ESTABLISHED, ANOINTED AND SEALED
“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” II Corinthians 1:21-22 (NKJV)
ESTABLISHED: “made firm or stable”; “set on a firm basis”
Paul challenged the Corinthian church to strive for this stability in their Christian life when he wrote: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58 (NKJV). We should strive to be:
1. Established in doctrine:
“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:6-7 (NKJV)
2. Established in our Christian walk:
“But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.” II Thessalonians 3:3 (NKJV)
3. Established in our Christian service:
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.” II Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NKJV)
ANOINTED: “consecrated”; “designated as having authority or power”.
There is an anointing of the Holy Spirit that abides with the believer forever, the anointing that is associated with His indwelling presence.
“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you.” I John 2:27 (NKJV)
"And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17 (NKJV)
There is an anointing of the Holy Spirit that comes upon God’s servants to give a special endowment for power in serving Him at a specific time and place. Consider what Jesus said to His disciples: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8.
In this instance our Lord was not referring to the power of the Holy Spirit that comes by the indwelling of the Spirit. He had already had given them the Spirit within on the day of His resurrection when He breathed on them and said: “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (John 20:22). But in Acts 1:8, He said: “when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”, indicating an empowerment that was yet to come.
SEALED: “made secure or safe”; “guaranteed”; “assured”.
The everlasting guarantee...the seal of the Holy Spirit of God! When the Holy Spirit seals us, we are not given a “30 day warranty” or a “limited lifetime warranty” with numerous qualifications that can nullify the guarantee, but we are given a guarantee that lasts forever, “until the redemption of the purchased possession!”
“In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14 (NKJV)
Paul reaffirmed the everlasting nature of the seal of God when he wrote:
“Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,” II Timothy 2:19 (NKJV)
