Is our acceptance by God earned or by grace?
Our acceptance by God is entirely by grace, not earned or merited. Believers are accepted in the Beloved, Jesus Christ, because of their position in Him. God cannot reject those in Christ without rejecting His Son. This acceptance is God's grace, and redemption is through His blood.
Les teaches that we have not earned or merited acceptance; it is all of grace that God has seen fit to do on our behalf. He explains that we are accepted in God's eyes because of where we are in Christ, in the Beloved, and God cannot reject us because that would mean rejecting the Son Himself, which He will never do. In Christ, Les says, we are not working for or hoping for redemption; we have redemption, and the only way to experience it is through His blood. He illustrates this with a friend whose denomination removed old hymns referencing the blood of Christ, saying they might as well throw away the New Testament, because our hope of eternity rests on that blood.
To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
More Questions
How are we accepted in God's eyes?
Our acceptance in God's eyes is because of where we are in Christ, in the Beloved.