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What Does the Bible Say About..Sin in God's Presence?

Can you tell me where in the Bible is says God cannot be in the presence of sin? I am not sure if I have read it in the Bible of just assume that it is so. The reason is in Job 1:6 & 2:1 & 2:7 it says Satan was in the presence of God. Satan being sinful it is kinda confusing.

Answer

The Bible does not say that God cannot be in the presence of sin. He himself is holy (1 Peter 1:16). He does not sin. His glory is so great that I suspect it would be difficult, if not impossible, to sin in his presence. But that is my own thought; the Bible doesn’t say that directly.

Even if it were impossible for sin to be in the presence of God, that would not necessarily keep the sinner from being in his presence for a time. People, and even a being like Satan, are not sin. They may do those actions which are sin. There is an old saying, “Hate the sin; love the sinner.” That shows the difference. Satan could be in the presence of God as long as he was not sinning while in that presence.

What the Bible does say is that people who continue in sin do not have fellowship with God. “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But 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 1:6-7) This means that such people would not have forgiveness of sins.

The Bible also says that people who sin will not “inherit the kingdom” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:5), which is the church. It says that sinners will not enter the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:27), which is probably representative of the church but may be heaven. So while Satan may, at one time, have had access to God in spite of his having sinned, now only those that have been forgiven of sin have access to God’s kingdom.

Yours is an excellent question. Thank you for putting such a challenging question to me.