SEALED BY THE SPIRIT Lamentations 1-2 | Hebrews 10:1-18 “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.” —Ephesians 1:13-14 We tend to associate personality with physical being, but what makes a person is the possession of a mind, a will and emotions. The Holy Spirit has all three. He has personal attributes and engages in personal activities. He speaks, intercedes, teaches, guides, commands and appoints. The Holy Spirit is the active member of the Trinity and is the actual presence of God who lives the life of Christ within us. It is by His revelation and wisdom that we come to know Christ. The Holy Spirit seals us in Christ, and a seal is a mark of ownership. As Christians, we are not asking Jesus Christ to become our servant, but our owner, and this is fundamental to the Gospel. The seal of the Holy Spirit is a seal of ownership in which we belong to Christ and are under his Lordship. Once we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, He is in us until the day of redemption. We will never lose Him. A seal confirms something as being genuine. The sealing of the Holy Spirit marks the authenticity of our salvation and our union with Christ. This comes about as Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:13, “By having believed.” On our part, we believe, and on God’s part, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. But something far deeper than believing goes on in the heart of a Christian that is inexplicable apart from the fact that God is doing something. There is internal evidence which Paul speaks of in Romans 8:16, “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” We cannot be confident of this until we know that inner assurance only the Holy Spirit gives. It is an experiential awareness in which we were once blinded to the truth and dead in our transgressions, but now we see and are made alive in Christ. Romans 5:5 tells us, “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” We have this wonderful awareness that we are loved by God, not because we believe it as an article of faith, but because experientially we know something of the Spirit of God pouring His love into our hearts. How God confirms this will vary from person to person, but something happens to us as we recognize that Jesus Christ is both the Truth and the Life. They cannot be separated because we need to know the Truth in order to experience the Life. Prayer: Dear Lord, it is wonderful to know that once we are sealed by the Holy Spirit, we can never lose Him. I cherish His presence within me. Thank You, Lord. To Reflect Upon: Am I strengthened and comforted knowing that I am sealed in Christ by the Holy Spirit all the days of my life?
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 14:18:21 +0000
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