Ephesians 1:6
To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved.
It is in or by grace that we have our acceptance. God has made us accepted, and we did not attain to it by any volition or works of ourselves. Only those in the Beloved qualify for this great blessing.
In speaking of Mary in Luke 1:28, the word accepted is translated as highly favored.
In the OT, there is a peculiar form of acceptance in the case of offerings. Of course, if the offering is accepted, then it is a certainty that the one making the offer is also accepted.
Take the case of Abel in Gen. 4:4. God had respect for his offering. This was shown in such a way that Abel knew that it was accepted. On the other hand, Cain just as certainly knew that his offering was not accepted. Later events will tell us how.
In Lev. 9:24 is the scene of the dedication of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. It had been built carefully according to the pattern. Then the offering was put on the altar, and fire came from before the Lord and burned the offering so that it was consumed. Contrast this with the fire that killed Nadab and Abihu in Lev. 10:1-2. This happened because their fire was strange fire.
Then note what happened to Gideon in Judges 6:20-21. His offering was also accepted by fire.
We are not so sure that fire came down to burn the offering of Manoah in Judges 13:20, but the angel of the Lord went up in the flame, and so Manoah and his wife knew that they were accepted. It is quite likely that fire from God burned their sacrifice.
We have a mighty fine example in 1 Kings 18:38. It is the strife between one lone man, Elijah, and 450 prophets of Baal backed up by the queen, Jezebel. The prophets put their sacrifice on an altar and all day tried every stunt they could think of to make fire come from their god to burn the offering. Nothing happened. Then it was Elijah's turn. He prepared an altar and put the offering on it. He dug a trench around it and poured water on the altar, and filled up the trench. There could be no sleight of hand here, for if he started it with strange fire, he would meet the same fate as Nadab and Abihu. But the fire did come down and burn, not only the offering but the water and all. Jezebel was very unhappy with this result as the people said, “The Lord He Is God; The Lord He Is God," and the prophets of Baal paid with their lives.
When David numbered Israel and incurred divine displeasure, he made an offering on the threshing floor, and it was burned up by fire from God. So he was accepted, and the plague was stayed (1 Chron. 21:26 ).
And finally, when The Temple was built and the day of dedication came (2 Chron. 7:1-2), fire came and burned the first offering. So it was accepted.
We are accepted in the Beloved. Twice a voice came down from heaven saying, "This is My Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased." This was at His baptism and His transfiguration (Matt. 3:17; Matt. 17:5). Also, Matt 12:18 quotes from Isaiah using the words, My Beloved. He was accepted when He was raised from the dead for or because of our justification. Hence, we are accepted in Him, The Son of His Love, Who is The Fire Of Eternity.
