Nearness by Covenant, Not Performance

Measuring spiritual closeness to God as if it were a score on a scale is a misguided and harmful practice. Asking “How close am I to God on a scale from 1 to 10?” is unstable and relative: it depends on what or whom one compares oneself to, and it is distorted by recent experiences, moods, or failures. That kind of comparison inevitably produces either discouragement or pride and does not reflect the true nature of the believer’s relationship with God ([36:18] to [37:28]).

The decisive truth is that nearness to God is not achieved by human effort but received by covenant. Ephesians 2:12–13 teaches that those once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Nearness to God is a relational status established by God’s covenant through Jesus’ finished work on the cross; it is given, not earned ([41:50] to [42:48]). Therefore spiritual standing is not a sliding scale of personal performance but a fixed reality grounded in what Christ has accomplished.

Scripture’s covenant imagery makes this point unmistakable. In Genesis 15 God makes a covenant with Abraham while Abraham is passive—symbolically asleep—emphasizing that Abraham did nothing to secure the promise. God alone initiated and sealed that covenant, including the shedding of blood as the binding sign. That historical event models how God relates to his people: he takes the initiative and secures the relationship, so human striving does not form the basis of acceptance ([43:10] to [44:16]). Believers are therefore called to rest in the finished work of Christ rather than attempting to “move from a 4 to a 5” by their own efforts ([36:38]; [44:00]).

Treating the covenant as something to be earned produces captivity. When Christians focus on self-assessment, comparison, and performance, they become trapped in cycles of legalism—oscillating between self-loathing for perceived failure and self-lauding for perceived success. Both responses are forms of bondage, because they center attention on the self instead of on Christ ([39:50] to [40:46]; [47:46] to [48:33]). True freedom is found in embracing the covenant relationship by faith alone: resting in grace, receiving righteousness as a gift, and rejecting the false notion that acceptance by God depends on improved performance ([54:23] to [55:42]).

Theologically and practically, believers are to understand their standing in Christ as fully secure—a “ten” in terms of relational acceptance—because it is based on the covenant and the blood of Jesus, not on fluctuating human achievement ([38:10] to [38:59]; [43:28] to [44:16]). This does not deny the call to growth, repentance, and obedience; rather, it locates those pursuits within the freedom of a received relationship, where service and holiness flow from gratitude and identity, not from anxious self-improvement.

A concrete spiritual practice that reinforces this reality is the memorization and declaration of foundational gospel texts that remind believers of their standing by grace. For example, 2 Corinthians 5:21—“He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him”—should be learned and affirmed as a concise statement of the believer’s complete acceptance before God ([01:11:52] to [01:12:42]).

Stop grading spiritual life by shifting standards and start inhabiting the covenant status secured for believers. Rest in the finished work of Christ, receive nearness as God’s gift, and let freedom, not comparison, shape the Christian life.

This article was written by an AI tool for churches, based on a sermon from Restoration Fellowship Church, one of 6 churches in Strasburg, VA