Accepted In The Beloved

Q: What does the Bible say about being accepted in the beloved?

The Bible teaches that believers are accepted in the beloved, meaning that God looks upon them with favor and grace through Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 1:6, the scripture declares that believers are 'accepted in the beloved,' signifying that their standing before God is not dependent on their actions or merit but is rooted in Christ. This acceptance is an eternal act by God, established before the foundation of the world, emphasizing that it is not based on human effort or faith but solely on God's electing love. Therefore, all of God's blessings and favor come to us through our position in Christ, the beloved Son.

Q: How do we know election is true?

The truth of election is affirmed in scripture, with key passages outlining God's sovereign choice before the foundation of the world. Election is a fundamental doctrine in Reformed theology, affirmed by passages such as Ephesians 1:4-5, which state that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. This doctrine reveals that God's choice is not based on foreseen faith or actions, but on His own good pleasure and purpose. Additionally, Romans 8:29-30 underscores how those whom God predestined are called, justified, and glorified, further solidifying the truth of election as a divine operation independent of human will.

Q: Why is the concept of union with Christ important for Christians?

Union with Christ is crucial for Christians as it is the source of all spiritual blessings and security in their salvation. The doctrine of union with Christ is foundational for understanding our identity and relationship with God. In Ephesians 1, the Apostle Paul emphasizes that all spiritual blessings are bestowed upon believers 'in Christ.' This union secures our justification, sanctification, and eventual glorification. It assures us that believers are not only saved but also maintain an enduring relationship with the Son of God. This union also highlights that apart from Christ, there can be no real blessing; understanding our union leads to a deeper appreciation of God's grace and assurance of salvation.

Q: What does it mean to be predestinated unto adoption?

Being predestinated unto adoption means that God has chosen individuals to be His children through Jesus Christ before the world began. Predestination unto adoption is a glorious truth found in Ephesians 1:5, where Paul states that God predestined us for adoption as His children through Jesus Christ. This divine choice reflects God's sovereign grace and love, which He bestowed upon His elect before creation. It underscores the reality that our acceptance as children of God is not based on our actions or decisions but is rooted in God's eternal plan and purpose. As adopted children, believers share in the inheritance and privileges that come from being part of God's family, giving us immense comfort and security in our relationship with Him.

Q: How does God save sinners according to sovereign grace?

God saves sinners by His electing grace, which is not dependent on any human action or merit but solely on His sovereign will. In Reformed theology, the doctrine of sovereign grace teaches that salvation is entirely a work of God. According to Ephesians 2:8-9, salvation is by grace through faith, not of ourselves. God saves sinners according to His electing grace, which He established before the foundation of the world. This means that God's choice to save is based solely on His mercy and will, not because of human righteousness or decision-making. God's grace is irresistible and transformative, ensuring that those whom He chooses will come to faith and ultimately be saved.

Let's turn together to Ephesians
chapter 1. Ephesians the first chapter.
We'll begin reading at verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us. What a word. who hath blessed us. Now get this, and get it now,
and get it good. Everything that God Almighty
can give to guilty, hell-bent, hell-deserving sinners, everything
that God Almighty in His strict holiness can or will require
of any man, He hath given to his elect in Jesus Christ from
eternity everything. What does God require of me?
It's mine. What can God give me? It's mine. What blessedness can a man enjoy
in heaven's glory? It's mine. has been from eternity,
and I'll come to enjoy it at God's appointed time. But the
blessedness was given from eternity. But preacher, doesn't something
depend on how good you are? If it did, I'd be in hell. Doesn't
something depend on what you do? If it did, I'd never get
it. Doesn't something depend on your
faith? Oh, no. No, no. My faith depends on His
blessedness. You understand that? The blessing
doesn't come because we believe. We believe because the blessing
was given us in Christ before the world began. We don't. Who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. That's what I've been
saying. In heavenly places in Christ. He blessed us back yonder in
heaven, in Christ our covenant surety. Now this is how He did
it. This is the only way God ever dispenses grace to anybody.
If ever you get any grace from God, this is how you're going
to get it. According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. How does God save sinners? According
to His electing grace. That's the only way He saves
anybody. You folks preach election, that shuts heaven to a great
multitude of folks. No, it was shut up by our sin.
God's election opens it. God's election throws wide open
the gates of heaven for a multitude of sinners who otherwise would
have gone to hell for sure. He has blessed us according as
he has chosen us in Jesus Christ before the foundation of the
world to this end that we might stand before him at last without
sin. holy and unblamable, having the
righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and having the blood of
Christ wash away all our sins. Look at the next word, in love.
In love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to himself, get it now, according to the good
pleasure of his will. How did God choose to save sinners? On what basis does God adopt
some and pass by others? Upon what basis does God predestinate
some to be saved? The good pleasure of His will. Is that what the book says? That's
what the book says. Now folks who fight with that
fight with God and His book, not with me. Alright, look at
this next slide. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. This is why God has done all
this. To the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein His grace, His purpose, His election, His
Son, His covenant, wherein He hath made us, now here's my subject,
accepted into beloved. What a word. With those words, the Holy Spirit
of God declares to us one of the most blessed, most comforting,
most delightful truths in Holy Scripture. It is the fact that
there is an everlasting, indissolvable, immutable union between the Lord
Jesus Christ and His people. Now please notice at the outset
that our acceptance in Christ is here spoken of as something
accomplished by the Lord God himself from eternity. It is
not something accomplished by us in time, because it is something
done by God, it was done by God from eternity, and because it
was done by God from eternity, it cannot in any way be dependent
upon us. He hath made us accepted, not
acceptable, not he's made it possible for us to be accepted.
He hath made us from everlasting accepted in the beloved. What a word. and let men hoot
and holler all they want to about man's part in salvation, man's
will in salvation, man's contribution in grace. The scripture says
he, God the Father, hath once and for all with finality from
eternity made. It's already done. Us, the objects
of His grace, His elect, His adopted sons, those predestined
unto everlasting salvation, us who now believe, He hath made
us accepted. That word, it's a much, much
stronger, broader, richer word than if you just handed me something
and I said, well, I'll accept that. That's not the word. It's
the same word that was used when the angel came to Mary and said
to Mary as she was given the message that she is to be the
one through whose will God's own Son would come into the world
in human flesh. The angel said, Thou art highly favored of God. That's the word. Not just He's
accepted us, He's favored us. He looks upon us with pleasure,
satisfaction, complacency, delight, just as He looks on His Son.
Oh, if you could get hold of that. God Almighty has from eternity
fixed it so that He looks on His people in His Son. with honor, pleasure, satisfaction,
complacency, delight, always. Always. Never changes. Never varies. Now, the way he
deals with us, it varies according to our behavior. Because a loving
father disciplines his family. But our acceptance doesn't vary.
We're accepted in the beloved. Not accepted because of something
in us, accepted because of him. The scripture teaches this plainly.
This is what the hymn writer said, to which Jesus and his
chosen race subsist a bond of sovereign grace that hell with
its infernal frame shall ne'er dissolve nor end in vain. Hail
sacred union, firm and strong, how great the grace, how sweet
the song, that worms of earth should ever be, one with incarnate
deity, one with Christ, accepted in the beloved. Now give me your
attention, and I want to talk to you this morning about four
things in this text. First, a beloved person. and
then an everlasting union, and thirdly, a glorious position,
and finally, a divine operation. First, our text speaks of a beloved
person. Oh, what better title could be
given to the Son of God, our Savior? The Beloved. The Beloved. I can't imagine
a title more appropriate for him who loved us and gave himself
for us. I can't imagine a title that
more suits him in all his relationships to the triune Godhead, to his
people upon the earth, his people in heaven, or to the saints of
glory, or to the angels of glory, rather. This word, beloved, describes
our Savior in the most appropriate way. The Lord Jesus is that one
of whom the Father says, this is my beloved son. This is my
beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. He said it twice. Matthew
chapter 3, Matthew chapter 17. At his baptism and again on the
Mount of Transfiguration. And he didn't say just this is
my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. He said this is
my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased and that's important.
Since he's well-pleased with his Son, the Father, if he said
he was well-pleased with him, he would say, I'm well-pleased
with him, with all that he does, with all that he has personally. But when he says I'm well-pleased
in him, that means, Lord, he's well-pleased with him and with
all who are in him. He's well-pleased with you in
his Son, in whom I'm well-pleased. Are you in Christ? Then God's
well pleased with you. Are you in Christ? The Lord God
has made you to be so thoroughly, completely, permanently accepted
that He looks on you and says, I'm well pleased. I'm well pleased. The Lord Jesus is that one who's
spoken of as the beloved of the Father, as the surety of our
souls before the world began. Come back to Proverbs chapter
8. We won't look at many passages like this, but I want you to
see this one. Here our Savior speaks under the personification
of wisdom. The men read the book of Proverbs
and think, well, this is a book telling us how to be wise in
this world. It tells you how to be wise in the world to come.
The wisdom spoken of here is not carnal wisdom. The wisdom
spoken of here is Christ the Lord. Listen to what he says.
I have wisdom. He's the one speaking. Proverbs
chapter 8 verse 22. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his way. Before His works of old, I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth
was. Now that can't be talking about Him in His eternal deity.
It's talking about Him as a covenant surety. I was set up before Him
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there were
no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world. When He prepared the heavens,
I was there. When He set a compass upon the face of the depth, when
He established the clouds above, when He strengthened the fountains
of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree that the waters
should not pass His commandment, when He appointed the foundations
of the earth, then was I by Him. As one brought up with Him, look
at it now, and I was daily His delight. The Lord Jesus, speaking
as our covenant sheriff, He says, I was from eternity, the Father's
delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable
part of the earth. And my delights were with the
sons of men. And He said, Bobby, this was
before He had made the dust of the earth. My delights were with
my people, and the Father delights in me as my delights were in
my people. All the blessings of grace in
the covenant were bestowed upon chosen sinners in Christ, so
they were spoken of as those men and women who were saved
from eternity. by God who hath saved us and
called us, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. When the Lord God stooped to
create all things out of nothing, the Father called the Son and
said, Let us make man in our image and after our likeness. And he did. made us in the image
of his son who was daily his delight, his beloved before the
world began. The Lord Jesus certainly is that
one who is the beloved of the Holy Spirit. I won't spend a
great deal of time here, but you can read John chapter 16
at your leisure. I realize we live in this age
of Pentecostal, charismatic chaos, confusion, and insanity. And
that's what it is. People ask me all the time, everywhere
I go, what about these folks who speak in tongues, and these
miracles, and these miracle workers, and these prophets, and all this
stuff? It is satanic. It is a delusion. It is the judgment
of God on a generation who would not receive the truth. How dare
you? Because of what the book says.
Read 2 Thessalonians 2. This age everybody is talking
about the Holy Spirit. Get the Spirit. Slain in the
Spirit. Speaking by the Spirit. Vision by the Spirit. Where every
folks talking about the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit ain't
there. You get it? Read the book of God. Where the
Holy Spirit is, He talks about Christ. He shall glorify me,
for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. He
shall not speak of himself, the scripture says, but rather he'll
speak of me. He'll speak of me. Wherever the
Holy Spirit is, men talk about Christ, sing about Christ, worship
Christ, praise Christ, and find Christ manifest. The Lord Jesus
is that one who is the beloved of the heavenly angels. Oh, how
the angels wait before His throne. They're described in the vision
that Isaiah had in Isaiah chapter 6 in the giving of the law where
God set the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant and the mercy
seat and the angels at each end of the mercy seat looking down
on the mercy seat on blood atonement. Our prophet Isaiah said, and
I saw the Lord, sitting on that same mercy seat, sitting on his
throne, high and lifted up, and the seraphim, they cried, holy,
holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And certainly, our Savior is well described by his people
as our beloved. Turn to the Song of Solomon for
a moment. My beloved, my beloved, my beloved. The voice of my beloved. My beloved is mine and I'm his. Turn, my beloved, come to me.
Look in the Song of Solomon chapter 5 and verse 9. We speak about Christ and folks
scratch their heads and say, well, what's so great about him?
That's exactly what the picture is here. The church has been
singing of her beloved, and the religious folks around say, well,
what is your beloved more than another beloved? Oh, thou fairest
among women. What is thy beloved more than
another beloved that thou shalt sure charge us? Well, I'm glad
you asked. My beloved, verse 10, is white
and ruddy. He's the chiefest among ten thousands. His head is as the most fine
gold. His locks are bushy, black as
a raven. He has the dew of his youth.
He's always full of life, for he is life. His eyes, the eyes
of omniscience and tenderness. His eyes are the eyes of doves
by the rivers of waters, washed with milk and fitly set. His
cheeks, are as beds of spices, as sweet flowers, his lips like
lilies dropping with sweet smelling myrrh. Grace is poured into his
lips and grace pours out of his lips. His hands are as gold rings
set with beryl. His belly is as bright ivory
overlaid with sapphires. His face is countenance, why
it's like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most
sweet, yea, He's altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my
friend, O you daughters of Jerusalem. I am my beloved, she says later,
and His desire is toward me. Never was the term beloved more
appropriately used than when it is used by a believer concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He's my beloved. Is he yours? If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be damned. The Lord's coming. 1 Corinthians
16, 22. Unto you therefore which believe.
He's precious. He's beloved. He's beloved. Again, I repeat, we don't talk
much about our love for Him, because our love for Him don't
count for much. Our love for Him is nothing like
it ought to be. We don't love Him as we would,
as we should. We don't love Him as we're going
to. But if we're born of God, Bill Raleigh, we love Him. That's
what it says. 1 John 4, verse 19, we love Him.
Because he first loved us. Oh, yes. That's the true confession
of every believer's heart. When all else is stripped away
and he asks, Simon, do you love me? The believer with confident
heart and weeping eyes lifts his face toward heaven and says,
Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you, my
beloved. All right, now, secondly, our
text talks about an everlasting union. Our everlasting union with Christ
is the source and spring of all the blessings and benefits of
grace which we enjoy in this world or in the world to come. In this first chapter of Ephesians,
the Holy Spirit distinctly tells us 14 times that everything is
in Christ. In Him. In Him. In Him. In Him. In Him. In Him. Everything. Redemption's in Christ. Election's in Christ. Predestination's
in Christ. Calling is in Christ. Preservation's
in Christ. Faith is in Christ. Blessedness
is in Christ. Everything's in Him. So only
as we are one with Christ are we blessed of God. Now understand
that. All heavenly blessings Come to
sinners only as we are in union with Christ. Apart from Christ,
there's no blessedness. Without Christ, there's only
curse. Only curse. Now, we sometimes
speak of temporal things and say, boy, the Lord has blessed
you. Oh, maybe he has, maybe he hasn't. You see, those things which should
be for the benefit of your soul, were you but obedient to believe
God, those things that would be a source of great blessedness
to you, are just a curse, apart from Christ. Just a curse. That's right. Read Psalm 92. Oscar goes down here this fall,
I presume he's still fattening cattle to slaughter. He's got
some he's going to kill and some he's not going to kill. And if
those cattle out in the rain, out in the field, out in the
cold, chewing on nubs of grass and a little hay, knew what was
going on in the stall, they wouldn't enter the cattle who were getting
the grain by the bucket every morning and every evening. They're
so blessed, they're being fattened for the slaughter. Will you hear
me? God's blessings are in Christ
and only in Christ. Apart from Christ, everything,
everything shall only contribute to your greater condemnation.
Our everlasting union with Christ is the basis of our safety, security,
and salvation too. I'm one with Christ. Well, how safe am I? Safe as He is. How secure am
I? Secure as He is. How long will
I live? Long as He does. What will I
have? Everything He has. How's anybody
gonna get to me? Gotta come through Him. I'm one
with Him. One with Him. Our blessedness,
then, and our union with Christ is our salvation and security
for being accepted in the Beloved. Nothing shall befall us that
doesn't befall the Beloved. No doctrine is sound that does
not recognize this everlasting union. No doctrine is sound that
does not recognize our everlasting union with Christ. Now, understand
this. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 1 for
a moment. I'm not talking now about our
manifest union with Christ. Our manifest union with Christ
is a blessed, blessed thing. I'll mention it in just a little
bit, Lord willing, but when a sinner believes on the Lord Jesus, then
there is the beginning of a manifest union with Christ. But that's
not the beginning of our union with Him. Our believing on Him,
our manifest union with Him in time, is but the result and the
manifestation of our union with Him from eternity. Look here
in 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. Paul is describing the gospel
for which he was imprisoned and about to suffer death. And it
says that God hath. I love that word, don't you?
Hath. have saved us and called us. Boy, it looks like Paul gets
it so backwards so often. No, you get it backwards so often.
They don't want to read Paul. Paul the author said God called
us and saved us. No, he said it right. He was
writing by inspiration. He said God hath saved us and
called us. Look at it now. Not according
to our works. Not according to the works of
our hands or the works of our thoughts or the works of our
hearts. Not according to the works of our bodies or the works
of our wills. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, get it now, which
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Well,
preacher, if that's the case, if we were saved from eternity,
what happened when I thought I got saved? Look at verse 10.
But is now made manifest. by the appearing of our Savior
Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel. What happens when
God saves a sinner? He turns the lights on. That's
what happens. Nothing changes in our relationship
with God. Nothing changes as far as our
standing before God is concerned. Nothing changes as far as our
acceptance before God is concerned. The only thing that changes is
what takes place in us. God has reconciled us to his
Son, and when he comes in grace, he causes us to be reconciled
in our hearts to his Son. He turns the lights on. He said,
look at what I did for you. He says, look here, what I did
for you in eternity. Look here, what I did for you
when my son died. Look here, what I did for you
when you were yet dead in trespasses and in sin. He brings to light,
brings to light all his wondrous works of grace. Our subject then
is not our manifest union with Christ, but our everlasting union
with Christ. It is a union that's set forth
in four or five ways. First, it is an election union. Oh, thank God for electing love. People like a choice. Everybody
likes a choice. Now, folks say, I don't believe
in election. Yes, you do. Oh, yes, you do. Oh, yes, you do. I don't like
election. Yes, you do. You just don't believe
in God doing it and you don't like God doing it. That's the
problem. The problem is not that men don't
understand election. The problem is they hate God,
David. That's the problem. The problem is not that men don't
understand that God chooses somebody. The problem is they don't like
it. They don't like Him doing it. Let them choose to be alright.
But then didn't you let him be alright? Now salvation's got
to begin with somebody's choice. Bless God it doesn't begin with
yours. If it weighed on you to choose
him, Bobby, you'd go to hell. Is that right? Where is a dead sinner who will
by the volition of his will give himself life and come to Christ? You find me one. You find me
one. I'll quit preaching and go sit
down and listen to these babbling Arminians. You find me one. Find me a dead
man who can wiggle his finger. Find me a dead man who can exercise
his will. Find me a dead man who can make
a choice for good. It's not going to happen. How does salvation then begin?
God hath chosen us. How can we believe David? Because
God chose us. He chose us in His Son. He put us in His Son. This union
with Christ, a union which is the choice of Christ to be our
Redeemer, and the choice of us to be redeemed and saved by Him,
is a legal suretorship union. Turn to Hebrews chapter 7 verse
22. I'll come back to this, Lord willing, in a few weeks, but
I want you to see this. Hebrews 7.22, by so much, Jesus
was made a surety of a better testament. The word is a better
covenant. Surety. Surety. Now, we don't
know much about sureties these days. We don't use the term much.
We use the term cosiner. Well, cosiner is not a real good
comparison. If you go to the bank and co-sign
a note, and Wes got his boy with him this morning. If you go to
the bank and co-sign a note for Chris, and going to get him a
new Corvette automobile. Let's drink big while we're drinking.
Going to buy him a big one. And Chris says, now Dad, I can
handle this. I'll make the payments. And he can come up with $25 a
month. And you co-sign the note. That
means you and Chris are both responsible before the law. You
understand that? That's not suretyship. A surety
is one who stands in the stead of the dead before the law and
assumes total responsibility for the man's debts. Now Christ
is the surety of a better covenant. Before the war began, he bargained
for our souls with our father and his father. And he pledged
himself to live in righteousness, to obey every requirement of
the law as our representative. He pledged himself then to fully
pay our debt, the debt owed to God for our sins. And the father
struck hands with the son, he said, go do it, and I'll give
you the heathen for your inheritance. And from that moment, back yonder
in eternity, when the father struck hands with the son, Rex,
he ceased to look to us for anything. Oh, bless his name. God Almighty
does not, cannot, never has, and never will look to Don Fortner
for righteousness. He looks to my surety. God Almighty
does not, cannot, has not, and never will look to Don Fortner
to make satisfaction for sin. He looked to my surety, and it's
done. And now, in Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, I stand before God Almighty, purged of all sin,
debts all paid, righteousness brought in, and I am one of those
of whom the Father says, I look, and there is no iniquity found
in Jacob, none in Israel, I behold not. One of whom the Father says,
this man's name is Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. The
Lord Jesus Christ is our covenant surety. It is a suretyship union
which we have with Him. And this union we have with Him
as our surety is a legal union. He is our federal head and representative. Turn to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
15. When the scripture talks about
our union with Christ, being a federal legal union, it is
much like the union we have with a state representative. Whether
you like it or not, we have a fellow in Congress by the name of Fletcher,
and he acts legally on our behalf. You know he puts his name to
something, it's like you're putting your name to it. He signs a bill,
it's like you're signing a bill. He makes a vote, like you're
making a vote. He's our federal representative. He is that man
who in law, in the Senate, represents you and me. He's our federal
representative. Now, God deals with all men by
two federal representatives. Just two. Just two. All men stood
before God in Adam, in the garden. And we fail. But then the Lord
God has a chosen race. Another federal representative,
another covenant head, another representative man. He's Jesus
Christ, the last Adam. He is that one in whom a chosen
race stands before God. Let's see. 1 Corinthians 15 verse
21. Since by man came death, thank
God that's the way it happened. Thank God that's the way it happened.
I give thanks to God that we fell in Adam. That's right. If we hadn't, we would have fallen
just like the angels, one at a time. And we would have all
perished forever under condemnation. But since we fell in a representative
man, bless God, maybe we can live by the doings of a representative
man. Look at it. For since by man
came death, by man came also the resurrection from the dead.
For as in Adam all died, everybody who was in Adam died in him.
So in Christ shall all be made alive. Everybody that's in him
lives in him. This union of ours with the Lord
Jesus Christ in the fullness of God's time at the appointed
time of love becomes a manifest union. It becomes a willing union
of faith. It's a willing marriage. He espoused us to himself from
eternity, loved us with an everlasting love, and then in the fullness
of time, at the appointed time of his love, he made himself
known to us and caused us to willingly wed ourselves to him. when he shows himself, oh, if
ever you see him, I plead with you and reason with you and call
you to Christ. I urge you to believe on Christ.
I urge you to bow to Christ. I urge you to flee away to Christ. Oh, but if ever you see him,
no matter how to reason, plead, or beg, You'll grab them with
both hands. I must help Christ or else I
die. It is the revelation of Christ that conquers the heart. It's the revelation of His goodness
and grace, the revelation of the glory of God in the face
of the crucified Redeemer that causes sinners to believe. All
right, let me move on. Here's a glorious position. Accept it. Accepted. Accepted. Our acceptance with
Christ, our acceptance with God in Christ, is thorough, complete,
total, and absolute. In Him we're justified from all
things, freed from all sins, the objects of divine complacency
and delight, so that God looks on us and says, well done. Can you get on that? Well done. Turn over to Colossians chapter
1. Colossians 1. giving thanks unto the Father,
verse 12, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. Do you understand what that means?
That means that Skip Gladfelter, right now, right now, is worthy
to enter into heaven in a substitute. That's what that means. He's
made us meet, fit to be partakers of the inheritance he gave us
in Christ before the world began. You mean preacher? Our entering
into heaven has nothing to do with our good works? You got
it. You mean our heavenly inheritance is not in any way determined
by our goodness on earth? You got it. We are now in Christ
worthy of God's smile and have it forever. Accepted. Accepted in the beloved. Our union with Christ, this acceptance
that we have is only in the Beloved, only in Him. In 1 Peter, the
Apostle Peter tells us in chapter 2 verse 5 that we offer up sacrifices
of praise, prayer, acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. In other words, We come and sing
our hymns and they're so chock full of sin that send us to hell
except for the mediator. We give our prayers and our prayers
are so selfish. God forgive me, but they're so
selfish. So full of self and sin that
except for the merits of Christ, our mediator, our prayers send
us to hell. We come to God and offer him
faith. And our faith is so full of unbelief
and rebellion that were it not for the merits of Christ's blood
and righteousness, our faith would send us to hell. We've
come to God all for our gifts. Our gifts. Give for the most noble reasons
imaginable. Give as generously as you possibly
can. But if it weren't for the merits
of Christ, Every dime you put in offering plate is so full
of sin, coming from your corrupt heart, Ron, it sends you to hell. Our gifts are acceptable to God
only by Christ Jesus. We're accepted only in the beloved.
Oh, bless God. We are accepted in the beloved. Our acceptance then, since it
is the work of God, since it is in Christ, is immutable, invariable,
indestructible, never changes, never changes. God accepted us from eternity.
And then we went astray in our father Adam, and nothing changed. Nothing changed, not as far as
God accepting us. Much changed in Adam, nothing
changed with God. We were born in this world and
went astray from our mother's womb like all children do, speaking
lies. Rebels, living with our fists
shoved squarely in God's face. But our acceptance with God is
still the same. No change. No change. God called us by His grace. Merle
saved us in his infinite mercy. And our hearts fluctuate so drastically. One moment we burn with love
for him, the next moment we burn with lust. One moment we believe him and
leap for joy, the next moment our hearts are full of unbelief
and doubt and cast down in despair. One moment we see His face and sing His praise
from the depths of our souls. The next moment we can't see
Him or hear Him or speak to Him or in any way find Him. But bless God, nothing changes
with Him. When David brings the ark of
God up to the house of God, worships God with joy and gladness, he's
accepted. And when David falls into the
arms of Bathsheba and spends nine long months with a heart
cold and indifferent and hard and callous and stubborn and
rebellious, he's still accepted. Nothing changes. Nothing changes. And because he's accepted, God
sends his prophet to him in the word of grace. Accepted. Accepted. You see, this is a
divine operation. Our text says, look at it. He hath made us accepted in the
beloved. Unchangeable His will, though
dark may be my frame, His loving heart is still eternally the
same. My soul through many changes
goes, but His love no variation knows, except in the beloved. Amen.

Accepted In The Beloved

What does the Bible say about being accepted in the beloved?

How do we know election is true?

Why is the concept of union with Christ important for Christians?

What does it mean to be predestinated unto adoption?

How does God save sinners according to sovereign grace?

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Accepted In The Beloved

What does the Bible say about being accepted in the beloved?

How do we know election is true?

Why is the concept of union with Christ important for Christians?

What does it mean to be predestinated unto adoption?

How does God save sinners according to sovereign grace?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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