IN HIM, YOU ALSO, AFTER
LISTENING TO THE MESSAGE OF TRUTH, THE GOSPEL OF YOUR SALVATION: en o
kai humeis akousantes (AAPMPN) ton logon tes aletheias, to euaggelion
tes soterias humon:
(2:11,12;
Colossians 1:21-23;
1 Peter 2:10)
(4:21;
John 1:17;
Romans 6:17;
10:14-17;
Colossians 1:4-6,23;
1 Thessalonians 2:13)
(Psalms
119:43;
2 Corinthians 6:7;
2 Timothy 2:15;
James 1:18)
(Mark
16:15,16;
Acts 13:26;
Romans 1:16;
2 Timothy 3:15;
Titus 2:11;
Hebrews 2:3)
In Him (846) (autos)
refers to Jesus Christ (v10), the ground or source our inheritance
--Here we see the believer’s divine inheritance in Jesus Christ from our
own human perspective."
Listening (191) (akouo)
means to hear with attention, hear with the "ear of the mind". The idea
is to hear effectually as to perform or grant what is spoken. Listen or
pay attention to a person with resulting conformity to what is advised
or commanded. The context often implies to hear and obey.
Message
(3056) (logos)
means intelligence, word as the expression of that intelligence. Both
act of speaking and thing spoken. Here the GOOD NEWS that God has
provided a way of salvation through the atoning work of His Son, Jesus
Christ"
Truth (225)
(aletheia) refers to the: body of real things, events, facts. Obviously
whatever God says is truth. Truth, reality; the unveiled reality lying
at the basis of and agreeing with an appearance; the manifested, the
veritable essence of matter
The gospel
(2098)
(euaggelion
from eú = good + aggéllo =proclaim,
tell) is the secular Greek term for proclamation of news of victory and
the death or capture of the enemy! Ponder this in terms of our enemies!
Other uses included news of approaching wedding. Gospel delivers man
from power of sin
A B Simpson
is reported to have said that the gospel
"Tells rebellious men that God is
reconciled, that justice is satisfied, that sin has been atoned for,
that the judgment of the guilty may be revoked, the condemnation of the
sinner cancelled, the curse of the Law blotted out, the gates of hell
closed, the portals of heaven opened wide, the power of sin subdued, the
guilty conscience healed, the broken heart comforted, the sorrow and
misery of the Fall undone."
Salvation (4991) (soteria)
pictures one's preservation from danger/destruction. Restore the state of
well being or health. Salvation can be described as -- Past = justified =declared righteous. From penalty of
sin Present = sanctified. from power of sin. Future = glorified From
presence of sin (see chart on the
Three Tenses of Salvation)
HAVING ALSO BELIEVED: en o kai
pisteusantes (AAPMPN):
Having believed
(4100)
(pisteuo) refers to belief that effects heart and produces
changed conduct. Faith is man’s response to God’s elective purpose.
God’s choice of men is election; men’s choice of God is faith. In
election God gives His promises, and by faith men receive them.
The
aorist tense defines
the believing as an past action
which is definitive, and effective. Note that it is
not enough to hear the gospel of salvation but to place one's complete
trust in it to receive salvation.
D L Moody
illustrates "belief" by one of the two thieves crucified with Jesus
writing...
"The thief had nails through both
hands, so that he could not work; and a nail through each foot, so that
he could not run errands for the Lord; he could not lift a hand or a
foot toward his salvation, and yet Christ offered him the gift of God;
and he took it. Christ threw him a passport, and took him into
Paradise." (Moody, D L: "Day by Day with D. L Moody. Moody Press)
YOU WERE SEALED IN HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE:
esphragisthete (2PAPI) to pneumati tes epaggelias to hagio:
(4:30;
John 6:27;
Romans 4:11;
2 Corinthians 1:22;
2 Timothy 2:19;
Revelation 7:2)
(Joel
2:28;
Luke 11:13;
24:49;
John 14:16,17,26;
15:26;
16:7-15;
Acts 1:4;
Acts 2:16-22,33;
Galatians 3:14)
When a person
believes the "message of truth, the gospel of...salvation" they receive
the Holy Spirit, this transaction referred as a baptism, Paul
explaining to the Corinthians that...
by one Spirit we (all those saved by
grace through faith) were all baptized into one body (the body of
Christ, the Church), whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and
we were all made to drink of one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
Being baptized
with the Spirit is different from being "filled with the Spirit"
(see note
Ephesians 5:18),
a term which does not signify one is getting more of the Spirit, but
that he or she is yielding every area of their lives to the Spirit’s
control and empowerment. The idea of filling is having one's life filled
with God’s Spirit as opposed to self.
You were sealed
(4972)
(sphragizo
from sphragis = seal, engraved object used to
make a mark - denoting ownership, approval, or closure of something
normally done by pressing into heated wax usually attached to a document
or letter) means to set a seal upon or to mark with a seal. To mark so
as to certify that something is so. Seals were used to make something
secure, to serve as a guarantee of the correctness of the contents, to
indicate authenticity, to indicate ownership. Sacrificial animals were
examined and sealed if perfect. Jars, sacks of fruit or grain were
sealed. To mark with a seal as a means of identification in Greek
secular writings was used to mark all kinds of animals, so that the mark
denoting ownership also carries with it the protection of the owner.
Wayne Detzler
writes that
sphragizo
was
largely a commercial or business
term, referring to sealing a building shut. In order to guarantee
property against theft, a seal was placed on it. Or sometimes it took
the form of a mark or a brand, as on livestock. When a merchant bought a
sack of grain, a seal would be placed on the sack until the full payment
was made. This was a guarantee of coming payment. Later the seal became
a mark of royalty. Any communiqué from the crown was sealed by the king.
After dabbing hot wax on the document, the king would seal it by
pressing his ring into the wax. Before long, the engraved ring was
called "a seal." In the religious sphere, a sacrificial lamb which was
found to be suitable was also sealed, marked as suitable. In the
Septuagint Greek Old Testament, a seal was a signet ring. This ring was
used to indicate a sale (Jer. 32:10). Royalty also used the seal to
authenticate its orders (Esther 3:10; 8:8). Though the precise word for
"sealing" is not used, Isaiah 44:5 speaks of people who had "for
Jehovah" tattooed on their hands as a mark of religious sacrifice
(Detzler, W: New Testament Words in Today's Language)
Sphragizo
is used 15 times in the NAS (Matthew;
John 2x;
Romans;
2 Corinthians;
Ephesians 2x;
Revelation 7x).
There are 19
verses in the
Septuagint (LXX)
(Deut 32:34; 1Ki 21:8; 2Ki 22:4; Neh 10:1; Esther 3:10; 8:8, 10; Job
14:17; 24:16; Song 4:12; Isa 8:16; 29:11; Jer 32:10f, 25, 44; Dan
6:16-17; 8:26; 9:24; 12:4, 9). For example in Kings we read of Jezebel's
treacherous action...
1Kings 21:8 So she wrote
letters in Ahab's name and sealed (sphragizo) them with his
seal (sphragis), and sent letters to the elders and to the nobles
who were living with Naboth in his city. (Comment: Jezebel's use
of King Ahab's seal made it look as if this letter came straight from
the king, illustrating the import of the act of sealing.)
Nehemiah 10:1 Now on the
sealed document were the names of: Nehemiah the governor, the son of
Hacaliah, and Zedekiah,
Esther 8:8 "Now you write to
the Jews as you see fit, in the king's name, and seal it with the
king's signet ring; for a decree which is written in the name of the
king and sealed with the king's signet ring may not be revoked...8:10
And he wrote in the name of King Ahasuerus, and sealed it with the
king's signet ring, and sent letters by couriers on horses, riding on
steeds sired by the royal stud.
Isaiah 29:11 And the entire
vision shall be to you like the words of a sealed book, which
when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, "Please read
this," he will say, "I cannot, for it is sealed."
Jeremiah 32:10 "And I signed
and sealed the deed (when he bought the field which was at
Anathoth in obedience to the Lord's command), and called in witnesses,
and weighed out the silver on the scales. (Comment: This
particular property was worthless since it was in Anathoth, which by
this time had already been captured by the Babylonians. But by carrying
out this act and sealing it, Jeremiah was affirming that the land would
one day future return to the hands of Israel).
The Analytical
Lexicon has an excellent summary of the various nuances of meaning of
sphragizo...
(1) literally seal up, secure
by putting a seal on (Mt 27.66); figuratively, as keeping something
secret seal (up), conceal (Rev 10.4); (2) as providing a sign of
identification or ownership (mark with a) seal (Rev 7.3);
metaphorically, of endowment with the Spirit (Eph 1.13); (3)
figuratively, from the idea of an official seal on a document; (a)
confirm, attest, certify (John 3.33); (b) metaphorically, as a
commercial technical term indicating a safely accomplished transaction
literally seal to someone this fruit, i.e. safely turn over to someone
this kind provision (Ro 15.28) (Friberg,
T., Friberg, B., & Miller, N. F. Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New
Testament. Baker's Greek New Testament library. Baker Academic)
In a parallel
passage we read (note four of the many spiritual blessings that we
receive when we are saved)...
Now He Who establishes us with you in
Christ and anointed us is God, Who also sealed (sphragizo) us and
gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge (earnest money - see
pledge). (2Cor 1:21-22)
Paul uses
sphragizo in another passage in this same letter writing...
And
do not grieve
(present
imperative with a
negative = stop this action) the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were
sealed for the day of redemption. (See note
Ephesians 4:30)
(Comment: Not that even when we pain the Spirit especially by
sins of the tongue we cannot unseal the seal set by the Spirit.)
In secular Greek
use of sphragizo the sealing signified at least four results...
(1)
A Finished Transaction -
(2)
A Mark of
Ownership -- Buyers of timber in the forests of Asia Minor would select
trees which would be felled, stamped them with the buyer’s seal, and
floated them downstream. At the port in Ephesus, the markings would
identify the logs. God stamps us with His seal, indicating ownership.
In Revelation we see the sealing
conveyed thoughts of ownership and protection, John recording the
angel's words...saying,
"Do not harm the earth or the sea or
the trees, until we have sealed the bond-servants of our God on their
foreheads." (Rev 7:3)
(3)
A Bond of Security -- Setting a seal to prevent opening.
Daniel’s lions’ den
was sealed by royal decree...
And a stone was brought and laid over
the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet
ring and with the signet rings of his nobles, so that nothing might be
changed in regard to Daniel.
Christ’s tomb
was sealed by royal decree, Matthew recording...
And they went and made the
grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the
stone. (Mt 27:66) (Comment: The chief priests and Pharisees
evidently took the Lord's promise to rise on the third day seriously and
must have assumed the disciples would try to steal the body. Their
paranoia, however, served only to strengthen the evidence for the
resurrection. This securing was likely done by connecting the stone to
the tomb with a cord and wax so that any tampering could easily be
detected.)
(4)
An Imprint of
Authenticity or of Identity -- In ancient times, everyone’s unique
seal, when pressed into wax, imprinted his identity. God places the Holy Spirit in us permanently as His "signet" (signet
= a seal used to stamp or authenticate documents)
Charles Wesley wrote in “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”...
Adam’s likeness now efface
Stamp Thine image in its place.
Sealed is
in the
aorist tense
which is a past completed action. The
passive voice
signifies that subject, believers,
are acted
upon by an outside force or power, God. The
indicative mood
is the mood of certainty which states a thing as being a fact --
the point is that every believer receives the Holy
Spirit the moment he or she believes.
In antiquity
people used seals to authenticate documents (Jer. 32:10), and
archaeologists have discovered more than 1,200 seals from Old Testament
times.
TDNT writes
that...
The seal serves as a legal protection
and guarantee. It is thus placed on property, on wills, etc. Laws
prohibit the misuse of seals, which owners often break just before
death. Seals serve as proof of identity. They also protect houses,
graves, etc. against violation. Both testator and witnesses seal wills.
In Roman law all six witnesses must break their own seals to open the
will, and in South Babylonia beneficiaries signify or seal when the
inheritance is divided. Seals also serve as accreditation, e.g., of
weights and measures. The seal plays an important public role in
government. All authorities have seals. The king’s seal confers
authorization. In both private and public life holding a seal expresses
an element of power.
NIDNTT has
a lengthy note writing that...
Seals were widely used very early
(3rd millennium onwards), especially in Mesopotamia, where Hdt. observed
that every man possessed not only a staff but also a seal (1, 195), and
later in the whole Mediterranean area (on the different forms of
seals-e. g. rolls, buttons, scaraboid-cf. BHHW III 1786 ff., 1812 f.).
The real importance of the seal is a legal one: the owner puts his mark
on his possessions, his beasts (cf. Virgil, Georgics 3, 157 ff.; BGU I,
87, 12 f.; P. Teb. 419), his slaves (cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. 25, 13, 173;
BGU I, 15, etc.) and thereby guards his property against theft. To that
extent one can call it a protecting sign or a guarantee. When used with
documents (wills, deeds of sale, etc.) the seal served as a signature to
authorize what was written there (cf. TDNT VII 941). Things sealed were
at the disposal of the possessor of the seal. This applied not only to
private persons, but also particularly to the authorities of a city and
to kings. The seal symbolized their authority.
3. Seals were also significant in
religious life. For instance, a beast could be attested as ritually pure
and thus suitable for a sacrificial victim (cf. Hdt. 2, 38; BGU, I, 250,
15 ff.; 356, 7). Men show themselves to be the possession of their deity
by the imprint of their seal (Hdt., 2, 113; cf. 3 Macc. 2:29f.; also J.
Ysebaert, Greek Baptismal Terminology, 1962, 200 f.). More tangibly one
can seal houses, etc., to guarantee that they were preserved, or
documents, to keep their contents a secret. Hence, one can also say that
the mouth or words are sealed (cf. Diog. Laert., 1, 58; Theognis, 1,
178; Timotheus, Persians 148): what one has experienced must remain
secret and in safe keeping. This applied particularly to keeping the
secrets of the mysteries (Ysebaert, op. cit., 221-226). (Brown,
Colin, Editor. New International Dictionary of NT Theology. 1986.
Zondervan)
Puritan John
Owen wrote that...
"God's sealing of believers is His
gracious communication of the Holy Ghost unto them, so as to enable them
unto all the duties of their holy calling. The effects of this sealing
are gracious operations of the Spirit in and upon believers; but the
sealing itself is the communication of God's Spirit to them."
Is this truth
practical? Absolutely! Listen to an anecdotal story from Pastor Ray
Stedman...
A young man called me this past week
to tell me how discouraged he was, how he'd lost his confidence in
prayer because he felt that no answer was coming, and how ready he was
to quit. So I said to him, "Well, why don't you just quit, then? Give
up. Stop being a Christian. Try it." -- because I knew that if he did,
the first thing he would have discovered is that he couldn't quit. And
he knew it, too. The minute I said that, he acknowledged it: "You're
right. I can't quit." That is because, as Paul will describe in this
letter, there is imparted to us the Holy Spirit of God, and we are
sealed by the Holy Spirit so that we can't quit! That is a mark of a
believer in Christ. (Read the
entire sermon
Ephesians 1:1-14: God At Work)
Holy (40)
(hagios) means
pure, consecrated, set apart. Its fundamental idea is separation,
consecration, devotion to the service of Deity, sharing in God’s
purity and abstaining from earth’s defilement."
When a person
becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in his life. The
Spirit of God is our securing force, our guarantee."
Spurgeon
comments that...
Those who believe in Christ have the
Holy Spirit dwelling in them: the Holy Spirit is a part of heaven, "the
earnest of our inheritance"; and wherever he dwells, it is not possible
that the heart should lose the inheritance. It is entailed upon those in
whom the Spirit dwells. Judge, there, dear brethren, whether the Spirit
of God dwells in you or no.
Promise (1860)
(epaggelia from epí = upon or intensifier of meaning +
aggéllo = tell, declare = to announce with certainty as to what one
will do) is a declaration to do something with implication of obligation
to carry out what is stated. Epaggelia was a
legal term denoting promise to do or give something. It was a legally
binding declaration giving one to whom it is made right to expect or
claim performance of the specific act. Most often epaggelia is
used to describe the promises of God. and provides firm assurance of His future action.
><> ><> ><>
Our Daily Bread
has the following devotional entitled Interest in Advance on these
verses...
The Holy Spirit, who indwells every
believer, gives us a foretaste of the coming glory of heaven. He is
therefore called the “earnest” or pledge of the inheritance we shall
receive by God’s grace in eternity (Eph. 1:13,14). In biblical times,
the word “earnest” was a trade term for the initial payment on a debt.
It was made as a promise that full payment would be forthcoming. In
principle, then, when an earnest was given, the final installment was
guaranteed. Likewise, the joy we experience now through God’s Spirit is
just a kind of first installment of the rich blessings that His children
will receive in eternity.
A wealthy man called his faithful assistant into his office one day and
said, “I’ve put your name in my will, and someday you’ll receive
$10,000. Since it may be a while before you get that legacy, I want to
make you happy now by paying you the interest on that amount each year.
Here is a check for $600 as a starter.” The surprised clerk was doubly
grateful. The prospect of the inheritance was certainly good news, but
the money he received in advance gave him complete assurance that
someday the entire $10,000 would be his.
><> ><> ><>
As God’s children, let’s rejoice in
the riches we now have in Christ through the Holy Spirit. He is our
guarantee of the “exceeding and eternal weight of glory” that our
Heavenly Father will one day give to the heirs of salvation (2 Cor
4:17). Our present blessings are but a token of the greater inheritance
we will eventually receive.
Several centuries ago, a Japanese
emperor commissioned an artist to paint a bird. A number of months
passed, then several years, and still the artist did not deliver the
painting. Finally the emperor became so exasperated that he went to the
artist's home to demand an explanation. Instead of making excuses, the
artist placed a blank canvas on the easel. In less than an hour, he
completed a painting that was to become a masterpiece. When the emperor
asked the reason for the delay, the artist showed him armloads of
drawings of feathers, wings, heads, and feet. Then he explained that he
couldn't complete the painting until he had done exhaustive research and
study.
In a sense, Christians are similar to that piece of art. We are "sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1:13), and predestined by God "to
be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29). But the process takes
time. The "artist" is the Holy Spirit—sent by the Lord Jesus at
Pentecost to indwell believers. Slowly but surely He leads us to
spiritual growth and maturity. Our transformation requires years of
patience and will not be finished until we enter the presence of our
King.
The day is coming when all Christians will be like Christ. But now we
are growing and preparing. As we follow the Spirit's guidance through
one experience after another, we become more and more like the
masterpiece we will be someday in Glory. —D C Egner
The work Christ accomplished for us on the cross, His Spirit can now
accomplish in us on earth. (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
><> ><> ><>
F B Meyer has the following
thoughts in Our Daily Homily...
Possessed. — The saints have
been purchased at great cost by the precious blood of the Son of God.
Not only their spirits, but their bodies, have been bought with an
infinite expenditure. Is it not a wonderful thought that God should have
thought it worth his while to expend so much on us! But, since He has
done it, we cannot suppose that He will not make all He can of us! He
will bring his estate under cultivation; there will be no corner of it
that will not yield Him produce.
To be redeemed. — Our bodies
are owned by God, but they are not yet entirely redeemed. And if we
should die before the Lord’s advent, they will return to their mother
earth, possessed but not redeemed. Hence the apostle says that we are
waiting for our adoption — to wit, the redemption of our body (Romans
8:23). We are under the sentence of corruption for Adam’s sin; but we
are to be redeemed.
Sealed. — In Ezekiel’s day a
mark was set on the foreheads of the men that sighed and cried for sin
(Ezekiel 9:4); and in the Apocalypse we read of the sealing of God’s
servants (Revelation 7:2–3). For sealing there are needed the softened
wax; the imprint of the beloved face; the steady pressure. Would that
the Spirit might impress the face of our dear Lord on our softened
hearts, that they may keep it for evermore!
This sealing is an earnest of our
inheritance. — The eternal future is all unknown, yet we may guess
at it, because the work of the Spirit within us is the first fruits —
the grapes of Eshcol, showing what the vintage will be; the
earnest-penny, which is the pledge as well as part of the entire
payment; the first streak of the coming day. (Our Daily Homily)
