Posted on 01/20/2016 1:53:12 PM PST by metmom
"You were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance" (Eph. 1:13-14).
The Holy Spirit is God's first installment on your eternal inheritance.
The Holy Spirit's ministry in your life is multifaceted and profound. Among other things He brings salvation, conviction, guidance, and strength. He indwells and equips you for spiritual service and gives assurance of your salvation. He is your Helper and Advocate. He is the Spirit of promise, who seals you until the day when your redemption is fully realized (Eph. 4:30).
Sealing speaks of security, authenticity, ownership, and authority. Ancient kings, princes, and nobles placed their official seal on documents or other items to guarantee their inviolability. To break the seal was to incur the wrath of the sovereign whom it represented (cf. Dan. 6:17; Matt. 27:62-66).
A seal on a letter authenticated it as from the hand of the one whose seal it bore. Legal documents such as property deeds and wills were often finalized with an official seal. Those who possessed the sealed decree of a king had the king's delegated authority to act on that decree.
Each of those aspects of sealing is a picture of the Spirit's ministry. He is God's guarantee that your salvation is inviolable and that you are an authentic member of His kingdom and family. You are His possession-having been purchased with His Son's precious blood (1 Cor. 6:20). You are His ambassador with delegated authority to proclaim His message to a lost world (2 Cor. 5:20).
The Spirit is the pledge of your eternal inheritance (Eph. 1:14). The Greek word translated "pledge" in that verse (arrabon) was used of down payment or earnest money given to secure a purchase. Rejoice in the assurance that God, who cannot lie (Titus 1:2), has given you His Spirit as a guarantee that He will keep His promises.
Suggestions for Prayer
Praise God for the security of your eternal inheritance. Praise the Spirit for His many ministries in your life. Be sensitive to His leading today so that your ministry to others will be powerful and consistent with His will.
For Further Study
Read Esther chapters 3, 8. What role did the king's signet ring play in the decree of Haman (chapter 3)? The decree of Ahasuerus and Mordecai (chapter 8)?
Studying God’s Word ping
One of John’s most useful studies.
This doesn't mean that you are assured of salvation. You are sealed, your soul will always bear the indelible mark of Baptism, but you yourself can choose to break God's commandments, and reject the freely offered gift of grace He extends. And as the article notes, the Greek word in question refers to a down payment. A down payment is a good start, but the bank can still foreclose if there is a single payment outstanding.
"The greatest of all Protestant heresies is assurance." ~ Cardinal Saint Robert Bellarmine
But who is making the pledge? If it was us, your analogy would be correct, however, it is God making the pledge, which He most assuredly will fulfill.
When you put your faith and trust in Him, He seals you and there's no point in sealing something if the seal doesn't mean anything. And in this case, the seal is the GUARANTEE of our inheritance. The Holy Spirit tells us this in Scripture.
But wait a minute, don't Catholics tell us that the CATHOLIC CHURCH wrote the Bible? How then is it possible that the Catholic church put in there that we are sealed and it is a guarantee? Is the Church now retracting their previous statement? Does seal not really mean seal and guarantee not really mean guarantee?
Is it now going to be correctly "interpreted" for us to tell us that it doesn't mean what it says but it means what the Catholic church says it means?
My salvation in Christ is a done deal, completed, finished, certain for sure as I am already seated in the heavenly places IN CHRIST.
In the spiritual realm, it's as done as it is possible to be.
To not believe that the believer is secure means that Jesus was not telling the truth here.
Security of the believer
John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
John 6:37-39 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
John 10:25-30 Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
1 Corinthians 1:4-8 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge-even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you-so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 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.
2 Corinthians 5:4-8 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened-not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
Ephesians 1:13-14 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.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Colossians 1:13-14 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Colossians 2:13-14 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Colossians 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Hebrews 6:17-20 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/3156607/posts?page=313#313
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.
For which the Greek, from the Byzantine, is:
2Corinthians 1:21-22 ο δε βεβαιων ημας συν υμιν εις χÏιστον και χÏισας ημας θεος ο και σφÏαγισαμενος ημας και δους τον αÏÏαβωνα του πνευματος εν ταις καÏδιαις ημων
The first word in bold above is "bebaion," the idea of confirmation, frequently used in commercial settings to confirm a bargain. Which of course makes sense of the remaining terms used here, which are also elements of a secured contract.
The second word in bold above is "sphragisamenos," being sealed is to be marked by the signature, signet ring, or other unique proof of identity, that we belong to God, and this sealing is done by God, who is the one taking action in this verse. We do not and cannot seal ourselves. We do not, by our own powers, have access to God’s "signet ring."
The third bolded word above is "arrabona," and indicates what we might loosely refer to as earnest money, but in Hebrew culture conveys more the idea of a pledge of covenant, a security given as a guarantee that the deal will go through, though we only receive part payment at the beginning. See ערב for the related Hebrew stem indicating "pledge."
As a ‘faithful’ catholic, you are telling us that the god of your religion makes promises he cannot keep without your works? Figures
You're putting word's in God's mouth -- it doesn't say "guaranteed." A down payment has been made. You can still choose to reject the gift that has been freely offered.
It figures that you'd have such a twisted take on it. It's not a matter of cannot, it's a matter of whether you choose to reject the gift that God has offered. A drowning man can't save himself, but, if thrown a lifesaver, he can choose not to grab it.
So God makes a down payment and then reneges on the deal?
2 Corinthians 5:5
http://biblehub.com/greek/728.htm
For the word *arrabon* - “an earnest, earnest-money, a large part of the payment, given in advance as a security that the whole will be paid afterwards.”
You clearly don’t understand lifesaving then either.
All three of my kids were trained as life guards and there’s not a life guard around who throws a life preserver to a drowning person and figures it’s up to them to decide to grab onto it or not.
Lifeguards are trained to swim out to the victim and place a hold on them that prevents them from being able to fight back. They rescue the victim, not let him decide whether or not to accept the help.
If the person wants to go out and commit suicide later, they can’t help that, but the victim is saved by the life guard whether they want it or not.
It's not God who reneges.
"2 Corinthians 5:5"
The most accurate translation of 2 Cor 5:5 says "pledge," not "guarantee."
"For the word *arrabon* - "an earnest, earnest-money, a large part of the payment, given in advance as a security that the whole will be paid afterwards.""
Yes, that's what a down payment is.
GOD makes the down payment.
It’s HIS deal.
If it doesn’t go through, it’s GOD who reneges on the deal by failing to pay the rest.
And you never answered the questions.
What about the promises that Jesus made? They don’t count for anything?
You got something right and don’t even have the discernment to know what it is. “A drowning man can’t save himself, but, if thrown a lifesaver, he can choose not to grab it.” That, poor catholic, is the essence of The Gospel of God’s Grace in Christ for you. IF you will do as Jesus said to do, believe in Him Whom God sent, you will have God’s Promise that your spirit is alive forever more. Believing in Jesus IS God’s life preserver. You as a drowning sinner can reach for it or not. Many on these threads have been pointing to the life preserver over and over again. AND you keep questioning the flotation guarantee.
The scenario I was picturing was a stormy sea and someone on a ship tossing a lifesaver out to a man-overboard, not a lifeguard, but I digress. Not to stray off-topic, but all my exposure to lifesaving, mostly from Aviation Rescue Swimmers, dictates that you only grab a person who is conducive to being rescued. If they're thrashing/fighting/panicking, you sit back and let them either calm down, or, worst case, drown.
God's power isn't really guarding us through faith?
1 Peter 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
:-)
Nah. Too much WORK.
I’ll let God save me.
I don’t do such a good job of saving myself.
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