Spiritual Gifts part 123: Seven ways that God's seal guarantees your salvation

Pastor-Teacher

John Farley

Thursday,

May 26, 2011

The Doctrine of Spiritual Gifts

Point 2.  The Giver of the Gifts: The Person and Work of God the Holy Spirit

1. Efficacious Grace2. Regeneration3. Indwelling of the Spirit 4. the Baptism by the Spirit  5. the Sealing with the Spirit 6. the Distribution of Spiritual Gifts.

F. The sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit, 2Co 1:22; Eph 1:13-14; Eph 4:30.

The sealing ministry of God the Holy Spirit is God’s final stamp of approval which guarantees that you will be in heaven forever.

Sealing with the Spirit means that God the Holy Spirit, by virtue of the fact that He indwells us permanently, is the seal placed by God the Father upon every believer, ...

… marking  us with His ownership, approval, protection, and signature guarantee of our eternal security.

Whenever you think of the sealing ministry of God the Holy Spirit, think “eternal security”.

σΦραγίζω

sphragizo; to stamp (with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation (literally or figuratively)

The noun is sphragis ; a signet; by implication, the stamp impressed (as a mark of privacy, or genuineness), literally or figuratively.

sphragis can refer either to the instrument that makes the mark, or the mark itself  - the impression made.

The seal would signify that the document was official.  It carried the authority of the king.

God the Holy Spirit is our seal.

The seal was used for legally binding documents such as: wills [our inheritance], bills of sale [our redemption], and marriage contracts [our betrothal to Christ].

1.  The seal was a mark of ownership.

In 2Co 1:22, the sealing of the Spirit refers to God’s making the believer his inviolable possession.

2.  To seal was to mark something as authentic or genuine.

God the Holy Spirit authenticates the fact that our faith in Christ is genuine, and our salvation has been placed beyond doubt.

3. It was a mark of privacy, and one which kept the contents hidden and protected things that needed to be kept secret.

4. The sphragis was an emblem of security and permanency.