Since Sin separates us from God, who then, can be with a Holy God while in a state of sin?

God is a holy and a righteous God, and we can never hope to be united with Him, or have fellowship with Him in such a sinful corrupted state. Consider these scriptures:

"And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken." (Gen. 3:22,23)

"Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods." (Deut. 31:17,18)

"And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith." (Deut. 32:20)

"But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." (Isa. 59:2)

"Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings." (Micah 3:4)

"Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction. Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, [and] holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?" (Hab. 1:12-13)

Again, the Bible is clear we cannot be with God, or have fellowship with him because of our sin. How then can we ever get back into fellowship with God?

We Need Cleansing and Salvation to be with God

The Bible is very clear that our sins need to be eradicated, and a new nature needs to be imparted to us.

In the Old Testament, Christ was foreshadowed in the offerings and sacrifices for sin, by the blood upon the altar.

In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is that Savior that came to "take away the sins of the world."

"Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isa. 1:18)

"For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not." (Isa. 30:15)

"But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end." (Isa. 45:17)

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." (Isa. 45:22)

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." (Rom. 5:10)

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost." (Titus 3:5)

"Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded." (Ezek. 36:33)

"And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corin. 6:11)

There is no need to use “other” books or “another testament of Jesus Christ” to explain the Word of God. 

There is a holy God who created us. We have a nature to sin and it violates the very nature of God. This separates us from the only just, holy, and righteous God. We need cleansing and salvation for our sins in order to be reconciled to God and it is by Jesus Christ, and ONLY by Him that this can ever be possible.

This is the foundation and the key understanding salvation.

Now that we know what Salvation is and what it is for, I ask you again, the most important question concerning salvation:

If we can lose salvation, then what sins could cause it? How many and to what degree? Can we be recovered if we lose out? Will we be punished but still saved? Will we be saved but “just be in trouble” (if you can imagine that) when we get to heaven?

We MUST understand the answers to these questions! Why? Because salvation is very, very, important and if we don’t understand salvation, what good is anything else?

It's important to understand the definition of salvation itself in the bible. Salvation (or being ‘saved’) doesn’t always mean (as most people use it today) that one is “born again”.

Since the Bible begins using the terms saved, salvation, delivered, etc. in the Old Testament, let's begin there and work our way through the Word of God.

Most of the uses in the Old Testament pertain to a type of physical deliverance from external things. The following are words and definitions from the Hebrew Old Testament.

Save (chayah)—to save, alive, life, preserve life. It's used when pertaining to the saving of physical life from certain death (Gen. 45:7)

Save (yasha)—save, deliver, help, defend, rescue, be delivered, this word is used of defending or victory in battle by another, and again, to save the physical body (Deut. 20:4). It is also used of spiritual salvation (Job 22:29; Ps. 6:4; 55:16).

Deliverance (teshuwah)—salvation, help, safety, victory, used to denote deliverance from ones enemy (Judges 15:18) and spiritual deliverance (2 Chron. 6:41).

Deliverance (yeshuwah)—help, salvation, save, saving, used of physical (Ex. 14:13) and of spiritual (Ex. 15:2).

Deliverance (pallet)—escape. Used of escaping from ones enemy (Ps. 32:7).

Salvation (yeshua)—safety, saving, rescue, deliverance. Used of spiritual (2 Sam. 22:3,36; 1 Chron. 16:23; Ps. 18:46; 27:1).

This gives us a good general understanding of what is meant by salvation in the Old Testament.

The theme in the Old Testament was "do good and live". The New Testament's theme is "by grace be saved and you will do good."

There is one very important thing, however, that we must always keep in the forefront of our mind: