GOD'S ACCEPTANCE

I think it's common for people, both Christians and non-Christians, to believe that if we follow the right rules and behave in a good enough way, we can earn God's acceptance and be pleasing to him.

But, if I understand Christianity, it teaches that God's acceptance comes first: God is pleased with us because of what Jesus did on our behalf, not because of anything we've done or ever could do.

So, as a Christian, you try to behave morally not out of ambition or fear, but out of joy and love. You try to be good not because you're trying to be accepted by God, but because you've already been accepted through Jesus Christ and you gratefully realize you've done nothing to deserve it.

Tim Keller puts it like this:

"If you think, as most people do, that the way to find God is to come to church and try to be like Christ and trust the Bible and study and live in a certain way, what you're actually showing is you have no faith in the Lord Jesus at all. You have faith in yourself. You see, actually, this is what makes you a Christian: to admit that you can't trust the Bible, you can't live the way you ought to live, you can't do it. And you rest completely on what? Just the Lord Jesus. That's it. The centrality of Jesus. Everything else is second. And that's how you know you're a Christian. Do you believe it's only because of Jesus that you have a relationship with the Father? Not because you [go to church], not because you trust in the Bible, not because your doctrines are right, not because of [how you live] your life. But only because of him."

Elsewhere Keller says it's common for people to assume that accepting Jesus will transform your life from a state of war into a state of peace. But what it actually does is transform your life from a battle you can't win into a battle you can't lose. Life will always be filled with challenges and suffering, but by loving Jesus and accepting him into your heart, you will have already secured in him the only victory that ultimately matters: eternal oneness with God.

Of course, I'm just some knucklehead who listens to sermons. I'm no authority. The reason I'm sharing this is because I think if we understood the real beauty of God, there's nothing we would desire more than to know him and walk in his presence.

The good news is that if we do desire that, we can have it. It doesn't matter what we've done or who we are. All we have to do is accept Jesus as our savior; to admit that without him we are empty and with him we are full. That's it. A life of love will follow.