Accepted

A sermon that is 99.9  percent Law may be appealing to the flesh rather than to the spirit. Although we know no one is saved by the works of the law or by obeying the commands of God, knowing that the violation of one of God’s commands brings death, we also know that it is our default to try. As human beings, we pride ourselves on what we have done and what we have not done. Most people, who claim to believe in some form of God, will assure themselves that they will enjoy God’s favor and heaven when they die, because they are a good person, or at least they hope they were “good enough.”

But it is so sad to realize that default (our fleshly desire to please God on our own) doesn’t go away when we become Christians. Sit in an ordinary, “Bible Believing Church,” and you may get some inference to “the gospel” that goes undefined or unexplored. And more than likely you will hear an hour of lecture or “admonition ” on how to do better, be better, live better, or how-to avoid God’s displeasure better, with little to no focus on the how.

How is it that those of us who claim to know and believe in Jesus, those who claim to know and believe Reformation doctrine so quickly forget the gospel? How is it that those who claim to have been saved by grace alone, by faith, alone, in Christ alone avoid looking to and meditating on Christ, and on what He has accomplished for us, and rather on what we must do to satisfy Him now?

The satisfaction is done! There is not a thing we can do better or that is more satisfying than what God has already done though Jesus Christ. He lived for us. He was humiliated and died for us. He rose again for us. He is interceding for us. He has been the propitiation for us. He has adopted us. He has justified us. He has regenerated us. And he has sanctified us. We are accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6).How much more can we do to earn His favor?

Charles Spurgeon beautifully puts it this way: “When God accepts a sinner, He is, in fact, only accepting Christ. He looks into the sinner's eyes, and He sees His own dear Son's image there, and He takes him in.”

Christian: If Jesus lived, died, rose again for you, and continually intercedes for you, then there is nothing that is seen in you but Jesus. If you’re striving to earn His favor, STOP. Live in light of what has been done for you (John 19:3), and the grace you’ve been given. Keep your gaze on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). Walk in step with the Spirit, by putting off your flesh and putting on Christ. When the Father sees you in Christ, He is satisfied. Solus Christus! Then we can begin a life of loving obedience to the Father, Who gave His one and only Son for us (John 3:16), by the power of the Holy Spirit living in us. Soli Deo Gloria!

Spurgeon's Sermon: https://books.google.com/books?id=_7ZZAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA109&lpg=PA109&dq=%E2%80%9CWhen+God+accepts+a+sinner,+He+is,+in+fact,+only+accepting+Christ.+He+looks+into+the+sinner%27s+eyes,+and+He+sees+His+own+dear+Son%27s+image+there,+and+He+takes+him+in.%E2%80%9D&source=bl&ots=QRYoIoKKi4&sig=T0FJEdaweEDUJT5AqO-wdus04-E&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigofrj8bPVAhXL4iYKHSGzBb8Q6AEIODAE#v=onepage&q=%E2%80%9CWhen%20God%20accepts%20a%20sinner%2C%20He%20is%2C%20in%20fact%2C%20only%20accepting%20Christ.%20He%20looks%20into%20the%20sinner's%20eyes%2C%20and%20He%20sees%20His%20own%20dear%20Son's%20image%20there%2C%20and%20He%20takes%20him%20in.%E2%80%9D&f=false