Who Is Really Doing the Accepting and Receiving?

As I was reading Luther on Galatians this afternoon, a thought occurred to me:

You will often hear folks saying "You have to accept Christ" or "You have to receive Christ." Yet with those phrases, it always seemed to me that the emphasis is on us and what we are doing. And the words "have to" always make me uncomfortable when talking about Christ because they are law words.

So maybe this is a better way to say it: Christ died for your sins. He became man to take your sins upon Himself on the cross that you be forgiven your sins. He said He would do it and He did it. When you believe that, take hold of that (faith), then the Father accepts you, forgives you, and receives you as His child for the sake of Christ. This emphasizes the work of God and Christ for us and seems a better direction that the first.

What do you think?