Qualified (2427) (hikanoo = see word study of related word - hikanos) = sufficient, enough) means to make fit, to make adequate, to make sufficient (as fulfilling a specific requirement) or to render competent or worthy. To render fit. Make capable. In 2Cor 3:6 the idea is to equip one with adequate power to perform the duties as servants of the New Covenant. The aorist tense signifies effective action at a point in time, past completed action ~ the act of making them fit or qualified = that moment when God saved us. By the past completed act (aorist tense) of Jesus crucifixion and our co-crucifixion with Him (Ro 6:6-note, Gal 2:20-note), believers are worthy because "worthy is the Lamb Who was slain" (Re 5:12-note) and they are now in Christ (See in Christ and in Christ Jesus and in Christ). When an individual by faith receives what was prepared from the foundation of the world, they are made sufficient in Christ and thus qualified to enter the Holy of Holies by the blood of the Lamb, qualified to receive full possession of their inheritance which will be realized in the future. Hikanoo is in the passive voice which emphasizes that we received the effect of the qualifying from God -- He made us fit for future glory in the Beloved, His Son. There is simply no other way to share in the inheritance unless God qualifies us. In contrast the Gnostics taught you could get enough knowledge to get to heaven and so were like every other false religious system which when distilled to the essence all teach salvation by works. Paul is clearly stating that no man can qualify himself no matter how much "gnosis" he acquires! God is the only "Qualifier". The sense is, he has conferred on us grace sufficient to make it proper that we should partake of the blessings of his kingdom. This truth should make us humble and thankful, for there is simply nothing we could have done to make ourselves meet, fit, adequate, qualified or worthy to enter into the kingdom of God. The only other NT use of hikanoo is by Paul in explaining why and how he was competent for the ministry he was carrying out in Corinth used 3 forms of hikanoo (noun, verb and adjective) writing that Not that we are adequate (adjective = hikanos) in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy (noun = hikanotes) is from God Who also made us adequate (verb = hikanoo) as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2Cor 3:5, 6). Hikanoo - 15x in the non-apocryphal Septuagint (LXX) - Gen 32:10; Num 16:7; Deut 1:6; 2:3; 3:26; 1Kgs 12:28; 19:4; 20:11; 1Chr 21:15; Esther 4:17; Song 7:9; Ezek 44:6; 45:9; Mal 3:10 O I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved’s mine! He brings a poor vile sinner into His “house of wine.” I stand upon His merit—I know no other stand, Not even where glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land. -- Anne R. Cousin (Play hymn) ><> Man’s work faileth, Christ’s availeth; He is all our righteousness; He, our Savior, has forever Set us free from dire distress. Through His merit we inherit Light and peace and happiness -- V. Fortunatus (Play hymn) ><> Oh, to be nothing, nothing, Only to lie at His feet, A broken and emptied vessel, For the Master’s use made meet. Emptied that He might fill me As forth to His service I go; Broken, that so unhindered, His life through me might show. -- Georgiana Taylor. (Play hymn) ><> Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet Thy blessed face to see; For if Thy work on earth be sweet What will Thy glory be! -- Richard Baxter (Play hymn) William MacDonald eloquently sums up the gist of qualified writing When God saves someone, He instantly bestows on that person fitness for heaven. That fitness is Christ. Nothing can improve on that. Not even a long life of obedience and service here on earth makes a person more fit for heaven than he was the day he was saved. Our title to glory is found in His blood. (MacDonald, W & Farstad, A. Believer's Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson or Logos) In a passage with a parallel thought Paul writes Now He Who prepared us for this very purpose (what purpose? from previous verse = "what is mortal may be swallowed up by life" = glorified immortal bodies) is God, Who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. (2Cor 5:5) TO SHARE IN THE INHERITANCE: eis ten merida tou klerou: (1Pe 1:3, 4, 5) Nave's Topic - Inheritance Provisions for inheritance=Levirate marriage-Ge 38:7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Nu 36:6, 7, 8, 9; Dt 25:5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; Ru 3:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 4:7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 Unclassified Scriptures Relating to -- Ge 15:3; Ge 21:9, 10, 11; Gen. 24:36; Gen. 25:5, 6; Gen. 48:21, 22; Nu 27:6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11; Dt. 21:15, 16, 17; 1Ki 21:3; 2Chr. 21:3; Job 42:15; Pr 17:2; 20:21; Eccl 2:18, 19; Je 32:6, 7, 8; Ezek 46:16, 17, 18; Luke 15:12, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31; Gal. 3:15; Heb. 9:16, 17 Figurative- Ps 37:29 (but also literal - ultimately representing the ultimate fulfillment of God's unchangeable covenant promise to Abram in Ge 12:1, 2, 3, 7, 13:15, 15:18, 24:7, 26:4, Nu 34:2, Dt 34:4, Ne 9:8 - fulfilled in the Millennium); Ac 20:32; 26:18; Ro 8:16, 17; Ep 1:11, 12, 13, 14; Titus 3:7; He 1:14 Related Resource: See summary of inheritance from Baker's Evangelical Dictionary below or Click here for ISBE article "for the portion of the lot" (Literal) "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/colossians_111-16.htm#q