ACCEPTED IN THE BELOVED

By Gary McDade

Christians enjoy the wonderful privilege of being “accepted in the Beloved.” The Beloved is Christ. Ephesians 1:6 informs of this, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.” He is speaking of our “adoption as sons through Jesus Christ unto Himself” (v. 5, ASV). This has happened “according to the good pleasure of His will.” In reference to “the praise of the glory of His grace,” the American Standard Version (1901) has “which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” where the King James Version (1611) says, “Wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.” So, the sense in which Christians are “accepted in the beloved” means having the glorious grace of God “freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” And, the grace of God is the favor of God.

The word in the original Greek (the KJV “accepted” and the ASV “freely bestowed”) around which this discussion revolves is evcari,twsen a verb (3 person singular, first aorist active indicative) from the root word carito,w meaning viz.

carito,w

“bestow on freely” (A Concise Greek-English Dictionary of the New Testament, Barclay M. Newman, Jr., p. 197).

The lexicon of Arndt & Gingrich informs, “bestow favor upon, favor highly…his great favor, with which he has blessed us through (or in) his beloved Son Eph. 1:6.” (p. 887).

The in-depth discussion of this Greek word points to the far reaching significance to the Christian of his/her being “accepted in the beloved.” Furthermore, these blessings are for those “in the beloved,” so it is essential to understand how one gets “into Christ” is by being “baptized into Christ” (Romans 6:3; 1 Corinthians 12:13; and Galatians 3:27). Truly, it is amazing that God has extended His acceptance to the entire human family irrespective of nationality, race, gender, or social standing who will reverence and obey Him. Peter observed in this connection, “But in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him” (Acts 10:35).