I often come upon a belief held by people that seems to be based in a feeling that God is not completely trustworthy. This sounds quite odd but please bear with me. This is especially troubling because I get this impression not from unbelievers but from brothers and sisters in Christ. And this not from casual or careless believers but from people I consider sincere believers. This feeling usually arises when talking about the individual nature of our relationship with the Father. There are two primary ways of seeing the Christian experience – basically individual and basically corporate.

Many people have truly come to know Christ personally as their Savior, but some have come to believe only after having already been sincere, religious ‘church members’ of some independent organized church or denomination. Though having been faithful supporters of some earthly church organization, some had never really experienced the reality and joy of new life in union with Christ.

What actually happened in that moment we received Christ as our personal Savior? Let's now look closer at this new relationship that believers today can enjoy with God via their salvation in Christ and by their union with Christ in their human spirit.

In all of the unsaved world and in most of Christianity the term "God the Father" is a meaningless title.  To the unsaved a personal relationship with the God of the universe is incomprehensible and quite out of the question.  To the born again who are trapped in institutional religion, it is a misunderstood and short-changed expression.  In truth, to many in Christianity a personal relationship with God is as unthinkable as it is to the unsaved.