Qualified (Colossians 1:11-12)

Colossians 1:11-12 (ESV)

 

¹¹ May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, ¹² giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

 

            There is a single word that grabbed my attention while reading these verses this morning, the word “qualified.” There are many words that I think I would happily and quickly apply to myself. However, qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints is a phrase that it takes a little courage to accept. Yet, according to God’s word, it is true of me and of all who have been found in Christ.

 

            What does it take to be qualified for the inheritance of the saints? Who is qualified for heaven? Or, put another way, who possesses the appropriate character and requirements to deserve entrance into God’s family? A quick look at Scripture would indicate that only the perfect actually qualify for heaven.

 

Psalm 24:3-4 (ESV)

 

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?

And who shall stand in his holy place?

4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,

who does not lift up his soul to what is false

and does not swear deceitfully.

 

            What that text tells us is that those who enter God’s presence must BE people of absolutely clean character. To qualify, you have to be clean. And, if any of us are honest, if that is the standard, we do not qualify.

 

            But then we see that God has qualified us in Christ. Something about knowing Jesus includes a qualification for God’s kingdom that none of us could manage on our own. Jesus qualifies the unqualified. He grants to us a record of perfection that we have never earned. This is not merely a forgiveness of our sins, but it is a legal record of being right, being perfect, being, justified.

 

 

            No, I am not foolish enough to even pretend that I have any perfection that is my own. But, I will also not be foolish enough this morning to argue with God’s word. Because of Jesus and Jesus alone, I have been called perfect by God. I have been qualified to enter his presence and be part of his family. This is grace, great and marvelous grace. And this kind of grace can change the way that any of us thinks about our own lives, our own place in God’s kingdom, and our own futures.