Ephesians 1:11-14 - English Standard Version
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee[a] of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,[b] to the praise of his glory.
Sometimes we see banks named “Deposit Guaranty.” These banks are assuring us that if we place our deposits with them, our money will be safe. That is because the federal government insures banks in order to protect depositors. But there has never been a bank that cannot fail, and there has never been any civil government on this earth that has lasted more than a few centuries.
Ephesians 1:13–14 tells us that God has given us the Holy Spirit, who is a seal of our salvation and also a deposit guarantee of our inheritance. First, then, the Holy Spirit seals our salvation. When we want to make a document certain, we have it notarized. The notary watches us sign our name, and then he signs his name as an assurance that our signature is authentic. He then seals the document with a notary seal, which makes him liable under law if he has lied. Similarly, in premodern times, a document was known to be authentic if it was sealed by the impress of the author’s signet into a bit of wax. No one but the author would have this particular signet ring or stamp, and so the presence of the seal would show that the author approved the document.
Now, the Holy Spirit has put God’s mark on us. We are the wax, the clay, and we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit. We are documents, living epistles, and the Spirit shows that God approves us. Because God is guaranteeing our authenticity, we can never lose our status as His people.
Secondly, the Spirit is a deposit of our inheritance. If we want to buy a house and cannot pay for it outright, we need to go to a lending agency to get a loan. We give a deposit to the seller, so-called “earnest money,” so that he won’t contract with anyone else while we negotiate the loan. That deposit is part of the total amount we are promising to pay, and the deposit is our pledge to pay it all.
The Holy Spirit is the deposit God has given us. He is the pledge that God will give us all the things promised in His Word. Since the Spirit is God Himself, there is no way we can fail to receive the total inheritance He has guaranteed us.
According to verse 14, why doesn’t God just go ahead and give us all the inheritance now? What is He waiting for? What is your part in bringing to pass what God is waiting for? Seek encouragement from the Word as you think about and set about doing that task.
