Sealed

“In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, which is the guar­antee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Verses 13-14.

The gospel by which we are saved consists of the Word of truth. In the beginning the Word was with God, but it became flesh and dwelt among us. The Word is still with God; the ungodly have no part in it. And so, by the preaching of God’s Word, the Spirit of truth brings into our hearts the Word that is with God. If we obey this Word, it becomes flesh in us as well, and His Word abides in us. The seal of the Spirit accompanies the Word, for the Word and the Spirit cannot be separated. When the Word of faith produces obedience, its creative power influences our entire life and puts it in proper order according to God’s plans. The Word remains alone until it is united with faith in our hearts.

Here is where we become betrothed in our hearts to the Bride­groom of our soul. We become flesh of His flesh and bone of His bones. As soon as the Word is united with faith in our hearts, the blood of Christ begins to cleanse us from the inherited sin in the body. The Word is planted in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit does not forsake us as long as the Word of truth abides in us. These two things cannot be separated; the Spirit is the seal.

From the Word flow all the promises and all of the inheritance in the light. Since by faith we are now joined to the Word, we be­come fellow heirs of the Word to the extent that we receive it and allow it to work in us. God does not leave us fatherless; the Spirit of truth abides with us forever. But the Spirit of truth, in turn, is in communion with the Word; it will take of His and declare it to us. Just as all things have come into being by the same Word, and not one thing has been created apart from it, we too become a new creation by the same Word, which is Jesus Christ. We receive the nature of God (2 Peter 1:4) and thus are to the praise of His glory.