“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

We are now in week five of our “Foundations of Faith” series. We have taken a closer look at the Bible, the Trinity, God the Father, and Jesus the Son; we are now turning to the Holy Spirit – given to us the day we professed our faith in Jesus.  

I’ll be honest, God has been bringing me through a journey of learning more about His Spirit and the power and strength I have through Jesus in conjunction with Him. At first, it all seemed a little too woo-woo for me – out there with snake charmers and healing oils. But that is right where the enemy wanted me to be – doubting the great power that was mine to access through Christ Jesus. How can I be a threat to the enemy if I’m not willing to wield the weapons of the Father?  

Many of you have also been going through a similar journey…as a church body at ACF Church, we are challenging everyone to pray, “Holy Spirit, if there’s more, I want it.” We walked through the “Church on Fire” book where many of you were impacted deeply.  

So, who is the Holy Spirit and why should we care? As we were preparing for this week’s devos, Crystal shared, “The Holy Spirit is coequal with the Father and the Son of God. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He provides Christians with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer spiritual gifts when they are saved. As Christians we seek to live under His control daily.”

When you accepted Jesus as your savior, you received all of the above AND “you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance…” The phrase “you were sealed” is the Greek word sphragizo, meaning to set a mark upon by the impress of a seal or to stamp. God has put His mark on us! We are identified as His own – His heir!

As retired military, we have moved many times throughout our lives. Each move was a little different, but each time, the movers would load all of our stuff onto a truck and once done, put a seal of tape over the crates with the date and initials of the packers across the seam. This served to identify OUR crate with OUR stuff. It signified ownership. If the seal had been cut, we knew that someone else had gotten in.  

Much like this, God has put a seal over us, EXCEPT, this seal can never ever be broken. No one else can “get in” once God has put His mark on us. We are His forever. The Holy Spirit is our mark and proof that we are sealed. He guarantees our inheritance until we can possess it for eternity.  

Because I’m a word geek, I want to look at another Greek word here. The word for guarantee is arrabon. This word was used in legal contracts and is basically the same as earnest money used in making large purchases. We put down some money promising that the rest will be paid. We make an earnest effort in purchasing the item and promise we will bring the rest of the money required.  

Okay, check this out…Chuck Smith says of this, “Now, God has placed His deposit on me. He has purchased me. I have been redeemed through Jesus Christ. He has sealed me, put His mark of ownership upon me, and He has paid the down payment, the deposit, until that day when He takes me into His glorious kingdom and the redemption is complete.”

Guys, this is incredible. This is a promise. If you are in Christ, you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit – which means you possess the same power that raised Christ from the dead – and the Maker of heaven and earth made the down payment for your redemption with the blood of Jesus. One day God is going to complete this transaction of our salvation, and we will be there with Him in His glorious kingdom. If that doesn’t give you hope, nothing will.  

So, I will not shrink back from the power of the Holy Spirit. I will invite Him into everything that I do and wield the weapons at my disposal because He has sealed me. I will invite Him in and ask Him, “Holy Spirit, if there’s more, I want it.”  I will lean into the full hope of my position as an heir all for the glory of God!

How will you proceed knowing that God has sealed you and paid the down payment for your full inheritance? What changes are you willing to make knowing that God Himself has set aside a place just for you in His glorious kingdom?

Father God, “thank You” falls so short of the gratefulness I am feeling for Your love and saving grace. As I learn more about You, I fall more and more in love and awe of You. Lord, please continue stoking that fire within me, so I can show more people the glorious truth of Your mark and redemption on my life. In Jesus’ redeeming name ~ AMEN!

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