Accepting our Acceptance...

Chapter 3 talked about ACCEPTANCE.

Most all of us want to be accepted by others. And that is not always a bad thing. But we need to be careful to what extent we go to be accepted and be careful who we desire to be accepted by. But acceptance is important in a person's life.

In this chapter, Stanford says there are two questions every believer must settle on.
1. Does God fully accept me?
2. If so, on what basis does He do so?

The answers to these questions are that God does fully accept me on the basis of Christ's finished work. We are accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:5-6). We are only accepted in Jesus Christ. If we have placed our faith in Jesus Christ then we are fully accepted by God.

Now many of us would be able to give that answer if we are believers. But to understand this changes the life of the believer. Because our acceptance by God is based solely on what Christ has done, not what we have done. Even after we are saved, we are always accepted. This means even when we sin. Often as believers we think that when we sin God can no longer accept us. And this is why so many people think they have to be saved over again. But God does still accept us. We are the ones who have changed when we sin, not God. It is a matter of restoring fellowship by confessing our sin (1 John 1:9). And when we confess that sin to God, we find our acceptance with God unchanged and unchangeable. Our righteousness is not our own, it is Christ's righteousness in us. This is why God can accept us!

When we understand this, we understand that there is nothing that we can bring to God in ourselves that will make us any more accepted by God. So many Christians are trying real hard to do a lot of things for God. And they are depending on a source that cannot bring anything good-themselves. Even after we are saved, the righteousness that we have is still filthy rags in the eyes of God. So our desire instead should be that what is produced is the righteousness of Christ. And that does not come by us trying real hard to live for God, it comes by us resting in the power that God has given us and allowing Christ's life to be lived out through us as we yield to the power of the Holy Spirit in us. Darby said, "It is not that I abhor my sins...but it is 'I abhor myself.'" We must come to see self for what it is...useless, a failure. And we must learn self does not produce acceptance by God or obedience to Him. Really, depending on ourselves is another form of bondage from which we have been freed through Christ.

We as believers also sometimes think that when things are going well God is blessing us and that when things are going bad that God does not love or accept us. Many believers have a mentality that God's blessing is based on our devotion. William R. Newell says this, "To preach devotion first, and blessing second, is to reverse God's order, and preach law, not grace. The Law made man's blessing depend on devotion; Grace confers undeserved, unconditional blessing: our devotion may follow, but does not always do so-in proper measure."

Finally, Stanford deals with another issue regarding acceptance. It is hard for us to understand unconditional acceptance because that is not how we function as humans. Our acceptance of others is often based on their actions or way of life. J.W. Sanderson, Jr. gives some good thoughts regarding this. In our way of thinking,"to promise a man the certainty of his destiny may seem...like playing with fire: but this leaves God out of the picture." Unfortunately there are many who take advantage of this acceptance by God and think they can do what they want because their ticket to heaven is punched. However, this is a misunderstanding of grace and taking advantage of God. Sanderson goes on to say, "those who have the deepest appreciation of grace do not continue in sin. Moreover, fear produces the obedience of slaves; love engenders (produces) the obedience fo sons."

It is so important for the believer to understand that we have unconditional acceptance by God based on our faith in Christ because of Christ's work on our behalf. Coming to a true understanding of this will make a huge difference in our Christian life.