One Way to Please God

There is only one way that you can ever please God. That's by faith. When you have faith in God and His Son, be assured that God is working in you what is well-pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, "the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2). "But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6).

You please God, because He is the one who gives you faith. It is by the grace of God that you are enabled to live by faith. "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God"(Ephesians 2:8). It's all of grace as the gift of God.

When you please God, faith abides in you as a gift from the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13). The gift of faith is from God the Father, through the work of the Holy Spirit in your heart. It is anchored to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and was raised from the dead. The Spirit of grace enables you to believe the gospel of Christ.

The gift of faith is not just mental assent nor human effort. It is a result of the Holy Spirit bringing you to a point of confidence, assurance, and trust in the living Christ. It's faith that the world didn't give you, and the world can't take it away. Faith pleases God, the very gift of faith that He works in you. "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). When you please God, it's because God is working in you.

How God Works In You

"For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). The Holy Spirit works in us according to God's pleasure. If God's Spirit is working in you, then you have the abiding gifts of faith, hope and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). That is Christ in you according to God's good pleasure. 

God works in you through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Holy Spirit changes your heart. That's called regeneration or new birth. He gives you a renewed will with a desire to do God's will. That's God's good pleasure working in you.

God works in your heart. That is your mind, will, and emotions. He is doing more in you than you can understand. He is always doing more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). God works in your heart to bring glory to His name. The Holy Spirit gives you the ability to do God's good pleasure. That includes your ministry gift and power to witness for Christ (Acts 1:8; 1 Peter 4:10-11).

As a believer, you may rest in the assurance that the Holy Spirit will never leave nor forsake you (John 14:16-17; Hebrews 13:5). Believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit until the day of redemption, at the coming of Christ (Ephesians 1:13, 4:30). It was God's pleasure to begin a good work in you. God will complete that work in the day of Christ (Philippians 1:6; 2:13).

If God Chose You

If God chose you, it's in Christ alone. He foreknew you as justified and glorified in Christ. God foreknew your salvation as done. In Romans 8:28-30, God's purpose in salvation is a prolepsis (i.e., to see before). God foreknew all who shall be in Christ (1 Peter 1:2).

If God chose you, it's through the gospel of Christ. That includes everyone who repents and believes the gospel (Luke 13:3, 5; Acts 16:31). Only those who repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ will be saved. As believers, we experience the gospel in power with assurance. That was the Holy Spirit working in our hearts (Romans 1:16; 1 Thessalonians 1:5).

If God chose you, it's unto faith in Christ. You are justified through the death of Jesus Christ for your sins. Justification is by faith in the power of his resurrection. Justification means all your sins are taken away through the blood of Jesus (1 John 1:7). The righteousness of Christ is accounted to you (2 Corinthians 5:21). God declares you justified by faith in Christ. "It is God who justifies" (Romans 8:33).

If God chose you, it's to be glorified into the image or likeness of Christ. Glorification is salvation complete. "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). What is future for you as a believer in Christ is now in the foreknowledge of God. Therefore, God foreknew you as glorified in the very image and likeness of our Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 8:28-30).

God's Love for You

Our relationship with God may simply be described by this one word, love. That's the key word for us as believers in Christ. Love is so important, because it tells us who God is. "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Your life is about love, when you know God's love for you. 

God's love for you is in the Bible. It has been called God's love letter to us. God's love for us is made clear through the words of your Bible. God who created the world, loves the world (John 3:16). That includes every nation and ethnic group. The narrative of the Bible reveals how God loves you.

God's love for you through Christ, the only begotten Son of God. That love was proven at the cross of Jesus. God so loved the world in Christ crucified for our sins (Romans 5:8). Greater love than this cannot be found. God's love is proven at the cross of Jesus. That's how God loves you.

God's love for you is through the Holy Spirit. His love is made real to your heart, as you believe the gospel of Christ (Romans 5:5). The experience of God's love comes into our life through the Spirit of the living God. He fills you with God's love. When the Holy Spirit fills you, God loves others through you (Ephesians 3:10; 5:18). God's love is for you, and God loves through you.

If You Trust God

If you trust God, you are not leaning on your own understanding. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding"(Proverbs 3:5). We cannot understand all the ways of God. Trusting God is confidently believing in His ability to help us and direct us.

If you trust God, you can testify, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust" (Psalm 91:2). No one can force you to trust God. On the other hand, no one can stop you from trusting God. If your heart is changed by the grace of God, you can trust in the LORD.

All relationships are built upon trust. Our relationship with God is trusting Him. God is trustworthy. As a son who will trust his father, so God invites you to trust Him as your Father in heaven. If an earthly father can be trustworthy, our Father in heaven is so very much more. Trust God as your Father in heaven.

If you trust God, you are standing firm upon His word. The Bible gives us the written promises of God. We can trust the promises of God, because He is the Promise-Keeper. His word of promise is our sure foundation. We trust God through every situation of life. If you trust God, then you have absolute confidence in His word of promise. 

Your Daily Cleansing

Our Lord Jesus not only cleansed us at the point of conversion, but he graciously continues to cleanse us as we confess our sins (1 John 1:7, 9). Scripture warns us not to claim that we are sinless. If we do, then we only deceive ourselves (1 John 1:8, 10). John Owen wisely saw "the believer's need for daily cleansing." 

There are no perfect Christians here below. Our temptations continue. Our battle with the flesh is reality (Galatians 5:17). Our sanctification is not perfect nor complete in this life. Our growth in holiness continues, but we do sin from time to time. Free from the bondage to sin, we are not yet free from the temptation to sin.

John Owen (1616-1683) a Puritan theologian saw the believer's need for daily cleansing. He wrote, "Go daily to Jesus for cleansing. Hence also is manifest the necessity we have of continual applications to Jesus Christ for cleansing virtue from his Spirit and the sprinkling of his blood on our consciences to purge them from dead works."

Owen recognized the need for daily cleansing from our sins as believers. Not only did he recognize the need, but more importantly, he recognized that cleansing is open daily for all believers. Our conscience witnesses to our need. The blood of Jesus avails to daily cleanse you from all sin.