I wrote about this very thing a few days ago and now I am returning to the question because I think the understanding of this has much more depth than I have known previously. I am aware no one will agree or disagree with my conclusion. With that I began a word study beginning with ‘acceptance.’

Acceptance:

The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary tells us this, “the act of accepting something or someone : the fact of being accepted : approval, acceptance of responsibility.”

Modern Webster’s Dictionary explains, “a receiving what is offered, with approbation, satisfaction, or acquiescence; esp., favorable reception; approval; as, the acceptance of a gift, office, doctrine, etc.”

The manner in which I first came to this ‘journey’ as it were was a quick look at a church’s website containing their foundations of existence. One of them is the question, “does obedience come before or after acceptance.”

I have come to the conclusion that obedience, our obedience to follow Christ, comes after His knowing of us and NOT of His acceptance of us. For most I will assume, because I have not studied this, that many will spend some quiet time with the Lord when His call is involved. On the other hand, others will not hesitate to say, “yes” to Him.

The conclusion that my personal obedience comes after His formation of me is simple. “Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.” Psalm 139:16 HCSB. He has always known me as I am at this very moment, and as we understand Webster’s definition, the meaning is moot. Therefore, I obey His call to follow Him without hesitation and accept to do what He expects of me.

Obedience:

The 1838 Webster’s Dictionary is more complete than the modern version, “Compliance with a command, prohibition or known law and rule of duty prescribed; the performance of what is required or enjoined by authority, or the abstaining from what is prohibited, in compliance with the command or prohibition.”

There is no doubt, Jesus’ disciples already knew Him and had a relationship with Him. But when Jesus called them to serve Him, theirs was an incredible sacrifice to leave everything behind. And they made no excuses as to why they could not leave their stuff to serve Him.

“Then He said to them all, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it.” Luke 9:23-24.

Therefore, the question of which comes first really is ‘on us’ because the Lord already knows us and does not ‘accept’ us as we understand and ‘accept’ Him. He already knows us in every detail possible for we can hide nothing from Him. However, when observed from our point of view, yes we might survey whether or not we accept His call to serve Him because His call is a severe termination of everything we know which will include family ties and friendships, too. For this reason He implores us to ‘count the cost’ in His parable found in Luke 14:25-35. In verses 33-35 we find this, “In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple. “Now, salt is good, but if salt should lose its taste, how will it be made salty? It isn’t fit for the soil or for the manure pile; they throw it out. Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!”

In the end, God is not compelled to accept us before we obey Him. However, if anyone He calls does not consider the cost of His call, that is to accept His call to obedience, then, yes, acceptance does go before our obedience to serve Him.

This is why I will stick with my original suggestion, “Obedience, indeed, comes before acceptance.” The original 12 did not hesitate for they left whatever they held dear, to “Follow Me.” He already knew who they were AND He knows you first. Because His Followers do know Him well, we will understand the cost of obeying His call to serve Him.

Jesus is Lord.