Where We Find Our Confidence Before God
Where do we find our confidence before God? How can we ever feel adequate in His presence? How can we be sure that we are “enough” for Him? Unspoken questions plague many believers. While we may seek answers in our disciplines like Bible reading and prayer, the truth is that any sense of being “enough,” and any ability to do anything spiritually valuable come from a deeper source outside us—God’s grace and power working within us.
Any sense of being “enough,” and any ability to do anything spiritually valuable come from a deeper source outside us—God’s grace and power working within us.
Paul says, “Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God…” (2 Corinthians 3:4-5a).
God wants us to be confident in our relationship with Him. This confidence stems from God’s acceptance and grace, not our ability to be the perfect Christian or parent of the year.
As a well-loved child feels loved and accepted by adoring parents, we are granted the same confidence with God through His Son. Rather than our merits or abilities, our confidence with God is in His grace, the finished work of Jesus Christ and His imputed righteousness to the believer.
Rather than our merits or abilities, our confidence before God is in His grace, the finished work of Jesus Christ and His imputed righteousness to the believer.
Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Our confidence before God is found in Jesus Christ alone.
The humiliating yet liberating truth is we are not adequate, competent, or sufficient in ourselves. This applies to our standing before God and our ability to do anything of eternal value. Our adequacy comes from God alone. As Paul tells us,
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Jesus Himself declared in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” of true spiritual value. Our adequacy to do anything is found in Christ, who works through us and enables us to bear fruit for His glory.
It’s natural to want to take control of our spiritual growth, thinking, “I’m going to get closer to God and grow every day by praying more and reading my Bible.” But our growth ultimately comes from God (1 Corinthians 3:6-7). And He often uses circumstances beyond our control—things we may try to avoid and think are detrimental like sin, crises, and suffering—to shape and grow us.
True transformation—whether in yourself or others—comes not from your effort but from God’s power.
Whether you want to mature in Christ and feel closer to God, help a friend, be a great parent, change something about your spouse, even change something about yourself, or share your faith and lead your coworkers to Christ, you have less control than you think. But that’s good news! True transformation—whether in yourself or others—comes not from your effort but from God’s power. So, instead of striving to assert your will and be your best, trust Jesus, depend on His Spirit, and let Him work through you.
Psalm 37:5 Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it. 6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday.
For your own sake, release your grip on self-reliance and lean into Christ’s sufficiency.