LiTEEATrRE.— The Commentaries on the passages above cited ; the art. 'Abyss' in Hastings' BBandin t\\e Entile. Biblica.
George "C. Watt. ACCEPTANCE. The state or relation of being in favipur. c^prcially witli God. It is a common OT coufi^ption that has been carried over into the NT. In the former it has both a ceremonial significance, involving the presence of an approved offering or
a state of ceremonial purity, and also an ethical significance, involving divinely approved conduct. The Hebrew expression n'j? Npj ' to lift up or accept the face or person of one,' becomes in Nr wpbawwov \a/j,^6.yeci>, 'to accept the person oc presence,' wliich, however, with its derivatives, Trpoffuwo\i)ij.TrTciir and TrpoffioTToXijfnrTrii, always implies the acceptance of the outward presence, without regard to the in- ward or moral qualities ; hence, in a bad sense, partiality, as in Lk 20=' (cf. ]\It22iSand Mk 12"). In a good sense the idea is expressed by eOdpearos, 'well -pleasing' (Mt 3" 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased' ; cf. Mt XT'*) ; cf. also ScktSs, 'acceptable' (Lk 4-'', Ph 4"), used with iviavT&s, ' acceptable year ' (Lk 4") and with Kaipos, ' acceptable time ' (2 Co 6=), of a period or time when God's favour is specially manifest. In numerous passages in the Gospels and Epistles acceptance with God comes only through and in Jesus Christ (Jn I4«, Eph 1'^ ' accepted in the Beloved,' Ro 14'», He 13='). So also the disciple's conduct and ser- vice are to be such as will find acceptance with Christ (Eph 5'°, 2 Co 5» ; cf . He 12=^). See, further, art. Access.
As applied to our Lord Himself, the idea of His acceptance both with God and man is of frequent occurrence in the Gospels. Of Jesus as a growing boy this twofold acceptance on earth and in heaven is expressly affirmed (Lk 2'=). His perfect accept- ance -with the Father is testified to, not only by a voice from heaven both at the berinning of His ministry (Mt 3"il) and towards its close (Mt 17^ Ii), but l)y the constant affirmations of His own self- consciousness (Mt 11=' II, Mk 12«||, Jn 5=° 8=s 10", 15» etc.). The favour with which He was regarded by the people when He first came declaring ' the acceptable year of the Lord,' is proved not only by such notices as, 'The common people heard him gladly' (Mk 12"), but by the crowds which fol- lowed Him constantly all through the period of public favour. So far as acceptance with men is concerned, there is, of course, another side to the picture. ' No prophet,' He said, ' is acceptable in his own country ' (Lk 4=^). His own brethren did not believe on Him (Jn 7'"^), His own to^vnsmen thrust Him out of their city (Lk 4=«='), His own people were guilty at last of that great act of re- jection which found utterance in the shouts, 'Not this man, but Barabbas' (Jn 18"), and 'Crucify him, crucify him' (Lk 23='), and was visibly set forth to all coming time when He was nailed to a cross in full sight of Jerusalem (see Rejection). He who had been accepted for a time was now ' a root out of a dry ground,' tlie 'despised and re- jected of men ' (Is 53-- ^). And yet it was from this same root of rejection and sorrow that the accept- ance of Christ was to grow into universal forms. Being lifted up from the earth. He drew all men unto Him (Jn 12==). And though as the well- beloved Son He had never for a moment lost favour in His Father's sight, it was through enduring the cross and despising the shame tliat He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (He 12=; cf. Ph 2«"). E. B. Pollard.
ACCESS (7rpo<ra7u7^).— No word in the English language expresses the double meaning of irpoir- ayuyri. While the AV translates it invariably ' access,' the RV more accurately renders ' our access ' in Ro 5= and Eph 2'*.
The irpoaayoiyevs at Eastern courts acted as official introducer in conducting strangers to a king's presence. * AVIicther there were any allusion to this or not in the minds of our New Testament writers, the custom ilhislratcs appropriately one use of the word 'access.' Christ as our Introducer obtains admission for us into the favour and * Tholuck, Rom. I.e., and Ustcri, Lchrb. u. i. 1, p. 101.
ACCESS
presence of God. Tpoir ayayq is ' aditus ad rem vel personam' (Grotius). It means (1) ' introduction,' •admission' (see references to classical Greek autliors, and to Chrysostoni in Ellicott on Eph 2'*) ; (2) ' liberty of approach.'
' Access ' {Trpo(Ta.yayri) occurs in three passages in the New Testament, Ko .5-, Eph 2'8, and 3'^ An ex- amination of tliese passages will best explain what ' access ' meant in the tliou!,'lit of St. Paul. Then it will be necessary to consider 1 P S^^ ' For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us (Tpotraydyri) to God ' ; and afterwards, the idea of the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews regarding ' access ' as the act of drawing near to God through the great High Priest must be stated.