key to a powerful faith

"the gospel. . . it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Rom 1:16)

No man can stand before God as a man. Not since the Garden of Eden has man done this, not even the great heroes of the faith. All must approach God via the seat of mercy - the atonement cover (Ex. 25:22; 30:6; Lev. 16:2; Num. 7:89).

To have and maintain a powerful faith, one must first recognize constantly that he falls short of the Glory of God. Then a man must realize that he, like those who have gone before him, can only approach God through atonement. When he recognizes this, there is a realization that it is not his natural sinful self that communing with God, but rather communion occurs through the medium of the atonement and only through the atonement.

Since our sacrifice of atonement (Rom. 3:22 - 3:25) is the ultimate sacrifice we can approach God with confidence "by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." (Heb. 10:19 - 22).

We then see that in the atonement our past sin no longer has effect on our position with God. He sees us through the curtain of the atonement, not as ourselves. With this liberation we can throw off all of the things that bind us - a sinful life, a guilty conscience, and an evil nature; and press on toward that sanctified Holy Spirit filled powerful life that God has called us to. We press on toward heaven with purpose in our step knowing that those things which would bind us are gone by the power of the sacrifice, and nothing can bring them back - it is done. (Ph. 3:12 - 14; Heb. 12:1-3).