit who has been put within us produces love, and since love is the fulfillment of the law this means that the Spirit fulfills the requirement of the law in us. This is not by our attempting to fulfill anything by the fleshly principles demanding us to do it, but because we do live within the realm of the Spirit.

We've all got faults/and have failed in multiple ways! I tend to think the most important thing to God, is that we keep getting up and keep going!!

What if God does not want you to get up, but instead to simply know that you are defeated in the flesh no matter which way you turn? What if it's time to know when to quit trying to get back up by your own efforts and instead to know that you, in fact, stand by the power of God who is in you?

Love, Jim