Accepted and Acceptable

 •  1 min. read  •  grade level: 7
All the children of God and members of Christ are equally “accepted in the beloved”; all stand in one common relationship. The very feeblest member of the body of Christ is loved by God as Christ is loved. The Head and the members cannot be separated. As He is so are they. The feeblest child in the family has his own place in the Father’s heart, with which no one can ever interfere (Eph. 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6); John 17:2626And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:26); 1 John 4:1717Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1 John 4:17)).
All this is blessedly true, and nothing can ever touch it. But it is one thing to be “accepted,” and another thing to be “acceptable” or agreeable. It is one thing to be a beloved child, and another thing to be a devoted servant. There is the love of relationship, the love of complacency.
These things must not be confounded. And, most assuredly, it should be the earnest desire of every “accepted” child of God to be an “acceptable” servant of Christ. O! may it be so more and more in this day of cold indifference and self-seeking, in which so many seem to rest satisfied with the mere fact of being in fellowship, as it is called—the form of breaking bread; and so few, comparatively, are pressing after that high standard of personal devotedness which, we may rest assured, is “agreeable” to the heart of Christ.
“Wherefore also we are zealous, whether present or absent, to be agreeable to Him” (2 Cor. 5:99Wherefore we labor, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. (2 Corinthians 5:9), JND).