Why is it that many people do not have a personal relationship with God?

Our sin keeps us from having a personal relationship with God.

  What Is Sin:
"Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins" (James 4:17).

• You see, God is holy and perfect . . . and we are not. Sin not only means doing wrong or failing to do all that God wants. Sin is also our attitude of ignoring or rejecting God. Because God is holy, He cannot accept our sin.

Who Has Sinned:
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

 What Happens When We Sin:
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).

• Sin causes a gap between God and us. Death, which in these verses means eternal separation from God, is the penalty for our sin.
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