Most discussions on the topic skim the surface of the discussion, fighting over whether the Bible actually commands baptism and whether it has ties to salvation. Through my observation of many conflicting perspectives, I have come to discover that these arguments scratch the surface of a much larger God-ordained principle at work. The principle is this: God applies spiritual realities through physical means.

Overlooking the Reality

This is not a new concept. It is discerned and accepted as the exact activity that is taking place through many biblical events (which I will share in a moment). Yet, when the Bible’s mandate for baptism is debated, this principle is either (1) thrown out the window by those who refute baptismal regeneration or (2) is simply overlooked by those who accept it as the divinely ordained moment of a believer’s justification.

Many have taught that salvation is sealed at the first moment of belief. It must be noted that belief is not a tangible object with a physical essence. Therefore, this interpretation of what it means to be saved by “faith alone” is presented as entirely severed from any physical means. The result of this teaching has led many to interact with what some call a “sinner’s prayer,” which is believed to be the moment at which one receives remission of sins and is united to Christ. Ironically, what is proclaimed to be the moment of one’s justification is only recognized by the physical means (sinner’s prayer in this case) through which salvation is supposedly applied.

Physical Means for a Physical People

So, inevitably, any attempt to sever saving faith from its appointed physical means leaves it suspended between sign and reality with nowhere to land. Why? Because we are human, and humans are embodied beings. We do not exist external to physical essence. Thus, God works through divinely ordained physical sacraments to apply spiritual reality. This is what led Calvin to quote Chrysostom’s statement,

Additionally, Calvin himself states,

To draw from Calvin’s example, no one would say the seal on the diploma is unnecessary. Both the seal and the writings are components of the diploma that complete its application to the recipient. However, just because the seal is necessary does not mean it is effective as a diploma without the writings it contains. In the same way, baptism does not act independently of divine working, but rather, it is the physical means through which justification is applied to the believer.

One Flesh Before or After Marriage?

Many disagree with this doctrine of baptism, yet agree when Scripture applies this principle to other divinely ordained physical acts. For example, when a man and woman become husband and wife, scripture teaches that they have become one flesh. Jesus affirms God’s model for marriage in Matthew, stating,

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Matthew 19:5-6, ESV).

Importantly, this spiritual declaration does not precede the actual marriage ceremony and consummation. No one I know says, “since their love is real, the ceremony is unnecessary.” No—it is understood that the wedding ceremony and the consummation of that marriage are the appointed means through which the covenant is sealed, and the union is enacted. The physical act doesn’t create the love, but rather, seals, applies, and completes it covenantally. God condemns the Israelites for breaking their marital covenants, saying,

“The Lord was witness between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant” (Malachi 2:14).

Accordingly, a marriage that has never been consummated is typically considered incomplete in virtually every theological tradition. Why? Because through these physical means, spiritual realities are not only reflected outwardly, but applied inwardly. The consummation of a marriage is not a simple biological event. It actually does something spiritually. This is why Paul warns the Corinthians,

“Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, ‘The two will become one flesh’” (1 Corinthians 6:16).

Thus, Paul shows us that the “one flesh” union is a serious spiritual reality, not just a physical one.

Circumscision

Likewise, circumcision embarks on this same principle. God established a physical cutting of the flesh as the sign and seal of his covenant with the Israelite people. Paul ties it to justification in Romans 4, calling it “a seal of the righteousness that Abraham had by faith.” (Romans 4:11). The physical means did not create the faith. Abraham believed before he was circumcised. But it was Abraham’s circumcision that sealed and applied the covenant reality to his body. This is precisely the two-stage pattern we see in baptism.

Some will argue that since Abraham was justified before circumcision, the pattern actually supports the opposite conclusion—that justification precedes and is independent of its physical seal. However, this conclusion leads to an implication that makes the seal unnecessary, which neither Paul nor Calvin allows. Rather, the point is not that the seal is the origin of the covenant reality, but that it is the divinely appointed moment of its application to the person. Abraham's faith was reckoned to him as righteousness, yet it was sealed, confirmed, and applied through circumcision. The two are not in opposition to one another, but are divinely ordained as collaborative.

Scripture and Spiritual Application in Baptism

So we see that this principle is clearly displayed throughout scripture: God applies spiritual realities to his saints through physical means. But could that mean any physical means? Does scripture specifically reserve baptism as the direct point of salvific application? The principle is first affirmed in Acts 22, when Paul recounts Annanias’ statement:

“And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name” (Acts 22:16).

This passage asserts baptism as the expected act awaiting Paul in which his sins would be “washed away,” or in other words, forgiveness of sins applied. In Acts 2:38, Peter declares that baptism is the physical means by which forgiveness of sins and the promised Holy Spirit are applied. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the divine power at work in us through which we were “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13-14). Without the working of the Holy Spirit, the dutiful coherence to divinely appointed physical means amounts to nothing. Paul affirms this to the Colossians, stating,

“Having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12).

From this verse, it is crucial to recognize that the physical means in and of themselves do not provide the promised spiritual reality. Rather, any spiritual promise is granted by the “powerful working of God,” without which the sacrament loses any value. This is why Peter writes about baptism,

“Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ…” (1 Peter 3:21).

Again, Calvin rightly agrees with Paul and Peter in this way when he states,

Conclusion

God does not bypass the physical to reach the spiritual. He works through the physical because we are physical. Physical means are not obstacles to grace. They are the appointed vessels of grace. Baptism stands in this long line of divinely appointed physical acts through which God applies what He has eternally decreed. To sever baptism from saving faith does not elevate faith. Instead, it leaves faith suspended between promise and reality, grasping at a seal that has not yet been affixed. Thus, God has appointed the moment of its ratification, and that moment is believing baptism.

In his confessions, St. Augustine of Hippo makes a glorious and awful statement before God:

It is a glorious statement, to the man who has wandered through life exhaustively, to know that there is a destination in which his desires truly can find rest. Yet, it is an awful one for the man who finds his rest, but later wakes up to find it out of reach.

I sympathize greatly with this sentiment. I have indeed experienced the restlessness of my wanderings in the World and its fluctuating pleasures. By it, I also know my need to experience the stability of a heart made happy in an unwavering God. However, despite my knowledge of this truth, I have gone through seasons where a gladness in God has seemed out of reach. I’ve sat daily, reading and praying from scripture, seeking to have my heart made happy by beholding God’s beauty. Yet, in those efforts, I sometimes found myself in one of two scenarios:

1. Feeling delight in what I perceived one day, but not finding any the next.

2. Experiencing gladness while engaged in a spiritual discipline, but finding none after leaving that time of devotion.

These moments left me questioning myself, asking, “Why don’t I feel anything?” “Why does my joyful perception of God fade and fizzle?” “Why can’t I enjoy God more?” The very words that once awakened my heart to delight in God had become discouraging reminders that I was simply incapable of truly experiencing it.

But then, I realized something that totally changed my experience of joy in God. The problem I once thought lay within my own lack of spiritual taste buds turned out to be a faulty perception of my relation with the source himself — what I have come to call “objectifying God.”

Our Source of Delight

Everything that we enjoy begins with a perception of its worth. Thus, if we perceive God to be of infinite worth, we will enjoy him above all else. God made us to know him and experience the delight that proceeds from our beholding of him. David writes,

“As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness” (Psalm 17:15, ESV).

So the goal then for the pursuit of the Christian’s happiness is orientation towards God. We must see him to savor him.

All of us have had experiences of delight at the sight of something magnificent. Such pleasant feelings have come to us through our perception of sunsets on the horizon, a beautifully harmonious tune, or even at the sight of a skillfully developed painting. Certainly, if we can find such great pleasure in these apprehensions of God-given delights, how much more when beholding our God! Yet, it is precisely in this beholding where the danger of objectifying God begins. Let me provide an analogy…

Observing from a Distance

When one observes a painting that he finds to be truly beautiful, he will presumably feel all kinds of wondrous things. Mainly, he will experience some thrill in his perception of the painting and its beauty. However, when one entangles himself in this process, several things are true:

1. First, the viewer remains entirely themselves, and the painting remains entirely other. The viewer may cherish the painting and be quite fond of its beauty. However, he has no capability of interaction with it.

2. Second, the pleasure experienced is dependent on the viewer’s own reaction, and the painting does not share it with him.

3. And last, when the viewer leaves, the pleasure fades because its source is gone.

All of these things are true based on the reality that the painting is solely an object. It is not a person. It is not conscious, and it cannot be self-aware. It has no capability for social interaction or personal relationships. Therefore, the painting, as much joy as it may provide the viewer, remains an object to be gleaned from.

From Spectator to Participant

But this is not our relationship to God. We are not mere spectators, and God is not a bare object. When we sit before his word seeking only to gain an experience, we inevitably objectify the Creator for the sake of meeting our need to be happy. But joy is not something we take from God. Instead, it is granted in fellowship with him. In the gospel of John, Jesus reveals his will for our relational proximity to him.

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5).

Jesus is not demanding observationalists. He is inviting participants who desire to dwell in a divine relationship with him. The branch does not observe the vine. It shares its life. But what is it that he promises in this communion with him?

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love” (John 15:9-10).

The Christian is not invited to simply observe and admire wonderful things about God (like his love). No—he is invited to have it for himself! How wonderful, not to merely intellectualize that God is love, but to be loved by the author of love himself! And what is the experiential result of this in the Christian?

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11).

Christian happiness does not come by sitting in the art gallery of God’s descriptors (attributes). For when we look from our vantage point, we will only delight in what we find intriguing. Even a spiritually dead man can do this. Rather, true joy comes by knowing and delighting in the painter himself.

Conclusion

God’s call to us is not “behold me from a distance.” He is not a showroom comprised of arbitrary attributes to be stared at for a portion of each day. Rather, our Lord is a personal being, inviting us to a direct and abiding relationship with him. He calls us not simply to observe who he is, but to participate in his glory.

Thus, the Christian’s experience of delighting in God does not terminate in the joy itself. Happiness is not the end of man’s ultimate pursuit, but rather, the experience of abiding in the end himself. We are not merely satisfied by God, but ultimately, in him.

Augustine. Confessions. Translated by Edward Bouverie Pusey, Pocket Books, 2006, p. 1.

As a kid, a common experience for me was going to church and hearing how scary and dangerous sex is. Perhaps you know the feeling. Every once in a while, someone might have mentioned that “sex is wonderful within the confines of marriage.” But regardless of whether it was being discussed negatively or positively, there was always a clear feeling that talking about sex was embarrassing and shameful. It was also clear that anyone who sinned sexually must be a really bad person and was definitely a significantly worse person than somebody who just committed small sins like lying, pridefulness, or gossip. People who sinned sexually were the kind of people that your parents didn’t want you to hang out with, because something definitely went wrong with that kid, and you might wind up corrupted by them. It was better to just stay away from them. They were probably too far gone anyway.

This kind of thinking became most apparent in what has been popularly termed “purity culture.” There lies a foundation for thinking about sex that says that sex is the enemy and any sexual activity outside of marriage results in irreversible damage, making a person ruined, like a piece of gum that has already been chewed. It reduces the entire rich, beautiful, biblical view of sex down to one rule: wait until marriage. By doing so, it fails to properly address any other aspect of sex or establish a full theological foundation for why God created us as sexual beings. This view of sexual purity leads to a culture where anybody who messes up sexually is better off hiding it than facing the ostracizing shame that comes along with people knowing about their mistakes.

The Stats

It is important to first recognize the reality of the world we live in. According to Common Sense Media’s national survey published in 2023, “73% of teen respondents age 13 to 17 have watched pornography online—and more than half (54%) reported first seeing pornography by the time they reached the age of 13” (Common Sense Media). Research from the Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries published in 2024 found that seventy-five percent of Christian men and forty percent of Christian women report viewing pornography on some level (Beyond the Porn Phenomenon). Also from the Barna Group, “42% of Evangelical Christians in the U.S. have had premarital sex” (Premarital Sex Statistics Statistics: Market Data Report 2025).

The view of sexual purity that has been promoted over the last while has lacked a strong theological foundation and, for that same reason, failed to properly address the problem of sexual purity effectively. It has not only failed to keep people from sexual impurity but has then driven those same people in need of help to hide their sin and live in shame, sometimes leaving the Church altogether. Something needs to change. We need to restore the right perspective of sexual purity.

Avoiding Distortions of Sexual Purity

First, I want to quickly look at what we need to avoid. The first response to avoid is throwing away sexual purity completely. Many people who have been hurt by “purity culture” have responded by completely rejecting any plea for sexual purity. It is easy to see that if we desire to follow Scripture, there is some standard of sexual purity to follow.

The other response to be avoided is one that turns purity into a performance. This is really an offshoot of the thinking behind purity culture. It has still failed to realize the deeper purpose behind purity. This thinking can be seen in trends like “trad wives,” where a lot of the time modesty and purity are for the sake of an aesthetic or to look good rather than to honor God and our bodies.

Instead of either of these responses, we should turn to Scripture and look to see what God has to say about sexual purity.

Biblical Purity

Scripture does not treat sex as something utterly shameful and threatening. It treats sex as a profound, holy, God-designed gift within the covenant of marriage. From the beginning, God created us for the sexual union of a husband and wife. This design was a part of his creation that he called very good. Song of Solomon celebrates physical love and sexual desire between a husband and wife with no embarrassment or shame. The New Testament also affirms the sexual part of marriage, “The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband” (1 Corinthians 7:3, ESV).

When we do see commands to flee sexual immorality, it is important to look at the reasoning behind it. In 1 Corinthians, Paul calls believers to flee sexual immorality, not because our bodies are bad, but rather, because they are good. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20, ESV). Biblical sexual ethics are based on the dignity and holiness of the body, not in fear, disgust, or shame.

This biblical view changes what purity means. A right view still upholds the standard of sex belonging inside the covenant of marriage, but it changes the why behind it. Purity is no longer a status that you lose forever the moment you mess up; instead, it becomes a way of living.

How does this change of perspective change how we live?

First, we must immerse ourselves in Scripture so that this right perspective of sexuality is not just a fact we know but becomes ingrained in how we think. Not only should we be intaking Scripture, but we should also be safeguarding our intake of the hyper-sexual things of the world. For “whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Galatians 6:7-8, ESV). We cannot constantly consume things that drive us to a worldly view of sexuality and expect to have a biblical view ingrained in us.

Second, we must stop hiding in shame. James 5:16 tells us to confess our sins to one another so that we can be healed. Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Find people you can trust and confess your struggles to them. Take advantage of the community God has given us and use that accountability to encourage growth. Sin thrives in darkness but flees when brought into the light.

Conclusion

In conclusion, remember that sexual purity is not a status that is lost forever the moment a mistake is made. It is a posture of living that is about honoring the God who made you by living in the way he designed you to live. Sex is not the enemy. It is a gift designed by God for covenant, for intimacy, and for the glorification of God within the bond of marriage.

Works Cited:

1. Common Sense Media. “New Report Reveals Truths about How Teens Engage with Pornography | Common Sense Media.” Www.commonsensemedia.org, 10 Jan. 2023, www.commonsensemedia.org/press-releases/new-report-reveals-truths-about-how-teens-engage-with-pornography.

2. “Premarital Sex Statistics Statistics: Market Data Report 2025.” Worldmetrics.org, 2025, worldmetrics.org/premarital-sex-statistics/.

When we examine the doctrine of the atonement, we seek to understand what exactly Christ does for us. The ultimate question the discussion hopes to answer is: “How does God maintain his justice while forgiving sinners?” While almost every theory of atonement is grounded in some biblical aspect of Christ’s incarnational work, only one answers the aforementioned question. That theory is Penal Substitutionary Atonement (PSA).

What is Penal Substitutionary Atonement?

Penal Substitutionary Atonement is the doctrine that Christ, in his death on the cross, bore the full legal penalty that God’s justice required for human sin. The word “penal” refers to the punishment of sin, “substitutionary” refers to Christ’s taking man’s place, and “atonement” refers to the restoration of man’s covenantal fellowship with God. The book of Isaiah reveals this understanding clearly, stating, “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 53:5, ESV). Together, the doctrine encapsulates Scripture’s portrayal of the total work of Christ on humanity’s behalf — Christ’s substituting man with himself by taking on the full penalty due to sinners for the purpose of restoring our fellowship with God.

If sin must be punished, does God really forgive it?

Some have argued that the Bible’s presentation of God’s forgiveness runs contrary to the doctrine of Penal Substitution, stating that if sin has to be paid for, it cannot be forgiveness. Those who argue this will claim that God putting the legal debt on the shoulders of another simply transfers the payment, rather than actually forgiving the sin. While there is a certain logic that flows through this line of thought, it seems to extend from a faulty definition of forgiveness, followed by the neglect of several key passages.

What is Forgiveness of Sin?

Throughout the totality of Scripture, its consistent witness is clear. Forgiveness of sin is the removal of one’s covenantal obligation to pay the legal penalty required of sin by a transfer of debt. Paul gives a clear and well-known understanding of sin’s debt, stating, “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). Thus, sinners are charged with paying the penalty of death. These were the terms given to Adam at the beginning. As our representative head, the same penalty is extended to all of mankind.

The phrase “forgiveness of sins” is translated from the Greek word ἄφεσις (afesis). The word occurs 17 times in the New Testament and “indicates the state of having a particular obligation removed…in a given relationship.”1 The rightful understanding of this word does not overlook the covenantal obligation due to one who has sinned. The penalty for sin is not a legal metaphor; it is a divine decree. Sin is a transgression of God’s relationship with mankind. Therefore, the just penalty for man’s sin against the one who gave him life is inevitably death.

This covenantal understanding of forgiveness is not unique to the New Testament. In Exodus 34:6–7, God reveals himself to Moses as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (Hebrew: chesed).” Simultaneously, he declares himself to be one who “will by no means clear the guilty.” This passage fully displays God's abundant covenant faithfulness, yet also insists that the guilty cannot simply go unpunished. These two realities are not in conflict; they are held together by the same covenantal logic. God's covenantal faithfulness does not suspend his justice. Rather, it drives him to satisfy it on behalf of those he loves.

So, to forgive sin is not to overlook its penalty, but to remove it from the one who rightly bears it. If man were to pay the debt that he owes for sin, he would be left dead. Instead, by God’s forgiveness, he is freed from his obligation to pay his just penalty and is instead granted life.

The Penalty Must Still be Met

So then, if this covenental obligation does not terminate on the one to whom it is due, what happens to the penalty? In a discourse on Christ as the mediator of a new covenant, the Hebrew writer addresses with clarity the need for a penal substitutionary atonement. Here, the contextual logic is covenantal and legal, and the writer gives a straightforward answer to the question, stating,

“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22, ESV).

The writer does not ascribe a mere exemplary nature to Christ’s death. Rather, he provides a covenantal declaration that sin carries the penalty of death, and that penalty must be absorbed before forgiveness is possible. Christ, as both the high priest and the offering, fulfills what every Old Testament sacrifice pointed toward — the once-for-all payment of man’s sinful debt. Without Christ’s penal substitutionary atonement, there is no forgiveness of sins.

A Perfectly Just God

Now, before running wild with this conclusion, a final question must be asked: Why must sin’s penalty be suffered to enact God’s forgiveness? The answer can only be discerned by a proper understanding of God’s justice. Divine justice is not an optional role for God to take on, but rather, an essential aspect of his nature. Romans 3 reveals this and exactly how it is that his justice is upheld in the forgiveness of humanity.

“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:23-26).

In this passage, many aspects of the doctrine of Penal Substitutionary Atonement are affirmed. First, Christ’s own blood is shown to be a propitiation (atoning sacrifice, cover). Additionally, the reason Christ was given is given in the statement, “This was to show God’s righteousness…” (vs. 25-26). The word “righteousness” is translated from the Greek word, δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosunē), and refers to the act of doing what is in agreement with God’s standards by fair and equitable dealing. The principle is not that Christ was given merely as an example of God’s love to mankind, but that his penal substitution was the necessary act to preserve God’s justice while securing forgiveness for humanity. This is affirmed by the conclusion of this pericope, which states, “so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (vs. 26).

Without the preservation of God’s justice by his rightful punishment of sin, there is no hope that the believer can be found as just. If God’s wrath toward sin has not been satisfied through Christ’s death, then no human has the right to stand before a just God.

Conclusion

So the method goes like this: Humans have broken the covenantal relationship with the almighty that they were made for by their sin. It is man’s own sin that has caused this, and he alone bears the responsibility for its due penalty. Thus, there stands an immutable debt that must be resolved to be reconciled to God. Until that debt is paid, a just God cannot maintain communion with man. So, in perfect obedience, Jesus suffers the legal punishment of death due to man for his sin. God then forgives the sinner, pardoning his iniquity by placing the debt of sin on the shoulders of Christ. By his death, the due penalty is met, and Christ enables man’s atonement to God.

In summary, Penal Substitutionary Atonement does not negate God’s forgiveness. Rather, it is the method by which a perfectly just God forgives the one who is deserving of death. Without Christ’s penal substitution, there is no hope for mankind before a perfect God.

This article is Part 3 of a series based on my Durrington Award-winning essay — Human Happiness and the Glory of God: Does the Pursuit of Man’s Highest Good Fulfill His Chief End?

Over the last two parts of this series, we've built the foundation: The highest good is the final resting place of desire — the one object that, when attained, leaves nothing left to long for. Scripture reveals that object to be God himself: the source of all flourishing, the fullness of joy, the only unwavering delight. Now comes the central claim: pursuing the highest good doesn't compete with glorifying God. It is glorifying God.

Man’s Chief End is Fulfilled in His Highest Good

The argument that proceeds from this point attempts to resolve the question, “Does the pursuit of man’s highest good oppose or fulfill his chief end?” This argument holds that man cannot accomplish his chief end without attaining his highest good. If man exists to bring glory to God, he also exists to enjoy him, since glorifying God necessitates a rightful delight in his value. This position is supported by the preceding arguments; God is man’s highest good, the source of man’s fullest happiness, and therefore, warrants a total and complete submission to the pursuit of God. Interestingly, the previously mentioned Westminster Shorter Catechism does not exclude enjoyment from man’s chief end. Instead, it affirms that man does not fulfill his chief end in the absence of the enjoyment of God. This understanding holds for these reasons: 1) the pursuit of the highest good glorifies its object, and 2) since glorifying God is to recognize his worth, God is not glorified where he is not enjoyed as the highest good.

First, the pursuit of the highest good will inevitably glorify its subject. This pursuit is rightly performed in light of its value, namely that it, and only it, provides ultimate satisfaction. To glorify, as previously defined, is to acknowledge something’s excellence. Thus, the pursuit of the highest good glorifies its subject as it is pursued for its recognized value. Since it is the case that God is man’s highest good, any proper pursuit of him will be based on an appropriate understanding of his value, surrendering all else for his sake. The clearest example of this truth in scripture is found in Psalm 73, where David states, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26). Here, God is pursued as the portion to be desired above all else. In this pursuit, he is glorified by the delight that David has and seeks to have in him. If God were not most enjoyable in himself, he would not be shown as so great (glorified) that his people would forsake some higher pleasure for the sake of him, a lesser one. Rather, God, being man’s highest good, will inevitably be glorified when he is pursued as man’s fullest happiness.

Secondly, God is not glorified where he is not enjoyed as most pleasurable. It cannot be said that something is man’s highest good if it does not provide the fullest possible human flourishing. Therefore, to say that the Christian life involves the surrendering of one’s own happiness for the sake of God is to say that God is not most pleasing. This directly contradicts scripture’s plea for the Christian’s life. In the book of Matthew, Jesus states, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37). Following Christ means more than sacrificing pleasures; it means pursuing the greatest pleasure: God. This is also implied in 1 John, which states, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). Assuming obedience is directed at glorifying God, this verse reveals that the one who loves God does not find God’s commands “burdensome.” Rather, he takes delight in them, like the Psalmist who said, “Oh how I love your law” (Psalm 119:97). If God is to be glorified by one’s service, his servant will not live piously by a neglect of his pleasure, but instead, in pursuit of the fullest pleasure: God. God is then not glorified by mere obedience, but more fully, man’s affectionate delight in him.

From these two arguments, it is clear that the pursuit of man’s chief end is not accomplished without the pursuit of his highest good. Rather than being two separate pursuits, they are mutually dependent. When man finds his satisfaction in God, he will do everything in his power to pursue it, since God is the fullest pleasure he can find. When God is recognized for his value and, in turn, pursued in such a way as to be esteemed greater than any other pleasure, it brings great glory to him because he is acknowledged and shown to be most glorious. Therefore, the pursuit of man’s highest good–rightly defined as delight in God himself–does not oppose the pursuit of his chief end, but rather, fulfills it.

Answering an Objection

An objection may be presented that assumes the pursuit of the highest good to be a self-centered one, as it operates in search of one’s own pleasure. By this, the objection would also assume this pursuit to be a self-glorifying one rather than a God-glorifying one. The fault in this objection is that it neglects man’s delight in God as an end in itself. This follows the understanding that God is not a means to another good, but rather, he is the highest good himself. It should be noted that affections (such as happiness, delight, satisfaction, etc.) do not come about without a cause. They are movements of the will which follow the perceiving of some good and its value. John Piper affirms this by saying, “It is not man-centered because the emotions of our worship are centered on God. We look away from ourselves to Him, and only then do the manifold emotions of our heart erupt in worship. Nor is it idolatrous to say our affections in worship are ends in themselves, because our affections for God glorify God, not us” (Piper 95).1 Given this, the pursuit of man’s highest good is not a self-centered one, as the delight had in God is only accessible by the heart’s glad reaction to God himself.

Conclusion

This essay argues that the common suspicion pitting man’s happiness against God’s glory rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of both. God is not the obstacle to maximum human happiness, but rather, the source. From this, the perceived conflict dissolves entirely. Scripture reveals him to be, by every qualification, man’s highest good, and therefore, worthy to be pursued above every other pleasure. Indeed, God is not glorified by cold, joyless obedience; he is glorified when he is treasured above all else. Thus, to glorify God and to enjoy true happiness are not competing obligations. They are, rightly understood, the same act. It is true then that, in the words of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him for ever.” All in all, the pursuit of man’s highest good truly fulfills his chief end.

The suspicion this essay recognized initially — that human happiness and God’s glory pull in opposite directions — turns out to rest on a misunderstanding of both. God is not the obstacle to your deepest happiness. He is its source, its fullness, and its only stable ground. To treasure him above all else is not to sacrifice your joy; it is to find it. Thus, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it, “man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever” — and rightly understood, those were never two different goals at all.

This article is Part 2 of a series based on my Durrington Award-winning essay — Human Happiness and the Glory of God: Does the Pursuit of Man’s Highest Good Fulfill His Chief End?

In Part 1, I established the terms at the center of this question. The "highest good" is the final object toward which all desires are rightly ordered. Man's "chief end" is his ultimate purpose, which the Westminster Assembly identifies as “to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” The apparent conflict between these two ideas is what this series is working to resolve. In this section of the essay, I seek to determine what man's highest good actually is, and what the rightful pursuit of it looks like in action.

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What is Man’s Highest Good?

To argue that the pursuit of man’s chief end and the pursuit of man’s highest good are mutually dependent requires determining what man’s highest good really is. This essay claims that God is man’s highest good and, for this reason, most valuable in himself, not as a means to achieve some greater object of value. For this claim to be true, an examination of scripture must reveal that 1) God is the source of all human flourishing and therefore is the resting place of desire, 2) God is most pleasing in himself, and in turn no greater happiness can be found beyond him, and 3) the happiness found in God is unwavering and self-sustaining.

First, scripture reveals God to be the source of all human flourishing. In the book of Jeremiah, God states, “For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13, ESV). In calling himself the “fountain” of “living waters” (i.e., satisfaction and flourishing), God denounces the idea that he is merely a stream of pleasure, but rather is the source of it himself. Accordingly, if God truly is the source of human flourishing, he must be the good at which all desires are rightly ordered. David states, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:9). As the fountain, God reveals himself to be the source by which all is properly perceived. As Cicero taught, the existence of a highest good requires that every human desire, when it is aimed at something less, will remain unsatisfied. Thus, any pursuit that follows one’s perception of something to be the highest good when it is in fact not is ultimately meaningless. In sum, scripture reveals that God is the author of human happiness and, as author, the final good by which all desires may be properly ordered and understood.

Secondly, God must be the object of the greatest potential human pleasure, and not merely a means to some greater pleasure. Based on Aristotle’s principles, the value of a good is determined by the level of satisfaction to be experienced in the attainment of its pleasure (i.e., how much happiness it provides). Accordingly, scripture must show that God himself provides more happiness than any other good. David writes describing God in Psalm 16:11, “in your presence there is fullness of joy…” The most important feature of this verse, as it pertains to the argument at hand, is the word “fullness,” which reveals the amount of joy to be experienced in the presence of God. Simply put, “there is nothing fuller than full.” According to scripture, if the fullness of human happiness is to be experienced, then it will only happen in the presence of God. There is therefore no greater joy to be experienced than the one derived from God himself.

Lastly, if God is to be man’s highest good, then scripture will reveal the delight found in him to be unwavering. Accordingly, Habakkuk reveals God as the only source of stable, unwavering happiness, saying,

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls — yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Two implications can be drawn from this text about the nature of goods and God as man’s highest good. First, every pleasure derived from a good that is not the highest good will inevitably leave the subject unsatisfied, as every other good is subordinate to the highest. Second, the happiness that is found in God does not waver with temporal circumstances but remains when every other pleasure falls short. Thus, scripture reveals a God who provides unwavering, unshakeable, stable delight, revealing God to be man’s highest good.

The Pursuit of the Highest Good

Before making the case that man’s highest good fulfills his chief end, it is appropriate to determine how man should pursue his highest good. In his Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle gives his expectation for how one should do this:

“Will not the knowledge of it, then, have a great influence on life? Shall we not, like archers who have a mark to aim at, be more likely to hit upon what is right? If so, we must try, in outline at least, to determine what it is...for it is this that ordains which of the sciences should be studied in a state, and which each class of citizens should learn and up to what point they should learn them…it legislates as to what we are to do and what we are to abstain from…so that this end must be the good for man” (Aristotle, Book 1.2).1

Aristotle notes that when this highest good is discovered, it should become the foremost effort of society to pursue it, since it will enable mankind to flourish most completely. Thus, a pursuit of the highest good will involve intentionally ordering everything in one’s life toward that object on the basis that it will provide the most happiness. Additionally, it will involve abstaining from anything that hinders or distracts from the pursuit of the highest good.

It follows then that, if God is man’s highest good, scripture will call for that same action to be taken in pursuit of him. The New Testament necessitates this kind of action from believers in passages such as Matthew 6:33, which commands the ordering of all life toward God’s kingdom first; Colossians 3:1–2, which demands the intellectual reorientation of the mind toward heavenly things; and Hebrews 12:1–2, which calls for actively stripping away whatever hinders that pursuit. In each case, the Bible commands what Aristotle portrays as the rational response to discovering the highest good. Therefore, the Bible clearly demands that believers align with what is expected from one in pursuit of man’s highest good.

Scripture has made the case: God is not merely one pleasure among many — he is the source, the fullest expression, and the only unwavering ground of human happiness. But knowing what the highest good is and knowing how it connects to man’s deepest purpose are two different things. That’s where Part 3 concludes the series, and where the apparent conflict between happiness and glory finally dissolves as both find their fulfillment within one another.

This article is Part 1 of a series based on my Durrington Award-winning essay — Human Happiness and the Glory of God: Does the Pursuit of Man’s Highest Good Fulfill His Chief End?

The essay begins with a notion that quietly shapes a lot of Christian thinking: the idea that to truly glorify God, you must set aside your own happiness. It assumes that, in fulfilling one’s purpose, happiness is, at best, unrelated, and at worst, in competition. This series will challenge that assumption from the ground up. But before the argument can be made, the terms have to be understood. What is meant by “highest good”? What is man’s “chief end”? And what does it actually mean to glorify God? Part 1 of this series lays that foundation.

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Introduction

There is a suspicion in modern-day Christian living that the pursuit of one’s own happiness is opposed to the pursuit of God’s glory. This assumes that, in aiming to show God as glorious, one must neglect his own pleasure. Under this view, a very devout man may surrender nothing short of all he has for the sake of accomplishing his pursuit to glorify God through obedience. As he does this, he will not find himself seeking what will make him happy, but rather, what the Creator demands. This understanding does not claim that happiness is a sinful or worthless experience. Rather, happiness would instead be regarded as nonessential and therefore not an aim in man’s purpose. In holding to this perception, one interprets the pursuit of happiness to be a self-centered pursuit, and the pursuit of glorifying God to be a God-centered one.

This paper argues that this understanding is mistaken because it 1) does not properly interpret man’s highest good and, by this, 2) wrongly separates the pursuit of man’s highest good from the pursuit of achieving his chief end. On the contrary, this essay claims that the pursuit of man’s highest good–rightly defined as delight in God himself–does not oppose the pursuit of his chief end, but rather, fulfills it.

The essay includes four major areas to establish its thesis. First, it defines key terms, connects them to their historical origins, and relays their theological purpose. Second, it reveals man’s highest good as God himself. Third, it showcases how one pursues his highest good. And lastly, this essay displays that a delight in God logically results in his glorification, and therefore fulfills man’s chief end. This progression should ultimately conclude that man’s highest good and the fulfillment of his chief end do not run in opposite directions, but instead, are mutually dependent.

Defining the Terms and Their History

The phrase “highest good” is the English translation of the Latin phrase “summum bonum.” The highest good is a philosophical concept that describes the proper object toward which all desires and their resulting actions should be ordered. Historically, the concept was conceived by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. In 350 B.C.E., he composed his primary work, Nicomachean Ethics, in which he examined virtue ethics and sought to discover the “eudaimonia” (the highest human good). In his opening statements, he claims,

“every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim…But where such arts fall under a single capacity…the ends of the master arts are to be preferred to all the subordinate ends; for it is for the sake of the former that the latter are pursued…If, then, there is some end of the things we do, which we desire for its own sake (everything else being desired for the sake of this), and if we do not choose everything for the sake of something else (for at that rate the process would go on to infinity, so that our desire would be empty and vain), clearly this must be the good and the chief good” (Aristotle, Book 1.1).1

In essence, Aristotle notes that every pursuit, by desire or by action, aims at meeting some good in its completion. He determined that there must be some final good for which every other good is pursued. Additionally, that which is the highest good is the object which is in itself most valuable, and, therefore, is not instrumentally valuable as a means to pursue some other end. Later, this concept was popularized by Roman orator and philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero, who wrote a book titled De Finibus Bonorum et Malorum (On the Ends of Good and Evil). Daniel Dal Monte, Ph.D., observes Cicero’s understanding of the highest good, stating,

“It is not as though we move from good to good, with no higher unity connecting our various experiences…Underlying all these activities is an aspiration towards a state of complete flourishing and beatitude, i.e. happiness” (Dal Monte).2

Dal Monte affirms Cicero’s argument that for any of our pursuits toward happiness to have actual meaning, they are contingent on the existence of a singular highest good, an end in which all desires properly ordered will rest as satisfied. Therefore, the highest good is the resting place of desire because it supplies the best possible state of being for man, and the pursuit of it is equal to the pursuit of true and final happiness.

The phrase “chief end” describes man’s ultimate purpose. To name something “man’s chief end” is to name that thing the very ground for which he exists. Thus, man is living out his purpose when he ultimately pursues what he was created to accomplish. Although the roots of its concepts tie back to Aristotle’s writings in Nicomachean Ethics, this exact phrase was conceived by the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “a summary of Christian doctrine…written by the Westminster Assembly in London over 350 years ago” (Beveridge, Banner of Truth).3 The first placement of the Catechism states, “What is the chief end of man?… Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever” (Westminster Assembly).4 The Catechism suggests then that man exists for a purpose: glorifying God and enjoying him. Later, Jonathan Edwards, an American Puritan preacher and one of the leading figures of the First Great Awakening, explored and developed the catechism in more detail. In his dissertation titled, The End for Which God Created the World, Edwards argues that God’s purpose for creating the world rests in the pursuit of his own glory. From this, Edwards concludes that, if God’s aim in creating the world was to bring about his glory, man’s chief end is to glorify God. In other words, the world and everything in it exists for the purpose of glorifying God. In conclusion, man’s chief end is rightly understood as man’s ultimate and final purpose for existence.

Glory, as it pertains to God, describes his majesty, dignity, and honor. In this sense, God’s glory is not something that is given, but rather is possessed and preserved only by God’s own merit. Separate from this, when the scriptures speak of man giving glory to God or glorifying him, the words typically refer to the recognition of God’s glory. According to Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, “God is glorified, when such his excellency, above all things, is with due admiration acknowledged.” Consequently, God is worthy to be glorified because of his glory. Thus, if it is to be said that man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, then his ultimate aim, rightly ordered, should be to acknowledge God as he is, and therefore glorify him accordingly.

So, we now have the vocabulary: the highest good, the chief end, and what it means to glorify. But vocabulary alone doesn’t resolve the tension. The real question remains — What exactly is man’s highest good? In Part 2, I attempt to answer this question, as it changes everything about how we understand true happiness.

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Defining Happiness:

First, it is helpful to give a brief definition of happiness. Oxford English Dictionary defines happiness as “The state of being happy; pleasure, contentment, or joy.” Additionally, it defines the word happy as “Feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.”

Hopefully, it has already caught your attention that the word joy is included in the first definition. Joy is also listed as a synonym for the word happy, along with the words “glad” and “delight.” In summary, happiness is the experience of feeling pleasure, enjoyment, and contentment.

Defining Joy:

To biblically define joy properly, it must be understood as a fruit of the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are those things which the Spirit produces in the life of the believer. They are essentially the character traits of a heart that has been transformed as the Christian “walk[s] by the Spirit” (Gal 5:16-25). So then, if joy is a fruit (or product) of the Spirit, it cannot be something we produce by our own effort. Instead, joy is given. It has a cause, and that cause is outside of our own power.

The definition of joy I have enjoyed most comes from John Piper. He states, “Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.” The purpose of defining joy as a “good feeling” is to distinguish it from the belief that joy is an idea or a conviction. Joyful is not something that we cognitively decide to be. On the contrary, there must be something that leads to our joyfulness.

Scripture supports this by representing joy as a response to something good:

“For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.” (Psa 92:4)

“I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.” (Jer 31:13)

“The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psa 19:8)

Therefore, scripture does not portray joy as a state of mind we force upon ourselves. Rather, joy is the heart’s glad reaction to the knowledge of something pleasing.

Are They Synonymous?

So, the question appears; does the Bible treat happiness as separate from joy? Is it the case that happiness is a worldly experience and joy is a Christian one? To that, I say, no.

Based on its definition, happiness is a reactive feeling consisting of pleasure or enjoyment. Biblically, joy is represented as the heart’s glad reaction to something pleasing. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that both joy and happiness are reactive feelings of gladness produced by something outside of ourselves that we find enjoyable.

With that, I reinforce the framework that holds that, by definition, joy and happiness involve the affections of the heart (or emotions). Calling happiness a feeling does not seem to be a point of debate, but I have heard many argue that joy operates outside the realm of emotion. However, joy is derived from an exterior source of pleasure, just like any other feeling. Thus, it seems remiss to claim joy to be exempt from emotion. After all, “If a person is joyful, then he or she is happy. There’s no such thing as glum joy. We cannot drain joy of emotion and still call it ‘joy.’”1

John Piper adopts this understanding in his book, When I Don’t Desire God:

“In this book I will use many words for joy without precise distinctions: happiness, delight, pleasure, contentment, satisfaction, desire, longing, thirsting, passion, etc.

I am aware that all of these words carry different connotations for different readers. Some people think of happiness as superficial and joy as deep. Some think of pleasure as physical and delight as aesthetic. Some think of passion as sexual and longing as Personal.

So I signal from the outset that the Bible does not divide its emotional language that way. The same words (desire, pleasure, happiness, joy, etc.) can be positive sometimes and negative sometimes, physical sometimes and spiritual sometimes. That is the approach I take.

Any of these words can be a godly experience of the heart, and any of them can be a worldly experience of the heart.”

Ultimately, it does not seem that happiness is all that distinct from joy. Both are pleasure-filled experiences of the heart, and its affections (or emotions). Both are felt in response to something we enjoy. Maybe it comes after a hug, a compliment, or a gift. Maybe it’s after a job offer, or some good news about one’s medical condition. Or maybe the feeling comes to a person after receiving the news of Christ’s sacrifice. Regardless of the feeling’s source, the two are not absent from one another. Where joy is felt, so is happiness, and vice versa. The two are not mutually exclusive. Joy and happiness are biblical synonyms.

The Dilemma:

Now, if we are to accept the two as synonyms, then we must find a way to apply scripture’s expectations for our joy to the term happiness as well. Scripture calls us to “rejoice always” (Phil 4:4) and be “sorrowful yet always rejoicing” (2 Cor 6:10). But is it possible to always be happy? Can our happiness coexist with our sorrow?

Scripture gives an eye-opening response to this question by way of Habakkuk, who states:

17 When the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines; when the olive trees do not produce and the fields yield no crops; when the sheep disappear from the pen and there are no cattle in the stalls—

18 I will rejoice because of the Lord;
I will be happy because of the God who delivers me!

(Hab 3:17-18, NET)

To rephrase Habbakuk’s sentiment: “even when everything is going wrong, I will still be happy because God has made me glad!” How can we be happy when everything we have on earth falls apart? Only by the God who has welcomed us into the unchanging stability of a relationship with himself. He promises his provision, and by our trust in him and his continued working, our happiness can persist, even in sorrow.

The Biblical Distinction:

The Bible, then, does not call happiness a worldly experience and joy a Godly one. Instead, it differentiates between joy (or happiness) derived from God and joy derived from the World. Scripture calls us to happiness, not rooted in our circumstances, but in the unchanging knowledge of God.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” (Phil 4:4)

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. (Psa 13:5)

“I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love…” (Psalm 31:7)

“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 14:17)

There is temporary happiness, and there is eternal happiness. One is derived from the ever-changing world that never satisfies, and one is from the fountain of joy himself (Psa 16:11). The distinction the Bible makes is not between our concepts of happiness and joy, but instead, a delight in the world and a superior delight in God.

Why It Matters:

At this point, I am left to give a reason for this article. Why does it matter how we define joy? How detrimental to our faith is the line we use to separate joy from happiness? While there are many reasons as to why the proper understanding is so important, I will supply what I believe to be the most pivotal: I want to be happy, and God wants to be glorified.

So first: I want to be happy. There is no avoiding it. Michael Rucker wants to feel pleasure. In fact, almost all of the decisions I make in life revolve around my happiness. When I am cold, I put on a jacket. When I am tired, I go to bed. When I am thirsty, I find water. You are probably no different; equipped with an innate drive to seek satisfaction, whether immediate or future. God gave us this drive, and it was not by mistake. Consequently, sin operates at the level of desire as well (Jas 1:14-15). No one sins because they are obligated to do so. So why do we sin? Because it feels good! It makes us happy.

Simultaneously, God wants to be glorified. To glorify God is to acknowledge His supreme worth and display it by honoring Him in thought, word, and action. God calls us to glorify him hundreds of times throughout Scripture (John 15:8, Matthew 5:16, 1 Corinthians 10:31, Romans 11:36, 1 Peter 4:11, Psalm 86:12, Psalm 115:1, Isaiah 24:15, Isaiah 42:12, Revelation 4:11, Revelation 15:4, Philippians 2:11).

Now, what does this mean for us? There is no displaying the supreme worth of God if we choose sin over him. But, if sin is pleasing and makes us happy, how do we resist it? Does the Christian’s obedience to God’s commands rely on the eradication of our happiness?

Jesus supplies the answer in Matthew 13:44:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Notice how the man did not sell all that he had out of obligation, but out of joy. How? He knew the value of the field! In the same way, God does not call us to eliminate the pursuit of happiness from our lives. No—he calls us to know his worth and find a more pleasing experience of happiness in him!

When we extract the feeling of happiness from joy, we remove our obligation to enjoy God and delight in him. The result we are left with is nothing more than a group of employees who dislike their boss, but do what he says so they can get paid. What glory do we bring to a God whom we do not enjoy? Jonathan Edwards states, “God is glorified not only by His glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in.”2 Thus, if God is truly as satisfying as he claims to be, then the thought of losing everything we have for the sake of gaining him becomes nothing more than a forgotten penny in the pocket of a trillionaire.

In fact, Paul embraces this exact perspective in Philippians 3:8, where he states,

“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

So, how exactly does Jesus answer our question? It seems that happiness is not our problem when it comes to sin. Rather, our problem is that we are sacrificing the fountain of pleasure for the streams. In the words of C.S. Lewis, “If we consider the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak.”3

We want to be happy, and God wants to be glorified. The solution: a heart that has been made happy in God. In the words of John Piper, “God gets the glory, and we get the joy.” When God becomes our greatest pleasure and the source of our happiness, he is shown to be more glorious than anything else.

Conclusion:

If I have not persuaded you that happiness is synonymous with joy, then I hope I have at least convinced you of the necessity of a heart that is glad in God. For if we do not fight sin by our happiness in God, we will inevitably fall into the fleeting joys of lesser pleasures. The man who knows God’s glory most intimately is the man who is most happy. Do not settle for lesser pleasures. Be glad in God!

Why did he create the world? Why does God love us? Why does he long for us to be with him? Why does he forgive those who neglect him and betray him? Why does he hear their cries and guide their steps? The world will come to its own conclusions. So will many dry, joyless Christians who do not delight in the truth of God’s Word. But the satisfied who “is like a tree planted by streams of water” whose “leaf does not wither” (Psalm 1:3); he will find joy in who God reveals himself to be.

The answer to these questions ultimately determines something about God. Is there something special about us that God can’t live without? Or, is there a purpose God aims to accomplish outside of us? If the former, God is reliant on us. But if the latter, then therein lies something powerful and lovely to be understood about who God is. One text of scripture that answers this is Psalm 25. Through David’s lens, our eyes are opened to a glorious vision of God’s purpose for turning to us and heeding our cries.

First, Our Need

David begins his appeal in verse one: “To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” Throughout the chapter, he makes several pleas to God. He calls on God to forgive his sins and deal kindly with him, saying, “Do not let me be ashamed”, “Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; According to Your lovingkindness, remember me,” and “Turn to me and be gracious to me, For I am alone and afflicted.” He also asks God for transformation, saying, “Make me know Your ways…teach me Your paths,” and “Lead me in Your truth” (vs. 4-5). Additionally, he does not go without asking the Lord to bless him, saying: “Keep my soul and deliver me” (vs. 20), “Let integrity and uprightness guard me” (vs. 21). David is so confident in his plea before God that he even declares, “My eyes are continually toward Yahweh, For He will bring my feet out of the net” (vs. 15).

Now, it goes without saying that David had some serious guilt on his record. Hopefully, when we look at ourselves, we are self-aware enough to find ourselves in the same position: hopeless and in need of lovingkindness. We will perish without it (Psalm 73:27, Rom 6:23, Luke 13:3). So then, we ask: How does a sinner, fully aware of his own failure, come into the presence of an infinitely perfect God? What knowledge does David lean on that God will heed his cry and bless him?

Our Hope

He tells us the answer in verse 2: “O my God, in You I trust.” David does not implore God without hope. Instead, he comes cowering into God’s presence, trusting the mercy God has promised to the righteous.

If we truly know the depth of our own sin, and if we grasp the God of scripture, how could we ever enter his presence if we could not trust him to forgive us or to even hear our prayer? This would surely make our souls decay from the inside out. We would spiral into constant anxiety and instability, fueled by the uncertainty of our souls’ security (Jas 1:6-8). In other words, we cannot be happy if our souls are not at peace with God. And we cannot be at peace unless we trust God’s promise to hear, forgive, and bless us. Oh, how pleasant to trust the promises of God!

The Need for Why

Now, I could end this article here and simply tell you how glad it should make us to know that we can trust God’s promises. However, that would only tell you that we should and not why. The absence of the why behind God’s promise-keeping removes the ground to plant our trust in. Without it, our trust in God will turn to self-reliance, and we will end up doubting our worthiness to be heard, forgiven, and blessed.

How we need the unchanging knowledge of God to plant our trust in! Without it, we will surely lose trust in the storms of this life, and therefore, lose the joy that our confidence gives us to go before God. So, to preserve our gladness in trusting God to grant us mercy and grace to the humble, we must understand why God does so.

What His Purpose is Not

Now, we often halt our focus at the overwhelmingly marvelous sacrifice of Christ. It is certainly right for us to do so, as his sacrifice is what preserves our standing before God. However, David digs deeper to reveal the motivation behind such a mercy as the one Christ died to give.

First, it must be recognized what his purpose is not. We must not be so prideful as to have a view of God that, because he has saved us, he is required to incline his ear to us. May we eliminate the thought that turns God’s mercy into a transaction where God owes us his due. God’s purpose for his promise of welcoming sinners into his presence is not to appease a duty. He reminded Job in his plea for reason, “Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me” (Job 41:11). Who are we to hold a receipt over the head of the maker of our very minds (Job 38:36)?

Now, certainly, God will keep his promises and do what he has determined: “I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips,” says the Lord (Psalm 89:34). But rest assured, God’s upholding of his promise to grant his presence will not be motivated by obligation. So, rather than being motivated by us, he is motivated by something about himself.

For His Own Glory

In verses 7 and 11, David reveals and exalts this purpose for God’s hearing, forgiving, and blessing of his people.

7 Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;

According to Your lovingkindness remember me,

For the sake of Your goodness, O Yahweh.

11 For Your name’s sake, O Yahweh,

Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

David trusts that God will meet his request on the basis that God is always in pursuit of displaying his glory. John Piper supports this principle in his book, Desiring God, by stating, “In everything he does, his purpose is to preserve and display that glory…God’s glory is the greatness and worth and beauty of his manifold perfections…[which] signifies a reality of infinite greatness and worth.” So then, when God hears, forgives, and blesses us, he does so to make himself look great (glorious). From this, we are made happy to know that we can always trust God to answer our call. Why? Because it displays his glory!

Now, for God, making himself look great means making himself look as he really is. David affirms this in verse 8, saying, “Good and Upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way.” Paul displays this principle in 1 Timothy 1:16, stating, “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.” So, God’s purpose in all that he does is to bring about his glory. If you are still not convinced, I have left a list of scriptures that support this theological principle at the bottom of this article.

Now, does this make God unrighteous for being so self-interested? After all, does he not condemn our self-centeredness repeatedly throughout scripture? “[Love] does not seek its own…” (1 Cor 13:5). The difference between God and us is that there is nothing more valuable or supreme than God himself. God would not be supremely valuable if he esteemed something as more worthy than the pursuit of his own glory. “God would be unrighteous if he valued anything more than what is supremely valuable. But he himself is supremely valuable…It is right to take delight in a person in proportion to the excellence of that person’s glory.”1 This is why it is right for God to seek his own glory.

How God’s Pursuit of His Glory Makes Us Glad

So then, how can our hearts find joy in this knowledge of the one true God? To me, the knowledge that “God’s ultimate goal is to preserve and display his infinite and awesome greatness and worth and beauty”2 is what allows me to gladly call on God, without fear that I will be turned away or left unforgiven. How can I be sure he will show me mercy? Because he seeks to show his glory! Without this knowledge, there is nothing stable for me to hold onto. God will never look at our spiritual performance and find so much favor in us that it will motivate him to answer our call. Rather, God will, “Remember [his] compassion and [his] lovingkindness” and “remember me, for the sake of [his] goodness” (Ps 25:6-7).

Oh, how happy it should make us to know that God will always do what brings him glory! How soothing to know that he will unfailingly do what displays his lovingkindness and mercy! How glad to know that God will never break his promise to hear and forgive and bless us because by keeping it, he will show his unfailing power of perfection! This is the ground that God gives us to plant our trust in: the knowledge that he will always do what brings him glory.

May the knowledge of God’s pursuit of his own glory make your heart glad!

Scripture to support God’s glory as his ultimate pursuit:

• Ex 7:5; 14:4, 17-18; 1 Sam 12:22; Ps 23:3; Ps 106:7-8; Isa 42:8; Isa 43:6-7; Isa 48:9-11; John 12:27-28; Romans 9:17; Romans 11:36; Phil 2:9-11; Colossians 1:16; 1 Pet 4:11; Rev 4:11.

The effect of its source results in those qualities that make it so distinct. While happiness which proceeds from the world is dependent on circumstances which are so often out of our control, the happiness of a Christian is made stable by the trust we have in the one who controls all things. Where the happiness that the world offers aims at providing constant stimulation, Christian joy provides stable satisfaction. When the world’s pleasures seem desirable in the moment, God grants the righteous the gift of Himself as the fountain from which all desires come. Truly, the life of a Christian is the happy life. Now, by “happiness” I do not mean superficial cheerfulness or emotional ease, but the deep, settled joy that scripture locates in communion with God. Or, as the Puritans called it: the affection of joy. And while this happiness will not look the same as the world’s idea of happiness, it will both outlast and overcome it because of the beauty and eternality of its source.

To me, Psalm 16 is a narrative from David of the happiness he has experienced in the Lord and a call for God’s protection of it. The chapter is probably most referred to for verse 11, which provides us with the doctrine of God’s blessedness as perfectly happy in himself: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” This displays both the nature of the fountain from which all the streams of joy come (Jer 2:13) and the experience of knowing God (Phil 3:8). Certainly, the knowledge of God and the tasting of his sweetness is the fullness of our pleasure in life, but how do we sustain the experience of it? What is this God-supplied joy reliant on? From this chapter alone, I think David provides three God-given spiritual practices that sustain this experience of joy.

1. We Must Set Ourselves to See the Joy-giver.

David makes several proclamations throughout the text regarding his knowledge of who God is (the fountain of true joy) and the actions he takes to see him as such. In verse 2, he sees God and therefore knows him as his source of happiness, where he states, “I have no good apart from you,” as well as in verse 11. He also remembers the experience of the knowledge of God and its pleasures in verse 6, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance”, verse 7, “the Lord who gives me counsel”, and verse 9, “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.” How does David expect his knowledge of God and of the experience of his joy to persist? By setting the Lord before him always. David does not expect his joy to be preserved outside of an active effort to place God before him that he may see and soak up the goodness that has been revealed.

This is certainly the importance of active Bible reading for the Christian today. If God is the fountain of joy, then his word is the cup he has given us to drink from (Psalm 119:103). Christians lose their happiness when they lose their access to the tasting of the fountain. John Owens puts it like this: “By beholding the glory of Christ by faith we shall find rest to our souls. Our minds our apt to be filled with troubles, fears, cares, dangers, distresses, ungoverned passion and lusts. By these, our minds are filled with chaos, darkness and confusion. But where the soul is fixed on the glory of Christ then the mind finds rest and peace for “to be spiritually minded is peace” (The Glory of Christ, 1684).

2. We Must Recall the Sorrow of the Wicked.

Because of our indwelling sin (the sinful pull of the flesh and its desires that affect the Christian even after regeneration), we must remind ourselves of the “sorrows of those who run after another god” as David did in verse 4: “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.” David preserves this adamant refusal to collaborate with the wicked by not only reminding himself of the true joy of the Lord but also of the sorrow that comes with their life.

One of my favorite tools in the fight against sin’s temptations is the imagination. The imagination is always at work in us when making our decisions about what we will do. When sin approaches, and I feel the urge to give in to the momentary pleasures of it, it seems so attractive because of the pleasure I imagine it will bring me. But then, I am presented with a further step: “Will I imagine the sorrow that comes in its end?” The father in Proverbs 5 and 7 reveals this principle by calling to his son’s imagination, the end of his lust. Scott Hubbard writes, “Before, the son had seen the forbidden woman dressed scantily on the corner, her couch covered with linens, her bed perfumed — lust wearing makeup. Now, he sees her black-robed and holding a sickle, her couch a sinkhole to hell, her bed an open coffin”(Desiring God, 2023). Oh, that we will remind ourselves of the riches of the righteous life and the sorrow of the wicked life! How much more joyful would we be if our happiness did not depend on momentary stimulation but on the satisfaction of the wisdom we employ in the pursuit of God’s promises?

3. We Must Rely on the Sovereign Grace of God.

Finally, David recognizes the provider and protector of this joy, without which there can be no cause for joy to begin with, and there would be no persistence of it in the face of failure. In verse 1, David cries, “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge,” and in verse 8 he states that he has only “set the Lord always before him” on the basis that, “he is at my right hand, [and] I shall not be shaken.” Oh, that we know our need for God to preserve our joy! May we never trust our hearts to remain steadfast to the joy of the Lord by our own willpower, for even David, the man after God’s own heart, knew his heart was not so stable. In Psalm 51, right after David commits his sin with Bathsheeba, he calls on God, saying, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” As Christians, we should already know God to be the source of our joy as it proceeds from his Spirit (Gal 5:22). How we need to be on our knees like David if we ever expect to feel the happiness we ought to feel in our seeing of God!

Additionally, for the Christian, this happiness is dependent on the bedrock of our justification by Christ’s death. Justification is first and foremost a legal declaration made by God on behalf of a soul. When we are justified before God, we are declared righteous in order to be brought out of our deserved alienation from God. John Piper states, “That’s what the word justify means: not make just, but declare just. We can see this in Luke 7:29 where the people “justified God”! That is, they declared that he was just. They didn’t make him just. The difference [with us] is that we are sinners and do not have righteousness of our own” (When I Don’t Desire God, 2004). David does not claim his joy to be a product of his own righteousness. Rather, David claims his joy to be the product of the righteousness that God has preserved in grace, despite his sin. We see this claim in verses 9 and 10, which state, “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”

How joyless a people we would be if our justification were based on our own righteousness and not held in place by Christ’s. Rather, we are granted to experience the happiness of Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Praise God for the peace he has brought us, which enables our happiness in his grace!

Conclusion:

When God himself is our joy, our soul’s happiness will no longer be fragile or superficial, but rooted and sustained: sustained by our setting ourselves to see his glory, reminding ourselves of the sorrow of sin, and relying on his sustaining of our joy and the security of it he provides through Christ. May we always fight for joy!