Focus: God’s Approval (Pt.3)

Text: Rom.16:10

"Greet Apelles APPROVED in Christ…"

The little word 'in' can also be translated as 'by.' Apelles is approved IN and BY Christ. In Act.2:22, Christ is approved OF God. In 2Tim.2:15, the student of Scripture is approved TO God. So you can see that the Christian believer is approved IN Christ, BY Christ, TO God, and OF God. It is purely and absolutely a divine affair or matter. Our approval is entirely in God's hands. It is up to Him, not man. Before God we stand or fall, and before Him we stand either condemned or justified. God's assessment, judgment and acceptance of us is perfect, not biased. God is the best judge of every man because He has all the facts. Man focuses only on attitudes, actions and appearances, but God sees beyond all that to our hearts, thoughts and intentions, and indeed the totality of what makes us humans. He understands our constitution - our nature and nurture.

The psalmist declares, "For knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust" (Ps.103:14). He knows what stuff we are made of.

God approbates and approves. The word 'approve' means to 'try' and to 'accept.' It means to test or prove the quality of a thing, like taking gold through the fire to prove its worth. The gold emerges from the fire tried and trusted.

In Num.17, the 12 heads of the tribes of Israel were competing or jostling for a position of authority. Then God stepped in to deal with the issue. Moses took their rods and placed them before the Lord in the Tabernacle. By morning Aaron's rod had budded overnight. A lifeless stick in one night came alive with buds as a proof. That's divine approval.

In Num.16, Korah, Dathan and Abiram conspired with 250 princes of the people against the authority of Moses. God immediately stepped in, told Moses to step aside, and then the ground opened and swallowed them in. That's divine approval.

In 1Sam.21, David and his men ate Holy bread meant only for the priests who served in the Holy place. They were supposed to have died for eating it, but they didn't. Why? Because they didn't mean to desecrate the Holy. They were simply hungry and in need of survival. Our Lord Jesus Christ brought the matter up again in His day, reiterating the point that it is God who decides and approves (Mk.2:23-28; Lk.6:3-5). That's divine approval.

God perfectly knows our words, ways and works, including our thoughts and intentions. John says, "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God" (1Jh.3:21).

Take your eyes off men and fix them on the man, Christ Jesus. You are another 'Apelles' today. In Christ you are approved, not condemned.

Live and do right in the sight of God, and you'll not die wrong. Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter