"The Assurance of Acceptance"

    God's grace grants to believers blessedness based upon the merits of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  He gives to us that which the Lord Jesus deserves.

    “Righteousness….shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:22; 24-25).

   God's mercy led to His Son experiencing wrath and rejection on the cross of Calvary.  He gave to Christ that which we deserve.

    “He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

    To the degree we know and embrace such blessed truth by faith will be the degree to which we avail ourselves of the freely given relationship with God we receive when we trust in Christ.  If we look to ourselves or to our own faithfulness and merit, discouragement inevitably awaits.  Conversely, if we “look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith,” consistent encouragement keeps us approaching the throne of grace (Hebrews 12:2).  Our spiritual enemies know this quite well, and thus seek to direct our attention to how we feel and whether or not we measure up to God’s standards.  Thus, we must know quite well the heart and life-changing truth of redirecting our focus upon the Lord Jesus.  Who is He?  What has He done?  What is He doing?  And what will He be doing forevermore?  Attention to these holy questions, as guided by the Scriptures, leads to the growing Christlikeness of which the Apostle Paul wrote,  “Beholding as in the glass the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (II Corinthians 3:18).

    We must relate to God in order to love, trust, obey, and communicate Him to our world.  Moreover, we must approach Him in the proper attire in order to be received.  The grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus made such relationship possible when it freely enrobed us with the necessary righteousness for our entrance into communion with God (I Corinthians 1:30).  We come through Christ always, or we do not come at all.  His Person, His merits, and His work on our behalf provide access, and the assurance of acceptance.  No truth more promises realized relationship with God, and no truth more encourages us to avail ourselves of so gracious and merciful a gift…

     “And lest the shadow of a spot should on my soul be found, He took the robe my Savior wrought, and cast it all around” (Issac Watts).

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.”
(II Corinthians 8:9)
“He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.”
(Ephesians 1:6)

Weekly Memory Verse
    For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
(Ephesians 2:18)