- – “ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER just as Christ has accepted us,to the Glory of God.”- {Romans 15:7}.
One of the things I so enjoyed about my culture growing up was if someone came to the door of the house they were invited in and invited to stay for tea. Often some biscuits/cookies were put in front of them. They may never take the tea but it was a sign to say you are SOOOO welcome,…STAY AWHILE …IT SPOKE OF A WARM ACCEPTANCE! !!! It was a gesture to speak of a warm welcome to another and an act of kindness demonstrated with tea. The gesture said, “You are welcome, stay awhile.” When Paul wrote of “accept one another,” the word “Accept,” is used of people who have in common entrance into the family of God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ and so are to “ACCEPT,” or the word can mean “receive” and used of granting access into ones home with the idea of kindness. So to accept one another is to open your heart and have a warm welcome of kindness towards another.
2.– ACCEPT THE DIFFERENT,… The context is to “accept one another…” those who are “DIFFERENT”to you, in their preferences or convictions...Sometimes we try and insulate ourselves by hanging out with people who think like us, look like us…. and withdraw from those who are “different,” in their preferences as the passage teaches, but who are “in Christ!” To accept the “different,”or ones we see as difficult, because they are not “like” us is no grounds to not have a warm welcome in our hearts towards them. At times it can reveal our own hearts that are not “accepting” of others. To not do so, mirrors our own spiritual condition, it is spiritual immaturity… and at times can be sinful and is when we refuse to accept one another as He has commanded.
- – WHY ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER…?
“The basis for such warm and kind love is, “…just as God in Christ has accepted us, to the Glory of God.”! His acceptance of you, His reception of you, is His own choice of will, voluntary, fully, eternally, irrevocably, and is a warm, open hearted welcome towards you. He did not accept you conditionally, but whole heartedly not based on your performance but His on the cross for you! You now have access to God through our Lord Jesus -{Rom 5:2}.
WHY ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER?
A. – BECAUSE CHRIST HAS ACCEPTED “US,” it is plural, it is not just you, or me but “US!” His acceptance of “us” is not to be rejected by one of “us!” We are to reject what He rejects and accept what He accepts… and that is one another, “..us” with all our differences!
B – BECAUSE GOD IS GLORIFIED WHEN WE DO! “TO THE GLORY OF GOD.” GOD IS GLORIFIED through Christ accepting us and when we do likewise! We often use the phrase “glorify God,” and I wonder at times if we know what it means or how, or is it a phrase that we pick up and use and not know what it means and how to do so . We can tend to think glorifying God as something other than what it is and make it unobtainable . But we can practically glorify Christ and KNOW we have and KNOW HOW TO Glorify Him. One way according to this verse is by choosing to submit to Him and choose to obey and “accept” other believers, even if they are- and they are “different ” than you or me, in accepting others we Glorify Christ!
“ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER”-
*You CHOOSE to initiate, Motivated by His acceptance of you and go do likewise.
*Take them into your heart and be a friend.
*Make room in your heart for all His. Accept them as you are accepted in Him
*Learning and Re Learning to Love begins with a choice to obey Him out of Gratitude for His great love for you!
You have the command, the capacity and now the choice to “ACCEPT ONE ANOTHER…”
and as we do so, Jesus says “all men will know you are MY disciples by your love for one another” -{John 13:34-35}.
Glorify Christ by “accepting of one another.”
You choose to glorify Him by being accepting of those whom He died and arose again for!
Memorize- Meditate-Pray- Apply …
“ACCEPT ONE Another JUST AS GOD IN CHRIST has ACCEPTED us to the Glory of God.”