How could the Almighty God accept me?

Question:

Mr. Jeffrey,

I don't admit this to many people, but I have an issue in my thinking when it comes to God. I have a fear that no matter what I do and no matter how I try to be righteous and help others get to heaven, that at Judgment Day God will hold something against me and cast me out of His presence. The thought of that scares me, and I want to be more at peace and trust in the Lord more, but I guess my past actions keep making me think I can't be forgiven or something. Like I think "how could somebody like me who has done all these things be allowed into the blessed kingdom of the God of the Universe"? I struggle to be accepted and liked by regular people, how could Almighty God accept me? Also, I know I commit sins of ignorance, and I don't know if I've been forgiven of those. It's a struggle. Do you have any advice on this?

Answer:

There isn't a person in this world who deserves heaven because we have all sinned (Romans 3:9-23). God saves people because of His mercy and grace.

But what you are fearing is the unknown. You fear that there is something God expects of you that you are not aware of, but it is not a reasonable fear because God has told us everything we need to know in the Bible (II Peter 1:2-4; II Timothy 3:16-17) and it is by the Bible we are going to be judged. "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds" (Revelation 20:11-13).

The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were leaving the faith to return to Judaism. Woven into the reasons why Christianity is far superior to Judaism were warnings about not losing their faith. However, these warnings are balanced with reasons why Christians should not fear their Savior.

  • "For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted" (Hebrews 2:16-18).
  • "But Christ was faithful as a Son over His house -- whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end" (Hebrews 3:6).
  • "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:14-16).
  • "But, beloved, we are convinced of better things concerning you, and things that accompany salvation, though we are speaking in this way. For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end" (Hebrews 6:9-11).
  • "In the same way God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast" (Hebrews 6:17-19).
  • "Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
  • "Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near" (Hebrews 10:19-25).
  • "For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. ... But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul" (Hebrews 10:36,39).

The confidence is not in ourselves but in the sufficiency of our Savior and that God keeps His promises. Keep going, do all you can to serve God, and in the end, there will be a great reward waiting.

Response:

Wow! Thank you very much. That's exactly what I needed. With so much biblical evidence against my thought process, I have no choice but to change my thinking and trust more in God and Christ with my salvation.

Thank you, thank you!

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