Access Granted

Our access to God comes through Christ alone and, therefore, does not depend on our own righteous activity. We each have a seat at his table, not because we earned it, but because he has invited us to dine with him. There is great freedom in knowing that he does not give our seats away  in the event that we blow it big time. In fact, our failure is not a hypothetical scenario, but an absolute certainty. And yet, he has reserved our seats so that we can return to the Father’s table when we have “come to our senses” (Luke 15:17 CSB).

The enemy works overtime to convince us that our access to God is conditional, that there are provisions in the covenant. His job is fairly easy in our performance-driven culture, where individual achievement is the highest goal. Success is celebrated so we feel the best about ourselves when we make the sale or win the award. But on the bad days, when we are powerless to score big, we feel pretty crummy about who we are. This same mindset has crept into our understanding of God and his response to his children. We feel better about ourselves on the days when we get everything right—when we check all the right boxes and avoid the “besetting sins” (Hebrews 12:1 KJV). Somewhere along the way, we got the notion that God responds in the same way—that he likes us better when we are good. But if that’s what we believe about God, we will exhaust ourselves trying to stay in his good graces, falling short every single time. But thanks be to God, who has himself secured our favored position “in Christ,” so that we are powerless to alter his affection for us or interrupt our access to him. Glory to God for this “unspeakable gift” of grace (2 Cor. 9:15)!

It is because of this gift that we have “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” and this frees us from the need to prove our goodness, value, or usefulness—to others or to ourselves (Romans 5:1). Our position in Christ is secure, regardless of our performance. Certainly, those who have been “born again” are being “transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,” but there is an ongoing battle to put off the old man, who has been corrupted “through deceitful desires” (John 3:3, 2 Cor. 3:18, Ephesians 4:22 NIV). But know this, my brothers and sisters in Christ—our access to the Father will never be denied because of our bad behavior, for “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20).