There is no other basis for acceptance with God other than that which God has decreed. We are "accepted in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:6)….Full Stop! Period! That means our Heavenly Father is fully satisfied with the person and work of the Lord Jesus for us. He has accepted His well-beloved Son and, therefore, accepts all who are in Christ. The Believer has nothing more and nothing less to present to the Father but the Lord Jesus, the Christ of God.
Have you ever felt rejected? You say, “That’s the story of my life.” Well, the pain of that can come to end right now. If you are suffering from the ache of rejection, look to Jesus. The Father sees every believer as being in Christ. We are in the same Christ who was nailed to the cross. Faith looks and says, ‘I was crucified with Him.’ Faith also sees that Christ is risen. Faith grasps that we are no longer in our sins. Faith believes that there is now therefore no damnation to those of us in Christ Jesus. Faith sees that there is no rejection from heaven in Christ.
Indeed, as we grow in grace, we learn that we are not rejects. We gain confidence and identity with the Father’s verdict concerning the Son. By faith, we see that the Father’s ruling concerning Christ’s acceptable work is reckoned also to us. If, however, we are continually looking for some quality or righteousness within us to recommend us to God, we will continue to fail and remain in the miserable turbulence of rejection.
When all is going well, and God seems to be blessing, those not rooted in the gospel feel that God must really love and accept them. But when they are stumbling, and everything seems dry and hard, then they feel that He has withdrawn His love and acceptance. But, how can this be? There was nothing about us to commend us to God in the first place. Our acceptance with the Father will always be in Christ plus nothing. We are fully accepted in the God-Man.
Christ has purged our sin with His power. He has bought us with His blood. Not only is God for us, but we also have peace with Him (Romans 5:1). Believers are not trying to obtain peace with God. We can’t obtain that which we already have. The Father has been pleased to pour His wrath on His son instead of us. Talk about being saved by grace! Not only is there no condemnation for us but we are now, in the Father’s mind, in the exalted and glorified Christ.
Everything was completed at Calvary! We don’t have to feel that, we simply believe that! Because of the doing, dying and rising again of the Lord Jesus, it is not presumptuous to claim for ourselves the titles, Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ. Because of the doing, dying and rising of Christ, rejection is dead and we are accepted.
It is in the Gospel we learn that we are accepted by God, not because of our obedience but because of the obedience another (Romans 5:19). The great mystery is how the all holy God can possibly accept us. We are, after all, corrupted and vile sinners (Psalm 148:2; Mark 7:21-23). The gospel, however, gives us the answer----Our acceptance is in Christ alone.
“Since I can hardly therefore bear
What in myself I see;
How vile and black must I appear,
Most holy God to Thee.
But since my Savior stands between,
In garments dyed in blood’
‘Tis He, instead of me, is seen,
When I approach to God.
Thus though a sinner I am safe;
He pleads before the throne,
His life and death in my behalf,
And calls my sins His own
And that’s the Gospel Truth!
Have you ever felt rejected? You say, “That’s the story of my life.” Well, the pain of that can come to end right now. If you are suffering from the ache of rejection, look to Jesus. The Father sees every believer as being in Christ. We are in the same Christ who was nailed to the cross. Faith looks and says, ‘I was crucified with Him.’ Faith also sees that Christ is risen. Faith grasps that we are no longer in our sins. Faith believes that there is now therefore no damnation to those of us in Christ Jesus. Faith sees that there is no rejection from heaven in Christ.
Indeed, as we grow in grace, we learn that we are not rejects. We gain confidence and identity with the Father’s verdict concerning the Son. By faith, we see that the Father’s ruling concerning Christ’s acceptable work is reckoned also to us. If, however, we are continually looking for some quality or righteousness within us to recommend us to God, we will continue to fail and remain in the miserable turbulence of rejection.
When all is going well, and God seems to be blessing, those not rooted in the gospel feel that God must really love and accept them. But when they are stumbling, and everything seems dry and hard, then they feel that He has withdrawn His love and acceptance. But, how can this be? There was nothing about us to commend us to God in the first place. Our acceptance with the Father will always be in Christ plus nothing. We are fully accepted in the God-Man.
Christ has purged our sin with His power. He has bought us with His blood. Not only is God for us, but we also have peace with Him (Romans 5:1). Believers are not trying to obtain peace with God. We can’t obtain that which we already have. The Father has been pleased to pour His wrath on His son instead of us. Talk about being saved by grace! Not only is there no condemnation for us but we are now, in the Father’s mind, in the exalted and glorified Christ.
Everything was completed at Calvary! We don’t have to feel that, we simply believe that! Because of the doing, dying and rising again of the Lord Jesus, it is not presumptuous to claim for ourselves the titles, Heirs of God and Joint Heirs with Jesus Christ. Because of the doing, dying and rising of Christ, rejection is dead and we are accepted.
It is in the Gospel we learn that we are accepted by God, not because of our obedience but because of the obedience another (Romans 5:19). The great mystery is how the all holy God can possibly accept us. We are, after all, corrupted and vile sinners (Psalm 148:2; Mark 7:21-23). The gospel, however, gives us the answer----Our acceptance is in Christ alone.
“Since I can hardly therefore bear
What in myself I see;
How vile and black must I appear,
Most holy God to Thee.
But since my Savior stands between,
In garments dyed in blood’
‘Tis He, instead of me, is seen,
When I approach to God.
Thus though a sinner I am safe;
He pleads before the throne,
His life and death in my behalf,
And calls my sins His own
And that’s the Gospel Truth!
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