A question often asked of people Christians may be witnessing to is,
"Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?"
Maybe another one to ask is, "Has Jesus accepted you (and me)?"
Let me explain what I mean by that.
(Jesus said), "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever
comes to me I will never cast out" (John 6:37). God, who ordained his people
for salvation before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-14;
2 Thessalonians 2:13), gives his children to Jesus. They come to him. HE
ACCEPTS THEM as a love gift from the Father, redeems them, records their
names in the Lamb's Book of Life, never forsakes them, and raises them to
eternal life.
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"I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the
world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
Now they know everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given
them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to
know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me"
(John 17:6-8).
The phrase, "Yours they were," asserts that even before conversion, his chosen
people belonged to God, because of his election. When God gives them to Jesus,
they receive him and his word, and trust in him for salvation.
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Words have meaning, so what do we mean when we say, "I've accepted Jesus as
my Lord and Savior?"
If by "accepted" we mean that God has granted us repentance and saving faith,
miraculously regenerated us with a new birth in Jesus, and we have trusted in him, and
him alone, and received him as Lord and Savior, then the word "accepted" has real
meaning.
If on the other hand, by "accepted" we mean that based on our own knowledge,
intellect, reasoning, and "faith" that comes from within us and not from God, and not relying totally
on God's redeeming and saving power and grace, and the Holy Spirit, we have made a "decision" to "
become a Christian," then that means that WE are the "ultimate decider" in our own salvation -
not God.
However, John's gospel tells us that salvation comes totally from God and not from within us.
"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of HUMAN DECISION, or a husband's
will, BUT BORN OF GOD" (John 6:37).
The Bible says that salvation is in God's hands, and that he "causes" us to be born again.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! ACCORDING TO HIS GREAT MERCY,
HE HAS CAUSED US TO BE BORN AGAIN to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in
heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a SALVATION ready to be
revealed in the last time" (1 Peter 1:3-5).
If I say with my mouth, "I've accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior," but ignore his word and
refuse to obey him, have I really been regenerated (born again)? If so, then those are just empty
words, without real meaning.
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In reality, Jesus accepts us (as a love gift from the Father) as much as we accept him and
his word and salvation!
When God changes our heart of stone into a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26-27), we are
regenerated (born again), and come to him in repentance and faith for our salvation, which
he keeps securely in his hands for eternity.
So, whether we use the word "accepted" or "received," or some other word to describe our
conversion to Christ, what we mean by those words is what's important.
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