What does it mean to be sealed with the Holy Spirit?
To be sealed with the Holy Spirit is God's mark of ownership upon us and His guarantee of our inheritance. When we believed the gospel, God sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the down payment of what is coming. The seal means we belong to God and are secure until the day of redemption. It is God's doing, not ours, and it is the ground of our assurance.
This question arose from studying Can I lose my salvation? and How do I receive the Holy Spirit?.
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What the Scripture says
The seal is given when we believe the gospel
The seal is bound to faith. Paul writes that in Christ, 'having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.' It is not a second stage for the spiritually elite; it is what happens when a person hears and believes the gospel. At the very start of the Christian life, God puts His mark upon the believer.
in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,
I just want to learn this from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?
It is God's mark of ownership and His guarantee
A seal marks a thing as belonging to its owner, and the Spirit is exactly that. God establishes us in Christ and anoints us, and He 'also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.' Paul calls the Spirit 'the pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God's own possession.' God has marked us as His, and the Spirit is the first installment of everything He has promised, a guarantee that the rest is coming.
Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God;
who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
Assurance rests on God's act, not our moods
Because the seal is God's doing, our assurance does not rise and fall with our feelings. The Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are God's children, and the Spirit of adoption enables us to cry 'Abba, Father.' John says that he who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The Spirit is the constant witness, the down payment already given; assurance is believing what God has done, even when our emotions waver.
For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.
The seal can be grieved
Paul's warning keeps the seal from presumption: 'Don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.' The seal is not a license to sin carelessly; it is the presence of a Person who lives in us and can be grieved by what we do. The same Spirit who is the guarantee of our redemption is the Spirit we can wound, and the day of redemption that secures us is also the day toward which we are to live in holiness.
Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
But they rebelled, and grieved his holy Spirit: therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he himself fought against them.
So we are secure, and we live toward the day
The ground of our security is laid by God: His firm foundation stands, having this seal, 'the Lord knows those who are his.' For those in Christ there is no condemnation, and nothing can separate us from the love of God. And precisely because we are sealed for the day of redemption, we live expectantly and carefully, bearing the mark of Him who owns us until the day He brings us fully home. The seal is the promise that the redemption is certain, and it is already begun.
However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
As you read, you may wonder…
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We haven't written this one yet. Take it to your church or small group: the Word answers it wherever it is asked. If we study it here later, all the better.
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Verses to meditate on
in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
However God’s firm foundation stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let every one who names the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.”
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