"Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It
is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us."
Romans 8:33, 34
One of the most challenging things we will have to do in developing a healthy, vibrant, and productive Christian life is change how we see ourselves. I have witnessed in counseling many folks in ministry the difficulty they go through trying to escape an old mindset where they "just don't feel" like they measure up to what God expects of them. There is a deep and constant struggle within where spiritual realities seem evasive, all because they still haven't become settled in the work of the cross. They live with an "old man" mentality.
One of the wonderful truths to the message of the cross is that we didn't have to climb up some sort of spiritual ladder to achieve anything we have in God. There were no criteria to attain to - no individual approval rating that we had to reach. God took the raw elements of our fallen nature and recreated us into a new creature, retrofitting us on his own, so that we now meet heaven's approval. In other words, we have been certified in Christ Jesus!
To be certified means to be validated. God gave us a guarantee, in writing, which vouches for the work he did in us in Christ. Hebrews chapter seven says, "By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament" (Heb. 7:22). Surety is just an old English word that means a guarantee. The Word of God says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses against them..." (2 Cor. 5:19). The Amplified Bible reads, "It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them]; and committing to us the message of reconciliation - of the restoration to favor." Notice it didn't say that we had to meet any particular code or standard before we could come into his favor. We came into his favor because we were accepted "in" the Beloved (Eph. 1:6).
In the building industry, there are certain codes that have to be met. Permits must be obtained and inspections must be called in throughout the entire building process. If an inspector finds there is any violation to the standard building code, then the builder must make whatever changes are necessary to pass the inspection. After everything is done and the house is completed, then a final inspection is scheduled. Only then can a certificate of occupancy be issued. Without a CO the house cannot be furnished nor can anyone move in and live there.
The Bible tells us in several places, "We are God's building..." (1 Cor. 3:9); "We are the temple of the living God..." (2 Cor. 6:16); "We are his house..." (Heb. 3:6). How is it that we can accept the word of some building inspector, who we may not even know, who says the house is built according to code and it is safe to occupy, but turn around and struggle with the Word of God that clearly tells us that God himself made us in Christ and that we have been approved to be his dwelling place! Do you think for one minute that God would reside in a substandard dwelling? I can promise you this: that if there was anything substandard in the work of the cross, we would never have qualified for the presence of God to come to live in us. But the very fact that "GOD MOVED IN" and made us his residence, means we PASSED INSPECTION!
Hear the word of the LORD that certifies you in Christ Jesus: "Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Cor. 1:21-22). The very fact that the Holy Ghost now lives in you shouts to the heavens that you are approved by God! Accept the message of the cross, and change how you see yourself. Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and start living with a "new man" mentality!