What happens when we have faith in God?
Feb 1, 2011
The Base for Grace - part twenty-seven in a study of the book of Hebrews
By Mike Gaudet
Faith pleases God.
“And without faith it is impossible to please God . . .” Hebrews 12:6
Because God places a premium on faith, developing faith is priority one.
So . . . what happens when we have faith in God? What does faith look like in operation?
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22
Faith allows us to approach God with confidence.
Prior to Jesus’ coming to earth, only one person was able to “enter the Most Holy Place.” Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the Jewish High Priest walked through the veil into the Most Holy Place. God’s presence was “off limits” to everyone else.
Jesus created a “new and living way” into God’s presence . . . a way that did not exist prior to His coming to earth . . . a way that has been “opened for us.” Because of “the blood of Jesus” we can “have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place.”
“Confidence” is “the freedom to speak freely” with someone. God instructs us to approach Him with confidence. “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” Ephesians 3:12 In fact, the more faith we have in Christ, the freer we are to be open and honest in our dealings with God.
Prior to Jesus, most of those who claimed to represent God depicted Him as being at war with the world. As a result, people felt like that had to “walk on eggshells” when they approached God.
Jesus corrected this misrepresentation. “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” Ephesians 2:17 On behalf of His Father, Jesus “came and preached peace.” He announced that we now “have access to the Father.” It’s safe to “draw near to God with a sincere heart.” God isn’t at war with us.
Why does God invite us to approach Him in the first place?
God calls us into His presence so that “our hearts” might be “sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience.” We tend to think that God wants to add guilt to us. The truth is that He invites us into His presence to take guilt from us.
As our faith in Christ grows we feel less guilty when we talk to God, not more so.
Many of us have been taught that God allows neither sin nor sinners in His presence. As a result we feel the need to “clean up” before we approach Him. The truth is that we are “washed with pure water” in God’s presence. Cleansing happens once we are with God, not before we approach Him.
God invites us to come to Him “as we are.” We don’t have to be careful when we talk to God. We don’t need to use “the right words.”
Faith allows us to say “real things” to God rather than just “right things.”