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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadJames Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Acceptance
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ACCEPTANCE denotes the being in favour with any one. In EV [Note: English Version.] the noun is found only in Isa_60:7, but ‘accept’ and ‘acceptable’ are used frequently both in OT and NT to express the acceptance of one man with another (Gen_32:20, Luk_4:24), but above all the acceptance of man with God. In OT the conditions of acceptance with God are sometimes ceremonial (Exo_28:38, Psa_20:3). But of themselves these are insufficient (Gen_4:5; Gen_4:7, Amo_5:22, Jer_6:20; Jer_14:10; Jer_14:12), and only moral uprightness (Pro_21:3, Job_42:8) and the sacrifices of a sincere heart (Psa_19:14; Psa_119:108; cf. Psa_40:6 ff., Psa_51:15 ff.) are recognized as truly acceptable with God. In NT the grounds of the Divine acceptance are never ceremonial, but always spiritual (Rom_12:1, Php_4:18, 1Pe_2:5). Jesus Christ is the type of perfect acceptance (Mar_1:11 ||, Heb_10:5 ff.). In Him as ‘the Beloved,’ and through Him as the Mediator, men secure their religious standing and fundamental acceptance with God (Eph_1:6). In serving Him (Rom_14:18), and following His example (1Pe_2:20-21), they become morally acceptable in the Father’s sight.
J. C. Lambert.