Love and Acceptance
‘Acceptance’ is a popular word today, and rightly so. Theologically, God’s acceptance of us is quite a good contemporary term for justification. But we should be cautious about modern talk of ‘unconditional acceptance’, as when the concept of an ‘open church’ is canvassed, in which membership is offered to everybody, with no questions asked and no conditions laid down. For though God’s love is indeed unconditional, his acceptance of us is not, since it depends on our repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. We need to bear this in mind when we consider that we are to accept the weak (Rom. 14:1) since ‘God has accepted him’ (14:3), and to accept one another ‘just as Christ accepted’ us (15:7).
Taken from Authentic Christianity © 1995 John Stott and Timothy Dudley-Smith (IVP UK, Nottingham).
Dates for your Diary
1 Open up the Bible |
