The Christian and the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14)

Already in this statement of praise Paul has mentioned activities by the Father and by the Son. Now Paul in this set of verses mentions the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who have believed in Jesus, who are redeemed and waiting for the fullness of redemption, and who have been elected and adopted by the Father. The apostle also mentions in these verses what happened to those believers before they believed and after they believed, and that it all occurred through union with Christ. 

The message they believed

Paul reminds the Ephesians of the order of their experience that led to them experiencing salvation: they heard the gospel, then they believed, and then they were sealed with the Spirit. When he refers to hearing the gospel, he is not concerned with how many times they heard it, but with the fact that they heard it in a way that led to salvation. Hearing also indicates that they were saved through an oral presentation of the message. Paul had held daily meetings in a public hall in Ephesus for about two years (Acts 19:9-10) and he may have had the faces of many of his hearers before his mind as he wrote this letter.

Paul uses two descriptions to describe the message: first, it is about the truth and, second, it is about salvation. The truth is coherent and fits together, and the salvation is good news. He does not merely mean that his message is true as one could say, for example, after hearing an accurate lecture on a historical figure. Rather his message is truth in the sense that it is about God and his ways. There are levels of truth, some more important than others, and one more important than them all. That high truth is truth about God in which he is revealed at his most amazing, which is in his plan of salvation. As one commentator, John MacPherson, says, ‘Outside of this word, there is no truth that has saving power.’

The great truth about God is the good news of salvation. One could say that Paul has already summarised the good news in the previous verses in this passage. They reveal a God who is eternally interested in sinners, who sent his Son to recover them and their inheritance through his death on the cross, and to adopt them into his family, and give to them the Holy Spirit to dwell in them.

Paul reminds his readers that the way to experience the blessings of the gospel is through faith. Obviously, he means faith in the Saviour. But what is faith? It is important to know the difference because there is false faith as well as true faith. Here are some features of genuine faith. First, it is marked by an attestation that the message of the gospel is true. Second, it is marked by an admiration of Jesus and of his saving activities. Third, it is marked by adherence to him, and him alone, for salvation. Fourth, it leads to assurance that the blessings of salvation are the possession of the one who believes in Jesus. Sometimes, believers may lose the fourth aspect for a variety of reasons. Nevertheless, they still have a genuine faith.

The seal

Speaking of sealing is not everyday language for us. So we need to ask some questions in order to discover the meaning of Paul’s words. The first question to ask is, ‘Who does the sealing?’ It cannot be the Holy Spirit because he is the seal given to the believer – we should avoid saying that we are sealed by the Spirit. Nor can it be Jesus who does the sealing because it takes place in him. This means that the sealer of each believer is the Father. 

The second question to ask is, ‘When did the Father seal his people?’ They were sealed when they believed the gospel and not at a later stage in their Christian life. Some of us may be aware of a dispute involving Lloyd-Jones’ interpretation of when believers are sealed with the Spirit. He argued that it occurred at a later stage in their experience and was connected often to an increase in spiritual power. While there is no doubt that many have known such an experience, it is not what is meant here by Paul. Instead, Paul is describing a universal Christian experience. Some people cannot say when they embraced the Saviour, but whenever they did believe in him, they were sealed with the Spirit. For such, receiving the Spirit as a seal was not an action that they realised was taking place.

What is meant by them being sealed by the Spirit? The apostle is using an illustration from the customs of the time in which a seal was stamped on an item to indicate ownership or authenticity. When a document was sent by an important person, he would stamp his seal on it to show to the recipient that the document was genuine and not a fake. Or when an item was shipped somewhere, the sender would put his seal on it to indicate it belonged to him. It is the presence of the Spirit that shows that an individual is a genuine Christian. 

Of course, there is an obvious difference between those seals and the Spirit, which is that he is alive and affects those on whom he is a seal. Because he is the source of life, his coming into the life of a person will have many consequences and they will be revealed in the spiritual experiences of believers. That is how we know we have been sealed with the Spirit.

We should observe that here the Spirit is described as the promised Holy Spirit. As is often said, there are three possible meanings of him as a promise and usually it is not possible to distinguish between the three and say which one is intended in a biblical reference. Having said that, it would also be the case that Paul, who would have known about the three options, deliberately chose a way of saying that all meanings should be included.

So what are those options with regard to the Spirit being promised? One is that Paul is referring to what Jesus said to his disciples when he promised that he would send the Holy Spirit to them after his ascension to heaven. The second is that the Father promised to his Son that he would receive the Spirit from the Father as a reward once the work of salvation was completed. The third is that the Old Testament contains promises or predictions of the coming of the Spirit (Ezekiel 37; Joel 2:28-31). In all of the possibilities, the promise was made by a divine Person, which means that there would be a definite fulfilment as far as God’s people are concerned, and we live in the days of fulfilment.

The Holy Spirit performs different roles in the lives of his people such as enabling them to understand the Bible, leading them to pray, helping them to mortify their sins, and bringing about their sanctification. Here Paul highlights one of the consequences of the Spirit’s presence – he is the guarantee that his people will receive their inheritance. Yet he is more than a guarantee. In addition to indicating that they will receive the inheritance, he gives to them foretastes of it.

What is the inheritance that believers will have? It includes a place, a people and a purpose. The place is the new heavens and earth, the people are perfected believers, and the purpose will be to know and worship God. And while here, even while we are imperfect, the Holy Spirit enables us to know and worship God. Paul points to that wonderful reality when he writes that the Spirit does all this in Christ to the praise of the Father’s glory.

Application

The first application that we can make is that we can and should think big thoughts. We were made to do this. There is nothing bigger than God’s great plan of salvation. We have been given the word of truth, which is the gospel of salvation, and which contains information that is staggering. Our minds can scan what God did in eternity past, what he did in time, and what he will do in the world to come. Yet how rare it is for people to think really big thoughts about God and his ways.

A second application is that we can praise edifyingly. Imagine how the Ephesians must have felt when they first heard this passage when the letter was read in their midst. We should fill our praise with truths. This does not mean that praise and prayer should be complex. Edifying prayers don’t need to be long. Based on this passage by Paul, we could praise God as follows: ‘Father, thank you for choosing your people and making them your sons when they believe. Jesus, thank you for becoming a man and dying on the cross in order to redeem your people and recover their lost inheritance. Holy Spirit, thank you for being the permanent sign that we belong to God and for giving us foretastes of glory.’ Simple to say, yet how profound in meaning. Indeed, recognising each divine Person when we pray is edifying almost in an automatic manner. 

A third application is that we should treasure the wonder that the Holy Spirit is with us in this life. We have a divine companion whose aim is to bring spiritual blessings to his people. He enables us to appreciate in a measure the great things of God. But his presence is not just an intellectual one like a teacher who can be with pupils in a classroom. His presence is transforming, affecting every part of us, and leading us to be people of praise who continually express our gratitude to the triune God for the great plan of salvation.