Ephesians 1: 13-14
Just as Jesus, the Son provided for the Father’s plan by making Himself the sacrifice, part of the Holy Spirit’s ministry is to make this new life in Christ a reality in our lives as believers. The Holy Spirit helps us appropriate the life that we have been given.
in whom you also–In Christ we also. Paul is talking to those who are in Christ. Remember that the “you also” is used to remind us of what we have been saved from Col 1:21-23 21 And although you were previously alienated and hostile in attitude, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His body of flesh through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you have heard… Paul is going to relate the great treasure that we have in the fulfilled promise of the Holy Spirit, but first he wants to make sure that everyone knows that He is talking to born-again Christians here, who are, in fact, In Christ.
having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom having also believed.
God provides us the faith for our salvation by hearing and believing the Word of God. Romans 10:13, 16-17 13 for “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then are they to call on Him in whom they have not believed? How are they to believe in Him whom they have not heard?…16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. What is the difference between hearing and believing vs. hearing and not believing? Faith! We hear the Word, and to those God has pre-ordained to believe, God gives the faith to believe. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; A gift is something that has to be given to you. There is no natural, inherent faith towards Jesus that is exhibited when we were unregenerate, spiritually dead sinners. Therefore, if anyone is to call upon the name of Jesus Christ, faith must be given to them. Hebrews 12 verse 2 says Jesus is the author and perfecter of faith. All faith within the one who believes was authored by Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:29 says faith has been “granted” unto us to believe in Jesus Christ. We have been saved, rescued or delivered. We were sinners who were dead in our trespasses and sins, and now we have been saved or delivered by grace.
Holy Spirit as Witness of Truth of God’s Word.
The Holy Spirit is called ‘the Spirit of truth’, emphasizing His trustworthiness as a witness. Why does the Spirit bear witness of Jesus? Why can His witness be trusted? Because the Spirit is truth personified. In the upper room discourse, Jesus describes the Spirit in a similar way three times: Saying in John 14:17 the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. And the Holy Spirit’s testifying role continues to bear witness to believers concerning the truth of the message about Jesus that we’ve heard from the beginning. The Holy Spirit is within us, convincing us of the truth of what we have heard from Jesus, and that by following Jesus, we will have eternal life. Within us, as believers, we have the Holy Spirit witnessing to us of the truth of God’s word. The Holy Spirit himself continually offers a present and continuing testimony to the Person and Work of Jesus, and the efficacy and sufficiency of His sacrificial death on the cross. And so, He works with the Truth of the Word on our hearts. It’s not just hearing that bears fruit, but hearing to understand, and receive God’s word, so as to do what it says. We must not only hear the Word, but act on what we hear. It is to those who not only hear the Word of God, but believe in Christ Jesus to save them from their sin, and are continuing to follow Jesus because it is not only the hearing but also the believing that is necessary for the Holy Spirit to indwell us.
you were sealed.
This word for seal up, Sphragizo means to close with a seal to secure from breaking in and avoid tampering, to secure with a seal to authenticate, or certify genuineness, and to identify ownership. It is the sense of marking ownership, and protecting against tampering or theft. 2 Cor 1:21-22 21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, 22 who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. So, we see that the Holy Spirit is the indicator that we are His, and will remain His as we follow Jesus through life, until we are finally fully redeemed when we get to heaven.
with the Holy Spirit of promise.
The Holy Spirit is the means or instrument of the seal. All three persons of the Trinity are involved with our relationship to God. The Holy Spirit is the evidence that the promise of Salvation in the Word of God 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation has been fulfilled, and the indwelling Holy Spirit that Jesus has promised to send us, we have received. The sealing ministry of the Spirit is to identify believers as God’s own and protect us, giving us the security that we belong to Him, and will be kept by Him. The very fact that the Spirit indwells believers is a seal of God’s ownership of them. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the 100% fool-proof evidence of the regenerate life, marking us as being in Christ, His bride. Other evidence, like doing the will of God, increasing in maturity, having love for others, confessing Jesus, walking in the light, abiding in the word, dying to self, and living a life of obedience to God, enduring in Christ through trials and tribulation, maintaining good works, producing fruit of the Spirit, hating the worldly system, refusing to practice sin, practicing righteousness, striving to enter the kingdom, longing for the Lord’s coming, and loving Jesus comes from His work in our hearts.
Who is a first installment of our inheritance.
This word for first installment is used of earnest money, which refers to a down payment that was forfeited if the purchase was not completed—It was the first installment with a guarantee that the rest would follow. The Holy Spirit is a pledge that God will bring us through many trials and troubles into redemption with Him in heaven. In 2 Cor 5:5 Paul explains that believers, while in their present “earthly dwelling,” are given the Spirit as a deposit or guarantee of their future “heavenly dwelling.” It is a payment which obligates God to complete the transaction, and He does not go back on a deal!
until the redemption of the purchased possession.
The word “redemption” means to release or set free on the basis of a ransom paid to God by Christ’s death. Until we acquire or obtain the possession of complete salvation and redemption when we see Jesus, the Holy Spirit indwells us. We are sealed by Him until the day of redemption, when Jesus comes for the saints, and we will be set free from the presence of sin. We are “already” set free from sin’s penalty and power “but not yet” from its presence and temptations. And the Holy Spirit is our earnest, our pledge that we will receive this inheritance.
And, just as a seal sometimes makes secret the thing sealed, so the graces of the Spirit make believers unknown to the world., and we are distinguished as being set apart from the world . The Holy Spirit, not only as a seal, but as earnest-money, confirms to us our inheritance.
to the praise of his glory.” –So that we would be able to praise Him and give Him Glory. The chief aim of man is to glorify God. And He wants us to be able to love Him, and He love us throughout eternity. We praise Him, because of His Grace toward us in saving us, and adopting us as sons and daughters. All of the actions of the Father have as their goal the praise to God. He wants to show us that He loves us, and is good to us. So, when we read 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in the Christ would be to the praise of His glory then we understand that God’s purpose in predestining us is so that we would glorify Him. We glorify (in the sense of magnify or praise) God because of his glory, reflecting who He is.