You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
3 But to
the saints [qadowsh] that [hem] are in the
earth, ['erets] and to the excellent, ['addiyr] in whom is all my delight. [chephets] KJV-Interlinear
3 As for
the saints who are in the earth, They are the majestic ones in whom is all my
delight. NASB
Saints, 'qadowsh,' means the sacred, holy, set apart. This comes to mean the chosen of God, or believers in Christ.
'That are on the earth,' is a reference to the source of humanity, the dwelling place of humanity, namely this planet. By inference, there is no other place in this universe, only on this planet, that human life, exists. But with respect to this verse, we are really only differentiating between the locations of Heaven where God dwells, versus earth where man dwells.
And whereas saints, refers to all believers, then more specifically, 'to the excellent,' refers to mature believers.
Excellent, 'addiyr' is a reference meaning noble, principal, worthy, mighty and so forth. These are the people who are productive versus those who are not productive, the good seed versus the chaff that is worthless.
In whom is all my delight. From Gods perspective, the mature believer, those who advance to spiritual maturity and are therefore productive and obedient to Gods mandates and plan, are the target of His principle favor.
These are the ones to whom the inheritance of rewards exceeding the imagination, are designated.
Those believers who are indifferent and therefore do not grow up and therefore are not productive, because of their indifference and/or their biased views of life, are not the target of Gods unique favor. As believers in Christ all are guaranteed a place in heaven forever, and in that regard all believers enjoy Gods special grace and chosen status.
Delight, 'chephets,' means pleasure, acceptable, desired, purposeful, and is a reference to believers that have attained a complete spiritual state. Again, by inference those who believe in Christ but fall away and do not advance in their spiritual life, are not included in this special category.
Gods delight is targeted to those who are the obedient, those who study daily as required, to those who advance in their spiritual growth as outlined by God.
It is the spiritually mature believer in whom God delights. Why? Because it is in them that truth resides, and arrogance does not. And truth is the content of the scriptures, learned, understood, and possessed, and therefore from whence the attributes of all spiritual qualities originate.
Spiritual qualities do not come from arrogance, do not come from sincerity, do not come from good intentions, do not come from human good or effort.
Good, as we studied in the previous verse, originates only from God, and therefore anything good, in you, must by default come from God, and by means of His designated process, not yours. This growth process occurs by means of a daily study.
God created all of creation as an inheritance for those in whom He delights. This excludes unbelievers who will be sent to the Lake of Fire, and all unproductive believers who will indeed live in heaven but will lose their additional rewards for eternity.
Spiritual maturity is available to all, unfortunately most do not pursue it.
Spiritual maturity is the single most valuable possession that you can have, and unfortunately most believers do not regard it as such.
Spiritual maturity come to you by means of only one way, your daily study while in fellowship, and unfortunately too many reject Gods process and presume their own virtue, which is not virtue, is an adequate path, and they lose out as a result of their foolish and arrogant choice of self over God.
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