Is God Pleased with You?

So, we can profess faith in Jesus Christ, we can go to church services every week, and we can tithe our income and give to the church. We can serve on committees and be in small groups, and we can sing in the praise band or the choir. We can attend Bible studies and support group meetings, too. And, we can participate in all the special events the church fellowship is having. And, we can go through all sorts of religious rituals, as well, and still not be saved from our sins or have eternal life with God in heaven.

For, what it all comes down to is whether or not God is pleased with us. And, what determines whether or not he is pleased with us? Our faith in him has to be genuine God-given and divinely persuaded faith which results in turning away from lifestyles of sin to walks of obedience to our Lord Jesus (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Gal. 6:7-8; Eph. 4:17-24; Eph. 5:3-6; Tit. 2:11-14; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Jas. 1:21-25).


So, what is this saying to us? It is saying that our conduct matters. And, it is saying that our faith is revealed genuine by what we do, not just by what we say we believe. We must walk (in practice) according to the Spirit of God and NOT according to our flesh if we want to have eternal life with God. We must not make sin our practice, but righteousness should be what we practice, in the power and strength of God’s Spirit living within us.

For, if we make it our practice, our habit, to engage in sexual immorality, and/or if we are idolaters because we give our devotion, obedience and our passion to self-indulgence and self-pleasure, and/or if we continually oppose our Lord by our ungrateful attitudes regarding his sacrifice of his life for us, then we must know that we are going to reap what we sow.

For, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (death). But, if by the Spirit we sow to please the Spirit, then from the Spirit we will reap eternal life with God (Gal. 6:7-8; cf. Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; Eph. 4:17-24; Eph. 5:3-6; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Tit. 2:11-14).


We are not in good standing with God based on some profession of faith in Jesus Christ. We are not in good stead with our Lord based on doing “good deeds,” either. And, we are not acceptable to God via our religious performances, as well. We are only acceptable to God by his grace through genuine God-given faith in Jesus Christ which forsakes our lifestyles of sin to follow our Lord in obedience and in surrender to his will (Eph. 4:17-24).

So, if we think we stand secure with Christ by faith in him, and yet we do not honor him as the holy God that he is, and we do not obey his commands, and we do not forsake our idols and our sinful practices, then what we think is not in agreement with what God says, and we will fall. For, His Word says that if we walk (in practice) according to our flesh, that we will die in our sins, not have eternal life with God (Lu. 9:23-26; Rom. 8:1-17; Gal. 5:16-21; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

Yet, too many professers of faith in Jesus Christ these days think that God’s grace gives them free license to continue in their sinful practices while still guaranteeing them eternal life with God in heaven. But, scriptures teach the opposite of that.

And/or these professers of Christ will make continual excuses for why they can’t get free of their sinful addictions, as though they don’t know the way out. But, our Lord already provided the way out. They just have to take the way he provided, but many of them don’t want to do that. And, so they create all kinds of reasons in their minds for why they are not yet free.

And, it isn’t that they don’t know how to be free. They just don’t want to take the way out Jesus provided for them because they want to remain in their sinful practices (addictions, slavery). So, they are without excuse.


We will never have victory over sinful practices (habits, addiction, slavery) if we refuse to flee from those practices. We have to daily, by the Spirit, be putting the flesh to death. We have to resist Satan, and flee temptation, and draw near to God. We have to daily say “No” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts and live self-controlled, upright and godly lives, by the Spirit of God.

Scripture after scripture in the New Testament instruct us in how to live godly lives and how to be free from our slavery to sin. We just have to follow the instructions God has given to us. And, it isn’t just a matter of forsaking sinful practices, but we need to cut out of our lives all that is leading us into sin, too. And, we have to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands if we want to not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Jn. 8:12; Heb. 12:1-17).

Too many professers of faith in Jesus Christ, although professing with their lips that they believe in Jesus Christ, are partaking in the table of demons. For, they make sin their practice and they resist God instead of resisting Satan. They obey the flesh and sin instead of obeying God. They think they are “free,” but they aren’t free, for they are still living under the control of sin resulting in death. So, they are still enslaved to sin.

So, if we truly want to be free from the control of sin over our lives, and if we truly want to be saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God, then we need to do what God’s Word teaches us we must do. We must believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith which dies with Christ to sin and lives with Christ to righteousness. We must forsake our former lives of living for sin and self, and we must follow our Lord in obedience to his will for our lives (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).

Then, and only then will we have peace with God, and have the assurance of eternal life with God. And, only then will we be free from addiction to sin, too. For, a life that is not surrendered to the Lord Jesus, but that is still living to please the flesh is not a saved life, no matter what one professes with his or her lips.

Seek the Lord

An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy, and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

Aussie Pete said:

God is pleased with Jesus in me. I am accepted in the Beloved. I died and my life is hidden in Christ with God. I have no boast but in Christ my Lord.

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Aussie, please read what the scriptures teach regarding what pleases or what displeases God:

Delight – please, take pleasure in

Ro. 8:8; 2 Co. 5:9; Gal. 6:8; Eph. 5:10; Col. 1:9-11; 1 Thess. 2:4; 1 Thess. 4:1; 2 Tim. 2:4; Heb. 11:6; Heb. 13:6; & 1 Jn. 3:22

Pleasing God

Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. Ro. 8:8

So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 2 Co. 5:9

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Gal. 6:8

Eph. 5: 10: "...and find out what pleases The Lord."

9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience... Col. 1:9-11

On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. 1 Thess. 2:4

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 1 Thess. 4:1

No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. 2 Tim. 2:4

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrew 11:6

And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Hebrew 13:6

...and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. 1 Jn. 3:22

Blade said:

Allot of stuff here thanks. Great work. I disagree on a few things. Sorry.. I can't seem to know how to just talk with out it sounding or reading as if I am just being picky. I read before and after a verse or verses. Context. And I am in right standing with Him. Not once in my life has He ever hinted or been sad about me in any way. Not once has He judged me condemned me about my sin. That part really hurts.

Well MAN treats me 100% different then He does. So when I expect this GOD to do it.. thats why I died is what I get back. I know how my Father sees me. He told me.. Hes the one that taught me about what "righteousness" is and then how do I get it. And what you posted about sin and walking not in sin is 100% right. Well the WORD parts.

I think we forget He already died for the worlds sin. And when He died.. did we? When He rose did we? What does this NEW man in you mean? This is the meat. Your not flesh. Thats not what HE made new. Thats not the new man. This flesh is still in a sinful world and it LOVES to sin. BUT knowing Christ we are free not slaves to sin.

I ask you please. Paul talked about this. How some were still drinking milk. And how some had to be taught all over again. There are those that SHOULD be strong in the LORD! For all they have been taught but are not. They are still weak in the faith. We should not put things out there that could cause them to stumble.

The finished work of Christ. My Father sees me through Him as a already pure holy righteous. To hold on to this.. is so hard. I see more flesh then spirit. Thanks again. I really liked what you said. Just don't agree with some parts.

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Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this subject. Please see post #6 here where I quote scriptures on the subject of pleasing God.

Blade said:

The finished work of Christ. My Father sees me through Him as a already pure holy righteous. To hold on to this.. is so hard. I see more flesh then spirit. Thanks again. I really liked what you said. Just don't agree with some parts.

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Blade, also read carefully through these scriptures, in context, for they give a very accurate picture of how God sees us:

Luke 9:23-25: “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”

John 10:27-30: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.”

2 Co. 5:15: “…and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

Gal. 5:19-21: “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Galatians 6:7-8: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”

Romans 2:6-8: "He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury."

Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Ephesians 4:17-24: “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Eph. 5:3-6: "But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience."

Col. 1:21-23: And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.”

Titus 2:11-14: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

1 Pet. 1:13-16: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’”

1 Pet. 2:24-25: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

Ro. 8:3-14: “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

1 Jn. 1:5-9: “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 Jn. 2:3-6: “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

Jas. 1:19-25: “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”

We are not righteous with God merely on the basis of professed faith in Jesus Christ. We are made righteous in the sight of God on the basis of that faith being lived out in our daily lives. We must forsake our former lives of living to sin and self and we must now walk (in practice, in habit, in lifestyle) according to (in agreement with) the Spirit of God if we want to have eternal life with God (see above verses).