Sealed with the Holy Spirit

UV 523/10,000 Ephesians 1 v 13 Sealed with the Holy Spirit “ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise” When we hear the Word and believe that it is not just mere words written by men but the precious Word of God, we receive the promise of salvation and eternal life. But, as an earnest or a deposit of that future inheritance, the Lord God seals us with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is our present help, our comforter, our rememberancer or the one who entrusts God’s promises to us and works in us towards the fulfillment of the promises. He lays the promises of God upon our hearts and minds as a bricklayer lays bricks and cements the bricks to build a structure. The Holy Spirit grows in us like a plant. As we trust and praise and worship God continually, that plant will grow and bear the fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. A seal is a sign of ownership, a symbol of completion, a mark of quality. The seal of Holy Spirit similarly is a sign of God’s ownership of our lives, an evidence of God’ promise to complete our incomplete faith, knowledge and understanding, a mark of the qualities of the true disciples of Christ and true believers in God. The Holy Spirit is a revealer of the secrets of God, the promises and prophecies that are yet to be established. He is an imparter of visions and an interpreter of dreams. He is a sanctifier or the one who sanctifies and purifies the chosen of God. A seal is also a protection against being tampered with. When we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, the spirits of darkness cannot attack us or rob us of our peace and patience. The Holy Spirit will be a wall of fire around us to protect us from such marauding spirits. He is also described as Paraclete or advocate or intercessor. Just as doves keep making a noise in their throats, the Holy Spirit is constantly praying or interceding for believers around the world in sounds that words cannot express. Like an advocate, He testifies to who belongs to God. He lays bare the special circumstances of different individuals. Prateep V Philip