Ephesians 1: 13-14
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
We spoke yesterday of the two afters in these verses, After that ye heard and after that ye believed. Those are the prerequisites of salvation or the what happens before salvation then immediately thereafter Paul tells of what happens after salvation, we are sealed with that holy Spirit of promise. Something that is worth noting is that salvation is always referred to in the past tense. No one ever says I'm being saved or when I was being saved and if they are then they have some error in their understanding of salvation. Salvation is something that happens in a moment, the very moment you believe the word of truth. I often think of someone who has grab a live electrical wire, they never say "I'm being shocked!" No, the very second they grab the wire a jolt of electricity shocks them and they say "I've been shocked!" This idea is illustrated in our text, Paul refers to before salvation and after but nothing is said of during, because the very instant your believed the word of truth you are saved, sealed and pardoned.
Paul says that we are sealed, this word sealed can mean a couple different things. It can mean the seal that you used to find on royal mail. They would seal the envelope with hot wax and then press their personal signet into the hot wax creating a seal that had the royal emblem on it, signifying that this parcel or letter was sealed by royal decree. Not to be opened by any one but the intended person it was being sent to. This is the sense in which Paul is writing. The way I understand this is in the same sense but using something from my childhood. My grandparents, to this day, grow a large garden every year in Alabama. Unlike Uganda which has 3 growing seasons, depending where you are, Alabama has one. So at the end of the season and all throughout they would be canning fresh vegetables in preparation for the winter time months. Now I know my readers in the states understand this process very well but for the sake of our readers in Uganda I'll explain the process simply and then we'll conclude with applying it to ourselves. In canning you have glass jars that you fill with the fresh vegetables you place them in a pressure cooker called a canner. On top of these glass jars that are filled with fresh vegetables you place a metal top with a rubber seal, the pressure inside the canner creates a vacuum inside the jar and the metal lid on top is then sealed to the jar. This seal has a two fold purpose, to make sure nothing inside the jar gets out and nothing from outside the jar gets in. This preserves the food for as long as it is sealed, I have personally eaten vegetables that have been sealed like this for as long as 5 years. I've heard of others eating canned food from much longer ago and it still being fresh. The point is the seal keeps in the good and keeps out the bad.
This is much like the seal of the Spirit we have, we are sealed unto the day of redemption. God seals us with His Spirit at the point of salvation to ensure that goods are kept inside and the bad is kept out. Sure our jars get dusty and dirty from time to time but that dust and dirt is only on the outside. It is possible that the jars become so dirty that you can't even tell the content of the jar but on the inside they're still just as fresh as the day it was sealed. Our salvation has been sealed by the Spirit of God and will remain sealed unto the day of redemption. The lesson to learn here is that when we get dirty and dusty from time to time we don't need to be resealed or resaved, rather, we need to wash up. Salvation isn't something you can lose, God seals us and the keeps in the good and keeps out the bad. It is our fleshly lives, like the jars, that get dirty from time to time. Every once in awhile my grandmother would get a wet rag and wipe down the jars to remove the dust but never once did she have to reseal them. You and I friend in this life are bound to get dirty and dusty, don't attempt to resealed or resave but cleanse your self in the water of the word. Confess your sins an He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. David, when he had sinned with Bathsheba, his prayer was this "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation" not "Restore my salvation." I remember also what Jesus told Peter concerning washing his feet: John 13:8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me. :9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. :10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean,...
Once Peter heard that he could have no part with Christ except he be washed, he then request that Christ wash also his hands and feet but Christ told him it was only the feet that needed washing because he was already clean. We ,in a spiritual sense, have been washed from sin it's only that in this life, from our journey, our feet get dusty from time to time and we, like Peter and the jars, need Christ to wash us with the water of the word. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word." Dear readers, if you are saved, the very instant you were saved you were also sealed, nothing or no one can break that seal. If you feel dirty and dusty go to the Savior and ask him to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, confess your sins and He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins but you can be absolutely sure the seal is still good and your still saved. Don't let your life become so dirty and dusty that people can't see the content of your jar. If your saved let the new life God has placed inside shine through, others need to see what God has done in you.
This little light of mine I'm going to let it shine!!
According to the riches of His Grace!!