Just a Thought: God will not always accept what we do, but He will never reject us. I am afraid many are under the impression “God must accept me no matter what.” And I want to be very clear. God loves all men. He has gone out of His way to show us that love (Jn. 3:16, Rom.5:8, 1 Jn. 4:9 -10). But this does not obligate a holy God to accept sinful men. He has provided grace to us so that He can. But unless we come to Him through Jesus, we cannot expect Him to just accept us (Rom. 8;1, 8). The religious rulers of Jesus day expected that God would accept them based on their positions as religious rulers. They thought because they knew more about God, knew His law and could teach it, they were in with God. But Jesus called them children of the devil (Jn. 8:44). I know some folks who think they can live as they please and God should be blessed to know them (at least that’s the attitude they portray). But God does not have to accept them in their sin. Being a God of love does not mean He has to settle for what we give Him. He is Holy God! And He sets the path by which we come to Him and He has (Jn.14:6, Eph. 2:8-9). God in His love gave us Jesus to die for our sins and grant us complete forgiveness, unity with Him and eternal life now and in heaven. But we must come to Him dealing with our sin on His basis and accepting Him as Lord. Nowhere is all of this clearer than in the story in John’s gospel of the woman caught in adultery. She was caught, not accused. She was dragged from the bedroom to the temple room where Jesus was teaching. She was thrown at Jesus feet, humiliated, rejected and condemned by the religious and town folks. They would have killed her for her sin and rightly so according to the Law. But for Jesus, her life and eternity were over! You may be familiar with the story. Jesus asked her accusers to follow the whole Law. He challenged them with just one qualifier to carry out their sentence upon her. “Let he who has no sin cast the first stone.” The conviction in her accusers cut so deeply that from the oldest to the youngest each drop their stones and left the scene. When Jesus finally addressed the sinful woman, He did three things. First, He addressed her sin. Then, He acknowledged her acceptance of Him. Third He freed her from her sin (calling it sin and sending her away to be free from it). Listen to the exchange. “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (John 8:10-11) Notice Jesus called her sin, sin. He didn’t excuse it. He didn’t say where are your false accusers (they weren’t false). She called Him Lord where the religious leaders refused to acknowledge Him as Lord (Rom. 10:13). He did not accept what she did but, having called upon Him as Lord, He forgave her sin and would not reject her. God will not always accept what we do, but He will never reject us. God will not wink at our sin, but He will forgive us of our sin and receive us in Jesus. God will always hate our sin, but He will also always love us as sinners. God will not reject anyone who will come to Him and receive Him as Lord! My friend, don’t make the mistake of thinking just because God is love, He must accept me. No. because God is love He has made a way for us to be acceptable. And when we come to Him as Lord, He will love us and accept us and never ever reject us or forsake us. Have you called upon Jesus, to save you? If so, know today, God will never accept our sin, but He will always love and never reject us.
