Monday, September 20, 2021
God’s Guarantee
“The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him” (Ephesians 1:14 NLT).
Long ago, before the days of online shopping, people stamped their letters and goods with wax seals to send them from one place to another.
When a king sent out a document, for example, he stamped his signet ring in wax to seal it. Someone who came across that document knew better than to open it, because it had the king’s mark.
In the same way, God puts His mark on us when we put our faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:13 tells us, “And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago” (NLT).
The Holy Spirit also gives us the inner assurance that we’re believers. Romans 8:16 says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (NKJV). So we have an inner witness.
In addition to what the Bible says, there is something deep inside that tells us we’re children of God. This comes from the Holy Spirit. His Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God.
And not only can we sense that we are children of God, but we also know it when we meet other believers. There’s an immediate connection, because the same Holy Spirit that lives in us lives in them as well.
The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit is also a deposit: “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him” (Ephesians 1:14 NLT).
God gives us His Holy Spirit as a guarantee to reassure us that He will keep all the promises He has made to us. That’s what it means to be sealed with the Holy Spirit.
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