"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." Eph. 1:13-4
"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Co. 1:21-2
One of my favorite thoughts when pondering our secure position as believers is thinking on the beautiful Holy Spirit's presence in our lives. He was given to us as a seal of our salvation and also as the guarantee of our future bodily redemption. To me, that simply means that I'm going to make it to heaven and to being resurrected for sure, because the Holy Spirit is making sure that happens! Just His presence within shows that it is guaranteed and set. And Jesus promised that the Spirit would be with us forever (Jn. 14:16-7), so this is a permanent seal and guarantee that we have within us, a Someone that won't leave us and that we cannot lose! The seal is permanent and its effects are permanent, hallelujah!
We were sealed with the Spirit - I read a couple of things that helped me understand what that means, that the Spirit seals us to the day of redemption or marks us as God's own. The word "seal" carries with it the ideas of ownership, protection, and destination. The Spirit is a seal, meaning is He is God's "mark" that was put on us, a mark of ownership, showing that I belong to God, that I'm an authentic, genuine Christian. Also, He is our seal in the sense that, just as a seal on earth secures the contents of a document or package against loss or damage, the Spirit protects us against any loss or damage. And lastly, a seal carries with it the idea of destination - it ensures that the package sent will arrive at the destination intact; that is what the Spirit does for us, for we were sealed for the day of redemption - He ensures that we will arrive safely at our heavenly destination with our glorified body (Eph.. 4:30)!
Another related idea is that of the Spirit as our guarantee. He is called the guarantee of our inheritance in Eph. 1:14, a deposit guaranteeing what is to come (2 Co. 1:21-2). Studying on this word "guarantee" was really interesting. It is the word meaning "engagement ring" and is like a down payment ensuring the full payment to come. The Spirit is our down payment, assuring us that we'll get the full inheritance in the future - the resurrection of the body and all the joys of knowing God's presence in heaven fully experienced! It's wonderful to think that Jesus has given His Bride such an "engagement ring" - the Holy Spirit, His very Spirit within us, one with our spirit, within us as the very Eternal Life of God, abiding in us and filling us to overflowing! The Spirit as our guarantee assures us that we'll see our Bridegroom face to face and celebrate the wonderful Marraige Supper! What a day that will be!
Thank You, Lord, for Your Precious Holy Spirit living within us, reminding us that we really are destined for the heavenly joys of being Your Bride forever! Thank You that the Holy Spirit is our assurance of that day to come! Thank You that the Spirit's wonderful presence that we enjoy within us now is just a down-payment on the future complete inheritance we'll experience later of being with You in glory! Thank You for sealing us with Your Spirit unto the day of redemption, and thank You that Your Spirit in us marks us as Your own possession, protects us from any loss, and ensures that we'll safely arrive in heaven! Thank You for how You abide in us and we abide in You through the Spirit! Amen..
