Jesus promised that He wouldn’t leave us as orphans but that He would send another Helper, the Holy Spirit, to live in us. And where the Holy Spirit would abide, there the Father and Son would be too. Paul continued in this theme in Ephesians and taught the saints that the Holy Spirit had marked them, like a seal on hot wax, and was a deposit for all that Jesus had promised.

We can be confident that Jesus will come back and rule as King with us as His children because He sent the Holy Spirit to be our deposit and seal us until that day!

Ephesians 1:3-14, “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

FOURTEEN THINGS PAUL WAS THANKFUL TO GOD FOR:

  1. Blessed with Every Spiritual Blessing, (v. 3).
  2. Chosen to be Holy & Blameless, (v. 4).
  3. Adoption to Sonship, (v. 5).
  4. Glorious Grace, (v. 6).
  5. Redemption & Forgiveness, (v. 7).
  6. All Wisdom & Understanding, (v. 8).
  7. Knowing God’s Mysterious Will, (v. 9).
  8. Unified with Christ, (v. 10).
  9. God’s Plan, (v. 11).
  10. Made to Praise God’s Glory, (v. 12).
  11. The Gospel, (v. 13a).
  12. Marked & Sealed by the Holy Spirit, (v. 13b).
  13. Guaranteed Inheritance, (v. 14a).
  14. God’s Possession, (v. 14b).

DEFINITIONS

  1. MARKED & SEALED: One word in the Greek that means to be certified and protected from opening until the proper time. A reference to the person of the Holy Spirit sealing the believer until the time of the resurrection in the Kingdom of God (Eph. 1:14).

Further Study on “Seals” in the New Testament Times: “In regards to the ‘seal of ownership,’ documents would be sealed with witnesses’ identity markers, and containers of merchandise with those of owners, certifying that no one had tampered with their contents. The stamp of the owner or the person or people witnessing a document would be pressed into hot wax, which then dried over the string tied around the rolled-up document.

Important documents often had about six seals; to open the document one had to break the seals, so a sealed document was one that had not been tampered with (Rev. 5:1.) God himself attested the apostolic message his Spirit [as the seal] (2 Cor. 3:2-3).

Judaism especially associated the Spirit with the end of the age (e.g., Eze 39:28 – 29; Joel 2:28). deposit. The Greek term here [Eph. 1:13] referred in business documents to the down payment; the Spirit is here the first taste of the life of the coming era when God will reign unchallenged” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible).

REFERENCES TO BEING SEALED IN PAUL’S WRITINGS

  1. Ephesians 1:13 (NASB), “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.”
  2. Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
  3. 2 Corinthians 1:20-21 , “20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

JESUS’ TEACHINGS ON THE HOLY SPIRIT IN JOHN 14-16

John 14:15-27, “15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another [“allon,” another of the same kind] Advocate [“parakletos,” Helper, 1 John 2:2]  to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name [Trinity], will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

John 15:26-27, “26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me [Trinity]. 27 And you also must testify [Acts 1:8], for you have been with me from the beginning.

John 16:7-15, “7 But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you [Acts 2]. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit [Trinity] will receive from me what he will make known to you [“homoousios,” same substance).”

You are anointed, sealed for union with Jesus by the Holy Spirit and He is a deposit of your inheritance to come!