Accepted and Approved

[Christ] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. —Romans 4:25

The resurrection of Christ meant that His work was finished. The price for sin had been paid; no penalty was left. God’s righteous anger against sin and sinners had been completely satisfied.

Ephesians 2 says that God “raised us up with him” (v. 6), which means that God not only accepts Christ, but He accepts us. For Christians, it means there’s no longer any condemnation for any of our sins—past, present, and future.

So many believers I meet are plagued with guilt from their past, frustrated with their inability to please God. Yet we read in Romans 4 that Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (v. 25). Justification is not only “just as if I’d never sinned,” it also means, “just as if I had always obeyed.”

Because Jesus has perfectly pleased His Father, those of us who are in Christ are also pleasing to God. We are accepted and approved by God because He has accepted and approved of the work His Son did on the cross.