I AM ACCEPTED     [size=14][/size]
 
 
Last Week we introduced  a study on  
how we can become Free In Christ  
under the headings:
 
   
1) Physically alive, spiritually dead
2) Our new Identity
3) Learning our new identity
4) Who we are determines what we do
5) Satan doesn’t want you to know  
 
   
Let’s summarize last week’s study with this comment:
 
   
You are not who you are in Christ because of the things  
you have done; you are in Christ because of what He  
has done. He died and rose again so that you and I  
could live in freedom of His love.
 
 
 
 
 
 OUR ACCEPTANCE IN CHRIST!  
 
“Accept one another, then, just as  
Christ accepted you, in order to  
bring praise to God.”    (Romans 15:7)
 
 
 
I AM ACCEPTED IN CHRIST  
 
John 1:12           I am God’s child
John 15:15         I am Christ’s justified.
Romans 5:1        I have been justified.
1 Cor 6:17         I am united with the Lord  
                            & one with Him in spirit.
1 Cor 6:20         I have been bought with a price;  
                            I belong to God.
1 Cor 12:27       I am a member of Christ’s body.
Eph. 1:1             I am a saint.
Eph. 1:5             I have been adopted as God’s child.
Eph. 2:18           I have direct access to God  
                            thru the Holy Spirit.
Col. 1:14            I have been redeemed  
                           and forgiven of all my sins.
Col. 2:10            I am complete in Christ.
 
   
Rejection is one of the most painful experiences known  
to humanity.  There isn’t one of us that hasn’t felt the  
sting of being rejected …. Whether it was one of our  
parents,  a brother or sister, someone who we loved,  
a friend – we have all been rejected at one time.
 
 
 
WE STRIVE FOR ACCEPTANCE!
 
 
From earliest childhood – thru our teenage years – into  
adulthood.  The social system most of us grew up in fed  
us the lie that if we appeared good, performed well or had  
a certain amount of social status, we would finally be  
somebody – we would be accepted.
   
We can’t do anything to qualify for unconditional  
& voluntary love.
 
   
False assumption:    
if we live perfectly everybody will accept us.
 
   
 
This hymn by Civilla D. Martin is a  
beautiful portrait of a believer’s  
identification and acceptance “in the  
 
Beloved”. Wow - it’s a beautiful truth.
 
 “In the Beloved” accepted am I,
Risen, ascended, and seated on high;
Saved from all sin thro’ His infinite grace,'
With the redeemed ones accorded a place.  
Refrain “In the Beloved,”  
 
God’s marvelous grace
Calls me to dwell in this wonderful place;
God sees my Savior, and then He sees me,
“In the Beloved,” accepted and free.  
 
“In the Beloved”— how safe my retreat,
In the Beloved accounted complete;
“Who can condemn me?” In Him I am free,
Savior and Keeper forever is He.  
 
Refrain  
 
“In the Beloved” I went to the tree,
There, in His Person, by faith I may see
Infinite wrath rolling over His head,
Infinite grace, for He died in my stead.  
 
Refrain  
 
RELATING TO OTHERS
 
Understanding and receiving God’s unconditional  
love is the foundation for all future growth.We  
don’t have to do things so that God will someday  
accept us. We are accepted by God completely as  
we are. We can’t earn His favour by trying to gain  
brownie points  
 
 
Finding our acceptance in Jesus Christ serves  
as a basis for our relationship with other  
people as well. Go back to the top of the page –  
Look at Romans 15:7  -  
Someone read it for us again.
 
 
THIS IS IMPORTANT  
 
Our need for acceptance and belonging are  
legitimate needs, they are God given.  
 
BUT:   if met independent of God – trouble  
for us & others who we try to impress.
 
 
Peter’s words in 1 Peter 2:15
 
 1Therefore, rid yourselves of all  
malice and all deceit, hypocrisy,  
envy, and slander of every kind.  
2Like newborn babies, crave pure  
spiritual milk, so that by it you  
may grow up in your salvation,  
3now that you have tasted that  
the Lord is good.  
4As you come to him, the living  
Stone—rejected by men but chosen  
by God and precious to him—  
5you also, like living stones, are  
being built into a spiritual house  
to be a holy priesthood, offering  
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to  
God through Jesus Christ.
 
Now this is important!  
 
Malice is wicked behaviour that is often  
born out of our own sense of inadequacy  
when we look to others who have something  
we desperately need in order to be fulfilled.
 
Peer Pressure is so powerful and the pursuit  
of man’s approval so prevalent that people  
will compromise even their most basic moral  
principles to gain the acceptance of others..
 
NO NEED TO COMPETE
 
But when you know who you are in Christ,  
you no longer need to be threatened by  
people or compete with them, because you  
are already secure and loved.
 
Dear Heavenly Father,  
I pray that you would open my eyes  
so I may know & personally receive  
Your unconditional love and acceptance.  
I renounce the lies of Satan that question  
Your love and insist I must earn Your  
love and approval. I choose to believe that  
I am accepted in Christ. I ask for Your  
grace to sustain me as I face the rejection  
of mankind, and may You enable me to stand  
against peer pressure that tempts me  
to compromise.  
In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen..