Holy Spirit Guarantee

(Ephesians 1:13-14)

There are two interesting points mentioned in these two verses.

The first is the concept of the Holy Spirit being a “seal” and that those who are Christ’s are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

And the second is the concept of the Holy Spirit being a “guarantee,” and the those who belong to the Lord have been firstly sealed, and secondly this seal is a guarantee of the inheritance of the Lord. When we think about these things a whole new perspective on the work of the Holy Spirit and His purpose in our lives as Christians becomes evident.

Sealed by the Spirit

Let us firstly look at the words in verse 13.

In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13)

If we consider what a seal is, it is a mark used to close a document or to indicate the authority by which a document or directive has been given. It is a sign of the power of the one making the statements, directives, contracts or promises, and the seal is the final witness of the validity of whatever is contained within.

Kings have always used seals to show the authority of documents written in their name, and today corporations still use a Common Seal of the corporation for the purpose of identifying the authority under which the contents of a document are made.

With these definitions in mind, let us now consider this verse and what it means to be sealed by the Holy Spirit.

Prior to receiving the Holy Spirit, Jesus was most likely known as Jesus, the carpenter’s son, or Jesus, son of Joseph. It was not until Jesus received the Holy Spirit that He became the Christ. That was the point in time when the anointing of the Holy Spirit fell upon Him to BE the Christ, which means “anointed one,” and to commence the work for which He came.

Likewise, it was not until the days of the early church in Antioch that the followers of the Lord were first called Christians, as we see in Acts 11:25-26.

25 So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; 26 and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians. (Acts 11:25-26)

In the same way as Jesus was anointed with the Holy Spirit and so became the Christ in a literal sense, so too those of His followers who are anointed with the Holy Spirit became Christians, or “anointed ones.”

Thus we see that Christians are sealed or marked with the Holy Spirit, just as Christ was sealed with the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit and so are sealed under the authority of God, for it is He who has authorised the giving of the Holy Spirit to His people, so that we can come to be like Jesus who was the first to be sealed by the Spirit.

This is all a work of the grace of God. We receive the Holy Spirit because God in His grace has allowed it to happen and enabled the way to receive through faith in Jesus Christ. And God enabled this so that we could be set apart from this world.

When we are sealed in the Holy Spirit, we are no longer under the power of sin or the power of this world but are under the power of God. We have received the Spirit from God so that we can be changed into His likeness and so live with Him into eternity.

This is what we have been sealed for . This is the plan of God for all who come to Christ; that they may choose to follow Him and learn to live as Christ lived.

A Guaranteed Inheritance

Now let us consider the second aspect in these verses, which is the idea of the Holy Spirit being a guarantee of the inheritance of the Lord.

”…which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:14)

In the Greek scriptures, the word translated as “guarantee” is also commonly translated as a “first payment” or a “down payment.” The intent of the word is that such a down payment is evidence of, or a guarantee that the transaction will be completed.

Even under contract law today there are three elements that must be in place for a legally binding contract to exist. The first is an offer, the second is acceptance of the offer, but the final element is the giving of consideration, or a payment such as a down payment to seal the deal.

A guarantee today also means that the seller of an item guarantees the thing they are selling will perform in accordance with the expectations of the buyer. That is, it will be fit for purpose and achieve the ends of the parties involved.

Now thinking about this guarantee in all these terms we see a new perspective on what this verse means.

We are given the Holy Spirit by the Lord for the purpose of transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ. That is the primary work of the Holy Spirit. So thinking about the concept of a guarantee from the perspective of “product quality” and “fitness for purpose,” the Holy Spirit more than meets these criteria.

Who or what else other than the Spirit given by and from God could possibly transform the nature of a man into the image of God? No man, no matter how knowledgeable in the ways of the Lord would be capable of working such a transformation in another person. But the Holy Spirit searches even into the depths of God so as to teach us and transform us.

10 God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For what person knows a man’s thoughts except the spirit of the man which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. (1 Corinthians 2:10-12)

The Holy Spirit commences this work in us as we walk with Christ. But it is a long walk and the destination is not something that exists in this world. The final destination for all Christians is eternal life with Christ in His kingdom after He returns to rule and reign over the earth and to banish all forms of evil from existence.

But that hasn’t happened yet, even though we are able to enter the kingdom of God now in the spiritual realm through the Holy Spirit and the death of Christ.

So the Holy Spirit is the “down payment” that what is promised will be received and the “contract” we have with God will come to pass. That “contract” is the New Covenant that God established in Jesus Christ, through whom we enter into the kingdom of God.

The Sum Of It All

The point of this post is to gain an insight into these things, but I am the first to admit that this is a simplistic view.

The work and the power of the Holy Spirit and the working of the New Covenant goes much deeper than these descriptions above. However, the use of the words “seal” and “guarantee,” and seeing how these descriptions might apply to our situation, can help us understand the desire of God for the salvation of His people.

God wants a people of His own who will seek Him out and come to Him of their own volition. This is His great desire for all mankind.

In conjunction with that desire He has made many promises. The provision of a guarantee and a seal or mark for the people of God just goes to strengthen those promises so that we can be of good courage and live in the knowledge and hope that these things will come to pass.

And the seal and guarantee of God is not like those given by man that are written with ink and paper. The seal and guarantee of God is received through the giving of the living Holy Spirit to work with us and live in us. This is why we we can have confidence that what God says He will achieve WILL be achieved.

And that comes with a living guarantee!

You might also like:

One Important Reason To Receive The Holy Spirit
Ask And It Will Be Given You
Who Is The Ultimate Advocate
You Must Be Born Again
The Word Of God
No Comparison
Have You Drunk The Living Water
The Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit Convicts
The Spirit Of Truth
Just Ask
Not Of This World
Pentecost And Receiving The Holy Spirit
The Promise Of The Holy Spirit
Promise Of Salvation
Receiving The Holy Spirit
Baptism And Receiving The Holy Spirit
A Merciful God
Enlightened By The Holy Spirit
Hope Love And The Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit At Work
Transformation
Understanding The Depths Of God
The Mind Of Christ
In The Holy Spirit
The Spirit As Guarantee