Wednesday, October 20, 2010

accepted?

I posted the following on Facebook yesterday:
I read this, "Jesus [came] to show the Father accepts you!" Yet I don't find it in Scripture in the context that it is meant. Can anyone offer support for this? Right now, it seems to be a popular liberal/postmodern/emerg* error. But I'd be interested in texts that state otherwise.
There are two common false notions; that God accepts us as we are and that Jesus came to demonstrate that acceptance. Neither could be further from the truth. God loves us and hates our rebellion. He wants us to repent. Jesus came to provide a way for us to die to ourselves and live through Him by paying the penalty of our rebellion. We are accepted only "in" Him.

The following posted at Of First Importance is from Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust), 47.

“The gospel remits the severity of the moral law. Wherein our personal obedience comes short, God will be pleased to accept us in our Surety. ‘He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.’ Eph. 1:6. Though our obedience be imperfect, yet, through Christ our Surety, God looks upon it as perfect.”

No comments:

reftagger