Accepted in Christ
Dear Champions,
The short excerpt is by Tim Keller, and the Scripture is Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Legalistic churches are always saying that you had better perform or God will get you. Permissive churches are always stressing how loved and valued that you are without talking about the importance and seriousness of sin. They say that God loves everybody, and He basically accepts everybody no matter how you are.
The gospel instead does not create a legalistic kind of message or a permissive kind of message. The permissive type of message promotes a person who says, Great arrangement! God enjoys forgiving sin, and I enjoy committing it! The legalistic mind set goes more like this: I know I am in God s will because I am miserable.
The marked difference between a Christian and a legalist is that the legalist repents out of fear and anxiety while the Christian repents out of gratitude for what Christ has done for him/her. Out of the desire to be like Christ, when you know that you are saved, accepted and loved, you have the freedom to repent.
If my acceptance of God is based on my performance, then I have to repress how bad I am because I cannot repent if I think that is the basis for my acceptance. The gospel message is that you are more sinful, evil and weak than you ever dared believe, but you are more valued, accepted and loved than you ever dared hope. And when you know that you are accepted in Christ, it makes you more able to repent.
Champions, have a great week!-David Vining
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