“The blessed apostle knew he was accepted. Did that make him lax, careless, or indolent? Far from it. ‘We labor’ he says, ‘to be acceptable to him.’ The sweet assurance that we are accepted in Him is the ground of our labor to be acceptable to Him. ‘The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead. And he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.’ 2 Cor. 5:14, 15.
All this is pre-eminently practical. We are called upon, by every argument which can bear sway over the heart and conscience, to labor diligently to be acceptable to our blessed and adorable Lord. Is there aught of legality in this? Not the slightest tinge. The very reverse. It is the holy superstructure of a devoted life, erected on the solid foundation of our eternal election and perfect acceptance in a risen and glorified Christ at God’s right hand. How could there be the very smallest atom of legality here? Utterly impossible. It is all the pure fruit of God’s free and sovereign grace from first to last.
But ought we not, beloved Christian reader, to rouse ourselves to attend to the claims of Christ as to practical righteousness? Should we not zealously and lovingly aim at giving Him pleasure? Are we to content ourselves with simply talking about our acceptance in Christ, while at the same time there is no real earnest care as to the acceptability of our ways? God forbid! Yea, let us so dwell upon the rich grace that shines in the acceptance of our persons, that we may be led out in diligent and fervent effort to be found acceptable in our ways.
It is greatly to be feared that there is an appalling amount of antinomianism amongst us—an unhallowed traffic in the doctrines of grace, without any godly care as to the application of those doctrines to our practical conduct. How all this is to end, it would be hard to say; but, most assuredly, there is an urgent call upon all who profess to be accepted in Christ to labor fervently to be acceptable to Him.” C.H. Mackintosh, “‘Accepted’ & ‘Acceptable’” in Things New & Old, Vol. 17; quoted in Milk & Honey, April 2017; electronic ed. accessed on 5/13/17 here: http://bibletruthpublishers.com/accepted-and-acceptable/charles-henry-mackintosh-chm/things-new-and-old-volume-17/la50614 [Italics original.]