eph 01v06 Accepted In The Beloved

"ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED"

Ephesians 1:6

These four simple words reveal the whole doctrine of salvation by grace. They contain the essence of the gospel of substitution. God our Father has made us, his elect people, all who believe, "accepted in the Beloved." THE WHOLE OF OUR SALVATION AND ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD IS IN CHRIST, OUR SURETY, SUBSTITUTE, AND REPRESENTATIVE. Those who clearly understand this great fundamental truth of the gospel will not greatly err in any other point of doctrine. Those who fail to apprehend this matter of the believer's acceptance with God cannot see any other Divine truth clearly.

ALL BELIEVERS ARE IN CHRIST. We are in his hands as our Surety, in his heart as our Husband, and spiritually in his loins as our covenant Head and Representative before God. We are chosen in Christ in eternal election, made righteous in Christ by his obedience to the law of God as our Representative, redeemed in Christ by his sin-atoning death as our Substitute, and in him by vital union in regeneration, having his nature imparted to us by the power and grace of God the Holy Spirit.

OUR BEING IN CHRIST IS ENTIRELY THE WORK OF GOD'S FREE AND SOVEREIGN GRACE. "Of him are ye in Christ Jesus." God put us in his Son. Our being in Christ cannot be in anyway attributed to us. The cause of our being in Christ is God's decree, that alone! Grace alone has given us an eternal, immutable, indissoluble union with Christ and made us one with him.

BEING IN CHRIST, WE ARE ACCEPTED WITH GOD. That simply means we are the objects of God's love, favor, and delight. God sees his elect only in his Son. He never looks at our personal worth and merit. We have none. God sees us in Christ, and accepts us upon the grounds of his Son's worth and merit. And in Christ all God's elect are EQUALLY ACCEPTED. There are no degrees of love, favor, and acceptance with God. God loves us exactly as he loves Christ! God delights in us exactly as he delights in Christ! God accepts us exactly as he accepts Christ!