Full life - Accepted in Christ
Faustino de Jesús Zamora Vargas
SUMMARY: The first blessing from God after being saved is being accepted in Christ through faith, not good works. Our works are a consequence of faith and the Spirit we receive in the new birth. We cannot earn God's acceptance, it is granted by his grace and love in Jesus Christ. The world accepts us for what we do, but Christ accepts us as we are and transforms us through his love. We are accepted in Christ, not by our own efforts, but by what he suffered on the cross for us. We should be grateful and live the gospel to share the love of Christ.
I am convinced that the first blessing that has come to us from God, after being saved, is that we have been accepted in Christ. Many brothers still believe that God accepts us according to our behavior and good works. This seems to be the wrong approach. Our works, if they are good, are the consequence of faith, therefore it is faith that counts for God in the first place. It is the Spirit that we receive in the new birth. Paul to the brothers in Galatia: "I just want you to answer me this: Did you receive the Spirit by the works required by the law, or by the faith with which you accepted the message?" (Ga 3.2). We are God's workmanship in Christ for good works because we have believed in Jesus. That's where acceptance comes from. We are accepted by faith, because we have borne witness to the son of God.
We cannot walk in the Christian life as if we were eternal debtors. Debtors always feel guilty, they feel as if they always have to do something to pay off debts and then gain acceptance from God again. As children of God we have been accepted by his grace and mercy. We are never going to be good enough for God with our efforts. We cannot "earn" their acceptance. God grants it to us by his grace and love in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The world accepts us for what we perform and do, for complying with the rules that it imposes on us in our daily lives. If you are successful, the world accepts you, recognizes you, puts you in eminence to exercise authority over others. Christ, on the contrary, tells you: -I accept you as you are, let my love transform you, I have blessed you to bless others -.
If we believe it this way, we bear a testimony of faith. God accepts us because we have been born again of "incorruptible" seed, of Christ who is all in all. That is the determining factor. The new "me" in Christ makes me accepted in the eyes of God: "to the praise of the glory of His grace that He has freely imparted upon us in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1.6). It is not about me, but about Jesus, about what he suffered on the cross carrying the sin of all of us to honor us with a crown of justice that we did not deserve: He who knew no sin, he made sin for us, so that we might be made righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5.21).
We carry in our soul the traces of his suffering, but it is so that we walk in the Spirit with gratitude, not to feel guilty, but accepted. Absolutely nothing we do is going to change God's perspective of us, nor is it going to change the intensity of his love. If you have ever believed that He accepts you when you "do good things," you are poeticizing the gospel. The reality is that we are accepted because we listen to his voice, we open the door of the heart by faith and we let him in to give us blessings. The gospel of Christ is not founded on your performance or mine or the disorderly desire - well intentioned - to do and do more every day, but centered on the person of Jesus Christ. He accepted us for his glory. A heart that feels accepted by God lives the gospel to share the love of Christ.
God bless you!
We cannot walk in the Christian life as if we were eternal debtors. Debtors always feel guilty, they feel as if they always have to do something to pay off debts and then gain acceptance from God again. As children of God we have been accepted by his grace and mercy. We are never going to be good enough for God with our efforts. We cannot "earn" their acceptance. God grants it to us by his grace and love in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The world accepts us for what we perform and do, for complying with the rules that it imposes on us in our daily lives. If you are successful, the world accepts you, recognizes you, puts you in eminence to exercise authority over others. Christ, on the contrary, tells you: -I accept you as you are, let my love transform you, I have blessed you to bless others -.
If we believe it this way, we bear a testimony of faith. God accepts us because we have been born again of "incorruptible" seed, of Christ who is all in all. That is the determining factor. The new "me" in Christ makes me accepted in the eyes of God: "to the praise of the glory of His grace that He has freely imparted upon us in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1.6). It is not about me, but about Jesus, about what he suffered on the cross carrying the sin of all of us to honor us with a crown of justice that we did not deserve: He who knew no sin, he made sin for us, so that we might be made righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor 5.21).
We carry in our soul the traces of his suffering, but it is so that we walk in the Spirit with gratitude, not to feel guilty, but accepted. Absolutely nothing we do is going to change God's perspective of us, nor is it going to change the intensity of his love. If you have ever believed that He accepts you when you "do good things," you are poeticizing the gospel. The reality is that we are accepted because we listen to his voice, we open the door of the heart by faith and we let him in to give us blessings. The gospel of Christ is not founded on your performance or mine or the disorderly desire - well intentioned - to do and do more every day, but centered on the person of Jesus Christ. He accepted us for his glory. A heart that feels accepted by God lives the gospel to share the love of Christ.
God bless you!
