Dear Friends, in the Epistle of Ephesians, (1:13, 4:30), we read that we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit for the Day of Redemption. Sealing is generally done to soldiers, slaves, prisoners etc to signify they belong to a King or a Master, or have been consecrated to His Service etc, as the below article says. What do you think this seal represents and when did this sealing happen? "Often throughout history cattle, slaves and prisoners were sealed by being branded with unique marks that identified who owned them ... The word “seal” could refer either to a physical object that made the impression, or to the impression itself."
Thoughts?
Article Excerpt: "The NT tells us that…
All true Christians have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God.
Ephesians 1:13, “In him [in Christ] you [Gentile Christians] also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit“.
Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
II Corinthians 1:21-22, “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
The Seal Imagery
Most of you probably understand the imagery. But let me refresh your memory. In many cultures throughout history people have had personal seals, used to indicate that something belonged to them or was from them. A seal could be a stone or a ring with unique carvings on it. To seal, say, a document, they would put a spot of hot wax on it and impress the seal into it and that would leave their mark. The impression would serve like a signature in our culture.
Various objects, like containers, doors and letters, were sealed in a way where the only way to open them would break the seal, which would then make it evident that someone had tampered with the thing.
Often throughout history cattle, slaves and prisoners were sealed by being branded with unique marks that identified who owned them. Soldiers sometimes were given tattoos by which they could be recognized if they deserted.
The word “seal” could refer either to a physical object that made the impression, or to the impression itself.
What does the NT mean when it speaks of us being sealed with the Holy Spirit?
The most popular opinion among the Christians I’ve been associated with is that it simply refers to the fact that, as disciples of Jesus, we have been given the Holy Spirit to help us live righteously and serve God’s mission in the world, and possession of the Spirit marks us as God’s people.
But that’s not the only possible way to understand the language. Consider some examples in Scripture of similar language.
Esther 3:10-12, “Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the enemy of the Jews… Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded… being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.” Notice that phrase “sealed with the king’s signet ring”. It’s much like, “sealed with the Holy Spirit,” only instead of “Holy Spirit” it has “king’s signet ring.” What does “sealed with the king’s signet ring” mean? It doesn’t mean the signet ring was given or attached to the document. It’s means the signet ring was used to make an impression in a spot of wax on the document, which left an identifying mark.
Same language can be seen in I Kings 21:8: “So she [Queen Jezebel] wrote letters in Ahab’s [the king] name and sealed them with his seal, and sent letters to the elders and to the nobles…”
And Daniel 6:16-17: “Then the king gave orders, and Daniel was brought in and cast into the lions’ den… 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 would be changed in regard to Daniel.”
So the language elsewhere in Scripture of “something being sealed with something” does not mean that one thing was given to the other, but that one thing was used to impress an image on the other. So “sealed with the Holy Spirit” could refer to the Holy Spirit making an impression in us, like a signet ring makes an impression in wax or clay. In other words it can refer to something the Holy Spirit does to our minds and hearts, not just to the Spirit’s presence in us, and that inner impression made by the Spirit identifies us as God’s people.
This was the interpretation of some famous theologians of the past. Jonathan Edwards in the 1700s for instance said,
“The witness or seal of the Spirit consists in the effect of the Spirit of God in the heart, in the implantation and exercises of grace there, and so consists in experience. And it is beyond doubt, that this seal of the Spirit is the highest kind of evidence of the saints’ adoption that ever they obtain.” (from “A Treatise on the Religious Affections,” The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 1:334)
Also, John Owen in the 1600s:
“We are sealed to the day of redemption, when, from the stamp, image, and character of the Spirit upon our souls, we have fresh sense of the love of God given to us, with a comfortable persuasion of our acceptance with him.” (“Of Communion with the Holy Ghost,” The Works of John Owen, 2:243)
Well, I agree with Edwards and Owen. The seal in us is the effect of the Spirit in the heart. It’s something the Spirit does in us. And I find Scripture to teach that in this Christian age, though the Spirit may begin His work in us before baptism, the seal is accomplished initially in the water of Christian baptism ...
https://www.seedandwater.org/topical-studies/baptism/sealed-in-baptism-with-the-holy-spirit
Thoughts?
Article Excerpt: "The NT tells us that…
All true Christians have been sealed with the Holy Spirit of God.
Ephesians 1:13, “In him [in Christ] you [Gentile Christians] also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit“.
Ephesians 4:30, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”
II Corinthians 1:21-22, “And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
The Seal Imagery
Various objects, like containers, doors and letters, were sealed in a way where the only way to open them would break the seal, which would then make it evident that someone had tampered with the thing.
Often throughout history cattle, slaves and prisoners were sealed by being branded with unique marks that identified who owned them. Soldiers sometimes were given tattoos by which they could be recognized if they deserted.
The word “seal” could refer either to a physical object that made the impression, or to the impression itself.
What does the NT mean when it speaks of us being sealed with the Holy Spirit?
The most popular opinion among the Christians I’ve been associated with is that it simply refers to the fact that, as disciples of Jesus, we have been given the Holy Spirit to help us live righteously and serve God’s mission in the world, and possession of the Spirit marks us as God’s people.
But that’s not the only possible way to understand the language. Consider some examples in Scripture of similar language.
Esther 3:10-12, “Then the king took his signet ring from his hand and gave it to Haman, the enemy of the Jews… Then the king’s scribes were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded… being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.” Notice that phrase “sealed with the king’s signet ring”. It’s much like, “sealed with the Holy Spirit,” only instead of “Holy Spirit” it has “king’s signet ring.” What does “sealed with the king’s signet ring” mean? It doesn’t mean the signet ring was given or attached to the document. It’s means the signet ring was used to make an impression in a spot of wax on the document, which left an identifying mark.
Same language can be seen in I Kings 21:8: “So she [Queen Jezebel] wrote letters in Ahab’s [the king] name and sealed them with his seal, and sent letters to the elders and to the nobles…”
So the language elsewhere in Scripture of “something being sealed with something” does not mean that one thing was given to the other, but that one thing was used to impress an image on the other. So “sealed with the Holy Spirit” could refer to the Holy Spirit making an impression in us, like a signet ring makes an impression in wax or clay. In other words it can refer to something the Holy Spirit does to our minds and hearts, not just to the Spirit’s presence in us, and that inner impression made by the Spirit identifies us as God’s people.
This was the interpretation of some famous theologians of the past. Jonathan Edwards in the 1700s for instance said,
“The witness or seal of the Spirit consists in the effect of the Spirit of God in the heart, in the implantation and exercises of grace there, and so consists in experience. And it is beyond doubt, that this seal of the Spirit is the highest kind of evidence of the saints’ adoption that ever they obtain.” (from “A Treatise on the Religious Affections,” The Works of Jonathan Edwards, 1:334)
Also, John Owen in the 1600s:
“We are sealed to the day of redemption, when, from the stamp, image, and character of the Spirit upon our souls, we have fresh sense of the love of God given to us, with a comfortable persuasion of our acceptance with him.” (“Of Communion with the Holy Ghost,” The Works of John Owen, 2:243)
Well, I agree with Edwards and Owen. The seal in us is the effect of the Spirit in the heart. It’s something the Spirit does in us. And I find Scripture to teach that in this Christian age, though the Spirit may begin His work in us before baptism, the seal is accomplished initially in the water of Christian baptism ...
https://www.seedandwater.org/topical-studies/baptism/sealed-in-baptism-with-the-holy-spirit
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