BOLDLY I APPROACH (Personal Reflection)

By grace alone somehow I stand where even angels fear to tread

Invited by redeeming love before the throne of God above

He pulls me close with nail-scarred hands into His everlasting arms

When condemnation grips my heart and Satan tempts me to despair

I hear the voice that scatters fear, the Great I Am, the Lord is here

Oh, praise the One who fights for me and shields my soul eternally

Boldly I approach Your throne

Blameless now I'm running home

By Your blood I come 

Welcomed as Your own

Into the arms of majesty

Behold the bright and risen Son, more beauty than this world has known

I'm face to face with Love Himself, His perfect spotless righteousness

A thousand years, a thousand tongues, are not enough to sing His praise

Boldly I approach Your throne

Blameless now I'm running home

By Your blood I come

Welcomed as Your own

Into the arms of majesty

This is the art of celebration, knowing we're free from condemnation

Oh, praise the One, praise the One who made an end to all my sin

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The inspiration for this post focuses on one of my favorite songs by Rend Collective entitled, "Boldly I Approach / The Art of Celebration." It is a powerful anthem from start to finish as the music continues to build into an explosion of praise to God for who He is and what He has done for us, yet the core message centers on our response to His outpouring of grace, mercy and forgiveness which grips my heart every time I hear it. For God extends to us an invitation of redemption and restoration, that our broken hearts would be healed if we BOLDLY approach His throne in humble reverence and accept His immeasurable gift of salvation. Scripture affirms, "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:14–16). Some Bible translations substitute "confidence" with "boldness," but the message is still the same. Because of Jesus and the blood He shed on our behalf for the forgiveness of sins, we are given the indescribable honor of standing before the presence of God Himself and welcomed as His sons and daughters, spotless and without blemish. Truly, how is that even possible? For if we reflect back through the pages of Scripture, we find where Isaiah came face to face with God as well, and his encounter pales in comparison to the opportunity we are freely given to intimately communicate with the Lord any moment we choose.

• "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!' And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: 'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!' Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: 'Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for'" (Isaiah 6:1–7).

Notice the posture and reverence Isaiah exemplifies, for he did not enter God's throne room under any compulsion or inclination he was worthy to stand in the Lord's presence nor gaze upon His majesty. Rather, he confessed his unworthiness because God's redemptive plan through Jesus had not yet been revealed. Fast forward 2,000 years and today, we have been given the honor and privilege of standing boldly before the throne of heaven, confidently assured of our salvation through the blood of Jesus. "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast" (Ephesians 2:8–9). This is an enormous distinction, because Isaiah was not gifted the same opportunity as us even though he literally stood before God. Yes, he was saved by faith and not by works just as we are, but his knowledge of God's redeeming plan was forward-focused whereas the glory of God has already been revealed to us in Christ Jesus. Therefore, we must be diligent to not merely listen to God's Word, but understand its power to destroy strongholds which tempt us to believe we are unworthy to approach the throne of God despite our saving faith in Jesus. That is why Paul exhorts, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:12–14).

"By grace alone somehow I stand where even angels fear to tread. Invited by redeeming love before the throne of God above. He pulls me close with nail-scarred hands into His everlasting arms." It is easy to forget our true identity in Christ when the enemy is attacking us from every angle, tempting us to believe our works carry more weight than the grace of God. That is why it is imperative we recognize beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are SAVED BY GRACE alone, even though Scripture affirms, "For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead" (James 2:26). Make no mistake, works cannot save us because they are merely the outpouring of thanksgiving from our hearts to God for what He has done to secure our salvation through Christ by grace alone. More importantly, works testify to our faith decision to follow Christ and the subsequent impact that has on our behavior (i.e. how our actions reflect heart change). Therefore, believing our collective good must outweigh our sinfulness in order to make it to heaven one day is foolish to consider, because even if we were 99.99% good, our 0.01% bad (i.e. sin) would damn us to hell if not for the blood of Jesus. "As it is written: 'None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one'" (Romans 3:10–12). What we must remember is that grace is the gravitational pull which draws us into God's presence and exposes our need for salvation. The enemy would have us exhaust ourselves manipulating our ill-conceived pendulum of righteousness over the 50% threshold as if that's all that matters, but no such scale exists at the judgment seat of God, only redeeming love by grace though faith.

"When condemnation grips my heart and Satan tempts me to despair. I hear the voice that scatters fear, the Great I Am the Lord is here. Oh, praise the One who fights for me and shields my soul eternally." As I discussed in my recent personal reflection, "CONVICTION vs CONDEMNATION", discerning the voice of the Spirit vs. the voice of Satan is an imperative skill every follower of Christ must develop. This simply cannot be understated because we were never intended to wallow in the valley of despair by ourselves, unsure whether we are feeling convicted or condemned. For truth be told, God meets us in our seasons of trial right where we are and longs for us to express our thoughts, feelings and emotions to Him so we can be healed, restored and protected from the evil one. That is why Scripture affirms, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:6–8). The reason why we're instructed to cast our cares upon the Lord is because we have an enemy who is patiently waiting for us to let our guard down. The Spirit's protection goes only as far as we allow based simply on our faith decision to follow Christ, which again emphasizes how critical it is to know whose voice is speaking to our hearts and minds at any given moment.  

In the end, our response is clear: "Boldly I approach Your throne, blameless now I'm running home. By Your blood I come, welcomed as Your own into the arms of majesty." It is incredible how simple the formula to receiving comfort in our time of need can be when we approach the throne of grace forgiven of our sins. Keep in mind, Isaiah approached God's throne in fear and trembling because he recognized his sin in the midst of God's holiness. However, we have been given the greatest gift imaginable because we can enter God's holy presence already cleansed of our sin! Similarly, unlike Isaiah who prophesied of the coming Savior, we have already been reconciled to God because Christ's death and resurrection paved the way for our salvation. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25–26). The key to believing Jesus' promise is understanding that this world is not our home, and therefore we are no longer bound by schemes of the enemy and works of the flesh to obey its desires. Rather, by the blood of the Savior we are blameless and washed clean of our iniquity to the praise and glory of His name. "Behold the bright and risen Son, more beauty than this world has known. I'm face to face with Love Himself, His perfect spotless righteousness. A thousand years, a thousand tongues, are not enough to sing His praise." 

The culmination of "Boldly I Approach" brings the enormity of identity in Christ into proper focus. "This is the art of celebration, knowing we're free from condemnation. Oh, praise the One, praise the One who made an end to all my sin!" The moment we realize we are made alive in Christ, the light bulb should go off in our heads that we have been set free from the power of sin and death. Paul writes, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:17–19). Therefore, the power to hold us captive under the yolk of condemnation is made possible only at our discretion. For Satan has no authority to eternally bind us from the redeeming love of God if we accept by faith the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf for the forgiveness of sins. That is the Gospel of salvation which destroys strongholds and the assurance we need to boldly approach the throne of grace with confidence and humility. "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds" (2 Corinthians 10:3–4).

• "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:19–25).

To conclude, I am attaching an additional video of the same song, "Boldly I Approach," but performed by a German church of believers on the other side of the world from where I sit. I am continually amazed by the power of the Holy Spirit who inspires worship in different forms and languages than I personally am familiar with. Truthfully, it expands my appreciation for what God is doing worldwide despite my limited knowledge and experience. Therefore, I believe it is encouraging to share this video in order to articulate a deeper message that worship is not limited by what we are personally exposed to culturally. For one day we will all boldly enter the throne room of grace singing praises to God in our own native tongue, and it will all come together in perfect unity and beautiful harmony for the glory of His name. In the meantime though, may we join our brothers and sisters around the world in proclaiming "The Art of Celebration" so that others may see our unity as the body of Christ and glorify our Savior who is worthy to be praised. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:14–16).

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