Am I Accepted?

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I believe most people want to be accepted by others. Many high school students smoke their first cigarette because they want to fit in with the "cool kids." Us adults are no different, we may wear one mask at work, another when out with friends and yet another when we around church members. Why is this? The reason is that we want to be accepted.

Unfortunately most people give no consideration of the acceptance of God. Some people believe in the existence of God, yet care less if they are accepted by Him. Of course we have those who do not even believe in God’s existence. But for those who do care, is it possible to know for sure that that I am accepted by God? If I am not saved and done many horrible things, would He still accept me? How is it that I can know for sure that I am accepted by God?

1 John 5:13 informs us that we can know for sure that we have eternal life, which means we are accepted by God. I have spoken to many people who say, "no one can know for sure, we just have to wait and see." Those who say this may (in fact) have good reason to question their salvation. They may be in church, yet are not walking with the Lord or obeying His commandments. However, we may rest assured that God desires a relationship with each of us. "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV) 2 Peter 3:9 confirms Gods desire for a relationship with everyone, even those who has done many horrible things. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." If you are an unbeliever who feels as though God would not save someone like you because of the things you have done in the past, I encourage you to do some Biblical research on this matter. First you may investigate the thief of the cross who died along side Jesus. You may also research the life of the Apostle Paul before his conversion then consider the transformation God made in his life.

Now that we have established that God is willing to save us, we must ask, “On what bases does our salvation rest?" The answer is that our acceptance is totally based upon Jesus. I cannot do enough good deeds to right my wrongs. No amount of religious activity, rites or rituals will earn me God's favor.  Only through faith in Christ Jesus may one be accepted of God. Please consider the following passage: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21 NKJV) Note that those who love Jesus are loved by the Father. Now let’s read the passage from 1^st John mentioned above.

¹¹ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. (1 John 5:11-13 NKJV)

Ask of yourself these questions: Do I have the Son? Do I love Jesus? If you can truthfully answer yes to these questions, you can rest assured you are accepted of God. My friend, you are either with Jesus or against Him, there is no middle ground. If you do not have the Son, you must come to Him. Scripture says "All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Call out to Him today, repent and believe in the gospel.

For further study:
Read the Gospel of John. John wrote this book that we believe in Jesus and be saved. (See John20:30-31)

Read the Book of 1st John which informs us on how to know that you are saved. Print the little work sheet here and use while you study this book. This is a PDF file. The First John Project by Life Action Ministries.