2 Corinthians 1:22 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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2 Corinthians 1:22

Comments

‘Sealed’ what is this? Well, it is not so much putting a seal on something for the purpose of security; it is more a matter of putting a seal on something for authentication. So there is the wax seal of the king of old. How do I know that this is some decree or important matter from the king, or from some nobleman under whom I serve? Well, it is sealed with his recognisable characteristic seal. The Christian is sealed. It is evident; it is apparent that he is a new person, a saved person. It is apparent to us and it is apparent to those around us.God has given us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit but it is called the ‘earnest’ of the Spirit, which literally means the down payment, the pledge money. Somebody is going to buy something, a house or something of this kind and so a deposit is paid. That deposit is an insurance and a foretaste of what is to come and this is how the apostle uses the term. God has given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts as an earnest, a foretaste, a deposit of what is to come. We have this foretaste of heaven. It is a wonderful thing that though we are far from heaven, truly converted people know they are the Lord’s. Part of the foretaste, the deposit we have, is a little bit of the tremendous security, which we will feel in eternity. Then of course in eternity we will have immeasurable communion with God. We will see our Saviour and we will know him and relate to him. We cannot explain it easily to the unconverted but in our private devotions we go to God in prayer and by his grace and kindness – sometimes it is taken from us for a while to teach us to live entirely by faith – but most of the time, we know we have been with the Lord. And in heaven we will know all things. We will have tremendous wisdom. We will understand wonderful and profound things. Even now we have a foretaste of this because, by conversion, we understand so much of the Word of God. Then in heaven, of course, we will have perfect holiness and there is even a foretaste of that with the Holy Spirit working in our hearts, moving our consciences, strengthening us whenever we pray to him and appeal to him. Then, too, there will be joy and happiness. We have that even now in a measure. There is grief in this world and hardship and disappointment but strapped alongside it all and very often just transcending it all is our happiness in Christ and our joy in him.

Application

We speak often of the ‘marks of grace,’ the signs of salvation in a life. What are they? Somebody has become much more humble because they have gone through that valley of conviction of sin and repentance before God, no longer the proud, self-sufficient individual. Now a true Christian has this sign, this seal, this mark because he has repented before God and he has been humbled and he depends upon him.

There are other signs too. He has discovered the Word of God. Now he is under its moral demands. The Word of God is everything – he understands it much better than he did before conversion. He loves it, he reads it, he is governed by it. What a seal of the Spirit. He belongs to God’s people. It is evident to us as Christians when someone is converted because that person knows he belongs to the spiritual family, hangs around much more, interacts with believers. Now there is a new bond with fellow Christians.

A true convert has discovered prayer and brings everything before the Lord and has many, many testimonies of answered prayer. A true convert has a battle with the enemy of souls, a battle with temptation. These things are signs of conversion, there is a seal of God’s authenticating work upon every truly converted person. Have you had this seal? Do you have the characteristics of a true believer, sealed into you?

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2 Corinthians 1:22 Commentary and Bible Study