What it Means to Enter into His Gates with Thanksgiving 

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, And into his courts with praise: Be thankful unto him, and bless his name (Psalm 100:4 KJV)

It is the rare Christian who has not used the words of this verse or at least heard them in a sermon. But two keywords in this verse are crucial to apprehend and appropriate the meaning of this verse thoroughly. First is the verb enter, and the second is the proposition with. As we briefly examine these two words, I pray the Spirit opens your eyes to see depths in this verse for your next level of intimacy with Him.

The Psalmist uses the imagery of worshippers entering the gates of the Temple in Jerusalem to come before the presence of God in the Holy of Holies. In this scene, the Psalmist encourages the worshippers to come with thanksgiving and praise. Typically, the worshippers will enter the Temple with various sacrifices(animal and plant products). Still, by the Spirit’s leading, the Psalmist saw the prophetic fulfillment of those rituals in the age to come: instead of the usual sacrifices to God, he urged the people to come with thanksgiving and praise.

This imagery climaxes in the term “enter .” To enter means to come or go into a place(typically a building) through a door. Although “enter” was literal for the Jews in the Old Testament, entering the physical Temple is both symbolic and prophetic to us in the New Testament. Heb. 9:24 explains this truth vividly:

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24 ESV)

Christ entered the real heaven into the very presence of God. He did not physically move from one place to another place called heaven. Instead, He entered heaven in the spiritual sense of approaching God’s presence, accessing the Father, and fellowshipping with Him. As Christians, we enter God’s presence in two distinct ways. First, at salvation, we come in to establish fellowship with God forever. The second sense is approaching or accessing God’s presence in a practical sense, as mentioned in Hebrews 4:16. For more on this topic, please see these related devotionals on this subject 

In the second sense of practically approaching or communing with God’s presence, four prepositions reveal the mysteries of the verb “enter” here—into, by, with, and in. While into emphasizes what is on the other side, God’s presence, the prepositions by or through focus on the door or gate leading into that presence. That door or the way is none else but our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether in salvation or communing with God, it is by Jesus that we approach the Father.

As we enter into the presence by Jesus Christ, we must also enter with something in our hands. In the OT, the worshippers, including the priests, entered with ceremonial sacrifices like sheep. But in the New Testament, we enter with the sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving, and worship. Our praise and thanksgiving are the gifts in our hands or our mouths that we bring into God’s presence. See how the ideas of the propositions by and with are beautifully woven in Hebrews 13:15; especially note how our praise to God is through Him(Jesus).

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Hebrews 13:15 ESV)

Therefore praise and thanksgiving, contrary to what we often assume, are not the means by which we enter in but the gifts in our hands( or mouths!). This beautiful picture illustrates the essence of our duties as God’s priests in the New Testament.

While into focuses on the presence we come into, the preposition in focuses on the activity that brings us into that presence. Hebrews  10:22 says, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (H ESV). We enter in or come in faith. Furthermore, Hebrews 4:16 also reveals we come in the fellowship of prayer as we bring our requests to God. So faith and prayer are two crucial activities that practically bring us to the throne of grace.

In conclusion, we enter into God’s presence by Jesus with the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. I cannot overemphasize this: if you want to grow in a practical experience of God’s presence every day and every time, this truth should be wired into every fiber of your being!

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What are the two ways in which believers enter into God’s presence?

You no longer need to travel to Jerusalem to enter the Temple and come before God’s presence! In Anyplace, at any time, and in any circumstance, you can enter into that presence to find grace to help in time of need(Heb. 4:16) and give the Father the most precious and delightful human gift He seeks to receive—our praise, thanksgiving, and worship(John 4:23).

Ask the Father to teach you how to function in your role as His priest.

Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the Lord which sanctify you. (Leviticus 20:7–8, KJV)

As the Great I AM that I AM, God revealed Himself as the Lord who sanctifies His people in the Old Covenant—Jehovah Mekaddishkem. But this was only a shadow of something greater that was coming in the New Testament.

Jehovah Mekaddishkem is the English transliteration of the Hebrew words for “I am the Lord which sanctify you” ( “mekaddish” = sanctify, “kem” = you). Divine names and titles in the Old Testament often reveal an aspect of God in relation to His people.

There are three keywords that underlie the meaning of sanctification: “wash,” “consecrate,” and “separate.” Sanctification essentially means to make something holy. Sinlessness is a core aspect of holiness, but there is more to holiness than sinlessness. It is the very nature of God. However, when used in reference to us humans, it means to be cleaned from sin, set apart for God, and consecrated to Him.

In the passage above, God tells the people first to sanctify themselves and then reveals He is the One who sanctifies them. Thus, He gives us the two sides of sanctification—the God side and the human side. There’s something God does and something His people do for their sanctification.

This truth was only a shadow in the Old Testament. It is in Christ that we see God fully revealed as Jehovah Mekaddishkem to His people through the sanctifying work on the cross. In speaking to the Corinthians, Paul revealed,

“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11, KJV)

This is Jehovah Mekaddishkem fulfilled in Christ: We were washed and sanctified. Note that these are in past tense, describing something God has already done. The day you received Christ, you received the bath of your life, a heavenly bath by the Spirit of God that removed every stain of sin through the precious blood of Christ. And as you continue to live on earth, the Spirit continues to sanctify you daily.

Following the sanctifying work He has already done in us, He commands us,

“For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, KJV)

Now that you are clean, washed, and sanctified, He tells us to put that sanctification to work outwardly. Paul explicit states it is what God wants—His will. He gives us a very specific example of sanctification here: abstain from sexual immorality. Few things defile us, like sexual impurity. But sanctification certainly includes more than abstaining from fornication or adultery. As above, it includes living a consecrated and separated life to God daily in the way we talk, act, think, feel, and handle our bodies.

He is Jehovah Mekaddishkem, the God who has Sanctified you in Christ and continues to sanctify you every day.

Meditate

Is our sanctification completed, ongoing, or both?

Apply the Word

This is the crucial part of this devotional. Until you receive the truth that God has already sanctified you by His Spirit, you will not be empowered to be sanctified practically. Put God’s sanctification power to work in your life daily by faith in the finished work of Christ.

Pray

Ask the Lord to help you in your daily walk of sanctification.

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