Approaching God

Over the past few months I’ve signed up for several courses offered by nearby religious organizations and churches. One was a course in well-established spiritual exercises, and two were book studies – all were very well run.

Despite sincere leadership, frequent mention of and prayer to God, and really wonderful people Zooming in these courses along with me, after the second session I arrived at the same question for all three courses: Where was Jesus? After hours of discussion, Jesus’ name had rarely been mentioned.

Can we approach God, thank God, or do God our Father’s work without using Jesus’ name? Can we appeal to the Holy Spirit for help apart from the name of Jesus?

The short answer, direct from Jesus is, “Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Here’s many more answers, from the written Word:

The Importance of Jesus’ Name

Ephesians 5:20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 13:15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.

Philippians 2:10-11 …at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

2 Thessalonians 1:12 Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him.

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Jesus is the only way to the Father

John 1:18 He has revealed God to us.

John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

John 5:23 “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”

Matthew 11:27 “…no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Luke 10:22 “…no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

John 14:7 “If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is.”

1 John 2:23 Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

2 John 1:9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

1 Timothy 2:5 For, there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 9:15 …he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people

1 John 2:1 …we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ

1 John 5:20 …the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ.

John 14:9 Jesus replied, “…Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! “

John 14:10 “…The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.”

Hebrews 4:14,16 …since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God… So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Ephesians 3:12 Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

Hebrews 10:19-20 …we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.

1 Peter 1:21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God.

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Our sins are forgiven through Jesus’ death

Acts 4:12 And salvation is in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Ephesians 1:7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.

Ephesians 2:13 …Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.

1 Peter 1:19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

Romans 4:25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.

1 John 2:12 I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.

Romans 8:34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

1 Corinthians 1:2 He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did for all people everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours.

1 Corinthians 1:30 Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

Romans 5:18 …Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

1 Corinthians 1:30 Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

2 Corinthians 5:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them.

Ephesians 2:16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross

Colossians 1:19-20 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

Hebrews 7:22 …Jesus is the one who guarantees this better covenant with God.

Hebrews 12:24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people

1 John 5:11 And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ

1 John 4:9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.

Romans 1:17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight.

Romans 3:24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

Romans 10:9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Galatians 2:20 …I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 3:22 But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ.

Colossians 2:13 …God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.

Romans 5:1 …we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

Romans 5:11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 6:11 So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:37 …overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

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Jesus has all authority over all things

Matthew 11:27 “All things have been handed over to me by my Father”

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”

Luke 10:22 “All things have been handed over to me by my Father”

John 3:35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.

John 5:22-23 “The Father… has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.”

Ephesians 1:22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church.

Colossians 1:15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
18 Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.

Colossians 2:2 …God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.
3 In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 3:11 …Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

Hebrews 3:6 But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house.

John 13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands…

1 Peter 3:22 … who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Hebrews 2:8 “… everything in subjection under his feet.” Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control.

Ephesians 1:20-21 … he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

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Jesus pours the Holy Spirit out upon us

Acts 2:33 And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.

John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

John 15:26 “But I will send you the Advocate – the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me.

Titus 3:6 He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Galatians 3:2 Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ.

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God.

Ephesians 1:13 …And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit

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Praise Jesus because

1 Corinthians 3:11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have – Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:3 …no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.

John 6:45 “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.”

Hebrews 1:2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas.

Hebrews 13:15 Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.

2 Peter 1:1 … faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.

1 Corinthians 1:9 God … has invited you into partnership with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Ephesians 1:5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus

Colossians 3:3 …your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

1 Peter 2:4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple.

1 Peter 2:5 Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

Jude 1:1 …God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe in the care of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:3 We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort…

Philippians 3:8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.

Amen.

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Agree or disagree? I’d be interested in hearing what you think – and especially if you have additions or corrections to my work – if I’m wrong, please tell me!