Ephesians 1:13 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Ephesians 1:13

Comments

What is the seal? It is not ‘what’. It is not a thing; it is a person; it is the Holy Spirit: he is the seal. ‘Ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.’ The third glorious person of the Godhead, equal with the Father, equally glorious and powerful, is the seal. You were sealed after you had consciously heard the word. Conversion is not a passive thing, something which just happens without you being aware, and you discover later that you have been saved. No, you hear the word and you are convinced by it, because the Holy Spirit has illuminated it to you and worked in your heart and caused you to willingly come to Christ.You hear and you are consciously convinced; you personally trust in him; you are given the gift of faith. The thing that never seemed real to you suddenly is the truest thing in the world: that God is God, that Christ is Christ, and has come and has suffered and died for sinners; that you are a needy sinner alienated from God, and that you need him and his salvation. You therefore run to him and acknowledge him and rest your soul upon him, and call upon him for salvation. You realise you cannot contribute to this; you have no works. You could go to another church and be a Catholic or something and believe in ceremonies and the priesthood and the mass, but none of that can save you. It must be a gift by the grace of God. You need a conversion experience from him and free salvation. No works can help you.

Application

Once you were his, and you gave your life to him and repented of your sin and came, you were ‘sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.’ Now the seal is the seal put on a document to attest that it is sent from a particular person. It is a legal document perhaps. The seal attests the validity of the signatory. What happened to you in conversion? You were sealed; it was an authenticating sign. Certain things have taken place. Your understanding has been opened, your life has been changed, your desires and hopes have been transformed. Now you are concerned to live for Christ, now you have an active conscience and you want to obey him and follow him. These things are clearly the work of the Spirit.

You have changed. All the things that you have loved to do that were sinful and worldly, you cannot do them anymore. Now you want spiritual things and Christian companionship and the word of God, and you are in the family and you love God. These changes are authenticating signs that you are an authentic Christian. You bear the seal that he has worked in your heart. You were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. It is God’s seal of ownership upon you. It is God’s assurance to you that you are saved, now and for ever.

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Ephesians 1:13 Commentary and Bible Study

The meaning of Ephesians 1:13 explained