Ephesians: Our Identity In Christ
Part 3
Sealed By The Spirit
Ephesians 1:13-14
13. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
14. who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)
Like me, most of you have experienced the American Dream, or maybe we should call it the American Nightmare, of coming up with the down payment to buy a house. It is a common practice in house buying that a certain amount of earnest money be deposited. The reason it is called earnest money is because the owners need to know if you are "in earnest." If they are going to take their house off the market, they need to know you are serious. It seems to be a reasonable request. After you have deposited your earnest money, if someone were to ask the owners of the house how they knew you were serious, they would simply point to the deposit.
How do we know that God is serious when He gives us all these promises? In the first chapter of Ephesians alone we have seen a multitude of blessings which God has said He has already given us. How do we know it's really true? How do we really know God is in earnest?
There is so much that God has done for us. In Ephesians 1:3 we read that God has "blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ." In 1:4 it says that "He chose us in Him." In 1:5 we read that "He predestined us to adoption as sons." In 1:6 it says that "He freely bestowed on us" His grace. In fact, in 1:8 it says that "He lavished upon us" this grace. In 1:7 it says that He redeemed us and that He forgave us. In 1:9 we find that "He made known to us the mystery of His will." In 1:11 we find that in Christ "we have obtained an inheritance." And these are just a few of the things God claims to have done for us. There are hundreds more promises found elsewhere in His Word. Is this real? Is He in earnest? How can we know?
To be assured of this truth, that God really means what He says, would certainly be life-adjusting, to say the least. I need to know. You need to know. We all need to know for certain. We need to know in our "knower." We need more than merely academic information. We need an experiential knowledge that we are accepted, and that God's promises are sure.
How can you experientially know that you are a child of God and that the inheritance of God's eternal riches of grace is yours in Christ? Well, according to our text, we can know because God has given us a guarantee! This guarantee is in the form of the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Holy Spirit is given both as a guarantee and a foretaste of eternal glory. By experiencing His presence in our lives, we can be confident and encouraged in all God has said. In this passage of Scripture, we will see that the Holy Spirit is the down payment, or earnest payment, to show God is serious and that His Word to us is true.
Ghost or God?
There is an interesting encounter recorded in Acts 19. There the apostle Paul encountered some so-called disciples. In verse 2 we read that he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Their reply was interesting, and unfortunately, it is also indicative of many in the church today. They said in reply, "No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."
I have found that it is true that many Christians today live as though the Holy Spirit doesn't exist. The Holy Spirit tends to be ignored in many circles. Why? Perhaps there are several reasons. It could be true that He is ignored because many don't understand much about the Holy Spirit. Perhaps they were never taught. Perhaps those who are teaching them were never taught themselves. It also seems, because of some of the excesses in some quarters, that many are simply afraid of the Holy Spirit. As a result many believers are woefully uninformed about the nature and value of the Holy Spirit's work today. This is unfortunate because the Holy Spirit is vital to the life of every believer.
But who is this Holy Spirit? In the King James Version of the Scriptures, He is called the "Holy Ghost." To our modern minds, this brings forth all sorts of images. Our idea of a ghost is not quite what biblical writers had in mind when referring to the Holy Spirit. You see, the Holy Spirit is not ghost, but God. He is the third person of the Trinity. The Trinity consists of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They are one in essence and in purpose. They are co-equal. They are three expressions of the triune God.
It is important that we understand something of the ministry of the Holy Spirit today. The Bible speaks volumes concerning His ministry in relation to believers. The Scriptures reveal to us that the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin (John 16:8). The Holy Spirit draws us to Jesus (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit baptizes or places us into Christ's body (1 Corinthians 12:13). The Holy Spirit indwells us (John 14:16-17), empowers us (Acts 1:4-5), and anoints us for specific service (1 Samuel 9:16). The Holy Spirit gives us various spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12), fills us (Ephesians 5:18), and changes us into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). And here we are told, in Ephesians 1:13-14, that the Holy Spirit seals us and that He guarantees our inheritance.
Without a solid understanding of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, we will be deficient in our spiritual walk. Later, when we get to Ephesians 5:18, we will look at the implications of being baptized in the Spirit's power, and being filled on a daily basis by Him. In the meantime, let me encourage you to do a personal study on the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit. Don't merely do it for intellectual reasons, do it so that God can begin to move in a fresh new way in your life. Let's look now at the Holy Spirit's work in our lives revealed by this passage.
Sign and Seal
In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation - having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, (1:13)
He is called the Holy Spirit of promise. This is because Jesus promised us the infilling of the Holy Spirit. In John 14:16-17, we hear Jesus saying, "and I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you, and will be in you." Jesus promised us that the Spirit would not simply be with us as believers, but would be in us. Jesus assured us that when He was exalted after the resurrection, He would send the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. We call this the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.
He goes on to say of the Holy Spirit of promise that He was given as a sign or seal. Everyone of us as believers were sealed in Him. All of us were sealed and He Himself is the seal. But a seal of what? And what are the conditions which have to be met for this seal to be applied?
The Scriptures teach us that the Holy Spirit draws us to Jesus. He reveals Jesus to us as the Savior of the world. He brings us to the place where we surrender to Jesus Christ as our Savior. That is what the Scriptures refer to as the new birth. And that is the pre-requisite to receiving the presence of the Holy Spirit into our lives. We must first surrender to the claims of Christ as our Lord and Savior before we can be indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God. In verse 13 it says that you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit at a particular time. It was after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation --- having also believed. The time at which we are indwelt by the presence of the Holy Spirit is after listening . . . having also believed. In other words, the seal of the Holy Spirit is upon those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. It is a sign and seal that we are Christ's.
The Holy Spirit being described as a seal brings to mind many images. A seal in ancient times was generally made of wax. It was common practice to melt a bit of wax to seal a scroll. Into this melted wax a signet ring was often pressed, leaving the mark of it's owner. It was to guarantee that the letter was authentic. In ancient times there were also many cults, some of which required their adherents to receive a tattoo or mark upon their bodies. This was to identify them as members. You might think of the common practice on cattle ranches of branding cows to identify them as belonging to their owners. The Jews saw circumcision as the sign or seal of their faith. And Christians now possess a sign or seal of their faith. It is the Holy Spirit of promise.
Does every believer receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit as this sign or seal? The answer is found in Romans 8:9b. There we read, "But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." The Spirit is given to every believer. He is the evidence that the believer belongs to Christ. Indeed, in Romans 8:16 we read, "The Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God." The Holy Spirit is in you, if you are a believer, to lead, to reveal Jesus Christ to you, and to witness to your spirit that you belong to Christ.
Pledge and Preview
who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. (1:14)
We find that Holy Spirit is not only given to us as a seal, He is given as a pledge of our inheritance. The Greek word translated pledge is arrabon. This word means "an earnest, a part payment given in advance." What is in view here is earnest money or a down payment. Literally, the Holy Spirit is given to us as the first installment of all that will follow. When you get a first installment, you are assured that there will be much more of the same kind of thing to follow. The Holy Spirit by whom we are indwelt is the real thing, but only just a taste! He is merely the down payment.
But the Holy Spirit is given to us as a pledge of our inheritance. He is the pledge indicating that God is serious regarding our inheritance. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit means that all God's says He did, He has done. When He said He blessed us with all spiritual blessings, it means He has blessed us. When He says He choose us, and predestined us, and bestowed His grace upon us freely and lavishly, and redeemed us, and revealed His mystery to us, and provided an inheritance for us, it means that He has done it. We know it is real because we have experienced the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit's presence also means that all God says He will do, He will do! In other words, the future is absolutely secure.
But the Holy Spirit is not only a pledge, He is also a preview. Experiencing the life of the Holy Spirit is experiencing abundant life, but only in a measure. In other words, we are experiencing just a little of what is to come. We are not experiencing the absolute and total fullness of our inheritance yet. We are catching only a glimpse of the riches which will be ours ultimately in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is a foretaste of what is to come.
What will heaven be like? What will it mean to inherit all the promises of God? What will it mean to be fully saturated with the presence of the living God? What will it mean to experience abundant and eternal life in fullness? I'm not altogether sure. And neither are you. Let the Holy Spirit show you what it means. The Bible exhorts us to "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:8). Unless we are open to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the extent of His work in us, we will never begin to experience His power and ministry. And there is so much He has to offer us. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is just the beginning. It is at that point that we start our adventure with God. But there is more to come than any of us have experienced.
I hope that we have become aware of the Holy Spirit's presence in our life. Yield to Him. Surrender yourself to Him. Purpose today to give Him control of your life. He will begin to reveal Jesus Christ to you, and assure you of your inheritance in Christ. He will also begin to open you to more of His activity in your life. You don't have to do these things. But if you would like more of the Holy Spirit's presence and power in your life, then the secret is yielding and surrendering to Him. Simply ask Him to take you on a spiritual adventure in which Jesus becomes more real and your spiritual life becomes more dynamic. He will do it.
We have been sealed by the Spirit. He is the guarantee of our inheritance. He is the first installment of the Kingdom. This is what the Bible says. It is what is true. But it must not stop there. It needs to be what we experience.
As believers, we are to be led by the Spirit. He is to be in control. May we have not only a sound doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit, but also a dynamic experience of the Holy Spirit as we yield to Him.
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