Robert Duvall wanted to make a movie in 1983 called The Apostle (Newsweek 4/13/98). He said that he wanted to make The Apostle because he felt that the motion picture industry had mostly ignored the work of the Holy Spirit in American religion. According to Duvall, "Filmmakers hardly ever depict spirituality with such a strong emphasis on the Holy Spirit, and when they do, it tends to be patronizing--full of charlatans and snake handlers." Duvall said he wanted to do something different with The Apostle; he wanted to realistically portray a preacher who was fully human yet also captivated by the Holy Spirit. According to Duvall, "What I really wanted to do was to try to understand what these preachers go through and what they believe, and to portray it in an accurate way. So when I first approached various studios about this movie...they wouldn’t go near it [because it didn’t attack] the religious right." So Duvall put off The Apostle for nearly 15 years and ultimately financed the movie with his own money. That led to an enormously popular movie that earned him an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of preacher Sonny Dewey.
Duvall said that he was raised in a Christian home, taught to believe in Jesus Christ, but that he never knew much about the Holy Spirit until he made The Apostle. While he was doing research for the movie he says that he tried to not pass judgment, to just try to understand how the Holy Spirit moves, and that during his research for the movie, as he sat in a church in Harlem, the Holy Spirit touched his life in a way he’ll never forget.
It was reported that Robert Duvall’s movie The Apostle made the Holy Spirit mainstream to the American public. In fact, after The Apostle came out, Newsweek devoted an entire article to the resurgence of the Holy Spirit in American churches.
The problem is that there is a tremendous amount of confusion and controversy about the work of the Holy Spirit today. A generation ago A. W. Tozer wrote that when the average Christian thinks about the Holy Spirit "he is likely to imagine a nebulous substance like a wisp of invisible smoke which is said to be present in churches and to hover over good people when they die" (A Treasury of A. W. Tozer, p. 41).
I think he’s right and that’s the reason we are taking a few weeks to consider what it means to be “On Fire” with “Life in the Spirit.”
Before we look at the specific truth about the Holy Spirit we are considering, first look briefly at the treasure trove of spiritual blessings that should be appreciated by every believer in Christ. Ephesians 1:3-14 is a compact statement of the riches all believers enjoy: election - 4; predestination - 5,11; adoption - 5; grace - 6,7; redemption - 7; forgiveness - 7; knowledge - 9; sealing - 13; inheritance - 11,14; glorification - 14.
When we read all of these things that God has done for us how can we not be the most thankful people on earth? To think that God would love us enough to do all of this on our behalf to make us His children and give us what we really do not deserve is impossible to fully comprehend. We SHOULD be the most excited people on the planet.
Excited...like one family whose story I recently read. Anthony Cornist was a graduating senior that was used to hearing the cheering crowds as the second leading tackler on his football team. But, when Anthony walked across the stage at his high school graduation, his family’s cheers got an unexpected response.
Apparently, in addition to his family cheering for him there were "teachers, other students and other family members...cheering for him also," said his mother.
The excitement proved too much for the administration and instead of giving him his diploma, Anthony got a letter from the principal stating, "I will be holding your diploma in the main office due to the excessive cheering your guests displayed during the roll call."
Anthony couldn’t believe what he was reading. He said, "I did nothing wrong except walk across the stage." Whether his family and friends were out of line for cheering as he received his diploma I suppose could be debated, but Christians ought to get excited about the things God has done in their lives and God is pleased when they do.
Among these incredible spiritual blessings God listed in this passage is a specific work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. It’s just one aspect of the work of the Holy Spirit, but it’s an important doctrinal aspect that gives followers of Jesus a sense of security in their relationship with God.
Before looking at this one specific work and what it means for us...consider the four main works of the Holy Spirit in our salvation:
There is...
1. the regeneration of the Holy Spirit...refers to Him making us spiritually alive (“born again”) in Christ...a “new creation.” (Ephesians 2:1; John 3:3-8; 6:63; Titus 3:5)
2. the indwelling of the Holy Spirit...refers to Him taking up residence in every believer. (Romans 8:9; 1 John 2:27; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19-20; Ephesians 1:13-14)
3. the baptism of the Holy Spirit...refers to Him placing us into union with Christ and other believers within the body of Christ at the moment of salvation. (1 Corinthians 12:12-13)
4. the sealing of the Holy Spirit...refers to His identifying believers as His own and giving them security that they belong to Him. (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:22)
All four of these works happen simultaneously (not sequentially), but it’s the last one that I want us to dig into a little bit deeper.
What does it mean when the Scripture says that we’ve been “...sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” (1:13)? To consider this truth we need to break down these two verses:
Notice...
- The Process
Paul lays out how salvation comes to any person: 1. We hear “the word of truth, the gospel...” 2. We believe on Jesus Christ. 3. We are instantaneously and simultaneously indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
- The Pledge
This refers to the indwelling/sealing work of the Holy Spirit. We can call this work a pledge (as it is in several translations), as long as we qualify what we mean. A pledge can be something that is returned when the full payment is made (Genesis 38:17-20). The idea here, though, (ἀρραβών/”guarantee”) is that God has given us a portion of the whole payment that will ultimately be made.
The “guarantee” (or earnest) is literally the “payment of part of a purchase price in advance, first installment, deposit, down payment, pledge (s. Taubenschlag, Law2, 408ff), which secures a legal claim to the article in question, or makes a contract valid...” This “payment...obligates the contracting party to make further payments.” (Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (134). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.)
Eldon Woodcock writes, “Since [God’s] integrity and faithfulness are beyond question, this [“guarantee”] was of course unnecessary as a device to discourage God from changing His mind or not taking His obligation seriously. God graciously led Paul to use imagery that would assure believers of the reality of His guarantee.” (Eldon Woodcock, "The Seal of the Holy Spirit," Bibliotheca Sacra 155:618 [April-June 1998]:p.153)
This idea (pledge/down payment) also includes the thought of “quality” because the person receiving the down payment or pledge looked forward to receiving the full payment with goods of equal quality. In other words, the Holy Spirit is a pledge assuring us that God will fulfill His promise to deliver the remainder of our inheritance in full, which is equally amazing.
When God sent the Holy Spirit to indwell/seal us it was just the beginning of the process that He will ultimately bring to completion. (cf. Philippians 1:6) Until then, we enjoy a little bit of Heaven in our lives right now through His presence in us with the guarantee of much more to come in eternity with Him.
- The Possession
1.) Our possession...an inheritance
Literally: “to dispense, distribute...land received by allotment, hence an inheritance.”
In this context it refers to the believer’s eternal inheritance. The earnest or “guarantee” is only part of our entire inheritance, all of which we will receive in eternity.
Dr. Harold Hoehner says, “We have a little bit of heaven in us, namely, the Holy Spirit’s presence, and a guarantee of a lot more to come in the future.” (Hoehner, Harold, Ephesians: An Exegetical Commentary, p. 243)
2.) Christ’s possession...His children
In this context God’s “purchased possession” is His children who are eagerly awaiting His return to fully realize the redemption of their bodies (i.e., the resurrection. cf. Romans 8:23; 2 Corinthians 5:5) The “pledge” guarantees that all of God’s children (His “purchased possession”) will be with Him in eternity and be raised from the dead.
- The Praise
Twice (1:12,14) it is stated that we are saved both now and in the future for “the praise of His glory.” You can always distinguish good and bad theology by who is magnified: God or man!
Now, a further look at the indwelling/sealing work of the Holy Spirit will help us to understand its significance:
The imagery of the “seal” is from the ancient custom in which personal possessions (i.e., animals, household goods) were marked or stamped to show ownership (similar to the way we brand things today). It was a means of confirming/authenticating that an item was genuine. A seal on a letter or document showed that it was legally valid. People belonging to religious cults were often sealed with marks that bore the image of their god(s). The seal could be placed on things you only wanted opened by the intended recipient and would indicate to the recipient if someone had tampered with the document. In all of these ancient pictures you see the significance that Paul is communicating when he declares that when we were indwelt by the Holy Spirit that He also sealed us.
The Holy Spirit sealing us is the:
- ...evidence of a completed transaction.
Even today legal transactions are stamped with an official seal showing the transaction is complete.
- ...promise of eternal security. (Matthew 27:66; Ephesians 4:30)
- ...certificate of spiritual genuineness. (John 3:33; cf. Romans 8:9)
- ...identification of Christ’s ownership. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Revelation 7:2; 9:4)
- ...authentication of God’s approval. (John 6:27; cf. Genesis 41:42-44; 1 Kings 21:8; Esther 3:10, 8:8, 10)
There is an imperfect illustration of the importance of the sealing of the Holy Spirit in our lives that I’ve experienced from travelling abroad. If I travel outside the US I have to carry with me at all times my passport. In it is my picture, personal information, passport number, stamps where I have entered different countries or passed through immigration, and other extraneous information. When I’m travelling in another country I keep my passport with me at all times because it’s the proof that that I’m an American citizen, I am authorized to travel abroad, and I have been approved to be in the host country. (Obviously, a passport can be revoked or lost...unlike the Holy Spirit indwelling and sealing us.)
In a similar way, the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives identifies us, certifies us, authenticates us, and assures us that we are God’s children and that we are just visiting in this foreign country awaiting the day Christ will come for us and take us home to all the riches He has prepared for us.
Do you see the importance of understanding that by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we are also sealed until the day of our redemption? And, the only way to have the indwelling/sealing of the Holy Spirit is to trust Christ as your personal Savior!
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. (Romans 8:9)
This isn’t a matter of how you feel, but a matter of a scriptural promise God makes to all who trust His Son. And, if you don’t appreciate the significance of the indwelling/sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit, you’ll never be able to fully enjoy “life in the Spirit.” He’s there and you need to recognize that He’s there!! Once you’ve done that...really good things can start to happen!
