24: Is It True That God Will Not Allow Sin In His Presence?, Part 2

Welcome to the Ready for Eternity podcast. My name is Eddie Lawrence.

In the previous episode we observed that certain passages, which at first glance appear to suggest that God will not allow sin in His presence, have been misconstrued.

The Bible is absolutely full of examples of God interacting with sinners. He was in their presence throughout all of biblical history.

In this episode, let's note just a few examples as we answer the question, is it true that God will not allow sin in His presence?

We learn from the Bible that God is always in the presence of sin. Where did

God go immediately after Adam and Eve sinned? Did He hide away from them?

No, it was Adam and Eve who hid from Him. God stayed in the garden and set in motion a plan that would eventually lead to mankind being reconciled to Him.

He expelled them from the garden, not to remove sin from His presence, but to prevent access to the tree of life.

God remained in the presence of sinful humans in order to eventually save them from the consequences of their sins.

God permitted sin in His presence in the camp. God's presence in the tabernacle means that He was surrounded by sinful

Israelites. The Holy of Holies inside the tabernacle was the place where God's presence resided.

In Numbers chapter 2, God gave instructions for how the tribes of Israel were to arrange their camp.

He situated the tabernacle, the place where He resided, in the middle of all these sinners.

There were strict rules regarding the ceremonial purity of the camp. This is especially true for anyone approaching the tabernacle.

However, this ceremonial cleanliness did not mean one approaching sacred space was free of sin.

In fact, being ritually unclean did not even imply that a person had sinned.

God used the purity laws as a teaching tool to help the people understand the difference between their sin and God's holiness.

The bottom line is that God surrounded Himself with the Israelites. They, like us, committed sins on a daily basis.

Clearly, this did not prevent God from being in their presence. Sin was in God's presence in heaven.

In Job chapter 1 verse 6 and chapter 2 verse 1, Satan entered into God's presence in heaven.

The word Satan in Hebrew means adversary, and we can reasonably assume that this

Satan is the same evil being we know as the devil. Is there anyone more evil than the devil?

Yet, there he is in heaven in the presence of God. This verse alone should dispel the notion that God will not permit sin in His presence.

In addition, if we take the chronology of Revelation 12 at face value, the dragon and his angels were not cast out of heaven until the child,

Jesus, ascended back to heaven. Revelation is a difficult book and it's full of symbolism, but it would appear that God didn't expel the devil and his angels from heaven until after Jesus' victory at the cross when

He ascended back to the Father. Jesus, who is God, permitted sin in His presence.

He came to live on earth for thirty -plus years in the presence of sinful humans.

Astonishingly, demons inhabited some of the sinners that Jesus interacted with, but even this didn't cause

Him to avoid them. Jesus, like God in the Garden of Eden, didn't draw back from sinners.

He put Himself right in the middle of them in order to deliver them from their sins in this present evil age.

Jesus clearly didn't expel sinners from His presence. Lastly, sin is still in God's presence in the

New Temple. The Holy Spirit, who is God, presently lives in the midst of sinners.

He surrounds Himself with sinners in the church. Do you not know that you are

God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3 .16.

The you in this verse is plural, and it is referring to the church.

The temple in the New Testament era is the collective of Jesus' disciples.

The Holy Spirit lives in the midst of a church composed of repentant sinners who are striving for sanctification.

Yes, Christians are sinners. Some of us tend to forget that.

The difference between Christian sinners and non -Christian sinners is that God has forgiven those who have entered into a covenant relationship with Him.

Furthermore, Christians don't want to sin any longer. Nevertheless, in our weakness, we still sin.

And the Holy Spirit is still right here in our midst, convicting us of our sin, and He is always urging us to repent.

So what should we conclude? That God is willing to be in the presence of sinners should be one of the most obvious facts of the

Scriptures. From the Garden of Eden until the present day, He has always been in our presence, both literally and figuratively, to bring about the salvation of those who will enter into covenant with Him.

This is because He loves us. This is not to say that God likes being in the presence of sin.

He doesn't. He endures sin in His presence for our sakes.

In the end, all sin will be gone. God will be victorious, and sin will be a thing of the past.

Until then, God surrounds Himself with us so that He can save those of us who want to spend eternity with Him.

Thanks for listening to the podcast. We hope this episode has deepened your understanding of Scripture.

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