How to Please God

"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). Our relationship with God is based upon faith. Without faith we can never please God. Therefore, we need to understand the faith that pleases God.

Faith is the way to please God. Faith is a gift of God's grace, an abiding gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 13:13). The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us faith in God. That's a gift which abides and endures (1 Corinthians 13:13). It comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17).

Faith is the bond of trust in our relationship with God. All good personal relationships are built upon trust. To know God in a meaningful relationship is to trust God through Jesus Christ (John 14:1; Ephesians 1:13). In the Greek New Testament, the word pisteuo means to believe or trust. The Bible describes God as trustworthy. Those who trust in God and His Son Jesus Christ are not disappointed (Romans 10:9-11).

Faith is confidence in God. That means God is working in us to please Himself. "For it is God who works in you both to will and do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13). God works in our hearts to trust Him and believe on His Son. Faith is "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus Is the Only Way

Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6). Believers in our Lord Jesus Christ come to God. The Bible was not written simply to give us academic information about God. It was written to tell us how to come to God for our personal salvation. Jesus is the only way to God.

Jesus is the way we come to God our Father (John 4:24). Jesus is the truth. The Holy Spirit bears witness to the truth of Jesus in our spirit (Romans 8:16). The gospel of Jesus Christ is God's way to salvation from the condemnation and judgment of our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). Only Jesus died for our sins. Only Jesus was raised from the dead to be our Savior and living Lord (Romans 10:9).

Through Jesus Christ, believers come to God to be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Acts 16:31). Come to God through faith in Christ. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Jesus is the only sure way to God. We personally come to God believing the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sin separates us from God. Jesus died to take all our sins away (1 John 1:7).

Jesus is the only way believers come to God our Father in prayer. Pray in the name of Jesus (John 14:13). That's because Jesus is the only Mediator between God and man. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). Pray to God our Father in the name of Jesus.

How God Accepts You

God accepts you in His only begotten Son (John 3:16). Our sin is always unacceptable to God. He sent his Son into this world to take away your sins. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). At the cross, Jesus died for your sins. You are accepted by faith in God's beloved Son. "He made us accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).

God accepts you through the righteousness of Christ. God takes away our sins and accounts us righteous in Christ alone (2 Corinthians 5:21). Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, you receive the righteousness of God. That's why you can sing, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness."

God accepts you in Christ, though you are not perfect, and never will be in this life. We have all failed God in many different ways. The Bible calls it sin. We can never earn our way into God's favor. His unmerited favor is called grace, and it's always a gift received by faith in Christ. Then you may testify, "by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10).

God accepts you with love divine. His love for us is personal. God's love for you is reality seen at the cross of Jesus (Romans 5:8). He died for your sins. His sacrifice takes away all your sins (1 John 1:7). His resurrection gives believers life abundant and everlasting. God accepts you by faith in Christ (Romans 5:1). God's love for you is forever (Romans 8:38-39). 

The Holy Spirit In You

The Bible teaches that God is everywhere. He is omnipresent. However, God's will is to indwell believers. He makes His home in our hearts. Believers in Jesus Christ become the house of God. We are God's temple. The Holy Spirit indwells you. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God (1 Corinthians 6:19).

The Holy Spirit is in all who truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit indwells us to do God's will. He changes our hearts. He gives us new desires. God works in us according to His good pleasure. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). God is pleased with us, because the Holy Spirit is working in us.

The Holy Spirit is in our hearts. That is your mind, will, and emotions. He is doing more in us than we can understand. He is always doing more than we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). The Lord will use our lives to bring glory to His name. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to do God's will.

Thank God today that the Holy Spirit is in you. Rest in the assurance that He will never leave you nor forsake you. Rely on God's ability to do more through you. Give God all the glory for what He does in you and through you. The Holy Spirit is in each and every believer.

What's to God's Glory?

All things are to God's glory. For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen (Romans 11:36). It is God's will for us to bring glory to him in all things. Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). 

Creation is to God's glory. We were created to the praise of God's glory through Christ. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created (Revelation 4:11). We were created to bring glory to God. The Bible defines sin as falling short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).

Salvation is to God's glory. We who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:12). As a believer, God is working in you and through you to the praise of his glory through Christ, "working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, forever and ever. Amen" (Hebrews 13:21).

Prayer is to God's glory. We pray to God our Father, For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen (Matthew 6:13). Prayer should always be centered upon God's glory in all things. God's kingdom and power work to the praise of his glory. We should pray to the glory of God in all things.

Spiritual Growth

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who are born again desire the "sincere milk" of God's word (1 Peter 2:2). This comes through Bible study and teaching. We are enabled by the Holy Spirit to understand more and more of God's truth in Christ. That's how your faith in Christ grows.

In the New Testament, salvation includes regeneration and sanctification. "He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 1:6). Through regeneration believers have been born again in Christ. Sanctification is growing as believers in Christ.

Immediately upon regeneration, sanctification sets us apart in Christ (1 Peter 1:2). Regeneration is an immediate act by the Holy Spirit within our hearts, whereas sanctification is an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit within us. Simply stated, regeneration is your new birth in Christ, whereas sanctification is your growth in Christ.

The Holy Spirit will guide us to grow in truth found in the Bible (John 16:13). It is necessary for us to yield to the Spirit, otherwise we become carnal Christians (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Our choice is between the Spirit and the flesh. It is an ongoing battle in every believer's life (Galatians 5:16-17). Yielding to the flesh hinders your growth in Christ.

What's Preceding Grace?

Because of our sinful nature, God opens our hearts to respond to the gospel of Christ. God's preceding grace enables us to respond freely to the gospel. In conversion, we respond to the gospel through repentance, turning to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul (Acts 16:14). These words speak of Lydia, a woman who worshiped God but had not yet heard the gospel to believe in Christ. God's preceding grace opened her heart to hear and respond to the gospel. The word "heart" describes your mind, will, and emotions. It is a term for your inward person.

God's grace initiates our conversion. God opens our hearts to hear the gospel and to receive Christ (John 1:12-13). It may be identified with the convicting work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11). It is the gospel call for us to trust the Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:13). God's preceding grace opens our hearts to convince us about the truth of the gospel.

Our hearts are opened to hear and understand the gospel. God's preceding grace enables us to respond freely to the call of Christ. God works concurrently with our choice. Our hearts are open to believe the gospel and receive Christ (John 1:12). Therefore, we give God all the glory!