Jack,
I read this article and found it very interesting. How does one who has backslid return to the favor of God? I am in this situation. I feel as if God is so far away.Rick
Jack Heckathorne’s Reply….
This is a very common problem and one which all believers are faced with from time to time.
First of all, I would suspect that your backsliding has something to do with habitual sins. What I mean by that is a sin which we do over and over. If so, we are instructed to simply confess our sins to God the Father. 1st John 1:9. This means to name our sins one by one. This will return us to fellowship (or favor) with God. If your sin is habitual you must bring it to a halt. God will discipline us with warning discipline first and if we continue he will apply severe discipline and if we still persist and develop a hardened heart he will actually allow us to die the sin unto death.
However, we will not loose our salvation but our rewards in Heaven would be lost. It is our purpose on earth as believers to be an effective witness for Christ. If we are in a backslidden condition (out of fellowship I call it) , he cannot use us because we are not controlled by the Holy Spirit while “in sin.” While confession of sin places us back in fellowship with him our habitual sin takes us right back out.
So, it is essential that we stay in fellowship as long as possible so that the Holy Spirit can guide us through life and to do that we must break the cycle of sinning habitually. Sin is the thing which separates us from God. An occasional sin will happen but if we quickly confess it we get right back in fellowship. Habitual sin is just the opposite. We are out of fellowship continuously and occasionally confess it so we stay “out” a lot more than “in”.
In order to be closer to God we must occupy our minds with the person of Christ. Learning as much about the Bible as we can every day. If we do this He will become more real and important in our lives and the “world” will fade away. When we get our minds off on worldly things we loose sight of our purpose. If we drift away our minds will become filled with something worldly and the Bible tells us that anything not of faith is sin. In worldly things we depend on ourselves and with faith we depend on God. Many people get into a frantic search for happiness in the “world” never realizing that a true and lasting happiness can only come from the creator. Learning is the key.
At GJCN we have a number of books on various Biblical subjects which we will send you upon your request. We do not advertise them but they are free and postage paid to people who like yourself write and show an interest in our Lord. If you are interested simply email me back with an address and we will send them. Thanks for your question. Feel free to write anytime.
Jack Heckathorne
GJCN