“Closer Look” is a weekly blog meant to encourage Christians by providing biblical answers to questions we have regarding theology, biblical passages, ethics, and more. The goal is that God would be glorified, the saints edified, and that the world would bear witness to the sufficiency of Scripture!

Is my life pleasing to God?

(Published: November 8, 2024)

Q: “So let’s say you are praying, going to church every time the doors are open and helping the neighbors in the community when you can but you are not sure if you are pleasing your Heavenly Father. How can you tell that what you are doing is pleasing or if he wants you to do more?”

A: I think the answer to this question needs to come in two parts. Here is the short answer: (1) you can never please the Heavenly Father “legally” but only be found pleasing to Him in Christ; and (2) as a believer (one in Christ) you can please the Heavenly Father with your actions and words.  

First, we are born under the curse of sin and our default “legal” position before God is as sinners who are His enemies (Rom. 5:10; Eph. 2:1-3; Colo. 1:21). Consequently, we come into the world unable to please God “legally” or “positionally” speaking. This is really bad news. However, the gospel resolution is extremely encouraging to those who desire to please God. We have to be careful that we do not buy into the idea that we can vindicate ourselves before God’s judgment by what we say or do. As if we approach our day as a day in a jury trial where we are presenting evidence to the Divine judge to persuade Him why He should be pleased with us. In fact, the diagnosis phase of the gospel is that we are all sinners under condemnation and that by our works we cannot argue our case before God and be found “justified”, that is, declared righteous before Him (Rom. 3:19-20 23; Gala. 2:16). So no matter how many considerably “good” deeds we do, no matter how religious we may believe ourselves to be, we cannot earn God’s legal pleasure as our Righteous Judge: “by works of the law no one will be justified” (Gala. 2:16). 

However, here is the really good news. Jesus Christ bore the penalty for our sins so that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). Meaning, here is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, truly God and truly man, who comes and perfectly obeys the Father. And what does the Father say? “[t]his is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (emphasis added). So here is Jesus Christ, whom the Father is well pleased, who goes to the Cross and bears the penalty for our sins so that we could not only be forgiven but also have Christ righteousness attributed to us (i.e., “become the righteousness of God”). Matter of fact, it was God's will to crush the One whom He was well pleased with so that in the One crushed we could be found pleasing in His sight! (Is. 53:10). As a result, by faith in Christ, the Father considers us simultaneously forgiven and righteous (i.e., the doctrine of justification). He is legally pleased with us in Christ! Nothing can change that. Nothing we say or do can add to that legal pleasure because it's the eternal righteousness of the Son of God that defines us! Likewise, nothing we say or do, or fail to say or do, as believers, can erase His good pleasure with us in Christ. 

This double imputation results in God’s permanent pleasure with us in Christ! I think this is an important truth that is the foundation for our daily walk as believers so that we do not lose heart. The Father is legally pleased with us in Christ. He sees Christ righteousness covering us, day in and day out –this is an eternal pleasure with us in Christ!

Without compromising, abandoning, diluting, or mixing the reality that we are righteous in Christ, we also must realize that Scripture also teaches us–those who are in Christ– that our words, actions, and thoughts can both grieve and please God. Both apostles John and Paul talk of sin frustrating our fellowship with God (Eph. 4:29-31; 1 Jhn. 1:6-7). That's important for us to remember, too. However, we will save that point for another post. To the question at hand, the author of Hebrews writes “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” (Heb. 13:16) (emphasis added). Read that verse one more time and let it soak in. In other words, the author is saying that our obedience to Christ exhibited in learning and applying the Word of God is an expression of worship that God finds pleasing. Because we are born again by the Spirit of God we can please God in our bodies by trusting and walking with the Holy Spirit in our daily activity (Eph. 2:10; Gal. 5:16-25). He sanctifies our works so that they are pleasing worship.  

So let’s give gospel shape to the initial question like this: Am I allowing God to grip me with His good pleasure with me in Christ? As one found in Christ, is my daily activity lining up with the Word of God; am I trusting in the Holy Spirit to develop this obedience in me; and then am I trusting in His strength, gripping His Word, and walking in both in this “step” or this “profession” or this “schedule” or this “relationship.” If these are our directives then we give the LORD the helm of our lives. The result? Though not without the need of redirection and correction in grace at times, we find a life guided by grace, that is pleasing worship to the LORD.