Separating the Christian from God

There is a misperception many followers of Christ have that their relationship with God is sometimes good and sometimes bad. This is a misunderstanding of the Gospel.

God's perception (not the believer's) IS reality, and according to Him, there is NEVER a problem with the relationship between Him and His children (Rom 8:1, 2 Cor 5:17, 2 Cor 5:21). Now, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Sure, but what about when I sin now? Isn't there a problem then, even if I'm still technically saved?" Again, this is a misunderstanding not only of the Gospel, but also a misunderstanding of what's happening when you do sin, which is completely SEPARATE from what God is thinking. Coming to understand that what God thinks as being totally SEPARATE from what we think about us is a huge landmark in the Christian's life, because it is a breaking of the bonds of co-dependancy. A co-dependancy that influences our theology.

Remember, this is really about belief. What does the follower of Christ REALLY believe? God says "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ" (Rom 8:1). The believer is tempted to say, "But, what about when I went off on my wife today?" God says, "For the Christian, the old has gone, but the new has come" (2 Cor 5:17). The believer is tempted to say, "But what about when I was trying to manipulate my business partner into doing something that I knew would hurt him but help me, instead of playing fair?" God says, "I'll turn myself into sin so that My children can turn into righteousness" (2 Cor 5:21). The believer is tempted to say, "But, what about this adultery I'm in the middle of right now? I don't know what to do? What does God think about that?" The reality is that God does have something to say about that. He says, "I've already stripped it away." See, He knows you from beginning to the end. He doesn't just know you in the here-and-now. Do you really think God is merely constrained to this present tense we live in? That is a self-centered view point which is a misperception. God's perception is the real you or the true you. The real you has no sin. Even the you that existed before you became a Christian is now without sin. This is God's reality which means it is your reality whether you believe it or not all the time. He knows the real you. The new you.

The real question we have to ask ourselves is what do we believe? Do we believe what God says? See, the greatest honor we can make to Him is to actually believe what He says, which is basically that from His perspective, there is NEVER any problem between Him and I. How can this be? This is because reality is based upon what HE has done and what HE says, not what I have done or what I believe about the situation. What I believe about the situation is independant from reality.

The big problem is that when we commit real sin that is harmful* and offensive to God, ourselves, and others, that we feel guilt and shame as a result of our actions. Our shame tries to tell us that we are horrible, awful, unlovable people incapable of receiving God's love, and the big problem is that we take this shame that WE experience and we project it upon God. We believe that He feels this way about us. This is a form of co-dependancy that influences our theology. We have difficulty separating how we feel from how God feels. Our theology and our shame become intimately connected. A true theology is that there is NEVER a problem in our relationship with God. The real problem is that how we feel about our relationship with God is way off-base compared to what God knows to be true because of what He has declared about us.

What He's trying to say in these verses I've listed above is that He has DECLARED that there is no problem in our relationships with Him. End of story. The question is: Are we going to believe what He says or are we going to believe how we feel?

This is where we have to separate ourselves from God, so to speak. Ironically, this type of separateness leads to all sorts of deep feelings of closeness and attachment towards God in the process. It also is one of the greatest honors and pleasures we can give Him, by believing what He says.
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*I do believe that our sin harms God, but only because He has chosen to let it harm Him. By this I don't mean that it causes Him to be reactionary, feel shameful, or triggers all sorts of insecurities in Him. No. What I mean is that all of the harm that we have committed to ourselves and one another has been heaped upon Him by His own desire to rescue us. He bore the weight of our eternal suffering at the cross. Therefore, it harmed Him, but out of his own romantic love for us. By romantic I mean heroic and self-sacrificing.