The most powerful declaration of faith to be found in Scripture and when the Christian disciple responds to the question, he or she should emphasize that the key word in Paul's passage is 'separate' - the separation of the human from his or her Creator. That is the killer word. And by 'killer' I mean we are all as good as spiritually dead every moment we are separated by thought or deed from God, our Father.

I will now tell you something that very likely will shock a good many readers, and it is this:
You cannot save your soul. That is impossible. You don't own your soul; for it is God's exclusive property. You came from God's essence, and when you mortally die, He takes back what is His own and does with it as He wills. Let me hammer home this single, ultimate, important point to all Christians:
The reason you become a Christian ... the reason you accept Jesus Christ as your savior ... is because you want to enter into a direct, intimate spiritual relationship with God the Father. We all were separated from God by the sin of Adam and it took the sacrifice of the Second Adam, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ to remove the yawning sin-created chasm of separation between God and us, so we all could have our special relationship with our Creator Father.

You do not accept Jesus as your savior solely for the purpose of saving your soul so you can enter Heaven when you die.
Becoming a Christian is not a 'Get out of Jail Free Card'. Accepting Christ as your savior is not the same as taking out a spiritual insurance policy that guarantees you passage to God's heavenly retirement community. In your mind be very clear about what I have just stated. A true Christian becomes a Christian in order to be in the intimate company of God for the remainder of the Christian's mortal life and in the hereafter. A Christian disciple's motive for accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord is not centered on the salvation of their soul, but instead, finding salvation in being of service to their Lord and to their fellow man.

"Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.' Jesus said to him, 'Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

" 'How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.

" 'Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it." - John 14: 8 - 14

The original twelve disciples were face-to-face with God, and yet... somehow they failed to grasp this. Was it a lack of education? Possibly, but I doubt that, because even the learned of Israel, the Pharisees, did not comprehend the man Jesus or the message he delivered, save Nicodemus and only after the message was explained to him by Jesus. Even if the 'message' was not understood by some, Jesus added the safety net: "'...then believe me because of the works themselves.'"

The twelve disciples had the lovely privilege of personally, physically, knowing the incarnate God, Jesus Christ. Candidly, I wish I was one of the original twelve. I would love to have seen Jesus work the crowds, take on all-comers who desired his insight, or wanted to outright argue with him; and to listen as he delivered the parables and Beatitudes. I'm willing to wager there's never been an evangelist created who would be in the same league as Jesus preaching to the people - but, I digress....

In an attempt to convey the closeness of God the Father within each of us who believe, Jesus manifested but a sampling of the powers of the Father. The miracles, the words, the lessons, his personal conduct... his sacrifice... and the power behind the Resurrection - all of this took place to show humankind that there does, indeed, exist a power within each who will accept that it comes directly from God. Jesus told the Twelve that it is so. The Christian disciple is way beyond the point of ever doubting Christ. We accept what he says as fact, thanks to the force that dwelt within Jesus now dwells within us believers. We are that close to our Father. He is that close to us. This closeness is the ultimate awareness of the Father within. That is why we become Christians. That is why we have so much love, agape, for His Son.

Interestingly, the ancient Hindus in one of their holy writings had a pertinent observation:

If the body lasted till the end of time,
Or vanished today,
What would you win or lose?
You are pure awareness.
Ashtavkra Gita 15:11

Which is mirrored by Jesus in John 6: 5:0 - 53:

"When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?' But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, 'Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

"It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.' "

Pure awareness of the spiritual relationship with God is where we as Christians want to be. The Twelve never did reach that level of intimacy until the advent of Christ's death, resurrection, and the following gift of the Holy Spirit. The Twelve were breaking new spiritual ground and can be forgiven for their lack of comprehension and, in some instances, lack of faith. But today, we have no excuse. We've more than enough bibles, theology books, all sorts of churches, television evangelicals, great Christian thinkers the likes of Luther, Calvin, Augustine, and Bonhoeffer, and even the Internet, all providing the Word of God to us to read, listen to, and think about. No excuse whatsoever warrants merit for not drawing close to the Father - except for the one excuse, and that one is called 'doubt'. For some, what they cannot see they cannot believe in. Silly, infantile thinking that it is,  nevertheless such cognitive immaturity is widely prevalent.

Of course, pain cannot be seen, but we all know it's quite real. Air and electricity cannot be seen, but they too, are very real. Fear cannot be seen, but we know it to be real. As is anger, sexual desire, greed, cravings, lust, murderous thoughts, etc., all real, but cannot be seen. When God our Father dwells within the believer, we cannot see Him; but we certainly do feel Him. We know that He is so close that He is us and we, especially us Christian disciples, will do what it takes to represent to the world the fact that God does, in fact, dwell within us. The only way to show to the world we are at one with the Father is for us to emulate Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master. We do as our teacher taught us. We reflect the physical face and actions of God.

" 'Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me
because of the works themselves.' "
This statement of Jesus amazed me the moment I first read it in what seems eons ago. I do not know, from my research, of a god from any other culture or belief system, who would be so understanding and forgiving of the stupid. If you can't comprehend the essence, at least appreciate the acts. Go back and re-read the full passage and come away with the realization of the ultimate tolerance that God has for his children even if they are full of doubts and are so unenlightened in their ability to realize that their Creator is within the Christ. The Twelve were just as slow to learn.

Jesus Christ, during his three-plus years' earthly ministry, continually had to explain, re-explain, and then confirm whether or not his disciples understood what he was saying and teaching:

" 'Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

"Have you understood all this?'  They answered, 'Yes'. "

- Matthew 13: 47 - 51-

Even though Jesus, God in the flesh of man, stood intimately close to the Twelve, here explaining to them the Kingdom of Heaven, the reasons he came, and their expected performance of duties among the believers with the advent of the Kingdom of God, still... he knew they would not fully understand. Fortunately for not only the Twelve, but for all of us, came this
from Jesus:

"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." - John 14: 15 - 17

Believe me when I tell you this: Once the Holy Spirit of God enters a person, they will definitely know it. Miraculously, there will come understanding. There is no mistaking when God comes with his Spirit and takes up residence within the believer. That is the objective of Christianity: To aspire to the unique closeness with our Father. That is the redeeming message of Jesus which we, as disciples of his, are commissioned to spread throughout the world.