The Spirit as a Seal

Published in the August 2011 issue of the Record of the Free Church of Scotland.

There are three references in the New Testament to the sealing of the Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph. 1:13; 4:30). Paul takes this illustration from practices with which he and his readers were familiar. A seal was attached to a document or item in order to indicate genuineness, to reveal ownership or to provide security.

One can find within the Bible various descriptions of the work of the Spirit and sometimes we can be a bit careless in how we use them, perhaps not sticking to what the biblical writers have in mind. So we can use phrases such as ‘the witness of the Spirit’, the ‘filling of the Spirit’ and the ‘leading of the Spirit’ as if they meant the same thing.

Who can be sealed?

Paul makes clear in Ephesians 1:13 that something must happen before an individual will be sealed with the Spirit. Such a person has first to hear the gospel and believe in Jesus before the sealing will occur. This means that any work of the Spirit in that person’s heart before he was converted, such as when he was convicted of his sin by the Spirit, is not what Paul has in mind when he refers to the sealing of the Spirit.

The necessity of hearing the gospel and responding to it with faith in Jesus is a reminder that it is not sufficient merely to know the details of the gospel message.  In addition each listener has to trust in Jesus personally. We can imagine a person admiring a good meal prepared by an outstanding chef and then refusing to eat it. Sadly some can admire the gospel objectively without enjoying it subjectively. The way to enjoy it is by trusting in Jesus.

The Fact of the Seal

Since the sealing with the Spirit is God’s response to those who believe in Jesus, we can ask, ‘Who does the sealing?’ The context in Ephesians 1 reveals that sealing with the Spirit is an act of God the Father and follows on from his other acts of justification and adoption.

We can also ask, ‘Whom does the Father seal with the Spirit?’ The lovely answer is that this sealing is a privilege that belongs to all believers. Several blessings are mentioned in the context of Ephesians 1, such as election and redemption, and all of the blessings mentioned belong to all of God’s people. The Corinthians were sealed by the Spirit (2 Cor. 1:22), even although their lifestyles fell far short of basic Christian behaviour, as we can easily deduce by reading through 1 and 2 Corinthians. We should not use the word ‘sealing’ to suggest differences between Christians as if some had the Spirit as a seal and some did not. 

And we can also ask, ‘When does the Father seal believers with the Spirit?’ This divine activity always occurs at the moment of initial faith in Jesus. There is not a time gap between the person believing in Jesus and then receiving the Spirit as a seal. We cannot say that we believed on a certain date and then were sealed on a later date.

Further, this sealing of the Spirit is not dependant on subsequent workings by the Spirit in the lives of believers. We know that the Spirit will continue to work in each Christian in different ways and at various levels of interaction. For example, the Spirit groans within believers, and at times this groaning is more deep than on other occasions. That feature of the work of the Spirit in the life of Christians is not the same as them having the Spirit as a seal. 

Similarly, Christians will increase in the fruit of the Spirit in different degrees, but such spiritual growth is not the same as the sealing with the Spirit. A great and radical change happens to a Christian at conversion – he is regenerated and given new life, he is set apart to God and begins the process of sanctification. Over time, he will become more sanctified by the Spirit, but he does not become more sealed with the Spirit.

The seal of the Spirit

It is wonderful to realise that the Father and the Son desired to give the Spirit to believers. This is a great privilege. The sealing with the Spirit is a reminder that he is always with us. No doubt we can appreciate how his presence will be there when we make progress in the Christian life. But what happens when we sin? Paul refers to this reality in Ephesians 4:30 when he tells his readers not to grieve the Holy Spirit by whom they have been sealed to the day of redemption. When a Christian sins, he will lose the comforting work of the Spirit, but he will not lose the Spirit as God’s seal.

Of course, we should observe the way Paul describes the response of the Spirit. The apostle does not say that our sins make the Spirit angry or annoyed. Instead Paul uses a word that is connected to love. Grief is linked inevitably with love. The Holy Spirit loves those for whom he is the seal indicating divine ownership of them, the genuineness of the divine work within them, and the security guaranteeing that they will arrive eventually at their divinely-chosen destination. 

The fact is that every believer belongs to God. He is not like a trader who may throw away his goods because they have been damaged in transit, even although they had his seal on it. These traders, of course, could not repair their damaged goods, so their seal was useless. Even the emperor’s seal could not give any guarantee that his own possessions would remain safe. But God’s seal, the Holy Spirit, is the guarantee that the property, which belongs to the Father and the Son, will not only get safely to the destination, but will get there in perfect condition at the day of redemption.

There is another aspect of the Spirit as a seal. When a trader purchased an item, he would put his seal on it to indicate that he had bought it. In a far higher sense, each Christian has been purchased by the blood of Christ, and the proof that he has been bought is the permanent presence of the Holy Spirit as a seal. How can we grieve him when we know that his presence is the evidence that a great price was paid for our deliverance?

The presence of the Spirit as the seal is also the divine stamp that we belong to God’s family. There is a strong connection in Ephesians 1 between the status of adoption and the presence of the Spirit as a seal. The same seal is on all the family members. It is not your personality traits, earthly career or interests that tell others that you belong to the family of God. Instead, the Spirit is the badge of family membership.

The presence of the Spirit as the seal is an ongoing reminder that full salvation will yet come. God’s people are sealed until the day of redemption, the day that will involve the resurrection of our bodies (Rom. 8:23). One aspect of the comfort that comes to God’s people when they attend the funeral of a fellow-believer is that although he or she is dead they are still marked by the seal of the Spirit. We cannot see their bodies as they are in transit towards the resurrection day, but the Owner does and he also still sees his enduring seal upon them.

Obviously the presence of this seal on Christians is something for non-Christians to consider. The big difference between them and believers is the seal that each of the latter possesses. Those who are not yet Christians may have extensive learning, strong commitment, great resolve, and firm determination, but without the seal of the Spirit all of them are unsafe and heading for God’s wrath. The big question for each of us is, ‘Do I have the seal of the Spirit?’ The way to know we have the seal is by believing personally in the Lord Jesus.

This illustration used by Paul – of sealing with the Spirit – gives us a marvellous insight into the heart of God. It tells what he values, what he purchased, what he secures throughout life, and what will be his treasured possession for ever – the people of God, those who have trusted in Jesus Christ and now have the Spirit as God’s seal.