Can you be out of Fellowship with God and still be Saved?
Well, when we look at the Scriptures we have to be very careful to not see something that we would want to see and or that is not there. For there is no verse or set of verses that specifically state that we can be out of fellowship with God and still be saved. On the contrary, the Scriptures strongly suggest otherwise. For God is the source of Salvation, Light, and Life.. Sin causes a separation between us and God; And we can see a connection between having fellowship with the Lord and eternal life within His Word.
Sin is Separation from God:
Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Micah 3:4
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 in an evil way in their deeds.
Ezekiel 39:23-24
And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them
Isaiah 1:15
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Deuteronomy 31:17-18
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.
Proverbs 1:28 CJB and
Proverbs 1:29
Then they will call me, but I won’t answer; they will seek me earnestly, but they won’t find me. For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord
Isaiah 57:17 ESV
Because of the iniquity of his unjust gain I was angry, I struck him; I hid my face and was angry, but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart.
Proverbs 15:29
The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
Deuteronomy 32:19-20 KJ2
And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faith.
John 9:31 ESV
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
Proverbs 28:9
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.
Job 27:8-9 GNV
For what hope hath the hypocrite when he hath heaped up riches, if God take away his soul? Will God hear his cry, when trouble cometh upon him?
Zechariah 7:13 KJ2
Therefore it has come to pass that as He cried and they would not hear, so they cried and I would not hear,” saith the Lord of hosts.
Ezekiel 8:17-18 NLT
Have you seen this, son of man?” he asked. “Is it nothing to the people of Judah that they commit these detestable sins, leading the whole nation into violence, thumbing their noses at me, and provoking my anger? Therefore, I will respond in fury. I will neither pity nor spare them. And though they cry for mercy, I will not listen.
Jeremiah 14:10-12
Thus saith the Lord unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
Isaiah 58:9 HCSB
At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking,
Proverbs 21:13
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
Psalm 66:18
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me
Psalm 34:15-16
The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
If you will notice the last verse in the list above, you will see that the Lord is against them that do evil. Also, if you look at
Jeremiah 14:10-12 within the list, you will also take note that those who wander away God will not accept. In fact, sin being separation from God is not a new concept. For it was Adam and Eve's sin that separated them from God whereby they and all off their offspring (i.e. the entire human race) would need a Savior.
God is Salvation, Light, and Life:
#1.
God is Salvation:
(Isaiah 12:2) (Exodus 15:2) (Psalm 27:1) (Psalm 118:14) (Revelation 7:10) (Jonah 2:9) (Acts 4:12).
How can you have Salvation if you do not have God?
#2.
God is Light:
(1 John 1:5) (James 1:17) (Psalm 27:1) (Psalm 36:9) (1 Timothy 6:16) (Isaiah 60:19) (John 1:4) (John 1:9) (John 8:12) (John 9:5) (John 12:35-36) (Revelation 21:23) (Revelation 22:5).
How can you have Light if you are in darkness without God?
#3.
God is Life:
(John 1:4) (John 5:21) (John 5:26) (John 6:33) (John 6:51) (John 6:57) (John 10:28) (John 11:25) (John 14:6) (John 17:3) (1 John 1:1-2) (1 John 5:11-12) (1 John 5:20) (Acts 3:15) (Romans 5:21) (1 Corinthians 15:45) (Colossians 3:4).
How can you have Spiritual Life if you are without God?
Fellowship with God = Eternal Life:
He That Has the Son Has Life And He That Does Not Have the Son Does Not Have Life:
1 John 5:11-12 says,
"And this is the record, that God hath given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life."
Did you catch that? It says we have eternal life but this life is in the Son. For he (anyone) who has the Son has life. However, anyone who does not have the Son does not have life. The words "eternal life" and "life" here are obviously tied to salvation. How so?
Well, John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."
In other words, those in this world who hear the gospel, or those who seek it might be saved. For whosever believes in him will have everlasting life; For that is the connection in how one might be saved.
Besides, how can you be saved and not have eternal life?
God Alone Has Immortality:
1 Timothy 6:16 says,
"Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom
be honour and power everlasting. Amen."
Christ (God) only has immortality. To be immortal means one has "eternal life." So no one is immortal without Jesus Christ because only He alone possesses immortality or eternal life. There is no verse that says men are naturally immortal; And only those who are saved have everlasting life (John 3:16-17).
A Connection Between Life and Fellowship With God:
John 17:3 says,
"And
this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
Here we see that "life eternal" is connected with knowing the one true God ---> Jesus Christ. Knowing someone implies that you are having fellowship with them.
The Scriptures also say,
"(For the life was manifested, and we have seen
it, and bear witness, and
shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and
truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." (1 John 1:2-3).
"
If we say we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth." (1 John 1:6).
And all liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire (Revelation 21:8).
We also learn in the Scriptures that knowing him is tied to the power of His resurrection, too.
"
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." (Philippians 3:10-11).
All the Seed of Abraham will be Justified "In" the Lord:
In fact, Isaiah 45:25 says, "In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified." For Galatians 3:29 says, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." In other words, if you are a true believer (that is saved), you are of the seed of Abraham and an heir according to the Promise. Yet, Isaiah 45:25 that only all those who are of the seed of Israel shall be justified by being
IN the Lord.
Conclusion:
So can you be out of fellowship with God and still be saved? No. Most definitely not. "You were at one time were far off, but now you are made near by the blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13). For what fellowship has Light with Darkness? What fellowship does righteousness have with unrighteousness? (2 Corinthians 6:14). For we are to have no felllowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but we are to rather reprove them (Ephesians 5:11). For... "if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin (1 John 1:7).
