Christ Alone: The Only True Way to Draw Near to God

In this Lenten season, many voices speak about “getting closer to God” through routines, apps, and spiritual practices. Yet Scripture is clear: nearness to God is not achieved by religious effort but through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

James 4:8 gives the biblical order: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands… and purify your hearts.” Drawing near is inseparable from repentance. It is not self-improvement; it is a turning from sin and a humble return to the living God (Isaiah 55:6–7).

The foundation of nearness is not ritual but reconciliation. Because of sin, humanity is separated from God (Isaiah 59:2). No fasting, tradition, or spiritual discipline can remove guilt. Only Christ can. Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is our great High Priest who has opened “a new and living way” to God through His own blood (Hebrews 10:19–22). We do not climb toward God; we come through Christ.

This is where the gospel must remain central. Salvation is not mediated by religious systems, saints, or human merit, but by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8–9; 1 Timothy 2:5). Any framework—even those historically emphasized within the Roman Catholic Church or elsewhere—that shifts trust from Christ’s finished work to human mediation obscures the sufficiency of the cross.

True spiritual closeness flows from:

• Repentance (Psalm 51:17)

• Confession of sin (1 John 1:9)

• Faith in Christ’s finished work (Romans 5:1–2),

• Ongoing dependence on Him (John 15:4–5)

Lent, biblically understood, should not magnify religious performance but deepen repentance and renew trust in the Savior. The goal is not spiritual mood, but restored fellowship with God through the Son. The nearer we come to Christ in faith, the nearer we truly come to God—because in Him alone we are forgiven, justified, and welcomed into the Father’s presence.