Does God turn His back on us everytime we sin ?

[PraiseJesusAlways]

Hello & God Bless You ! I am a 16 year old girl, and I have been Christian (non-denominational) since I was little. Recently I've been going to a Pentecostal church (as a non-member) and today (Sunday) they split up the children, the youth and the adults in three seperate groups for sunday school as usual. The church pastor was leading the discussion because she also pastors the youth group and she said that "whenever we sin God turns His back on us because He can not see sin therefore he leaves us". And I disagreed with that because what I read in the word of God is that he will never leave us or forsake us. I told her that if Jesus had not died for us, then God would have to turn His back on us whenever we sin, but since Jesus did die for us God sees us cleansed through the Blood of Jesus. (I think she was trying to scare us away from sinning by saying that "whenever we do sin, even by circumstances/by-mistake God will turn His back on us and leave us " but I believe we should obey God and try to please Him out of our love for Him, not only because we love Him but because He loved us first, Not out of fear, because love out of fear is not perfected love as it says in Romans 8:15) I also told her that by saying that God leaves every single time we sin that we are diminishing God because he is always faithful. She (the youth pastor) was kind of mean and very defensive, she rolled her eyes and told me that I was not going to change her beliefs (& I wasn't trying to, all I was saying was what God was putting in my heart) and she was acting like I was trying to brainwash everyone in the youth group or something. This was very saddening to me, I felt as If I was being persecuted or something :0( Please reply back to this post and let me know your opinion on this. Thank You & God Bless You :0)

 

[clayharryman]

I don't believe God ever leaves us. This is a scare-tactic used by some to frighten us into never sinning. Well, it won't work. None of us are without sin. If you follow this line of teaching, you ignore God's grace and focus on the law. None of us can be saved by works, only by grace through faith.

Think of the story of the Prodigal Son. Who left? The father? No, the son left. When we sin, we walk away from God. He wants us to come back, but we need to learn a lesson so He patiently waits for our return. Sometimes He will put people or other obstacles in our path to guide us back, but He does not grab us and pull us back.

I was raised in the church but went away on my own for about ten years. During this time, I was about as far away from God as I could get. My life revolved around booze and wild women.

Then, I met (and fell in love with) a woman that wasn't very wild and didn't like my drinking. We both had been raised in the church but had drifted away. Today we have devoted our lives and our family to God.

Did God ever turn His back on us? I don't think so. He was patiently waiting our tearful return to His arms.

 

[Reformationist]

Hello & God Bless You ! I am a 16 year old girl, and I have been Christian (non-denominational) since I was little. Recently I've been going to a Pentecostal church (as a non-member) and today (Sunday) they split up the children, the youth and the adults in three seperate groups for sunday school as usual. The church pastor was leading the discussion because she also pastors the youth group and she said that "whenever we sin God turns His back on us because He can not see sin therefore he leaves us". And I disagreed with that because what I read in the word of God is that he will never leave us or forsake us. I told her that if Jesus had not died for us, then God would have to turn His back on us whenever we sin, but since Jesus did die for us God sees us cleansed through the Blood of Jesus. (I think she was trying to scare us away from sinning by saying that "whenever we do sin, even by circumstances/by-mistake God will turn His back on us and leave us " but I believe we should obey God and try to please Him out of our love for Him, not only because we love Him but because He loved us first, Not out of fear, because love out of fear is not perfected love as it says in Romans 8:15) I also told her that by saying that God leaves every single time we sin that we are diminishing God because he is always faithful. She (the youth pastor) was kind of mean and very defensive, she rolled her eyes and told me that I was not going to change her beliefs (& I wasn't trying to, all I was saying was what God was putting in my heart) and she was acting like I was trying to brainwash everyone in the youth group or something. This was very saddening to me, I felt as If I was being persecuted or something :0( Please reply back to this post and let me know your opinion on this. Thank You & God Bless You :0)

You are completely correct in your assessment of the way God deals with His children and it is rather strange that a Pastor would purport such an unbiblical notion and then behave that way when you point out her mistake.

I'd pay close attention to the other things she is saying to see if you may want to look elsewhere for nourishment.

God bless

 

[New_Wineskin]

Hello & God Bless You ! I am a 16 year old girl, and I have been Christian (non-denominational) since I was little. Recently I've been going to a Pentecostal church (as a non-member) and today (Sunday) they split up the children, the youth and the adults in three seperate groups for sunday school as usual. The church pastor was leading the discussion because she also pastors the youth group and she said that "whenever we sin God turns His back on us because He can not see sin therefore he leaves us". And I disagreed with that because what I read in the word of God is that he will never leave us or forsake us. I told her that if Jesus had not died for us, then God would have to turn His back on us whenever we sin, but since Jesus did die for us God sees us cleansed through the Blood of Jesus. (I think she was trying to scare us away from sinning by saying that "whenever we do sin, even by circumstances/by-mistake God will turn His back on us and leave us " but I believe we should obey God and try to please Him out of our love for Him, not only because we love Him but because He loved us first, Not out of fear, because love out of fear is not perfected love as it says in Romans 8:15) I also told her that by saying that God leaves every single time we sin that we are diminishing God because he is always faithful. She (the youth pastor) was kind of mean and very defensive, she rolled her eyes and told me that I was not going to change her beliefs (& I wasn't trying to, all I was saying was what God was putting in my heart) and she was acting like I was trying to brainwash everyone in the youth group or something. This was very saddening to me, I felt as If I was being persecuted or something :0( Please reply back to this post and let me know your opinion on this. Thank You & God Bless You :0)

Yeah . That whole idea is idiotic . If the Lord turned His back when people sin , He wouldn't have sent His Son . Sending His Son is the complete opposite of "turning His back" .

 

[dvd_holc]

A perfect love removes fear. She is introducing a fear into those who listen. A fear of lose and unacceptance. There is no place for this in us. We don't obey God out of fear. We live for him out of love in great anticaption of the day of restoration. You are feeling the love of God working against the pulls of disharmony. We humble before God, and grace handles the rest.

 

[discernomatic]

I agree with the others. The way you originally reacted, PraiseJesusAlways, was correct. Jesus may let us wander away from him for a time, that in itself teaches us a lesson as it did with the prodigal son. But he never, ever, turns his back on us. Scripture verses pending, just ran out of time.

 

[Everlastinglife]

God would never turn His back, but we turn ours. God is Love. Psalm 145:17,"The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made." The Bible describes God, it doesnt say he turns His back. Deuteronomy 32:4, "He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He." Can we comprehend our God in such a way as this? Job 36:5, "Behold, God is mighty, and does not despise any; He is mighty in strength of understanding." Never doubt what God thinks about you, he loves us always and unconditionally. We need to love and trust in Him. I John 4:8, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

 

[heatherq17]

I agree with you!!

 

[Bill777]

Hello & God Bless You ! I am a 16 year old girl, and I have been Christian (non-denominational) since I was little. Recently I've been going to a Pentecostal church (as a non-member) and today (Sunday) they split up the children, the youth and the adults in three seperate groups for sunday school as usual. The church pastor was leading the discussion because she also pastors the youth group and she said that "whenever we sin God turns His back on us because He can not see sin therefore he leaves us". And I disagreed with that because what I read in the word of God is that he will never leave us or forsake us. I told her that if Jesus had not died for us, then God would have to turn His back on us whenever we sin, but since Jesus did die for us God sees us cleansed through the Blood of Jesus. (I think she was trying to scare us away from sinning by saying that "whenever we do sin, even by circumstances/by-mistake God will turn His back on us and leave us " but I believe we should obey God and try to please Him out of our love for Him, not only because we love Him but because He loved us first, Not out of fear, because love out of fear is not perfected love as it says in Romans 8:15) I also told her that by saying that God leaves every single time we sin that we are diminishing God because he is always faithful. She (the youth pastor) was kind of mean and very defensive, she rolled her eyes and told me that I was not going to change her beliefs (& I wasn't trying to, all I was saying was what God was putting in my heart) and she was acting like I was trying to brainwash everyone in the youth group or something. This was very saddening to me, I felt as If I was being persecuted or something :0( Please reply back to this post and let me know your opinion on this. Thank You & God Bless You :0)

The old saying God hates the sin and loves the sinner is correct provided the sin is confessed and there is repentance.

 

[talitha]

The old saying God hates the sin and loves the sinner is correct provided the sin is confessed and there is repentance.

So you are saying that if the sin has not yet been confessed, and if the sinner has not yet repented, God doesn't love him?


PJA, although it is true that God never leaves us nor forsakes us, in terms of our standing as His sons and daughters, I can understand where your youth director is coming from. Like clayharryman, I went through a very rebellious period in my life. I can identify with the "prodigal son," who never stopped being his father's son, no matter how hard he tried to distance himself from the family, both in terms of miles and of lifestyle. The father always loved him too -- but he did not follow him to the "cat-houses" and the pig sty. He waited for his son to return to his home, and when he did, he celebrated. There was a distance between father and son that was created by the prodigal son's choices. When I chose to live a life of sin, my heart became divided, and I could not enjoy complete fellowship with God, not like I had before, not until I returned and reconciled myself to Him.

Yes, God's mercies are everlasting, but His truth also endures to all generations......

blessings
tal

 

[Psalms34]

The church pastor was leading the discussion because she also pastors the youth group and she said that "whenever we sin God turns His back on us because He can not see sin therefore he leaves us".

First part:
She? I agree with the article in this link http://www.gotquestions.org/women-pastors.html
It's a good read especially if you know little on this subject. If she does not believe this when it is so clear, she probably rejects other parts of the bible as well, such as what your question concerns and probably many other things.

Answer to your question:
1 John 3:9 John 3:9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
1 John 5:18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

Quoted from MHCC:
The sons of God know that their Lord is of purer eyes than to allow any thing unholy and impure to dwell with him. It is the hope of hypocrites, not of the sons of God, that makes allowance for gratifying impure desires and lusts. May we be followers of him as his dear children, thus show our sense of his unspeakable mercy, and express that obedient, grateful, humble mind which becomes us. Sin is the rejecting the Divine law. In him, that is, in Christ, was no sin. All the sinless weaknesses that were consequences of the fall, he took; that is, all those infirmities of mind or body which subject man to suffering, and expose him to temptation. But our moral infirmities, our proneness to sin, he had not. He that abides in Christ, continues not in the practice of sin. Renouncing sin is the great proof of spiritual union with, continuance in, and saving knowledge of the Lord Christ. Beware of self-deceit. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, and to be a follower of Christ, shows an interest by faith in his obedience and sufferings. But a man cannot act like the devil, and at the same time be a disciple of Christ Jesus. Let us not serve or indulge what the Son of God came to destroy. To be born of God is to be inwardly renewed by the power of the Spirit of God. Renewing grace is an abiding principle. Religion is not an art, a matter of dexterity and skill, but a new nature. And the regenerate person cannot sin as he did before he was born of God, and as others do who are not born again. There is that light in his mind, which shows him the evil and malignity of sin. There is that bias upon his heart, which disposes him to loathe and hate sin. There is the spiritual principle that opposes sinful acts. And there is repentance for sin, if committed. It goes against him to sin with forethought. The children of God and the children of the devil have their distinct characters. The seed of the serpent are known by neglect of religion, and by their hating real Christians. He only is righteous before God, as a justified believer, who is taught and disposed to righteousness by the Holy Spirit. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. May all professors of the gospel lay these truths to heart, and try themselves by them.

 

[talitha]

Let's not turn this into a debate about women pastors. There is a young girl's heart and soul at stake here.

 

[Psalms34]

Let's not turn this into a debate about women pastors. There is a young girl's heart and soul at stake here.

Hmm? But it's true and this is a good example. If you read my post and not just the opening, you would understand that my post centers around answering the question. Anyway, isn’t hiding the truth the wrong direction to be going in when it comes to peoples heart and soul? It's the truth.

 

[talitha]

I'm sorry, to be honest I was kind of put off by the huge block of text and didn't read it. I could see that it wasn't about female pastors, but it just seemed to go blahblahblah.... People generally don't read things that are in huge blocks like that.

I agree that hiding the truth is the "wrong direction to be going in when it comes to peoples heart and soul" - but I also believe what Galatians 3:28 says -- "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (The Layman's Parallel New Testament, 1970).

Women do not have a different Holy Spirit......

AND NOW, back to the topic........

blessings
tal

 

[Psalms34]

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (The Layman's Parallel New Testament, 1970).

Women do not have a different Holy Spirit......

But that has nothing to do with roles concerning leadership. Maybe you should find a debate thread you are looking for, I just posted a reply to her whole post and that was one issue in it. I don't mind debating this or not but debating on debating is a waste of time.

 

[pastoroats]

Love is not a form of control from one person over anther. Love – “real love” is about freedom not slavery. God gave us freedom by giving us free choice about the relationship. We can say No and He will not make us love him.

 

[Kelly]

I would like to agree with the general concensus but what about Jesus saying "depart from me, I never knew you" in Matthew 7?

 

[Psalms34]

I would like to agree with the general concensus but what about Jesus saying "depart from me, I never knew you" in Matthew 7?

Emphasize “never”. Do you know Jesus and does he know you right now? You do not fit into the never category, Bro.
It's a done deal

Lets emphasize "never" in this passage as well:
Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

 

[dvd_holc]

I would like to agree with the general concensus but what about Jesus saying "depart from me, I never knew you" in Matthew 7?

This know is not as much as knowledge of a person but rather it calls to attention that person or persons in question are not apart of him.

 

[clayharryman]

I would like to agree with the general concensus but what about Jesus saying "depart from me, I never knew you" in Matthew 7?

Ah, but let's look at that whole quote in context (Matthew 7:21-23 from the NIV):

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

Is "that day" the judgement day? The judgement day occurs after we've had our final chance. The judgement day occurs after we're dead and facing Christ. So, he will tell us to depart from him after we've completely blown it.

As long as we're living, though, we stand a chance. And that chance depends on one thing -- have we accepted Him as our savior?