Sealed in the Spirit

I have been looking at this week’s Epistle lesson which comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Paul addresses his letter here “to the Saints who are also faithful in Christ Jesus.” The message that follows is a timeless message. It doesn’t deal with any particular problems of the Ephesian church, but it is really a hymn of praise. It is a Christological hymn, one that praises Christ. Some scholars think it is a baptismal hymn, one that was used on occasions of baptism. It is quite possible that later in the church’s history, especially in the medieval period, that this text was used for the celebration of confirmation. This text deals with the sealing of the Holy Spirit, or rather I should say, the sealing of us in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Now, there are a lot of peculiar interpretations on this passage. For example, this is one area where we Methodists should separate ourselves doctrinally from the various Pentecostal movements, and I will explain this in greater detail later. But first, let us deal with the passage as a whole, and discuss its various parts.

St. Paul says blest be God who blessed us. John Wesley tells us that God’s blessing on us was his bestowing upon us “all spiritual and heavenly blessings.” And our blessing God is our acknowledgement of thankfulness and praise for what he has done for us. We bless him first because of his own perfectness, and because he is God. And secondly we bless him because of the many blessings he has given to us. And the blessings that God has given us are only a fraction of what we are yet to receive. The blessings in this life are only symbols of the eternal blessedness that is yet to come. St. Paul refers to the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This has often been understood as a reference first to the humanity and then to the divinity of Christ. To his humanity in that God is his God, as well as ours. Jesus worships him. He praises him, and prays to him. And it is a reference to his divinity, in that he is the Father of Christ – God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God. Christ is the divine nature that becomes flesh to live among us, and who not only acts as our mediator and redeemer, but serves as our exemplar in the faith – that is, he is the pioneer of our faith (Hebrews).

But St. Paul tells us that God “chose us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” As the author of Hebrews says: “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord.” In the Wesleyan tradition, we understand that God predestined those whom he foreknew. It was part of God’s general plan of election – that all should believe in the name of Christ and be saved. But in his foreknowledge, he knew those who would repent of their sins and believe in his name.

We have three particular blessings of God through Jesus Christ. We have first “redemption through his blood.” And often the classical terms of salvation, such as “redemption” escape us. We don’t understand their meaning. Let redemption be understood in the sense of purchase – that Christ bought us for a price, and that price was his blood, the blood of the holy and blameless Lamb – the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John). The second blessing we have is the forgiveness of sins. We have no righteousness of our own at this point. It is solely on the merit of Christ that we are forgiven. Forgiveness of sins – it is though the slate has been wiped clean. The stain of sin would remain but by the grace of God. God does not simply overlook the sin, but he removes the sin, that we may once more be restored to wholeness. And the third blessing that we receive is the “richness of his grace.” It is because of our new standing before God – because of the merits of Christ – that we live a life of grace. No longer must we be worried of depending on our own righteousness for salvation, because before Christ we had none. But now we live in the fullness of his grace. We have had restored to us in part that image of God. We have had restored to us in part that mind that was in Christ Jesus our Lord. We have had restored to us in part that state of blessedness which we may or may not obtain in this life, but which will certainly be granted unto us after death when we are united with the Father.

Indeed we see how these blessings to us are only symbols of what is to come. You see, God has a plan for creation. God has a plan for the fullness of time – and that plan is “to unite all things in Him” whether they be things on earth or whether they be things in heaven. “The corruption of sin has affected the very powers of the universe, and the divine plan of salvation embraces them too” (M. Burrows, Biblical Theology, p. 327).

The plan is to be fulfilled in the future. The plan is to be fulfilled in the fullness of time. You know Christ came to us in the fullness of time. In God’s own time. And so again in the fullness of time all things on heaven and on earth will once more be reconciled to God. All things are under authority of Christ. Heaven and earth has been placed under his feet. And when he has subjected all things under him, then in the fullness of time will it be turned over to the Father (Philippians – Colossians). But now we are people who have hope in Christ. We “have been destined and appointed to live forth praise of his glory.” This is what we are to do. This is why our fellowship is so important. Because it is a time when we come together to praise the glory of God, and we remember the commandment to love God and to love our neighbor. This is why we live in hope. And it is because of our hope that we are enabled to live lives of Christian love. “Christian love should be especially fervent and deep within the fellowship of the Church. The sense of community is strengthened by the responsibility of being God’s hold people, his chosen and loyal saints. This involves worthy living which will command the respect and admiration of those outside the Church.” (M. Burrows, Biblical Theology, p. 252)

But it is now in our fellowship – it is now in the Church – that we have come together to hear the promise of God and that through baptism and confirmation we are sealed into the promise of God. We are told what this is. First of all it is for we who have “heard the word of truth.” And the truth is proclaimed to us by the Word of God. From time to time, God has seen fit to raise up prophets and apostles to proclaim the word of God. And we must hear the word of truth, and we must respond to it. Secondly, we must respond “to the gospel of [our] salvation.” The Good News of Jesus Christ – that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself (II Cor.). And thirdly we must “have believed in Him.” After we hear the word of truth – after we hear the gospel of salvation – our only able response is to believe, first and foremost to believe. That is, to trust in the word of God. To trust in Jesus Christ. To have our hope in his Gospel and in his word. To cast away all else, and to cling only to Him. And it is here – it is here that we are “sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.” Yes, our inheritance is the future. It won’t come until the fullness of time. But until that time – until we receive our inheritance – we have the sign, we have this pledge, we have this guarantee, and that is the seal of the Holy Spirit.

John Calvin said that “The Spirit accordingly senses as a seal, to seal up in our hearts those very promises the certainty of which it has previously impressed upon our minds; and takes the place of a guarantee to confirm and establish them” (Institutes 3.2.36, p. 542). John Wesley said that the seal is “both a pledge and a foretaste of our inheritance, ... [until] the Church, which he has purchased with his own blood, shall he fully delivered from all sin and sorrow, and advanced to everlasting glory.” (Notes, p. 704)

To understand the significance of sealing, we can look to the early church fathers, and they understood “sealing” in a sacramental sense that could be accomplished either by baptism or confirmation. The sealing itself was almost a sacrament of its own right. To the early Church fathers, the sacramental nature of baptism, that is the sign of baptism, was empowered by calling forth the Holy Spirit to consecrate the waters, that the sign of the sealing was the placement of oil in the sign of the cross on the forehead if the believer, and this was empowered by saying the name of Jesus Christ. Rudolph Bultmann said that “the sealing was the naming of Christ over the candidate, to impart power to him or her. The candidate is thus sealed as property of Christ. The candidate comes under the authority and protection of Christ.” (R. Bultmann, Theology, I, 137). In other words, once the candidate was sealed in the name of Christ, the forces of evil no longer had any authority over that individual. The individual was now under the domain and the protection of Jesus Christ, to whom that person had sworn allegiance “for Paul, the possession of the spirit is both the means of overcoming the power of sin in the flesh and `earnest’ of complete redemption hereafter.” (M. Borrows, Biblical Theology, p.77)

We then have much to be thankful for, and we have many reasons to sing praises to God. We are thankful not only for the blessings he has given us in this life, but we are thankful for the eternal salvation and blessedness that we have yet to experience. But the promise is ours! The promise is for us! The promise is for we have heard the word of God. It is for we who have heard the gospel of salvation, and it is for we who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. He is our protector. We must trust ourselves wholly to Him. As he is the pioneer of our faith, and salvation, so let him be our guide to faith and salvation.