Thursday: The Holy Spirit ~ Seal and Down Payment
In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul tells in brief the conversion story of his readers. What are the steps in that story?
In exploring the importance of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers, Paul uses two images or metaphors for the Spirit. He first pictures the Holy Spirit as a “seal,” identifying a sealing presence of the Spirit that occurs from the time of conversion. In ancient times, seals were used for a wide variety of functions: to authenticate copies of laws and agreements, to validate the excellence or quantity of a container’s contents (e.g., Ezekiel 28:12), or to witness transactions (e.g., Jeremiah 32:10-14, Jeremiah 32:44), contracts, letters (e.g., 1 Kings 21:8), wills, and adoptions. Imprinted on an object, a seal announced both ownership and protection. The presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives marks believers as belonging to God and conveys God’s promise to protect them (compare Ephesians 4:30). They have been “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13, ESV).
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
“Paul plainly states that at the moment one gives his/her life to Jesus and believes in Him the Holy Spirit seals (Greek verb: sphragizo) that believer in Christ for the day of redemption. Wonderful liberating and reassuring truth! The Spirit of God marks Christ’s followers with the seal of salvation right when they first believe.” — Jirí Moskala, “Misinterpreted End-Time Issues: Five Myths in Adventism,” Journal of the Adventist Theological Society, vol. 28, no. 1 (2017), p. 95.
The second image Paul uses for the Holy Spirit is that of “guarantee.” The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance, which looks toward the moment when the inheritance is to be given in full (compare 2 Corinthians 1:22, 2 Corinthians 5:5).
The word translated “guarantee” (arrabon) was a Hebrew loan word that was used widely in the common or Koine Greek of New Testament times to indicate a “first installment,” “deposit,” or “down payment” that requires the payer to make additional payments.
Note that believers do not pay this down payment but receive it from God. The treasured presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers, says Paul, is a first installment of the full inheritance of salvation and redemption that will come with the return of Christ. Our job is to receive with a grateful and submissive heart what we have been offered in Jesus.
(24)
I have in my possession a document entitled "The Indentures of Thomas Ashton. It details the apprenticeship of his son Sedman Ashton to a joiner and cabinet-maker Richard Thompson of Mappleton, Yorkshire, England in 1869. Thomas Ashton was my Great-great-grandfather and Sedman was my Great-grandfather. This document was sealed with red sealing wax for the duration of the apprenticeship and was only broken when Sedman had served his apprenticeship. It was then annotated with the fact that he had served his full time as an apprentice and dated 1876.
Thomas had to pay for the indenture a sum of ten pounds and in turn Richard had to provide board, lodging and half of any medical expenses incurred by Sedman in that time.
it is an interesting document in its own right and gives a bit of insight into the education of tradespeople in the late 1800s. However, the interesting thing from our perspective is that the sealing of the indenture established the rights of both sides of the agreement. It was not an antagonistic agreement. In fact as far as I know Thomas and Richard were well known to one another, and the before the formal document signing there was a friendly agreement that this would be a good thing for young Sedman.
My point is that we often get entangled with the legality of sealing and guarantees when essentially it is just a legal representation of how friends work. I have pointed out before many times, that there is a legal document somewhere that says that Carmel and I are married, but the essential ingredient of our relationship is our love for one another, not the existence of the legal bit of paper.
I ask the question, what is it that binds us to God and him to us? The legal metaphor, or his unbounded love and grace?
Maurice – I would answer your question by pointing out that the believer/apprentice has been offered the ‘Covenant of Faith’ based on God’s Love and Grace. Other than our faith, I do not think us to have equal standing in that 'which binds us to God and Him to us', because all that we are is God’s – with or without agreeing to the 'Covenant apprenticeship'.
I consider man's 'free will' to be the only part which could be his contribution to the 'contract'. But again, by agreeing to become the ‘apprentice’ through the submission of our free will, agreeing to be taught through the leading of the Holy Spirit, is a gift of God and only sets us on the ‘right course’ to help complete the apprenticeship successfully.
I see our relationship with God to be far more complex than that of the relationship man can establish between two equals – husband and wife. I suggest that all that God considers ‘human’ is covered by His loving Grace and mercy - benefiting the willing as well as the unwilling son.
Only as the believer accepts God's loving Grace can he be equipped to engage in the offer of a fruitful apprenticeship and so become the visible form of God’s Glory and loving Grace by the sealing of the Holy Spirit.
Brigitte, please don't make salvation sound cerebral. It can be appreciated with cups of cold water given to thirsty children; listening to someone in distress, and so on. Explaining it gets convoluted and often becomes salvation through intellectual capacity (ie works). Of course there are differences between analogies and realities, but they often illustrate one point very well.
Amen to this Brigitte Humphrey. The parable of the Marriage Feast where only those wearing "The Wedding Garment," are allowed to stay at the reception hall is very clear to me, and also because of how the parable indicates that there were both "Good and Bad," in that reception hall, but only the one that was there without the garment was cast out of it, symbolizes that it is only our faith in Jesus' spilled blood and righteous character that gets anyone to stay in the reception hall (Heaven.)
The presence of the Holy Spirit denotes ownership,approval and security. The seal is a mark placed by the owner on his possessions.Romans 8:9 -“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”When we hear the Gospel and believe in Christ then we are sealed with the Holy Spirit.We must surrender to the control of the Holy Spirit.
If a seal is a mark of ownership,who owns you now?If a seal is a bond of security,is your eternal future secured?If a seal is a form of authentication or identity,what is your identity?
"The Spirit of God marks Christ’s followers with the seal of salvation right when they first believe.” What a privilege! Thus, how do I evidence the work of the Spirit in my life? How do I know I'm following the right voice in my head? How do I recognize what the Spirit means?
Philippians 4:8
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
James 1:17
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
What is the connection of the God's seal in revelation 7:2 to this text? (Ephesians 1:13)
Rev 7:2 is the seal in the fourth commandment, which is external, Eph 1:13 is the Holy Spirit and is internal, these two scriptures are the same thing, two sides of the same coin if you please. We must have both, the external alone profits NOTHING. The people that called for the crucifixion of Christ had the external but not the internal.
Enjoying this lesson. Today we had confirmation that all heavenly blessings are available to all of humanity, not just believers. The purpose of the plan of salvation to vindicate the character of God. God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD to himself. Christ is not willing that ANY should perish. We should live in the blessings and commit ourselves to HIS purpose. Love you back! How shall we escape if we NEGLECT so great a salvation. Gods GRAND Plan of Salvation. It harder to lost than to be saved.
I was having issues with the idea of a "Down Payment," when we first accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour as well as any idea at all of a "Down Payment" ever, until today in our Sabbath School class at our Church: Someone mentioned how that it is not until God gives us Glorified and incorruptible bodies that we then get to pay off the loan for that event of our lives and bodies, that I then saw how the idea of a "Down Payment," does make sense in this scenario of our salvation.
Pete, the original use of "down payment" in these lessons had nothing to do with any debt or our payment. There is nothing at all we can pay towards what we owe God. All He wants is our hearts.
The original use in Tuesday's lesson was the gift of the Holy Spirit as a "guarantee" God gives to us as sort of a "first payment"(down payment) of more great gifts to come. (I provided the link so you can go back to read it if you wish.) Again, this has nothing to do with debt. God doesn't owe us anything. The "down payment" is used as a figure of speech that stands for a first part of a greater amount - in this case, more great things to come.
Maybe so Inge Anderson, but nevertheless, I was having issues with the idea of a "Down Payment," anytime or anywhere at all even of Old Tetament Scriptures about any so called "Down Payment," for us even as to accepting Jesus' as such for our souls salvation until the idea that it is not until God gives us "Glorified and Incorruptible Eternal Bodies," that then our final "Payment," in Jesus is a final "Payment<" not to pay off any debt from us to God but just as final payment given to us to then return to God at the end for our final acceptance by God from us that He has given to us in His Son Jesus etc. sort of like our final "Tithe Payment," from us to Him that also already is from Him to us in His Son Jesus. That is all, for us then to receive from Him our Eternal Glofirifed Bodies period.
And as far as "The Holy Spirit," this to me is just another "Gift of God," to us because of what Jesus Himself said about this gift as being for us "Another Comforter" who would abide with us forever as "The Spirit of Truth," that Jesus Himself also is and because of Jesus this Spirit would abide with us and in us "Forever." And Jesus, in Luke 11:13 there said that all we have to do to receive this gift of "The Holy Spirit," is to just "ask The Father for this gift." And this could also be part of "The Down Payment," that would eventually end when God would give us glorified bodies when Jesus Returns to do all this for us.