In Ephesians Chapter 1 Paul is talking about how those of us who are Christians got saved. In verse 13 he gives a very simple 3 point outline—“You heard the word of truth (the gospel), you trusted in Christ, and you were sealed with the Holy Spirit.”

 

 

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 

…it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.

 

This is our part in God’s plan for saving the lost—to honor God with our lives and to share the gospel with our words.  We really have not been called to “win people to Christ” or to “save souls”—that’s the Holy Spirit’s ministry.

 

Our responsibility is to, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone” as Jesus commanded us.

 

In the Greek the Lord actually said, “As you are going into all the world…”—wherever you go, be a light by the way you live your life (“living epistles”)—or as Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel to everyone you meet—if you have to use words”)

 

And listen, just because a person doesn’t get saved when we witness to them doesn’t mean we’re failures.  The Lord has called us to bring Christ to men, not to bring men to Christ—that’s the Holy Spirit’s responsibility. → We sow God saves!

 

 

This is an essential part of salvation—personal commitment to Christ.

 

To be saved a person must believe who Jesus is and in what He did.  However, many people think that to get to heaven all they need to do is believe in the gospel facts about Christ—but mere head knowledge will not save:

 

You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe–and tremble!

 

Believing in Jesus is important but by itself it’s not enough to get you to heaven unless you take the next step and receive Him into your heart by committing your life to Him (John 1:12)—this is what is called “believing to the point of commitment.”

 

A person can believe in the beauty and validity of marriage but unless they actually believe to the point of commitment by pledging their life to a member of the opposite sex, standing before God on their wedding day and vowing to love and be loyal to this person for the rest of their life—until they have done that they haven’t actually entered into marriage.

 

The same is true when we talk about Jesus and salvation.

 

A person can believe who Jesus is and in what He did for them but unless they take the next step and enter into a relationship with Jesus where they pledge to love Him above all others and to be committed and obedient to Him for the rest of their life—until they have done that they haven’t actually entered into salvation.

 

It’s the commitment that brings about the relationship that puts you “in Christ” which is what being saved is all about—it’s the difference between ‘dead’ faith and ‘saving’ faith. That’s why the Bible talks about salvation in marriage terms calling Jesus our Bridegroom and Christians the Bride of Christ.

 

 

You don’t become a Christian until you’re willing to enter into the deepest kind of relationship with Jesus that two people can enter into—the marriage relationship. The problem with many church goers is they want to ‘date’ Jesus but are not really serious about making a commitment to Him.

 

Here the Lord is proposing marriage to them (salvation) and their response is—“I just want to be friends, Jesus.”  But there can be no salvation without believing in Jesus to the point of commitment and receiving Him as your Savior and Lord—only then do you become His Bride.

 

 

So, Paul is telling us that as soon as a person believes the gospel and receives Christ as Savior and Lord—at that very instant they are sealed with the Holy Spirit.  By saying this Paul is drawing from a practice that was very common in his day.

 

In those days many people couldn’t read or write, so a man would have a signet ring made that could be used to represent his signature. The ring would then be pressed into wax or some other soft substance that would eventually harden and act as his seal.

 

These seals would be used for a number of purposes—I’ll mention a couple of the more common uses.

 

 

A seal spoke of ownership and would have been very familiar to Paul’s readers.

 

A merchant from Ephesus would often sail across the Aegean Sea to Greece or some other place and buy merchandise putting his seal on it signifying that he had bought and paid for it and it now belonged to him.

 

The merchandise would then be loaded on a ship and sailed to the port of Ephesus where he would go down to the dock and claim his property by showing the shipper his signet ring.  The seal made from the buyer’s signet ring spoke of ownership.

 

When you received Jesus Christ you were sealed with the Holy Spirit—in other words God bought and paid for you with the blood of His Son.  He sealed you with the Holy Spirit declaring His ownership of you—it’s a finished transaction—a done deal!

 

 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

 

 

The second thing a seal spoke of was security.

 

Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how.”

 

 

So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. Once something had been sealed with the Roman seal—only someone as great or greater than Caesar could break that seal.  Since God has sealed you in Christ with the Holy Spirit the moment you put your trust in Jesus—you are absolutely secure.

 

 

You’re secure because to break that seal it would take someone as great or greater than God and since no one is as great or greater than God—you have nothing to worry about.  Romans 8 is one of the greatest chapters in all the N.T. to prove the absolute eternal security of the believer in Christ.

 

It starts with “No condemnation” (salvation) and ends with “no separation.” (hell)

 

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

 

Are you “in Christ” this morning? If you are, then you are secured there safely forever.  If not, then you’re outside the safety and protection of Christ and the wrath of God abides on you.

 

What you need to do to escape the judgment of God is to accept Jesus’ offer of marriage and make a commitment to Him by inviting Him into your heart as Lord and Savior. When you do, you will be placed safe and secure in Christ, sealed with the Holy Spirit and guaranteed that your voyage through life will end in heaven where the Father will claim you as His possession forever.