Author : Keith Sharp
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).
Do you know you are saved? Can you prove you are saved? The seal and guarantee of the Holy Spirit are the means by which God claims His children as his own and assures us of our heavenly inheritance.
Context
In Ephesians 1:3-14 the apostle Paul reveals the part each Person in the Godhead plays in our salvation. We have “every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (verse 3). The Father chose and predestined that those who would come to Christ by faith would be saved, in love He adopted us as sons, and He made us accepted in Christ. This is to “the praise of the glory of His grace” (v 4-6). The Son redeemed us by His sacrifice on the croos, revealed to us the mystery of the divine will, and gave us an inheritance. This is to His praise (verses 7-12). The Holy Spirit sealed us an guarantees our inheritance. This is to His glory (verse 13-14).
Ephesians 1:13-14
In verse twelve the apostle stated that “we who first trusted (‘hoped’- NASB) in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.” These were Jews who had looked for Christ and believed in Him when He came (cf. Luke 2:25-32).
But now he observes, “In Him (Christ – KS) you also (implied “trusted” – NKJV; or “hoped”- NASB). These would be Gentiles, of whom there were many in the church in Ephesus (cf. Acts 19:1,8-10,17-18).
They trusted or hoped in Christ after they “heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” The gospel is God’s word and is the truth (John 17:17) that has the power to save (Romans 1:16-17). Hearing this gospel leads sinners to believe unto salvation (Romans 10:8-10,17). Neither this nor any other passage teaches that the Holy Spirit must miraculously accompany the preached word to cause the sinner to believe. Rather, the order is hear the word, believe (obedient faith), and then be sealed by the Holy Spirit. If it takes the direct operation of the Holy Spirit to cause the sinner to believe and obey, the power to save is in the miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit rather than the gospel.
To “seal” is “to set a mark upon, distinguish by a mark… ; set one’s own mark upon, seal as one’s own, impress with a mark of acceptance” (Mounce. 1286; cf. Revelation 7:2-3). After we heard the gospel and believed, God marked us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit in our hearts (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).
The Holy Spirit in our hearts is God’s “guarantee” (“pledge” – NASB) of our inheritance. A “guarantee” is “a ‘deposit’ which pays part of the total debt and gives a legal claim…; ‘earnest money’ ratifying a compact” (TDNT.1:475). If you make a bid to buy a house, you will probably have to put up “earnest money,” money left in escrow with the realtor, to guarantee that if your bid is accepted you will really buy the house. This is your guarantee or pledge that you will do what you promised. The Lord has promised us as our inheritance an eternal home in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-5). He gives us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee he will be faithful to His promise.
One day He will send His Son to “redeem” or claim what He has purchased with the blood of His Son (Ephesians 1:70, His people, Christians (cf. Ephesians 4:30; Romans 8:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). We will then be with Him forever.
In verse thirteen Paul describes the Spirit as “the Holy Spirit of promise.” To what does he refer?
Explanation
About eight centuries before Paul wrote to the Ephesians, the prophet Joel promised that God would “pour out” His “Spirit on all flesh” (Joel 2:28-29). On the first Day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ from the dead, the Holy Spirit came upon the Lord’s twelve apostles (Acts 1:26 – 2:4). They miraculously preached in the languages of devout Jews gathered for the feast of Pentecost in Jerusalem from throughout the Roman world (Acts 2:5-11). The Jews were astounded and wanted to know how they were able to do this (Acts 2:12). Peter explained that this was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel and quoted Joel 2:28-32 (Acts 2:16-21).
Then Peter preached to that immense gathering the evidences that “Jesus of Nazareth…. is both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:22-36). His hearers, “were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’” (Acts 2:37)
Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call (Acts 2:38-39).
What promise? He had just promised “the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Joel promised the Holy Spirit to “all flesh” as well as “your sons and your daughters”(Joel 2:28). The text for Peter’s sermon contained this promise (Acts 2:17). His promise in verse thirty-nine references it, for “the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off,” i.e., to “all flesh” as well as “your sons and your daughters.” Clearly, the inspired apostle applies the promise of the reception of the Holy Spirit to those who repent and are baptized.
Later passages in Acts confirm this. God gives His Holy Spirit “to those who obey Him” (Acts 5:32). The “gift of the Holy Spirit” is the Holy Spirit as a gift (Acts 10:44-45, the only other biblical use of the phrase “gift of the Holy Spirit”; cf. 11:15-17).
But, in seeming but not actual contradiction, the Samaritans, who had believed and had been baptized (Acts 8:12), did not receive the Holy Spirit until the apostles Peter and John prayed and laid their hands on them (Acts 8:14-17). Acts 19:5-6 demonstrates that baptized believers could work miracles by the Holy Spirit only if an apostle laid his hands on them. Since there are no apostles on the earth today (Acts 1:21-26; 1 Corinthians 15:8), no one on earth today is performing miraculous works by the power of the Holy Spirit. If the seal of the Holy Spirit is for all baptized believers, it is not the same as tongue speaking or other miraculous spiritual gifts.
Does this mean Christians today do not receive the Holy Spirit? “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His”(Romans 8:9).
Paul explains himself in verse fourteen. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
How does the Holy Spirit lead us? “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2). The law of the Spirit saves us from the death of sin ruling our lives, thus, this is just a different description of the gospel (Romans 1:16-17), the word of truth (Ephesians 1:13), the word of God (Romans 10:17).
God adopts as His children those who are led by the Spirit through His word (Romans 8:15-17). “The Spirit Himself bears witness with” (not “to”) their spirits that they are children of God (verse 16). The Spirit in the word He revealed (1 Corinthians 2:9-13) informs us how to be saved and to become God’s children (Galatians 3:26-27). If your spirit can testify you have done this, you have the witness of the two spirits, the Holy Spirit and your own spirit. You thus have the assurance, the guarantee, of your inheritance (Romans 8:17).
We can grieve the Spirit by whom we are sealed if we fail to live as He teaches (Ephesians 4:30-32). He warns us, if we live according to the flesh we will die (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:19-21), but He promises we will live if we walk by the Spirit’s direction (Romans 8:13; Galatians 5:22-26).
But, someone might object, that’s not enough assurance for me. I need something miraculous – tongue speaking, or a still, small voice, or a feeling better felt that told – to assure me of my salvation. Then you’re lost. You don’t believe the word of God, the most secure guarantee one could ever receive (Romans 3:3-4; Titus 1:2; Hebrews 6:13-18). There is no salvation, seal, or guarantee to those who do not believe (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Conclusion
If you hear “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,” believe that word, repent of your sins, confess your faith, and are baptized for the remission of sins, the Lord will forgive your sins. In so doing He has sealed you with His Holy Spirit as belonging to Him. If you then, having repented of your sins, live by the Spirit rather than the flesh, you have the guarantee of the Spirit that you have an inheritance, an eternal home in heaven with God.
Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His,’ and, ‘Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity’ (2 Timothy 2:19).
Who could ask for anything more?
Works Cited
Kittel, Gerhard, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (article by Johannes Behm).
Mounce, William D., Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words.
