Two Ways of Relating to God

Gary DeLashmutt

Jeremiah 31:31-34

The two ways of relating to God are either: 1) through superficial rituals, and adherence to the laws of the Old Covenant; or 2) through God's intended method of a personal relationship based on Christ's death on the cross. The Old Covenant was never meant to be permanent and was never meant to bring the Jews closer to God, its' purpose was to show them how far they were from God and that they needed to be clean to come into His presence. The New Covenant was brought forward and promised by God long ago as a way to restore the broken relationship between us and God. We no longer need to clean ourselves to be able to come into His presence but can be fully restored and cleaned once and for all through Christ.

Requisites for Relational Closeness

Gary DeLashmutt

2 Corinthians 2:4-11

The Corinthians had trouble with addressing a member of their body who was in a deep non-repentant sin, Paul himself had to visit them about it. Through this, we see how forgiveness and a relational closeness between each other and God impacts our walk with Him. This relational closeness is characterized by 4 requirements: agree on God's moral absolutes, be willing to discipline, be willing to repent, and be willing to forgive.