COME BOLDLY, NOT ARROGANTLY

Rediscovering Your Access to the Throne of Grace

There is a difference between humility and unbelief. There is a difference between reverence and fear. There is a difference between bowing low before a holy God and standing far off because you believe you have no right to come near. Many sincere believers confuse these things. They think their constant sense of unworthiness is humility, when in reality it may reveal a misunderstanding of what the blood of Jesus has secured for them.

God is holy. He is not casual, common, or ordinary. He is the thrice-holy God Isaiah saw when he cried, “Woe is me!” We do not come into His presence with arrogance, presumption, or spiritual pride. Yet the same holy God has made a way for us to come near. We do not come because we are worthy in ourselves. We come because Jesus opened the way by His blood.

Paul writes in Ephesians 3:12 that in Christ “we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.” Hebrews 10:19 says, “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus…” That is an extraordinary invitation. We are not told to enter as rejected outsiders, but to come with boldness because the blood of Jesus has granted us access.

Humility Is Not Unbelief

I recall praying for a man who would lament, “I am unworthy.” At first, it sounded humble. After all, Jesus told the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18. The Pharisee trusted in his own righteousness and rehearsed his religious achievements before God, while the tax collector stood afar off, beat his breast, and cried, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” Jesus said the tax collector went home justified rather than the Pharisee. So, at first glance, the words “I am unworthy” may sound like humility.

But as I listened to this dear brother, I began to discern something different. This was not the cry of a sinner coming to mercy for the first time. This was a born-again believer who had become a new creation in Christ. He may have been weak. He may have been struggling. He may not have felt like a saint, and perhaps at that moment he was not acting like one. But he was still a child of God. His words were not producing faith; they were robbing him of faith.

Behind his confession of unworthiness, I could almost hear the accusation: “You are unworthy to be healed. You are unworthy to have your prayers answered. You are unworthy to be filled with the Spirit. You have not prayed enough. You have failed too many times.”

That is not the voice of the Father. That is the voice of the accuser. Revelation 12 calls Satan “the accuser of our brethren,” and his strategy is to remind believers of their failures until they agree with him instead of agreeing with the blood of Jesus.

Revelation also tells us how believers overcome him: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” The blood has spoken, and the blood speaks louder than guilt, shame, failure, and accusation.

Let us be clear: Jesus alone is worthy of worship. He alone is worthy to receive glory, honor, and power. He alone is the Lamb who was slain. But here is the miracle of grace: the One who alone is worthy has made us accepted, cleansed, justified, and brought near.

Worthy in Christ, Not in Ourselves

You are not worthy in yourself. You are not righteous because of your works. You are not accepted because of your discipline, morality, generosity, ministry, prayer life, or spiritual performance. You are accepted in Christ. The Cross secured what you could never earn. When you were still a sinner, Christ died for you. He paid a debt you could not pay and provided what you could not provide. This is why salvation is the free gift of God. This is why we sing, “Amazing Grace.”

Our giving could never pave the way into righteousness. Our morality and purity could never be sufficient to gain access to the throne of God. Even if we toiled in ministry, prayer, and sacrifice, we would still fall short of the holy requirements of God. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:10 declares, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Isaiah said, “All we like sheep have gone astray,” but he also declared that the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

This is the glory of the Gospel. Jesus did not merely pity us from a distance. He became our substitute. Isaiah 53 declares that He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. Paul brings this truth into sharp focus in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” This is the great exchange. He took our sin, and we received His righteousness.

Boldness Is Not Arrogance

This is why boldness is not arrogance. Arrogance boasts in self, but boldness boasts in Christ. Arrogance says, “I deserve this.” Faith says, “Jesus paid for this.” Arrogance points to its own works, while faith points to the finished work of the Cross. Arrogance forgets the holiness of God, but boldness honors His holiness while trusting the blood that gives access to His presence.

When Hebrews tells us to come boldly, it is not inviting us to be careless. It is inviting us to be confident in the sacrifice of Jesus. The believer’s confidence is not in feelings, recent success, or personal performance. It is in the blood. When your deeds say, “You are unworthy,” the blood of Jesus declares, “You may come.” Not because sin does not matter, but because Jesus has dealt with sin at the Cross.

Many Christians live defeated because they do not understand their position in Christ. They are born again but still think like rejected sinners. They are new creations but still live with an old identity. They are forgiven but do not understand justification. They are children of God but approach Him like groveling servants. They are heirs, yet they live like spiritual beggars.

This is why guilt-consciousness is so destructive. A believer who is constantly sin-conscious will struggle to be faith-conscious. A believer who constantly rehearses his failures will struggle to receive the promises of God. Romans 8:1 declares, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Faith Agrees With God

Faith is required to receive from God. Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Faith is not pretending you have no problems, denying weakness, or ignoring the need for growth. Faith is agreeing with God above every other voice.

Faith agrees with the Word. Faith agrees with the blood. Faith agrees with the finished work of Christ. Your circumstances cannot give you boldness. Your emotions cannot give you confidence. Your recent performance cannot become the foundation of your faith. Faith comes from the Word of God, and the Word says you have access.

This righteousness gives you the ability to approach God with confidence, without guilt, shame, fear, or a sense of rejection. Not because you are perfect in yourself, but because you are in Christ. In righteousness, you stand before God as a son. Male or female, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, known or unknown, every believer stands on the same ground before God: the blood of Jesus.

Paul prayed in Ephesians 1 that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened, that we would know the hope of His calling, the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward those who believe. That is what many believers need: enlightened eyes. Not more condemnation, religious striving, fear, or self-hatred. We need revelation.

Come Boldly

This is not the hour to stand far off when Jesus has brought you near. This is not the hour to agree with the accuser when the blood of Jesus is speaking a better word. This is not the hour to rehearse your failures more than you remember your redemption.

Come with reverence, but do not come with fear. Come with humility, but do not come with unbelief. Come aware of His holiness, but also fully persuaded that the blood of Jesus has opened the way.

The next time the accuser whispers, “You are unworthy,” do not repeat his accusation as though it were humility. Answer him with the testimony of the blood: “I am accepted in Christ. I am the righteousness of God in Him. I have boldness and access with confidence through faith. I will not stand far off when Jesus has brought me near.”

Then lift your eyes. Open your mouth. Bring your request. Receive His mercy. Stand in your righteousness. Possess your inheritance.

Come boldly.

The Blood of Jesus has prevailed.