Where does the Bible say that a Personal Relationship with Jesus is possible?

Question

I have never read that the Bible talks about a personal relationship with Jesus. Can you tell me where that is, in the Bible?

I don't think you can because I believe the "Personal Relationship with Jesus," stuff is another mutation in Christianity (like the Word of Faith Movement) that perverts Christianity and takes it away from its truest form.

Rev AE: I have studied those passages and they say nothing about a personal RELATIONSHIP. They say how you are known by God - not how you claim Jesus as your best friend. You can do better than that.

CJ: Huh?

Do you have a pastor at your church? you are WOEFULLY uninformed about the Roman Catholic faith. you are actually spreading lies about it.

Dadof4: No - John 14 doesn't say it is okay to say Jesus is your best friend, does it?

WHERE does the Bible say that YOU are permitted to have a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus?

donaldcassidy: you cannot be serious. that verse does NOT say that there is a personal relationship with ANYTHING.

Answer 1

Having a personal relationship with Jesus begins the moment we realize our need for Him, admit we are sinners, repent from our sin, and ask Him into our hearts to be the authority in our lives. God, our heavenly Father, has always desired to be close to us, having a relationship with us. Before Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden (Genesis chapter 3), both he and Eve knew God on an intimate, personal level. Due to the sin of man, we became separated from Him. He is perfect, and can not live among sin.

Answer 2

Okay, first of all, Catholicism is the ORIGINAL Christianity. Baptists might tell you otherwise, but the Catholic church has been there LONG before the Protestants came around. So, that being said, Catholicism, like Christianity, focuses on the whole Trinity, Jesus for salvation belief system. No different, except for what Protestants call "more elaborate rituals" and the like, including sacrements, communion, but other than that its really no different as it has the core teachings of Christ involved. Do Catholics use a different bible? Well they (tend to) use the Douay-Rheims, or all 76 books of the canon bible, so yes they do use writings and scriptures that Protestants have left out and deemed non-canon. And no, Priests are only there as clergy, no one worships the Pope or thinks Priests are everything. They believe in free will and personal spiritual relations with God. This is coming from someone who was raised Catholic and have family members who are devout Catholics. They'll tell you the same thing (but probably go into more detail since they still practice the faith).

Answer 3

Actually...

If you are looking the actual words "personal" and "relationship", of course you will not find them. Along with many other words... Like... Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, Youtube, Microsoft, Computer...

But if you are a Christian, who the Holy Spirit is interpreting the Bible to when read, then you would have found at least 2 verses that come crashing down like a hurricane...

Three of the four Gospels show the removal of a seperation between God and man upon Jesus' death, with the tearing of the curtain that seperates the Holy of Holies" from mankind.

Matthew 27:51 "And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split."

Mark 15:38 "And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom."

Luke 23:45 "while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two."

Someone who has not just "read" the Bible, but has "studied" the Bible, as well as "Systematic Theology" will be the first to tell you that the renting of the veil is the symbol that man has been reconciled to God, and can now approach Him personally, instead of using a "mediator" such as a human High Priest. Jesus' death on the cross makes Him the perfect High Priest as well as King. An example being that of the order of Melchizedek. Jesus has atoned for the sins of man, and now that He has done so, HE becomes the mediator between God and the now reconciled mankind.

When you pray....

You say....

Dear heavenly Father... (You address Him directly.)

When you conclude...

You say...

In Jesus name I pray, Amen. (The 100% God / 100% man who serves as the High Priest/Intercessor)

The next verse is a rather simple one, and easily understood in the light of study of both the Bible and Theology...

Mat 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Here we see a direct command given from God to all of mankind. God is speaking face to face with the Apostles, and speaks face to face with you when you read this in His Holy Word. This face to face interaction denotes a personal relationship, not a third hand account where God has spoken to an intercessor, and the message is passed on to you in a third party manner.

Grab any red letter Bible, and every time you see the red letters, it is God speaking directly to a human being, it is a personal relationship where an Omnipotent, Omnipresent, & Omniscient Deity is conversing face to face with a human or human beings.

I could sit here and type hundreds of verses that explain, but it would be alot easier to suggest that you start your journey of learning about God by reading a rather thick but needed book, if you are to avoid questions like... "Well that word is not in the Bible, so it must not be true."

Try "Systematic Theology" by Wayne Grudem.

It is 1290 pages, but it is a good start on learning about the Doctrines of Christianity. If you are really bold, you can jump into the magnum opus of the "Big Green 3" by Charles Hodge, but certainly not reccomended for the beginner, as it is strictly Seminary level reading. (Trust me, I own it, it is a back breaker, it is the standard at the SBC Golden Gate Seminary.) If your not up for Grudem, you could try Millard J. Erickson's "Christian Theology", but Grudem does a better job in the long haul....

Answer 4

Study John 14.

Answer 5

John 1?

Answer 6

We have a personal relationship with Christ who is truly personal and truly in love with us as persons. This relationship is not merely a private relationship but one that is corporate also as members of the Church through which we meet Christ since Bible, Tradition and Church go together.

Answer 7

The Bible says God’s people will know him and it shows this relationship in the lives of real people. First, some scriptures that say we can know God for ourselves:

I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me (John 10:14)

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)

That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:10)

For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6)

O taste and see that the LORD is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8)

The Bible also frequently describes this relationship as people experience it. Many people overwhelmed by the sense of God’s manifest presence are said to have had ecstatic experiences. On two occasions (1 Sam. 10:5-12 and 1 Sam 19:23&24) Saul was overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit who caused him to break forth into ecstatic prophecy. Old Testament prophets such as Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah were given transcendent experiences as they lost touch with their physical environment during the communication of prophetic visions.There are instances of ecstasy in the New Testament as well. In Acts 10:10 Peter is said to fall “into a trance [Gk. Ekstasis]” (NIV) as he received a vision. Paul likewise tells of falling into an ekstasis in Acts22:17 and he describes an ecstatic experience in 2 Corinthians 12:1&2, saying that as he was translated into “the third heaven” he did not know “whether it was in the body or out of the body” (NIV). John also witnesses to having ecstatic experiences “in the Spirit” as the Revelation is given to him (Rev. 1:10, 4:2, 17:3). In Acts, Luke calls ecstasy in its milder sense being “filled with the Spirit” (Acts 4:8; 31:9, 17; 13:9).
There are also a large number of times when people in Scripture have had conversations with God. This too is evidence of a personal relationship. Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, to name just a very few, all heard the voice of God. In the New Testament the entire book of Acts is brimming with a dynamic relationship between the believers and their Lord. One can find evidence of this in nearly every chapter. The Holy Spirit speaks directly to Philip in Acts 8:29, Peter in Acts 10:19, and Paul in Acts 23:11. There are many other instances of spiritual gifts, divine guidance, miracles, angelic visitations, etc. all indicative of a dynamic relationship. The Bible teaches this personal relationship and I can personally testify to it as well.

Answer 8

I am the good shepherd. I know My own sheep, and they know Me. John 10:14

Knowing Him: To me that means He is a friend, a confidant, a guide. "Personal relationship" may not be an expression found in the Bible but I think it is implied.

Answer 9

Well I thought that was a very good question (star material).
And I have yet to read an answer. So I will put it in my favorites and come back to see if we can get a direct response.
I am curious because my ex was always harping about reading the bible and having a personal relationship.

Answer 10

Many believe the Church in Laodicea, from Revelations chapter three, represents the church at the end times, meaning now.

The solution given by Jesus to that church is what?

20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. 21To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Jesus wants to come into your life and eat with you and have fellowship with you and share his throne with you.

If that's not called a personal relationship, what would you call it.

Pastor Art

PS: The first 3 answers I already read were also excellent.