Ephesians- Chapter 1- Lesson 8- Our Sealing and our Inheritance

Verse 13
I) In whom ye also trusted
A) The “whom” is Christ
B) “Ye” are the Ephesian believers, who did as those saved before them (also).
C) The word trusted is in italics meaning it is not in the Greek text but is supplied by the translators to smooth out reading and to complete the thought.  The word would be understood to be there.
I) After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
A) Their trust came after hearing. Romans 10: 14-15
1) How beautiful are the feet of the one who told you about this man named Jesus.
B) The “word of truth” and “the gospel of your salvation” describe the same thing.  There is no gospel apart from the truth. Note Galatians 1:6- 2:21
1) Faith in Christ alone is the truth that Paul preached and any other mixture was to be rejected and those who preached it cursed.
2) So firm was Paul on this matter that he confronted Peter over a discrepancy in his walk.
3) Those who teach anything other pervert and trouble the church.
II) In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.
A) After that ye believed- Believed is aorist tense, which means it took place at a point in time.
1) This excludes predestination, a man cannot be saved until he believes.
2) This excludes the reason for infant baptism, since a man cannot be saved until he is old enough to believe.
B) Ye were sealed- aorist tense, passive voice- the subject was acted upon at a point in time.  That point of time corresponding to the point in time they believed.
1) Sealed- Stamped with a mark.  That mark identifying the one doing the sealing.
2) With- not by, God did not just place a mark upon us but He himself is the seal.
3) Spirit of promise- John 16:7, Acts1:8, 2:16-18.
a) This Spirit is the third member of the Trinity.  God the Holy Ghost.
b) This Spirit is said to be holy.  Note holy is not capitalized, Paul is stressing the nature of this promised Spirit.
c) If the Spirit with which we are sealed is holy, then it stands to reason the new man created at the new birth and indwelt by this same Spirit will be of the same nature. See Ephesians 4:24 and Titus 2:11-12.
Verse 14
I) Which is the earnest of our inheritance.
A) The Spirit with which we are marked out with is not only the seal of ownership but also the guarantee (down payment) of our inheritance.
B) The down payment allows us to enjoy the use of the inheritance even though we have not come into full possession of it.
i.e. The bank may still hold the title for our home but with the down payment (earnest) paid we get to live in it.
1) Peter talks of the inheritance in 1 Peter 1:3-5, were he says it is reserved and we are kept by the power of God.
2) In 2 Peter 1:4 he talks of the promises by which we live.
3) The reason our inheritance is secure and why we can overcome by the promises of God is that the Earnest is God, the author of both.
C) Our inheritance- John 14:1-3; John 17:24; 1 Corinthians 15: 42-49 (the new body); Revelation 21, heaven and all it entails.
II) Until the redemption of the purchased possession.
A) How long are we secured; until God redeems His purchase.
When you redeem a bottle or ticket, you turn it in what you really want. One day we will turn in these mortal bodies for an immortal one.
Until that exchange takes place we are secure.  That is why Baptist stand upon the doctrine of Eternal Secuity.
B) That purchase is found in 1 Corinthians 6:19, that being our body, soul and spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:23
C) Unto the praise of his glory: Again, it should come as no surprise that God would be so gracious, it is only in keeping with his character.