But…Will God Accept ME?

In a word, the answer is an unqualified “Yes!”–Jesus said, “Whoever comes to me, I will definitely not cast out!”

I faced this question early in my own Christian life.  I knew all the verses that said things like, “Whoever believes in [Jesus Christ] has everlasting life…” and I did believe. I was afraid, though, because I knew my own sins, and I knew that I still struggled with some of them.  So the question was really important to me.

One day, while I was reading my New Testament, I happened on this verse:

“Whoever comes to me, I will definitely not cast out.” (John 6:37)

It was clear to me. I had come to Jesus Christ, and I had asked Him for His salvation as He taught, and as He had promised, I “got it.”  But I still had doubts.  Many times, they were oppressive, even obsessive–”God will never accept you.” When I read John 6:37 (look it up–it’s the same in any language), I thought, “well, if I am a “whoever,” then He won’t cast me out.  I came to Him, and therefore He won’t cast me out.

If you think that was the end of it, you’re wrong.  The same doubts kept coming back.  They invaded my mind and troubled me constantly.  So I memorized the verse, and began to use it in my prayers, and to quote it whenever I was troubled.  One day, I woke up, and thought, “I haven’t had any doubts for several days.”  In other words, my doubts disappeared as I took matters into my own hands, did not just passively accept “whatever my mind was saying,” and began to use the Scriptures in my spiritual life.  My spiritual life was real.  I had no doubt of that.  However, I was experiencing what Christians call “spiritual warfare” for the first time–and that was when I realized that there was an “invisible world”  in the spiritual realm that I never known before.  Now I was in contact with that world, and I could see how it influenced me in my thinking and in my actions.  The same, of course, is true of you.  You experience not only the influences you see, but those you cannot see, both good and evil.  The Bible is filled with expressions that describe this sort of influence, and the battles that we experience in our spiritual lives; here’s an example:

“You have to stand against Satan’s strategies…You’re not wrestling against flesh and blood, but against evil spiritual forces…” (Ephesians 6:11-12, my paraphrase)

My own “first battle” was about assurance.  Yours may be different, but the reality is the same.

God will accept you if you come to Him through Jesus Christ.  He has said so.