Tested and Approved

 

 

These days people have major conversations about Covid vaccine testing and some protest that this vaccine could be more harmful than good. Statistics are answering that concern as ICU in hospitals are filling with unvaccinated people, with many of them seemingly more afraid of the vaccination than the virus it was created to combat.

A similar fear exists in the spiritual realm. The enemy is not a virus but sin. The God-given solution to its threat is not a vaccination but faith in Jesus Christ. The protest is similar in that it is based on lack of knowledge, fear and the idea that faith is harmful rather than good. As with Covid, all sorts of ideas fly around about Christianity and what becoming a Christian will do to a person.

Instead of looking at oddball samples of people whose ‘faith’ is associated with weirdness, I’m looking at what the Word of God says about being APPROVED by God. His approval is not based on anything we do, but on what His Son did for us at Calvary. Because He died in our place to pay our penalty for sin, those who believe are approved by God — in Christ, not in our efforts to gain God’s favor. Protest: “I am a good person” with a denial of personal sin and the need for a Savior. Sadly, without this ‘vaccination’ the outcome is eternal separation from God.

However, once faith happens, it gets tested in various ways with God looking for results — because salvation includes receiving Christ — and when He comes into our lives, there will be a reaction and all of it is good. Wonderful is a better word! Some examples:

James 1:3 says this testing produces “steadfastness” (the ability to withstand hardship and stress) and 1 Peter 1:7 says genuine faith is “more precious than gold” as it results “in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (instead of always wanting myself to be honored).

Being tested for God’s approval concerns obedience in everything (2 Corinthians 2:9) and enables those who pass those tests to also have the ability to “approve what is excellent and be pure and blameless when Christ comes, holding fast to what is good” (Philippians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:21). so that I may “approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ” rather than fearful of death and dying.

This entire process is not about judgment over sin but about my behavior — my sin has already been forgiven and God has already “accepted me in the Beloved.” Instead, testing is to chip away all that does not conform to the image of Jesus Christ. I must avoid the mistakes made by some who turn spiritual practices and rule-keeping into my reason for salvation because the kingdom of God is not about that, but about “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Romans 14:16–18). A godly life is favored by most people.

Any notion of making what I do more important than what Christ has done is rooted in pride. Instead, 2 Corinthians 10:17–18 says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”

God approves His people and entrusts us with the gospel, not to please people but to please Him. We are not to argue over words but learn to interpret Scripture correctly, avoiding false notions that confuse and turn others away from the truth (just as the false notions about vaccines can turn others away from getting them and wind up putting them in danger of death).

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. Being approved by God in Christ produces great peace, joy even in trials, and access to the wisdom of God rather then struggling with the confusion in this world. I did not earn or deserve His approval; Jesus earned it for me by being willing to die for me, accepting me as His child — an amazing and wonderful grace!