For he who
serves Christ in these things
is acceptable to God and approved
by men.
Romans 14:18
Acceptance means "receive or treat with favor"
while approval means "proven"; tried and true, fulfilling some
agreed requirements or set standards.
God loves and accepts sinners but He does not
love nor approve sins. A person is fully accepted by the grace and
mercy of the covenant love of God through faith and repentance. God
accepts us because He approves the work Jesus did on the Cross.
Like our earthly father, God our Father accepts
us as His sons but it does not mean that He approves everything that
we do thereafter. He accepts us as a person but our personality,
with all its waywardness, needs to be work on, be perfected and
approved.
Let’s say God is a Chief Architect. He appoints
one of His sons as a junior architect. That’s acceptance of the
person. But whether the works that the junior architect does will be
approved are dependent on whether they (the works) meet the set
requirements. The person is being accepted but his works need to be
approved.
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will
become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be
revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one's work,
of what sort it is. If anyone's work which he has built on it
endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned,
he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as
through fire. 1 Cor 3:12-15
To be accepted by God, we need to be saved and cleansed by the blood
of the Lamb. This is salvation. But for our works or offerings to be
approved by God, we need to walk worthy of the calling with which we
were called (Eph 4:1) – to be a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that we may
proclaim the praises of Him Who called us out of darkness into His
marvelous light (1 Pet 2:9). This is sanctification. Between calling
and commissioning is consecration.
Throughout the
Bible, how God approves individuals is indicated by whether their
offerings and sacrifices are or not accepted by Him (Gen. 4:3-7; Job
42:8-9). Offerings and sacrifices are acceptable to God when they
are made as prescribed by Him (Lev. 1:4; 22:27). But they are
unacceptable when God's instructions are ignored (Lev. 7:18; 19:7;
22:23-25). However, they were absolutely rejected when the attitude
of one's heart was wayward or irreverent (Amos 5:22; Jer. 14:10;
Mal. 1:8,10). Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross is both acceptable and
approved by God.
Let’s hear what some of the writers of the New Testament have to say
about acceptance and approval:
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies
of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable
service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Rom 12:1-2
Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as
evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For
he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and
approved by men. Therefore let us pursue the things
which make for peace and the things by which one may edify
another. Rom 14:16-19
Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly
to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace
given to me by God, that I might be a minister of Jesus Christ
to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the
offering of the Gentiles might be acceptable, sanctified by the
Holy Spirit. Rom 15:15-16
Now I pray to God that you do no evil, not
that we should appear approved, but that you should do what is
honorable, though we may seem disqualified. For we can
do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 2 Cor
13:7-8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light
in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the
Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth),
finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no
fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather
expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things
which are done by them in secret. Eph 5:8-12
Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having
received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a
sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well
pleasing to God. Phil 4:18
But as we have been approved by God to be
entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as
pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. 1Thes 2:4
Therefore I exhort first of all that
supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be
made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that
we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight
of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come
to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Tim 2:1-4
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God,
a worker who
does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
2 Tim 2:15
Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for
when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life
which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. James
1:12
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected
indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as
living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Pet 2:4-5
Source:
Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary