For years when I worked in a school, the process of accreditation was an important one. Schools – even independent faith schools – cannot just please themselves; they have to be accredited (officially recognised or authorised.) Local authorities, governing bodies or official boards are in charge; premises have to be approved; examinations are accredited by national awarding bodies to ensure a fair standard is set. As an examinations’ officer, it was part of my job to ensure that everything we did could be accredited and approvde by these organisations, with the ‘General Regulations’ and ‘Instructions for Conducting Examinations’ the rule book not only for what was done but how it was done.
Accreditation is connected to standards set by external regulators. The Bible tells us that ‘Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, signs and wonders, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.’ (Acts 2:22) Jesus often spoke of His Father being the witness to His ministry, to being the One who validated what He did. Essentially, Jesus was ‘approved’ by God. In always doing the Father’s will, Jesus fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the law.
Every summer during the examinations’ period, I would wait for the JCQ Inspector to come and inspect all that I was doing and give me a report that effectively allowed the school to continue to offer public examinations. The storage of examination papers, the process for recording receipt of examination papers, the way the exam room was set out and exams conducted were all checked. A higher authority accredited what I was doing. It was always satisfying to get that report with its column of ticked boxes!
Jesus’ work and ministry was, Peter says, accredited by God. We can be confident that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was accepted by God; the resurrection is proof of that. We can therefore put our whole confidence in Jesus of Nazareth and trust in HIm for our salvation.
