Some believe that all they need is their personal relationship with God as being sufficient for salvation. This of course, is not true.
A personal relationship is to maintain faith and focus to God, yet a personal relationship with God does not, in itself, establish sanctity and holiness just because a person declares it so. A relationship with God must include God as the partner. The head of the relationship is not you, it is God himself. This means he leads and declares what is required for this relationship to work. Thus, a relationship with God will require the fulfillment of important elements, else this relationship will fail.
Any relationship, even that of a marriage, requires both partners to contribute and do their parts into and for the relationship. This is exactly the same for a relationship with God. Without us doing our part, the relationship with God will fail, it will not be spiritual and cannot be sanctified and accepted.
Look into the Bible about the parable of the ten virgins ( Matthew 25:1–12 ). All of them declared a relationship with God as indicated in verse one where all ten were to meet with the bridegroom. This denotes that each believed they had or have a relationship with the bridegroom who is Jesus Christ. The bridegroom required the virgins to prepare themselves with oil in their lamps so they can prepare to meet him. Five did not fulfill this element or requirement of the relationship and because of this, their belief of having a relationship with the bridegroom failed and were called strangers who were shut out or excluded from the kingdom of the bridegroom.
The relationship was to believe, the element required was preparation and the oil denotes that preparation as faith and obedience, else the lamp, being the spiritual light, would not light and not sustained. The five that failed were ones who were lazy, slothful or idle ( Matthew 25:26 ; 1 Timothy 5:12–13 ). The slothful ones who failed were one’s who determined on their own what the relationship required, making only superficial compliances to what the bride groom required for acceptance into the kingdom. It is because of their own determination, they were not prepared for the final call and were cast out.
God the Father is the one who determines these important elements and we are the ones who must abide in them. The the first element is “obedience”, where we obey the will, commandments and directions given by God the Father, as given by his gospel, by his servants who are properly authorized and by his Holy Spirit to each of us individually.
God is not given to causal relationships, ones where his direction and his part is largely ignored.
Any marriage or relationship comes with responsibilities and the gospel calls these responsibilities as covenants. Since God the Father (through Jesus Christ) leads the relationship, that means God sets the requirements (covenants) and we obey.
Bible Dictionary for the word covenant says,
Covenant. Sometimes denotes an agreement between persons (1 Sam. 23:18) or nations (1 Sam. 11:1); more often between God and man; but in this latter case it is important to notice that the two parties to the agreement do not stand in the relation of independent and equal contractors. God in his good pleasure fixes the terms, which man accepts. The same word is sometimes rendered “testament.”
The gospel is so arranged that principles and ordinances are received by covenant placing the recipient under strong obligation and responsibility to honor the commitment. Thus the severe consequences to Ananias and Sapphira, who deliberately broke their covenant and lied unto God (Acts 5:1–11).
For example, one of the covenant requirements from the New Testament is the preparing and taking of the sacrament. This ordinance performed by Jesus Christ with his apostles is the established requirement of our relationship with God. The only ones that can prepare the sacrament are those authorized by God and that, as it was in the New Testament, can only ocurr in God’s true Church under his chosen apostles who are delegated with his authority. No person can take upon himself that authority, it must be rightly given, that is also part of the covenant. Those who assume this authority will find themselves called workers of iniquity and cast out.
Some may try to say that God gives his love and grace unconditionally, denouncing what I have said, especially since it excludes them from a relationship (marriage) with God. The answer to them is this, God’s love is unconditional in that he loves none the less, but the conditions set forth by his covenant is a condition of faith and of salvation. It sets out how we can succeed and that is a loving God who knows what we require. The especial part of this love is his grace, where God sets the conditions and requirements of our faith, but sets them in a manner that we can abide and he does the rest, that is grace. Is it so hard to obey something like this?
Now that you hopefully understand the requirements of faith, remember that what we sow, so shall we reap. Faith is not something to trifle with and redefine to suit personal preferences, it is our responsibility to learn, change and act toward perfecting our faith through God. That is another promise he will fulfill is teach us, guide us, prepare us and lead us rightly, all we need is to do our part. We know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do, and he does the rest. Never assume, but always act with proper and right faith in all things.
Any successful relationship says that each do their part and this means we do our part as God directs and hence our relationship with him is made perfect.
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