I empathize with your position, having pondered the same thoughts in my 20's. The truth that kept me grounded to the gospel, though, was that the basis for my doubt was the exact same lie that Satan told Eve... "You shall not surely die." When the reality is that sin brings death.

Here is a simple analogy of why sin keeps us from God's presence...

When dishes are dirty, we don't put them in the cupboard with the clean dishes. God is holy. We are not. When covered in sin, we can be with him.

Imagine a plate full of grease. The grease represents sin.

Imagine us trying to clean off the grease by running water over it. The water represents our best works and deeds. Water can not remove grease because they do not mix.

Now imagine using soap to remove the grease. (Soap is part oil and part water, so it is able to bond with the grease and lift it off the dish.) The soap represents Jesus, exemplifying how Jesus is both God and man. Only he can lift away our sin. Without him, our sin stays, just like without soap, the grease stays on the plate.

How can we put a dirty, greasy plate into the cupboard full of clean dishes?

All we have to do is ask Jesus to be our Savior, willingly choosing to turn from sin, applying the soap to our greasy plates. It is a gift of grace.

This analogy is over simplified, of course, but it shows you the reality of how our sin keeps us from God's presence. Without believing we need Jesus, we would never care about sharing this gift with others. What a good way for Satan to win. Satan's success relies on us believing his main lie that "You shall not surely die", or his second main lie that good works are enough.

The lie Satan told Eve was, "You shall not surely die." But, reality is that sin brings death.

Simple analogy of why sin keeps us from God's presence...

When dishes are dirty, we don't put them in the cupboard with the clean dishes. God is holy. We are not. When covered in sin, we can be with him.

Imagine a plate full of grease. The grease represents sin.

Imagine us trying to clean off the grease by running water over it. The water represents our best works and deeds. Water can not remove grease because they do not mix.

Now imagine using soap to remove the grease. (Soap is part oil and part water, so it is able to bond with the grease and lift it off the dish.) The soap represents Jesus, exemplifying how Jesus is both God and man. Only he can lift away our sin. Without him, our sin stays, just like without soap, the grease stays on the plate.

How can we put a dirty, greasy plate into the cupboard full of clean dishes?

All we have to do is ask Jesus to be our Savior, willingly choosing to turn from sin, applying the soap to our greasy plates. It is a gift of grace.

This analogy is over simplified, of course, but it shows you the reality of how our sin keeps us from God's presence. Without believing we need Jesus, we would never care about sharing this gift with others. What a good way for Satan to win. Satan's success relies on us believing his main lie that "You shall not surely die", or his second main lie that good works are enough.

The lie Satan told Eve was, "You shall not surely die." Reality is that sin brings death.

Simple analogy of why sin keeps us from God's presence...

When dishes are dirty, we don't put them in the cupboard with the clean dishes. God is holy. We are not.

Imagine a plate full of grease. The grease represents sin.

Imagine us trying to clean off the grease by running water over it. The water represents our best works and deeds. Water can not remove grease because they do not mix.

Now imagine using soap to remove the grease. The soap represents Jesus because soap is part oil and part water, exemplifying how Jesus is both God and man. Jesus can lift away our sin. Without him, our sin stays, just like without soap, the grease stays on the plate.

How can we put a dirty, greasy plate into the cupboard full of clean dishes?

All we have to do is ask Jesus to be our Savior, willingly choosing to turn from sin, applying the soap to our greasy plates. It is a gift of grace.

Over simplified, of course, but it shows you the reality of our sin keeping us from God's presence. Without believing we need Jesus, we would never care about sharing this gift with others. What a good way for Satan to win. Satan's success relies on us believing his main lie that "You shall not surely die", or his second main lie that good works are enough.