How Do I Know if I Am Acceptable to God?

“Am I good enough for God?”

For some, it’s not a question of salvation or love. You believe the sentiment behind the children’s song “Jesus Loves Me,” you can quote John 3:16 from memory and, when asked about your salvation, can answer with a definite “Yes, I’m going to heaven when I die.”

The problem is you feel loved by, but not acceptable to, God. (And yes, those are two different things.) You walk through life with the feeling that God is utterly disgusted with you for not living up to his standards. 

Or are they his standards?

The Phantom Christian

Sometimes the standards we hold ourselves to come from what Bob George in his book Classic Christianity calls the “Phantom Christian.”

After school, she leads an hour-long Bible study for student athletes, then shares her faith with members of a competing team on court. She does all her chores without being asked and spends another two hours in prayer and meditation. And that’s just her daily schedule. During spring break, she’ll be caring for orphans in Mexico. She also sponsors a child through Compassion International.

If this imaginary person (who could never accomplish all that in a day, by the way) is who you compare yourself to, it’s no wonder you feel like you could never be acceptable to God.

How acceptable am I to God?

Where do you think you fall on God’s Scale of Acceptability?

Are you as loved and acceptable to God as your best Christian friend? What about the late evangelist Billy Graham? If you and your friend land at about 50% acceptable, Billy Graham must be at 70% acceptable, right? What about the apostle Paul, who surely must be at least 85% acceptable? Are you as loved and accepted by God as him?

What about Jesus Christ? Are you as loved and accepted by God as Jesus Christ, the only one to ever earn a perfect 100%?

I’ve got news that will shock your socks off:

You are as loved and acceptable to God as Jesus Christ.

Did that sound blasphemous? That’s because you don’t really believe it in your heart and therefore haven’t been living the life you could have. But take a look at what 2 Corinthians 5:21 says:

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Not 50% or 80% or 99.999% righteous. If you believe in Jesus Christ as your savior, you are 100% righteous in God’s eyes, both now on earth and later in heaven.

Take a moment to let that sink in, then put your socks back on and continue reading.

Let the Truth Sink In

The problem for many believers is that we subconsciously believe justification by faith only applies to where we go after we die while God’s acceptance here and now is based on our performance.

That’s not at all what the Bible teaches!

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Our time of need is right now, here on earth where temptation, evil, sadness, and depression lurk. 

“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” -Ephesians 3:12

Again, the word “confidence.” Only those acceptable to God can approach him with confidence, and the way to become that is through Jesus. God wants us to trust him and his Word when he says Jesus has done it all.

Note this doesn’t mean our actions are acceptable. God accepts you as his child, but like any loving father, he won’t hesitate to discipline you when your actions are out of line. You will still be his beloved child and nothing you do will alter that.

What kind of life can I live now that I know I’m acceptable to God?

Doesn’t that sound awesome? This is the power of Christ in you!

Keep in mind: If you’ve lived your entire life thinking you need to earn God’s acceptance, it might take a while for you to let go of that feeling. But don’t give up. This is what it means to be free.

So be free!