TAKING INVENTORY OF OUR UNDERSTANDING OF OUR ACCEPTANCE IN HIM

(Part 5)

Eph. 1:6

Morning Meditation 6/2/17

Verse 6 says, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

I have been talking about taking inventory. That can be sobering and disheartening. We only need to do it to correct our future steps. We do not do it to cannibalize ourselves. That will not help at all. And I for one could get a little discouraged over looking back. Because some of those failures have been repeated many times. And the Lord knows that some will be repeated in the future. This is where the understanding of our acceptance in Him is so important. The concept of God many have in the age of grace is simply a god of their own creation.

Have you ever noticed how you observe from a distance other’s actions. A child does something for which you think he needs correcting. The parent seems to ignore that which you would not tolerate. You become immediately critical. You think they made a mistake in not being hard on the child for that perceived wrong.

We look at Christians who do not meet our particular standard of right and wrong. And most of the time we are pretty unyielding on our concepts of right and wrong. We do not believe God is at all pleased with the failure in that other person and he will have to pay God for his failure. When we do this, we must ultimately judge ourselves by that standard. We know things about ourselves that no one else knows. So in our heart of hearts we are disturbed over our personal failures and do not believe that we will get away with it. Because the Christ we serve won’t put up with our foolishness. It is like we walk around with the fear that the ONE with the big stick is going to hit us. It is just a matter of time. That is not much of a way to live is it? And preachers have a way of supporting our ideas!!!

Let me give you an illustration of “the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” John says in John 13:1: “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.”

Jesus knew His disciples. He knew Judas would betray Him (13:2, 11). He knew Peter would deny Him. He knew all would forsake Him when the time came for Him to die. Yet, knowing all this verse one says, “He loved them unto the end.” His love was not just in word, it was in deed. He took the position of the lowly servant and washed their feet. All you have to do is the read this passage to see how this affected Peter. It was just too much for Peter to see Christ, whom he loved and respected, bowing to wash his feet. But the lesson had to be taught. Jesus insisted and Peter submitted. Verse 10 says, “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.” Clean every whit? Peter had just gotten through arguing with Jesus about washing his feet. Don’t be too hard on Peter. I have an idea we understand the argument business more than we want to admit!

Jesus washed the disciples feet just like they were perfect. This is an illustration of grace. When Jesus was raised from the dead, He met with the disciples. He specifically asked for Peter. This is brought out in Mark 16:7: “But go your way, tell his disciples AND PETER that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.” (Caps mine for emphasis).

You can read in John 21 where Jesus talked to Peter about the love of his life. He asked Peter three times “lovest thou me?” It grieved Peter and he just about came apart. Peter answered in verse 17, “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.” Right here is where most of us would have given the punch line. We would have responded, “Then why did you deny me?” Jesus said three words, “Feed my sheep.” Jesus did not so much as bring up Peter’s denial. Does this mean that Peter’s denial was not a sin? I don’t think so. He did go out and weep bitterly. Peter had already faced the fact of his failure. I believe it shattered his ego. Peter needed to learn the dimensions of God’s grace.

Gaebelein comments on the look Jesus gave Peter recorded in Luke 22:61 after he denied Him: “Was it a look of reproach? Was it a frown of displeasure which Peter saw in that beloved face? Far from it. Love in its divine perfection shone out of the eyes of the Son of God. And after His resurrection Love was still the same. There was no reproach connected with the restoration of Peter to service. In the greatest tenderness and Love he committed to His disciple, who had so shamefully denied Him, the lambs and sheep so dear to His own loving heart.” From THE CHRIST WE KNOW.

We need to take inventory of our concept of grace as we close out the old year. Paul says, “To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” It is His grace that makes us accepted in the beloved. The words “made us accepted” translates “charitoo” and means, “charming, lovely, agreeable.” It comes from a word that literally means, “to rejoice.” It is an aorist active indicative verb. The aorist tense means once for all at a point of time in the past, i.e., the point of our salvation when we were put in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). The active voice means He did it. It is not the church that did it nor us. It is God that did it. Were are we accepted. We are a source of joy to God in Christ. The little Greek preposition “en” tells us where this takes place. The preposition “in” is defined by Strong: “a primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state), and (by implication) instrumentality (medially or constructively), i.e. a relation of rest.” Every believer is in Christ. This placement by the Lord is on the basis of GRACE ALONE. No one deserves to be there. This is how God’s love and mercy is manifested to the believer. It is offered to every soul.

It is to the “praise of the glory of His grace.” The word “praise” translates “aineo” and is from a root word meaning, “to praise, extol, to sing praises in honour to God.” The word “glory” translates “doxa” and means, “opinion, one who has a good reputation.” God has gotten a good reputation with those who have been saved by His grace. This is the reason we preach and sing of grace. God deserves all our praise because He has saved us at His expense and given us eternal life in spite of the fact that we are sinners.

We should never sin at the expense of grace (Rom. 6:1-2; Gal. 5:13). But unless we accept by faith that we are accepted in Him, we will have a very up and down fellowship with Him. The problem will be on our side not His. He can do no more than He has done. He has made us “accepted in the Beloved.” He has told us that. Faith lays hold of this truth and rejoices in it. But if you say, “I just don’t believe that it is that easy.” Then it won’t be to you. The only way what God has said can become true to your experience is for you to believe it. Jesus died for all men but all men are not saved. And they won’t be because they do not believe. This is also true of believers who “believe to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10:39) but do not ACCEPT AND REST in the truth of our acceptance in Him.

This is not a new problem for believers. The children of Israel had enough faith to get them out of Egypt but not enough faith to get them into Canaan. Israel became an illustration for the author of Hebrews. He warns “brethren” (not just unsaved Jewish brethren as some erroneously teach) in Hebrews 3:12: “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you and evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.”

I want to leave this challenge with you. Enter into all that God has for you. When God says to you that you are “accepted in the beloved” accept it and begin to rejoice in the truth of it. You say, “You don’t know me. I am a mess. Every time I try to get serious about serving the Lord, I blow it.” You do not understand the power of the blood of Christ to forgive. If that is what you say you are a candidate for forgiveness and restoration. Listen, you can’t be more right that the blood of Christ makes you. You confess your sins and failures to Him and you are forgiven on the spot. The first words you hear from Him will not be a lecture about your failures. They no longer exist. What He puts under the blood is gone forever. He may ask to you as He did Peter, “do you love me?” What would be your response if He did? God’s grace is greater than we can possibly imagine. Let’s let God be God and accept Him as He reveals Himself in His Word instead of serving a god that we have made up. The truth will set us free.

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White