Accepted

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

Ephesians 1:6

            Do you want to be accepted? I think the answer has to be obvious. It seems almost innate that we desire to be accepted by those we love. We want to be accepted by our parents, we want to be accepted by our friends. We even want to be accepted by those that are not our friends and even those we do not even know.

            The inspired Apostle Paul let us know how we are accepted by our God. Yet, the word translated “accepted” is a form of the Greek word charis or “grace.” So the word most closely means He "graced" us. God graced us with His presence through His Son Christ Jesus, and it goes even deeper.  The Word tells us He graced us because of Christ's presence (cf. Eph. 2:8). He graced us by sending His only Son who lived a perfect and sinless life (cf. Heb 4:15). He graced us with the fact that sinless life He gave up willingly on the cross (cf. Jn 10:17). He graced us while we were yet sinners so that we might be redeemed (cf. Rom 5:8).  

            Why would anyone not want to be accepted? Why would you not want to be graced because of Jesus' presence? We have some who have not been graced  and will not do so. They will not obey the Gospel because it might deny them acceptance by a group of friends, ones they love, or even those who are not even their friends. Regardless, there is no middle ground with Christ. Obeying His Gospel will cost you everything, but it will give you everything you need to be saved, to be graced, and to be accepted.