It was an incredible offer. Thousands and thousands of dollars were at my disposal. Power, I was told, would be mine. Prestige. Privilege. All because I had been pre-approved for a Platinum Visa. Or if I preferred, I could opt for the offer of a Gold MasterCard that came from another bank that same day. Now I like power, prestige, privilege and approval as much as the next guy, but I didn’t even have to read the fine print to know that these promises came with long, tight strings attached to them. Some “approval.” No thanks!
How much better is the approval that comes from God. For my God-given approval comes not on the basis of what I do to commend myself to God, but on the basis of the work of Christ at the cross. This was Paul’s encouragement to the Corinthians:
“For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends” (2 Cor. 10:18; NASB).
My approval is rooted in the fact that my sins were placed on the sinless body of Christ (1 Pt. 2:24) and God looked from heaven, saw the blood of the sinless Savior, and said in effect, “I accept Jesus’ sacrifice. I now approve as righteous those who believe in Him.”
There are no gimick-filled enticements given by God. Nor are there chains of bondage that He uses to extract a pound of our flesh for an ounce of His grace. No, His approval is simple and free. Christ died, and I am accepted by Him when I believe in Him.
The problem for some believers, as D. A. Carson has noted, is that, “many of us…have unwittingly become more like Corinthian Christians than like Pauline (that is, Biblical!) Christians. Many of us are well-do-do and comfortable, with little incentive to live in vibrant anticipation of Christ’s return. Our desire for the approval of the world outstrips our desire for Jesus’ ‘Well done!’ on the last day.”
For the believer, the greatest approval we have is from God as He looks at us through the atoning sacrifice of Christ. And we live secure in that approval (we don’t need to do anything to entice God to be happy or happier with us) and our actions reflect our desire to live in accordance with that approval. Here’s the lesson: Don’t tell God what you’ve done for Him. Let Him tell you what He’s done for you. And live as if you love Him and His approval more than anything else.
Words of Grace 