Romans 3:25 English Standard Version (ESV)  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.

Propitiation means acceptable substitute, His death for ours, atoning for our sins. This is only acceptable by faith in Christ. Belief without faith is no belief at all. The intellectual acceptance by a reasoning mind does not allow us to “enter into His rest”.

Romans 6:3 English Standard Version (ESV) Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Intellect cannot show you how to enter into His death. Only faith can lead you there. This partaking of the bread of life, the life, death, and resurrection can only happen by faith.

2 Peter 1:4 English Standard Version (ESV) by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

Intellect only wants to escape punishment. Faith desires to escape corruption by partaking in the divine nature which is only accessible by faith.

Hebrews 10:19-20 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Full Assurance of Faith

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,

This portion of Hebrews was entitled “The Full Assurance of Faith” to emphasize that the only assurances we have are by faith. Our intellect will not get us into the faith promises.

Isaiah 53:4 English Standard Version (ESV)  Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

John 6:51 English Standard Version (ESV) I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

I have listed several verses about how good the Lord tastes. Look to the response by the Jews of Jesus’ day about the comment above.

v52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

v60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

Their understanding was taught to them by men who declared this to be a violation of the law. They had no basis of understanding to accept His words. The reasons for that goes all the way back to the Exodus and why all but two died in the wilderness that had escaped Egypt.

Hebrews 4:2 English Standard Version (ESV) For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.

Without faith to unite the Old Testament questions with the New Testament answers, there can be no fulfilment of the promise and why God said; v3 “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” There is no entering into this new covenant without faith in Christ.

Romans 14:23 English Standard Version (ESV) But whoever has doubts is condemned if he eats, because the eating is not from faith. For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

Faith comes first.

Ephesians 2:8 English Standard Version (ESV) For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Faith is the path to salvation by grace. God’s unmerited favor cannot be accessed by any other means than faith in the sacrificial atoning work of Jesus Christ on the cross.