You Are Accepted!

 

Who I Am In Christ Series, part 3

The “Who I Am In Christ’ list developed by Dr. Neil Anderson was a game-changer for me.  It helped me to deal with the core issues that were holding me back in life, preventing me from living the life of abundance and victory that God intended for me.

The list is divided into three sections:  “I Am Accepted,” “I Am Secure,” and “I Am Significant.”  Each of these are core emotional needs.  Problems develop when any of these needs are not met.

To be accepted is to have a sense of belonging.  This need was not met in my early life, as I was rejected and bullied throughout my elementary and high school years.  This led to incredible loneliness and a belief that I was inferior to others.  My self-image and self esteem were shattered, and I was depressed and deeply traumatized.

When I came to Christ during the Jesus Revolution in the Seventies, I felt acceptance for the first time.  It was an almost intoxicating experience.  I remember feeling shocked as both men and women embraced me freely at every Christian meeting I attended.  I experienced a small degree of healing with every hug as I realized I was no longer rejected.  It was so hard to wrap my head around the truth that almighty God accepted me, too.

Dr. Anderson identified eleven concepts in the Bible that are associated with acceptance.  I covered the first six in part 2 of this series, which you can find here.

Let’s continue with the remaining five truths of acceptance.

I Am A Saint

The next truth we must establish in our hearts is “I am a saint.”  This is referenced in Ephesians 1:1 which states, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus, and faithful in Christ Jesus” (NKJV).  Other translations use the  phrase “God’s holy people.”

I grew up in a church which taught that a saint was a person who a) was dead, b) had performed a verified miracle, and c) was officially recognized by the Church.

With all due respect, that’s not what the Bible teaches.

According to God’s Word, there’s only one requirement to becoming a saint: you must be born again.  If you are a Christian, the Bible refers to you as a saint.

This comes as a shock to most of us.  We are well aware of our sins and failures, and somehow we equate the word “saint” with “perfection.”  It’s easy to see ourselves as “sinners saved by grace.”

But the Bible never refers to a Christian as a sinner.  Throughout the Epistles, we are called saints– God’s holy people.

This calls for a radical mindshift.  It’s vitally important that we see ourselves as God sees us.  Our identity determines our beliefs and behavior.  “One of the greatest ways to help yourself grow into maturity in Christ is to continually remind yourself who you are in Him,” Dr. Anderson writes.  “Understanding your identity in Christ is absoloutely essential to your success at living the Christian life.  No person can consistently behave in a way that’s inconsistent with the way he perceives himself.”

I spent much of my Christian life living in defeat rather than victory, because I was wrong in how I viewed myself.  Once I began to accept that I truly was a saint (despite what I was feeling), I finally began to experience victory in the areas I struggled with.  I began to win more and more consistently over the temptations Satan sent.  As I grew in my faith and became strengthened in my identity, those fiery darts were quenched.

When your identity becomes centered in Christ, it becomes easier to say with conviction, “I am a saint.”  After all, you’re just agreeing with what God says about you!

I Am Adopted As God’s Child, With Access To Him

Another truth to establish in our hearts is “I have been adopted as God’s child.”  This occurred when you took Christ as your Savior.  Ephesians 1:5 says, “He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.”

There are several important things to note here.  First, your adoption was predestined.  Before the foundations of the world were laid, God decided that He wanted you.  It was His will for you to be part of His forever family.  It was His pleasure to adopt you.  Your adoption was a legally binding process, sealed with the precious blood of Jesus.  It is a decision that will never be revoked. 

Adoption is different from natural birth because it is a deliberate choice.  God chose you to be His.  Let that thought sink in for a moment.  God is sovereign; He didn’t have to choose you– but He did!  He voluntarily, eagerly, passionately chose you for adoption.  How special does that make you feel?  He loves you so much that He wants you to spend eternity with Him.  He will never disown you or throw you out of the house.  You are permanently bound to Him through adoption.  He loves you as His own Son Jesus!

You are accepted.  You belong.

And because of this, “I have access to God.”  Ephesians 2:18 says, “For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

Before Christ, access to God was limited to a select few.  Jews could come to the Temple to offer sacrifices (while Gentiles were restricted to the Outer Courts).  But only the priests could go into the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God dwelt.

But when Jesus was crucified, an incredible event occurred.  The veil of the Temple, which separated the Holy of Holies, was split in two from top to bottom.  Human hands would have torn it from the bottom, but God Himself tore it from the top down.  This was far more than a symbolic gesture.  There is no longer a division between God and man.  The sacrifice of Jesus gives every Christian direct access to the throne of God.

To put it in simple terms, God is always there for us.  We do not need sacrifices, we do not need blood, we do not need someone else to go in for us.  We can bring our request to God anytime, anywhere.  We have 24/7 access to our Father!   And He delights when His children come to Him.  He welcome us with open arms.  Can’t you see Him smiling?

  I Am Redeemed, Forgiven, Complete In Him

The next truth to establish is “I have been redeemed and forgiven.”  Colossians 1:13-14 states, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  

We are all familiar with the concept of forgiveness, but the word “redeem” is not used as often.  The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as “to be free from what distresses or harms: such as a: to free from captivity by payment of ransom; b: to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental; c: to release from blame or debt; d: to free from the consequences of sin.”  To be redeemed is good news indeed!

When I was a kid, stores used to give out S & H Greenstamps.  You’d get a certain number of stamps depending on the amount of your purchase.  The store gave you a coupon book, and Mom would put us to work licking the green stamps and pasting them into the book.  The books could then be redeemed for merchandise.  You had to save up a LOT of stamps, but we were always excited to see what goodies Mom got from all those stamps we licked!

When Christ redeems us, we receive His robe of righteousness.  When God looks at us, He no longer sees our sins and guilt.  He sees the perfect righteousness of His Son!

The final truth of acceptance is “I am complete in Christ.”  Colossians 2:10 puts it this way:  “You are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power” (NKJV).  The NIV says “In Christ you have been brought to fullness.” 

Before I knew Jesus as my Savior, I believed that I was defective.  I thought there was something missing in me, that I wasn’t equal to the other boys.  Even after I was saved, it took me a long time to recognize that was a lie.  I no longer see myself as a puzzle with missing pieces.  Now I know that I am a special and unique creation of God.  Yes, in some ways I am different from others, but that’s the way He designed me.  And God completes what He starts.  I’ve still got plenty of rough spots (I’m still “under construction”– and so are you).  But Philippians 1:6 gives us a promise:  “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”  All our flaws and imperfections, all those things we struggle with, will vanish when we are with Him in eternity.  And in the meantime, He still refers to us as a “good work!”

If you are a born-again Christian, you don’t need to earn God’s acceptance.  You’ve already got it.  You are accepted, and God doesn’t scowl when He looks at you.  He smiles!

Knowing who you are in Christ is vital to living a life of victory.  The next article in this series will begin exploring the second core emotional need, to be secure.  Stay tuned!

 

 

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Related Posts:

The Issue of Identity

Acceptance:  A Core Emotional Need