How To Please God
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Faith That Pleases God
Faith That Pleases God
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who draws near to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Faith is fundamentally about trust in God’s existence and character, not merely performing religious duties. Those who desire to draw near to God must have a deep-rooted belief that He is real—a conviction that goes beyond intellectual knowledge to a wholehearted devotion. This includes trusting in God’s character as a “good, loving, generous, gracious, and merciful Father”.
While people in various religions attempt to please God through different means—such as Hindu suffering, Muslim religious practices, Jewish law-keeping, or ancestral sacrifices—God is not ultimately pleased by human-created paths. Instead, it is “impossible to please God any other way but by faith,” which is the avenue through which we come to God and trust Him for salvation. Remarkably, God even provides the faith required to please Him—it is a gift13. This faith is not “a blind grasping in the dark” but an “absolute conviction” that provides “evidence or proof” of spiritual realities we cannot see with natural eyes1. As one powerful illustration suggests, “Faith is acting like it is so, even when it’s not so, in order that it might be so, just because God said so.”
Faith is fundamentally a divine gift that originates from God Himself. It is the avenue God uses to bring salvation, given through His grace and mercy, as a gift1. Specifically, God causes faith through His free grace, which is the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
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 by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Yet, while faith must include an intellectual element, i.e., the reception of the words and works fulfilled in Christ, recorded in Holy Scripture, and proclaimed in genuine preaching, a mere assent to the body of facts and truths herein contained is very much less than faith. For, in the first place, even to understand the facts and truths in their real significance an illumination is required that goes beyond ordinary comprehension (
for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full assurance; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
Hence faith in the true sense is not a human possibility; it is the gift of God. While it may be true that the reference of
The primary means by which God gives faith is through hearing the message about Christ. Faith can be received while hearing a sermon, reading the Bible, or whenever the true gospel of Jesus is communicated1. Importantly, faith is more than just intellectual assent to facts. It requires a spiritual illumination by the Holy Spirit that goes beyond ordinary comprehension, revealing not just truths, but the true nature of God and humanity3. This is why faith is so powerful and confident—it is a trust in God that is actually evoked by God Himself, an operation that claims, directs, and energizes the whole person3. Critically, one should never put “faith in faith” itself, but instead place faith in Almighty God
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
