22. Who hath also sealed us<\/em> ] Here again the Greek has the aorist. We must refer it here to the attestation God gave to his calling and anointing by the manifest signs of His presence with His ministers. See ch 2Co 3:1-3<\/span>, 2Co 12:12<\/span>. Also Rom 15:15-19<\/span>; 1Co 9:2<\/span>. A seal<\/em> (see note on 1Co 9:2<\/span>; cf. Rom 15:28<\/span>) is used to attest and confirm a legal document, which, according to our present legal custom, derived from the practice of past ages, when but few were able to write their names, must be ‘sealed’ as well as ‘signed,’ before it is ‘delivered’ to another person to act upon. For the expression ‘sealed with the Spirit,’ see Eph 1:13<\/span>; Eph 4:30<\/span>, and also, for a similar expression, Joh 6:27<\/span>.<\/p>\n and given the earnest of the Spirit<\/em> ] The Apostle here, as in ch. 2Co 5:5<\/span> and Eph 1:14<\/span>, uses the Hebrew word arrhabon<\/em>, which, derived from a verb signifying to plait<\/em> or interweave<\/em>, and thence to pledge<\/em> or be security<\/em> for (as in Gen 43:9<\/span>), came to have the meaning of earnest<\/em>. An earnest<\/em> is to be distinguished, however, from a pledge<\/em> (see Robertson in loc<\/em>.), in that the latter is “something different in kind, given as assurance for something else,” as in the case of the Sacraments, while the former is a part of the thing to be given<\/em>, as when “a purchase is made, and part of the money paid down at once.” Schleusner translates into German by handgeld<\/em> or angeld<\/em>. The Hebrew word however, has also the meaning of pledge, as in Gen 38:17-18<\/span>. The word is found in the Greek and in a modified form in the Latin language, and exists to this day in the French “arrhes,” and was no doubt derived by Greeks and Latins “from the language of Phoenician traders, as tariff, cargo, are derived in English and other modern languages from Spanish traders.” Stanley. See his whole note, and cf. Rom 8:23<\/span>. Our own word earnest<\/em> comes from a root signifying to run<\/em>, to follow after eagerly<\/em>. The use of the word in the text is due to the custom, common in all countries, of giving some pledge<\/em> of being in earnest. The words ‘in earnest,’ in our sense of meaning what we say, occur early in our literature. See Chaucer, Legende of Good Women, Queen Dido<\/em>, line 1301. There is a valuable note on this word in the Speaker’s Commentary on Pro 6:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n Who hath also sealed us – <\/B>The word used here (from <\/SPAN><\/span> sphragizo) means to seal up; to close and make fast with a seal, or signet; as, e. g., books, letters, etc. that they may not be read. It is also used in the sense of setting a mark on anything, or a seal, to denote that it is genuine, authentic, confirmed, or approved, as when a deed, compact, or agreement is sealed. it is thus made sure; and is confirmed or established. Hence, it is applied to persons, as denoting that they are approved, as in Rev 7:3<\/span>; Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads; compare Eze 9:4<\/span>; see the note, Joh 6:27<\/span>, were it is said of the Saviour, for him hath God the Father sealed; compare Joh 3:33<\/span>. In a similar manner Christians are said to be sealed; to be sealed by the Holy Spirit Eph 1:13<\/span>; Eph 4:30<\/span>; that is, the Holy Spirit is given to them to confirm them as belonging to God. He grants them His Spirit. He renews and sanctifies them. He produces in their hearts those feelings, hopes, and desires which are an evidence that they are approved by God; that they are regarded as his adopted children; that their hope is genuine, and that their redemption and salvation are sure – in the same way as a seal makes a will or an agreement sure. God grants to them His Holy Spirit as the certain pledge that they are His, and shall be approved and saved in the last day. In this there is nothing miraculous, or in the nature of direct revelation. It consists of the ordinary operations of the Spirit on the heart, producing repentance, faith, hope, joy, conformity to God, the love of prayer and praise, and the Christian virtues generally; and these things are the evidences that the Holy Spirit has renewed the heart, and that the Christian is sealed for the day of redemption.<\/P> And given the earnest of the Spirit – <\/B>The word used here (<\/SPAN><\/span> arrabon from the Hebrew <\/span> arabown means properly a pledge given to ratify a contract; a part of the price, or purchase money; a first payment; that which confirms the bargain, and which is regarded as a pledge that all the price will be paid. The word occurs in the Septuagint and Hebrew, in Gen 38:17-18<\/span>; Gen 38:20<\/span>. In the New Testament it occurs only in this place, and in 2Co 5:5<\/span>, and Eph 1:14<\/span>, in each place in the same connection as applied to the Holy Spirit, and his influences on the heart. It refers to those influences as a pledge of the future glories which await Christians in heaven. In regard to the earnest, or the part of a price which was paid in a contract, it may be remarked:<\/P> <\/p>\n And it implies:<\/P> (1) That the comforts of the Christian here are of the same nature as they will be in heaven. Heaven will consist of like comforts; of love, and peace, and joy, and purity begun here, and simply expanded there to complete and eternal perfection. The joys of heaven differ only in degree, not in kind, from those of the Christian on earth. That which is begun here is perfected there; and the feelings and views which the Christian has here, if expanded and carried out, would constitute heaven.<\/P> (2) These comforts, these influences of the Spirit, are a pledge of heaven. They are the security which God gives us that we shall be saved. If we are brought under the renewing influences of the Spirit here; if we are made meek, and humble, and prayerful by his agency; if we are made to partake of the joys which result from pardoned sin; if we are filled with the hope of heaven, it is all produced by the Holy Spirit, and is a pledge, or earnest of our future inheritance; as the first sheaves of a harvest are a pledge of a harvest; or the first payment under a contract a pledge that all will be payed. God thus gives to his people the assurance that they shall be saved; and by this pledge makes their title to eternal life sure.<\/P><\/p>\n 2Co 1:22<\/span><\/p>\n Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Sealing of the Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n What are we to understand by the sealing of the <\/strong>Spirit? It is that act of the Holy Spirit by which the work of grace is deepened in the heart of the believer, so that he has an increasing conviction of his acceptance in Jesus and his adoption into the family of God.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It is sometimes a sudden work of the Spirit. A soul may be so deeply sealed in conversion, may receive such a vivid impression of Divine grace, as it never afterwards loses.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>But in most cases the sealing of the Spirit is a more gradual work. It is a work of time. There are, then, degrees, or progressive stages, of the Spirits sealing.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> The first impression is made in regeneration. This is often faint, and in numerous cases scarcely perceptible. The first impression is as much the work of the Spirit as any deeper one in after years. Let not the weak believer undervalue what God has done for him.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> But a yet deeper impression of the seal is made when the believer is led more fully into the realisation of his sonship, when he attains to the blessed sense of the adoption of children. Oh, what an impression is then left upon his heart, when all his legal fears are calmed, when all his slavish meanings are hushed (<\/p>\n (3)<\/strong> In the process of sanctified affliction the soul often receives a fresh and a deep impress of the seal of the Spirit. The furnace works wonders for a believer. The hour of affliction is the hour of softening. Job bore this testimony: He maketh my heart soft. Let it not, then, be forgotten that an afflicting time is often a sealing time. We would remark, in this connection of the subject, that the sealing of the Spirit does not always imply a rejoicing frame. It is not necessarily accompanied by great spiritual joy.<\/p>\n The sealing of the Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n Christ is the first sealed (Joh 6:27<\/span>). God hath distinguished Him, and set a stamp upon Him to be the Messiah by the graces of the Spirit. Christ being sealed Himself, He sealed all that He did for our redemption with His blood, and hath added for the strengthening of our faith outward seals–the sacraments–to secure His love more firmly to us. But in this place another manner of sealing is to be understood.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It imprints a likeness of him that seals. When the kings image is stamped upon the wax, everything in the wax answers to that in the seal. So the Spirit sets the stamp of Christ upon every true convert. There is no grace in Christ but there is the like in every Christian in some measure.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It distinguishes. Sealing is a stamp upon one thing among many. It distinguisheth Christians from others.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>It serves for appropriation. Men seal those things that are their own. So God appropriates His own to show that He hath chosen them for Himself to delight in.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>It serves to make things authentic, to give authority and excellency. The seal of the prince is the authority of the prince. This gives validity to things, answerable to the dignity and esteem of him that seals.<\/p>\n The seal and earnest of the Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>To authenticate a document or confirm it as genuine (1Ki 21:8<\/span>; Est 3:12<\/span>). So by the Spirit the believer has the assurance that he is a genuine disciple of Christ (Rom 8:16<\/span>). The Christian knows that the Holy Ghost has been exerting His agency within him when he perceives that the fruit of the Spirit has begun to make its appearance in him.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>As a mark to distinguish property. We have something like it in the trade marks of the manufacturer, and in the broad arrow, which indicates that the thing so stamped is the property of the Government. In ancient times the servants, cattle, and goods of a rich man were distinguished by his seal. In like manner believers are recognised as the property of God by the seal of the Spirit. And, as sometimes a seal has an obverse and reverse side, so is it in the case of believers. On the hidden side, visible only to Jehovah, is–The Lord knoweth them that are His; on the other side, where all men may read it, there is–Let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. When the coinage of a country has worn thin and light, so that no one can See the image or superscription, it is called in, reminted, and sent forth anew, with a distinct impression from the original die. And so, when our Christian characters are rubbed down by the abrasion of the world to such an extent that the image of the Lord in us has been well-nigh effaced, there is need to submit to the reminting of the Holy Spirit, that we may come forth anew and bear unmistakable witness to Christs property in us.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>As a means of security. Thus the stone laid at the mouth of the den into which Daniel was thrust was sealed with the kings signet, etc.; and when Jesus was laid in the grave the Jews made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. In like manner believers are kept secure in the world by the seal of the Spirit. The reference here is not to Gods almighty protection, nor to the ordering of His all-wise providence, but to the characteristics and habits which are acquired by the believer through the grace of the Holy Ghost. The Christians graces are his armour also. Our security is perfect, and yet it is not without our own exertions, for it is effected by the constant manifestation by us of the qualities which are formed and fostered in us by the Holy Ghost.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>That the fruit of the Spirit which we here enjoy is the same in kind with the blessedness of heaven.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>That the fruit of the Spirit is a pledge that the full inheritance of heaven shall yet be ours. He who hath begun a good work in us will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. This is not quite the same as the security suggested by the seal. That was the pledge that we should be kept for heaven; this is an assurance that heaven shall be ours. Conclusion: I come to-day as the spies came to Kadesh-barnea, with the Eshcol cluster of grapes as a sample of the products of the goodly land which they had been to see. Beware how ye receive our report. Remember what happened to the tribes when they refused to go up and possess the land, and take heed lest ye fall after the same example of unbelief. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The sealing Spirit<\/strong><\/p>\n The seal and earnest<\/strong><\/p>\n The three metaphors in this and verse 21–anointing, sealing, and giving the earnest–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>All refer to the same subject–the Divine Spirit.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>All refer to one and the same act. They are three aspects of one thing, just as a sunbeam might be regarded either as the source of warmth, or of light, or of chemical action.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>All declare a universal prerogative of Christians. Every man that loves Christ has the Spirit in the measure of his faith. Note:–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>The effect of the Divine indwelling is to mould the recipient into the image of the Divine inhabitant. There is in the human spirit a capacity of receiving the image of God. His Spirit, entering into a heart, will there make that heart wise with its own wisdom, strong with its own strength, gentle with its own gentleness, holy with some purity of its own.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>There are, however, characteristics which are not so much copies as correspondences–i.e<\/em>., just as what is convex in the seal is concave in the impression, and vice<\/em> versa,<\/em> so, when that Spirit comes into our spirits, its promises will excite faith, its gifts will breed desire; yearning love will correspond to the love that <\/strong>longs to <\/strong>dispense, emptiness to abundance, prayers to promises; the cry, Abba! Father! to the word, Thou art My Son,<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>Then, mark, the material is made capable of receiving the stamp, because it is warmed and softened–i.e.<\/em>, my faith must prepare my heart for the sanctifying indwelling of that Divine Spirit. God does not do with man as the coiner does with his blanks–put them cold into a press, and by violence from without stamp an image upon them; but He does as men do with a seal–warms the wax first, and then, with a gentle, firm touch, leaves the likeness there.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>This aggregate of Christian character is the true sign that we belong to God, as the seal is the mark of ownership. I believe that Christian people ought to have a consciousness that they are Gods children, for their own peace and rest and joy. But you cannot use that in demonstration to other people. The two things must go together. Be very sure that your happy consciousness that you are Christs is verified to yourself and to others by a plain outward life of righteousness like the Lords. Have you got that seal stamped upon your lives like the hall-mark that says, This is genuine silver, and no plated Brummagem stuff? And is it woven into the whole length of your being like the scarlet thread that is spun into every Admiralty cable as a sign that it is Crown property?<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>This sealing, which is thus the token of Gods ownership, is also the pledge of security. A seal is stamped in order that there may be no tampering with what it seals–that it may be kept safe from thieves and violence. And our true guarantee that we shall come at last to heaven is present likeness to the indwelling Spirit. The seal is the pledge of security just because it is the mark of ownership. When, by Gods Spirit dwelling in us, we are led to love the things that be fair, and to long after more, that is like Gods hoisting His flag upon a newly-annexed territory. And is He going to be so careless in the preservation of His property as that He will allow it to slip away from Him? But no man has a right to rest on the assurance of Gods saving him into the heavenly kingdom unless He is saving him at this moment from the devil and his own evil heart.<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It is the guarantee of the inheritance.<\/p>\n (1)<\/strong> The experiences of the Christian life here are plainly immortal. The resurrection of Christ is the external proof; the facts of the Christian life are the inward proofs of a future life. Howsoever much we may say we believe in a future life and in a heaven, we really grasp it in the proportion in which here we are living in direct contact with God. What have faith, love, fellowship with God, to do with death? They cannot be cut through with the stroke that destroys physical life, any more than you can divide a sunbeam with a sword.<\/p>\n (2)<\/strong> All the results of the Divine Spirits sealing of the soul manifestly tend towards completeness. The engine is clearly working only half-speed. Those powers in the Christian man can plainly do a great deal more than they ever have done here, and are meant to do a great deal more. The road evidently leads upwards, and round that sharp corner, where the black rocks come so near each other and our eyesight cannot travel, we may be sure it goes steadily up still to the top of the pass, until it reaches the shining tablelands whereof our God Himself is Sun and Moon, and brings us all to the city set on a hill.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>It is part of the whole. The truest and loftiest conception that we can form of heaven is the perfecting of the religious experience of earth. The shilling or two given to the servant of old when he was hired is of the same currency as the balance that he is to get when the years work is done. You have but to take from the faith, love, obedience, communion of the highest of moments of the Christian life all their imperfections, multiply them to their superlative possibility, and stretch them out to absolute eternity, and you get heaven. So here is a gift offered for us all, a gift which our feebleness sorely needs, the offer of a reinforcement as real and as sure to bring victory as when, at Waterloo, the Prussian bugles blew, and the English commander knew that victory was sure. (A. Maclaren, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The Spirit as an earnest<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>It is supposed that the word and its use came to the Greeks from the Syrian and Phoenician merchants, just as the words tariff and cargo came to England from Spanish merchants. The technical sense of the word signifies the deposit paid by the purchaser on entering into an agreement for the purchase of anything. The identity of the deposit with the full payment is a very essential consideration in the force and <\/strong>use of the word. In many of the rural districts of Scotland, and possibly in other places, a shilling, or small sum of money, is put into the hand of a servant when hired for a certain work as handsel-money, and as a pledge that when the whole work is done the whole wages shall be paid. Two things, therefore, seem to be included in the meaning of the word used: first, that it should be the same in kind as the fulness of which it is a part; and, secondly, representing our present state as Christians, it affirms the certainty of our privileges in this world and the next. As God Himself is said to be our inheritance–as we are said to have the inheritance in Christ–so the Holy Ghost is Himself the earnest of it in our hearts. It is not a work which He delegates to another; nor would it suffice to say that any one blessing, such as pardon, life, or peace, is the earnest of heaven it is the Spirit Himself only. He is the earnest of heaven.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>The earnest is thus part of- our future inheritance, and identical in kind with it. An infant has a title to an inheritance which has descended from his deceased father; and though not legally, or in fact, in possession, except as under tutors and governors, certain advances are made from it to conduct his education, and in this way foretastes of it are given to him. As he passes through the family mansion, forests, and fields, and meets with the servants of the estate, he has in this walk, and in the loving respect of faithful dependents, an earnest of what he is speedily coming to; and we can imagine how his breast, as heir, would heave with excitement on the eve of possessing the inheritance. This experience of the earthly heir may help us, as an illustration, to understand our present enjoyment of the firstfruits of the Spirit, which, upon the testimony of the apostle, we now have. To take the blessing, eternal life, it is obvious, from both our Lords teaching and that of His apostles, that in all the essential elements of eternal life we are equal to the spirits of just men made perfect (Heb 12:23<\/span>). We form part of the same family. Life in heaven is just our spiritual life here, excepting the amplification and elevation which death, as a freedom from the body and from the fretting power of sin, will confer upon us. Again, how vivid is the writers conception of the likeness, and indeed identity, of the earnest to the whole in his view of the nearness of the believers on earth to heaven. But ye are come unto Mount Sion (Heb 12:22-23<\/span>). Portions of this inheritance are ministered to us in advance. True, it is but twilight yet with us. But as the sun is seen from the lofty Swiss mountains to throw forward on the distant peaks his rays, as skirmishers before an army, to announce his coming, so our present foretastes of heaven–the earnest of our inheritance, calm, intelligent faith in the Lord, love to Him and to His people, and our luminous hope cast as an anchor within the veil–testify that the day in which there shall be no night is at hand. All these experiences are pledges of our immediate admission into heaven when we die.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The earnest of the Spirit, which is thus a real part of the inheritance of heaven, is only a part of it. There is no principle or fixed rule by which we could define the <\/strong>proportion which it bears as a part to the whole. A handful of wheat offered by the farmer in the market as a sample to the purchaser of the entire crop, though identically the same, bears a very small proportion to the whole. We may safely infer that the earnest is less than the whole. The Spirit who Himself is the earnest, with all the grace and love which He is pleased to bestow upon our souls, is but a part. All the blessings of which God kindly thought and devised for us in eternity, which cost the Redeemer His life to secure and bestow as the efficient cause of oar salvation, and which the Holy Ghost came down from heaven to reveal, are undoubtedly involved in this earnest. How stupendous a thought that something greater–and how much greater!–awaits us when we shall see God! It may be said that even here we have God, and what more can we have inheaven? But there He will be our God without any of the deductions made for our present imperfections and actual transgressions (1Co 13:12<\/span>; 1Jn 3:2<\/span>). (A. Douglas McMillan.<\/em>)<\/p>\n Verse 22. Who hath also sealed us<\/B><\/I>] Not only deeply impressed<\/I> His truth<\/I> and image<\/I> upon our hearts<\/I>; but, by the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit, attested the truth of our extraordinary unction<\/I> or calling to the ministry.<\/P> <\/P> And given the earnest of the Spirit<\/B><\/I>] . From this unction<\/I> and sealing we have a clear<\/I> testimony<\/I> in our souls, the Divine Spirit dwelling constantly in us, of our acceptance with God, and that our ways please him. The of the apostle is the same as the erabon<\/I> of Moses, Ge 38:17<\/span>; Ge 38:18<\/span>; Ge 38:20<\/span>, which we there translate pledge<\/I>. The word properly signifies an earnest<\/I> of something promised; a part of the price<\/I> agreed for between a buyer<\/I> and seller<\/I>, by giving and receiving of which the bargain was ratified; or a deposit<\/I>, which was to be restored when the thing promised was given. From the use of the term in Genesis<\/I>, which the apostle puts here in Greek letters, we may at once see his meaning above, and in Eph 1:14<\/span>; the Holy Spirit being an earnest<\/I> in the heart<\/I>, and an earnest of the promised inheritance<\/I> means a security given in hand for the fulfilment of all God’s promises relative to grace and eternal life. We may learn from this, that eternal life will be given in the great day to all who can produce<\/I> the arrhabon<\/I>, or pledge<\/I>. He who is found then<\/I> with the earnest of God’s Spirit in his heart, shall not only be saved from death, but have that eternal life of which it is the pledge<\/I>, the earnest<\/I>, and the evidence<\/I>. Without this arrhabon<\/I> there can be no glory. See the whole case of Judah and Tamar, Ge 38:13<\/span>, &c., and the notes there.<\/P> <\/p>\n The use of a seal is for confirmation of the thing to which it is affixed; the effect of it is the making the impression of itself upon the wax: so as sealing us, both in this and other texts, signifies both the confirmation of the love of God to our souls, and also the renewing and sanctification of our natures, imprinting the image of God upon our souls, making us (as the apostle Peter saith, 2Pe 1:4<\/span>) partakers of the Divine nature; <\/I>but the first seemeth probably to be most intended here. <\/P> And given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts:<\/B> we have the same expression, 2Co 5:5<\/span>; Eph 1:14<\/span>. We read of the first-fruits of the Spirit, <\/I>Rom 8:23<\/I><\/span>. The giving unto believers the Holy Spirit, and those saving spiritual habits which are his effects in the soul, are both the first-fruits and an earnest; for as the first-fruits assured the harvest, and the earnest is a sure pledge of the bargain, when those who give it are honest and faithful; so the sanctifying habits, wrought in the soul by the Spirit of holiness, are a certain pledge of that glory which shall be the portion of believers. <\/P> <\/p>\n 22. sealed<\/B>A seal<\/I> is atoken assuring the possession of property to one; “sealed”here answers to “stablisheth us” (2Co 1:21<\/span>;1Co 9:2<\/span>). <\/P> the earnest of theSpirit<\/B>that is, the Spirit as the earnest (that is, money givenby a purchaser as a pledge for the full payment of the sum promised).The Holy Spirit is given to the believer now as a first instalment toassure him his full inheritance as a son of God shall be hishereafter (Eph 1:13<\/span>; Eph 1:14<\/span>).”Sealed<\/I> with that Holy Spirit of promise which is theearnest<\/I> of our inheritance until the redemption of thepurchased possession” (Ro8:23<\/span>). The Spirit is the pledge of the fulfilment of “allthe promises” (2Co 1:20<\/span>).<\/P><\/p>\n Who hath also sealed us<\/strong>,…. “Two” things more are here attributed to God; “first”, the sealing of his people. The use of seals is various, as to denote property in things, to distinguish one thing from another, to show esteem and affection for persons or things, and for security and protection, and to hide and conceal; all which might be applied to sealing, as expressive of the grace of God to his people, in claiming a property in them, distinguishing them from the rest of the world, setting his affections on them, securing and protecting their persons, and hiding them under the shadow of his wings: but sometimes a seal is used to certify, make sure, or assure the truth of a thing; see Joh 3:33<\/span> in which sense the word “sealing” is used here, and intends that assurance which God gives his people of their interest in his love, and the covenant of grace; of their election of God, and redemption by Christ; of their interest in Christ, and union with him; of their justification by him, and adoption through him; of the truth of grace in their hearts, their perseverance in it, and sure and certain enjoyment of eternal glory. The persons thus sealed are not carnal and unconverted persons, only believers in Christ, and these, after they commence such; the seal by which they are sealed, is not any of the ordinances, as circumcision under the Old Testament, or baptism, or the Lord’s supper under the New; for these are no seals, nor are they ever so called; but the Spirit of God himself, as the Holy Spirit of promise; for the same who, in the next clause, is called the earnest, is the seal; see Eph 1:13<\/span>. “Secondly”, the giving of the earnest of the Spirit:<\/p>\n and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts<\/strong>: by “the Spirit” is meant, not the gifts and graces of the Spirit merely, but the Spirit of God and Christ himself; who was concerned in the creation of the world, in inditing the Scriptures, in forming and filling the human nature of Christ, and in his resurrection from the dead; he himself is given as an “earnest”: the word , here used, and in 2Co 5:5<\/span> is the Hebrew word , and comes from<\/p>\n , which signifies “to become a surety, to give a pledge”; and is used for a pledge in covenants and bargains, both in Scripture, see<\/p>\n Ge 38:17<\/span>, and in Jewish writings d; which is given as an earnest, and in part of what it is a pledge of, and is never returned: the Spirit of God is an earnest or pledge of the heavenly inheritance, which is not only prepared for us, and promised to us, and Christ is in the possession of in our nature, in our room and stead, and as our representative; but the Spirit of God also is sent down “into our hearts” as a pledge of it; where he dwells as in his temple, supplies us with all grace, witnesses to us our sonship, and assures us of the heavenly glory: and as such he is “given”; and an unmerited free grace gift he is; for him to be given in this manner, and for such a purpose, is a wonderful display of the love of the Father, and of the Son, and is a surprising instance of his grace and condescension of the Spirit, and for which we should be abundantly thankful.<\/p>\n d Midrash Megillath Esther, fol. 94. 2. Maimon. Hilch. Mechira, c. 7. sect. 1. & c. 11. sect. 4.<\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
I. <\/strong>It is the duty and privilege of every believer diligently and prayerfully to seek the sealing of the spirit. He rests short of his great privilege if he slights or undervalues this blessing. Be not satisfied with the faint impression which you receive in conversion. In other words, rest not contented with a past experience.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>Again, I remark, this blessing is only found is the way or gods appointment. He has ordained that prayer should be the great channel through which His covenant blessings should flow into the soul. (O. Winslow, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>What is the manner of our sealing by the spirit? Sealing, we know, hath divers uses.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>What is the stamp that the spirit seals us withal?<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>How shall we know that there is such a spiritual sealing in us? (R. Sibbes, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>God hath sealed us by His spirit. Seals are employed–<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>God hath given us the earnest of the spirit. The term is borrowed from a custom in connection with the transfer of property, when the buyer received a small instalment at once as a sample of it, and as a pledge of full delivery. So, when the Spirit in our hearts is styled an earnest, we have implied–<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>St. Paul reminds us of our peculiar obligation to the Spirit by pointing to one of the primary characteristics of his work. Sealed by His indwelling witness, and that not for a favoured moment only, but unto the day of redemption. This custom, on which the Bible metaphor rests, of sealing letter, decree, edict, or title of possession, came from the East, and is of obvious significance. It gives validity, assurance, legal effect to contract, declaration, or title-deed, and affirms proprietorship over the things upon which it is carried out. With the spread of education the personal signature comes to take the place of the old-fashioned seal. Some years ago a bundle of unsigned Bank of England notes was stolen. A note without that signature at the bottom, familiar to most of us, would be valueless. Religious life, endeavour, relationship, anticipation, borrow force and validity from the sealing of the Spirit. The intermediate position in the religious history of Gods saved people into which Paul puts this act of sealing clearly indicates its nature and purport. Whilst a solitary believer slumbers in the sepulchre, Christ looks upon His inheritance as but incompletely redeemed. It is till Christs power has wrought through its last redemptive cycle and undone the remotest disaster of sin that the Spirit seals us. Sealed unto the day of redemption.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>This sealing by the Spirit implies that the reconciliation in which we are so deeply interested is more or less secret and unseen. After long and anxious debate, the terms of peace between two belligerent powers are fixed. But, pending the formal ratification of the treaty, and possibly for some time after, the contending parties occupy the same positions on the field. You can scarcely predicate the cessation of hostilities from what meets the eye. But to the commanders on either side the message has passed along the wires, and the genuineness of the message is vouched for by the cypher in which it is sent. When the children begin to play about the homesteads, the peasants to till the hillsides, the nightingales to sing in the myrtle bush, the golden crops to sway in the warm winds, and the church bells to chime again through the valleys, there will be no need to prove the reality of the peace by the seal or official announcement of the fact. It will be then proved by every sight and sound and movement within the horizon. For the present our personal reconciliation to God is an unseen fact, and is only attested by the indwelling Spirit which seals us. The heritage has not been fully and finally released and redeemed. The law yet seems to rumble with ominous curses. Nature often seems hostile in the last degree. We are left under conditions that sometimes suggest that awful and hopeless war is still going on, and yet the peace has been secretly sealed and its conditions ratified. One day the last thunder will have rolled itself into silence, the last bolt have hurtled through the air, the last hostile footstep be gone, and the stormless peace of eternity hide us in its sacred wings. The seal will then be needless.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>This sealing declares the relationship of dignity and privilege we sustain before God. In Oriental life the seal is necessary to accredit a man to the office his master may have bestowed upon him. The messenger of the throne is recognised by the imperial seal he bears. When he has fulfilled his term of office, let him go back to the palace, stand amidst its fabulous splendours, and move to and fro beneath the eye of his imperial master, and there, at the centre of government once more, he will no longer need the seal, as a personal credential at least. His dignity is recognised and promptly acknowledged on all sides. The seal is indispensable when he has to cross the mountains or sail up unknown rivers, and go into districts where he must deal with semi-aliens. And it is whilst we pass as strangers and pilgrims through the earth that we need the seal which attests our true standing before God. Our majesty is obscured, our bodies are inglorious and subject to decay, and our garments torn and stained with travel. The world knows us not, as it knew not Gods greatest Son.<\/p>\n
IV. <\/strong>This sealing marks out the believer as the <\/strong>subject of a specific providential care. In this sense was it that circumcision stood to the Jews both for a sign arid a seal. The rite proclaimed Gods special proprietorship over the nation, and singled out its separate members for such defence, tender oversight, strenuous protection as a father exercises over the little ones of his family.<\/p>\n
V. <\/strong>The seal is a token of proprietorship. You watch a ship as it is being loaded for a voyage, and amongst other cargo notice a number of boxes bearing a significant seal. These are not stowed away in the hold, like consignments of common goods, but are taken to some place where they will be constantly watched by the responsible officers of the ship. The chests are chests of sealed treasure. Should the ship spring a leak and be endangered, after the safety of of the passengers has been provided for, these sealed chests will be the first things to be put into the lifeboats. The seal marks them out for special care and defence, and whatever human vigilance, foresight, and valour can do will be done to deliver them to the consignees. And so with that sealing of the Spirit affixed to sincere believers in Jesus Christ. They are subject to the same risks, vicissitudes, and temptations as other men; but all that Gods power can do to help and deliver them shall be done. This special sealing marks out body and soul alike for Gods special possession and guardianship.<\/p>\n
VI. <\/strong>This sealing goes on to mark out those who receive it as the types of a pure and incorruptible life. God seals us for our humbler vocation no less infallibly than He sealed the only-begotten Son. He is incapable of the folly of sending into a disloyal, suspicious, and sense-ridden world an unsealed servant and message-bearer. And by the holy fruit which appears in our lives, the world, if it be not altogether thoughtless and unteachable, will be compelled sooner or later to see that we are of God. The Holy Spirit is ever working a continuous transformation and ennoblement within us which is the distinctive mark of the children of the kingdom. When we shall have come to bear in our transfigured flesh the power and potency of all Divine qualities, this sealing will be needless. Till that day of perfect redemption dawns we cannot afford to despise this high signature. Sealed unto the day of redemption–sealed for our Own assurance, and also for a witness to the world. (T. G. Selby.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The seal of the spirit. A seal is impressed upon a recipient material, made soft by warmth, in order to leave there a copy of itself.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The earnest of the <\/strong>spirit.<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>We are the heirs of a spiritual inheritance. It is quite consistent with the present economy of mercy that we should enjoy some of this whilst on earth, and before we are put in full possession. Many things in the Divine purpose, and in the history of the world, preceded Christs personal mediation, prepared the way for it, and passed over, through His work, in blessings upon our souls. We were originally members of a disinherited race. The inheritance under consideration was the rightful possession of our Lord as the Only-begotten of the Father. As to our interest in it, it lay under a forfeiture, and we were treated as aliens. It is also) a merciful part of the plan that it should, at least for a time, be vested in Christ as trustee for us. In Eden, the inheritance of life was vested in the first man, who lost it to himself and all his posterity. God is our inheritance, and heaven is the place where most perfectly we shall enter upon its full and undisputed enjoyment. This is our estate; not ours for years merely, but for eternity, It will then be subject neither to corruption nor violence. Heaven, with its freedom from sin, sickness, pain, the curse, and death, is ours in reversion.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The spirit is given to us as an earnest of this splendid inheritance.<\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n