We are continuing in our study of prayer as part of the PPOG or Predestination Eph 1:3-5; Rom 8:29; for the purpose of determining just how and what we should pray for. At the moment we are examining Paul's prayers and we have seen in that the major focus in his prayers has been for them to appropriate by Grace the spiritual resources that God has provided and advance in God's plan for their lives.
In this segment, we are examining Paul and Timothy's prayer in Col 1:9-12; where Paul is praying for the believer's spiritual growth.
9- Because of this, since the day we heard Epaphras' report we have not stopped praying for you asking that you would be completely filled up with the knowledge of God the Father's intent in the sphere of wisdom and spiritual understanding.
10- to the end that you would conduct yourselves with conduct becoming the Lord to please Him completely while being prolific by divinely good activities and growing in
the knowledge of God,
11- because of the omnipotence empowering you in accordance with the power of God's glory for maximum perseverance and patience, accompanied by joy
12- Constantly being thankful to the Father, who has qualified us for a share of the assigned inheritance of the saints by means of the light.
The word translated "qualified" is the aorist active participle of the Greek word "hikanoo" which means to "make competent for" or to "qualify one for" or to be "sufficient or adequate for".
The active voice indicates that God performed the action and the aorist tense indicates that the action occurred in a point of time referring to the point in time of the believer's salvation by grace through faith alone in TLJC alone.
We are continuing in our discussion of how God qualifies the believer for this inheritance.
The believer is qualified through Regeneration.
In Regeneration, God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit for the purpose of the imputation of Eternal Life at salvation. At the moment of physical birth, we receive the imputation of human life to our soul. At the moment we believe in Jesus Christ, God the Holy Spirit creates a human spirit to which God the Father imputes Eternal Life.
Just as we have soul life forever, we have Eternal Life forever. A regenerate person passes from spiritual death into spiritual life. This is what it means to be "born again." Regeneration, or spiritual birth, is the work of God the Holy Spirit, which takes place the moment a person believes in Christ alone for salvation, John 3:5-16, Titus 3:5.
The believer is qualified through the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
At the moment one believes in TLJC, the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit enters them into an eternal union with the Lord Jesus Christ. This Baptism is the Church-age believer's IDENTIFICATION with the TLJC in His death, burial, and resurrection.
The Baptism of the Spirit is one of the many guarantees of the believer's eternal security, 1Cor12: 13, Gal 3:26-28, Eph 4:5;
The believer is qualified through the Indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.
God the Holy Spirit indwells the body of every Church-age believer at the moment of salvation, Rom 8:11; 1Cor 3:16; 1Cor 6:19,
The purpose of the Indwelling of God the Holy Spirit is to provide a temple for the Lord Jesus Christ, the Shekinah Glory. It also provides a base of operations for the use of Divine Power and the execution of the Predesigned Plan of God, Eph 5:18, Gal 5:16.
The believer is qualified through the Filling of God the Holy Spirit.
The Filling of the Spirit is defined as the influence of God the Holy Spirit over the soul of the believer, Eph 5:18, Gal 5:16,
It is the first power option for the execution of the PPOG for the Church-age. (The second power option is the PMA of Bible doctrine.)
The Indwelling of the Spirit is permanent. The Filling of the Spirit is temporary, depending on the volition of the believer to appropriate God's grace through their acknowledge any known sin. 1John 1:9;
The believer is qualified through the Sealing Ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The signature guarantee (or sealing) of the Holy Spirit has at least four meanings, Eph 1:13-14:
It is the Holy Spirit's guarantee of Efficacious Grace.
It is His guarantee of eternal salvation.
It is His guarantee of Eternal Security for the believer.
It is His guarantee of the believer's portfolio of invisible assets.
The believer is qualified through the Unlimited Atonement.
The doctrine of the Unlimited Atonement states that the Lord Jesus Christ died for the sins of the entire human race -- past, present and future, 2Cor 5:14-15, 1Tim 2:6; 1Tim 4:10, Titus 2:11, 1John 2:2.
Christ paid for the sins of the entire human race and not just the elect, Rom 5:6, 2Cor 5:14-15,19; 1Tim 2:6; 1Tim 4:10; Titus 2:11, Heb 2:9, 1John 2:2.
At the moment of salvation, the reality of the Unlimited Atonement guarantees us that believers will never be judged for their sins. Rom 8:1;
The believer is qualified through justification.
Justification means a judicial act of vindication. We are born under condemnation, being spiritually dead. Justification is an official judicial act that occurs every time anyone believes in Christ.
The justice of God acts on our behalf pronouncing us justified. This means having a relationship with God forever and having the perfect righteousness of God imputed to us. Justification is the judicial act of God whereby He recognizes that we have His perfect righteousness, Gal 2:16, Tit 3:7, Rom 3:28.
The believer is qualified through propitiation.
Propitiation means that the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross satisfied the justice of God. Propitiation means "satisfaction."
God the Father is satisfied with the impeccable Person of Christ and His perfect payment for our sins on the Cross. God the Father is satisfied with only one Person in all of human history, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Since God the Father is satisfied with the Person and the work of Jesus Christ, and since we believe in the one who performed this work, God the Father is satisfied with us as individuals positionally, Rom 3:24-25; 1John 2:2: 1John 4:10.
Propitiation resolves the believer's problem with the perfect demands of God's righteousness and justice.
The believer is qualified through redemption.
Redemption emphasizes the fact that we are sinners, not only by choice or volition, but by imputation at the point of birth, before we even committed our first sin.
We had to be condemned through no fault of our own before we could be saved through no merit of our own. Rom 5:19;
Redemption is viewed from the standpoint of a ransom paid on the Cross for our salvation. Redemption views mankind as born into the slave market of sin through the imputation of Adam's original sin at birth.
Redemption is the saving work of Christ on the Cross by which He purchased our freedom, or salvation. The payment of this debt is called the "blood of Christ," Eph 1:7, Col 1:14; which refers to his substitutionary forensic spiritual death on the Cross.
The believer is qualified for the inheritance through their reconciliation.
Reconciliation is the work of Christ on the Cross that removes the barrier between man and God, 2Cor 5:19, Rom 5:10. Therefore, with the barrier removed, anyone can simply step over the invisible line into eternal salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
All believers are reconciled to God at the moment they believed in Christ.
The believer is qualified through the Imputed Righteousness of God.
If we are going to live with God forever, we must be as good as God is; therefore, we must have the Righteousness of God. Rom 3:22a 2Cor 5:21;
The believer is qualified through the gift of Eternal Life.
God the Father imputes His Eternal Life to us at salvation.
At the same time, God the Holy Spirit enters believers into union with Christ so that they share our Lord's Eternal Life.
Church age believers have a double blessing of Eternal Life. 1John 5:11-13;
If you are going to live with God forever, you must have the life of God, which is Eternal Life. The unbeliever has soul life, which is everlasting life, and will exist in the lake of fire forever.
Eternal Life means living in the presence of God forever.
The believer is qualified through the guarantee of a Resurrection Body.
At the moment of salvation, every believer is guaranteed a Resurrection Body, John 11:25;
The Resurrection Body has a totally different molecular structure than our present mortal body. The Resurrection Body was designed for life with God in the eternal state, 1Cor 15:43, Phil 3:20-21.
The believer is qualified by God to receive an Eternal Inheritance.
At the moment we believe in Jesus Christ, we receive an Inheritance that is eternal, Heb 9:15.e
We become heirs of God. Redemption is the basis of the believer receiving an Eternal Inheritance. We received it, at the moment of salvation, when we had positive volition toward the gospel, Eph 1:14.
God the Holy Spirit is given as a pledge, down payment, or guarantee of the Inheritance, Eph 1:14.
This Inheritance is reserved in heaven for the believer and is incorruptible, 1Pet 1:4.
The imputation of perfect righteousness has qualified us to receive this Eternal Inheritance, Col 1:12.