GOD’S PLEASURE IN US BASED ON CHRIST
Orientation
Many believers struggle with the false assumption that God's pleasure depends on their usefulness, good works, or performance.
- This mindset leads to constant striving, fear of failure, and a lack of peace.
- It turns service into a burden to earn favor rather than a response to grace.
- It obscures the Father's heart of unconditional acceptance revealed in Christ.
And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
— Luke 15:20
Clarification
God's pleasure is based solely on our acceptance in Christ, a finished position, not on our fluctuating efforts or usefulness.
- Acceptance is 'in the beloved,' a gift of grace, not a wage for labor (Ephesians 1:6).
- Christ's blood purges the conscience from 'dead works'—futile attempts to earn favor—freeing us to serve the living God (Hebrews 9:14).
- Like the 11th-hour laborer, inclusion and reward are by God's gracious choice, not earned merit (Matthew 20:1-16).
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
— Ephesians 1:6
Structure
Biblical logic reveals that secure position in Christ produces grateful service as a natural overflow, not as a means to gain favor.
- We are seated with Christ in heavenly places—a freely given, unshakeable position of security (Ephesians 2:6).
- From this secure acceptance, the heart responds with thanksgiving and gratitude.
- This gratitude overflows into good works and service, born from faith and satisfaction in Christ, not obligation.
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
— Ephesians 2:6
Weight-Bearing Prose
The core assertion is Pauline: God’s pleasure is founded on justification—our acceptance in Christ—not on subsequent human works. This dismantles the utilitarian view that makes God’s favor contingent. The blood of Christ purges the conscience from ‘dead works’ (Hebrews 9:14), a definitive Pauline category for religious effort that seeks to establish a standing before God. This purging is not a process but a judicial cleansing that enables true service to the living God from a cleared conscience.
Our position is ‘seated with Christ in heavenly places’ (Ephesians 2:6), a freely given co-inheritance with the Son. Service, therefore, flows from security, not toward it. The parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15) and the 11th-hour laborers (Matthew 20) are not moral lessons but divine illustrations of this grace-based economy: welcome is by the Father’s love, and reward is by the householder’s generosity, not worker merit. The objection that this leads to passivity misunderstands the cause-effect chain revealed in Paul: grasping grace produces a heart of thanksgiving (Colossians 2:7), and thanksgiving naturally overflows into the good works for which we were created (Ephesians 2:10). The pleasure God seeks is faith in His Son (Hebrews 11:6), which is the root; works are the fruit, not the root.
Integration
Your standing before God is settled, complete, and joyful. It is anchored in Christ’s finished work, not your ongoing performance. You are accepted in the Beloved. Right now. This is not a challenge to strive harder, but a reality to rest in. Let this truth re-anchor you. The Father’s pleasure is in you, His child, because of Christ. Any impulse to serve or love flows safest from this settled assurance. There is no pressure here, only a position of security from which life naturally grows. Christ is your peace. Christ is your acceptance. Christ is your pleasure before God. Return to this. Abide here. This is your home.