Two weeks ago we began to look at how Christ’s resurrection has already begun to have an effect on us. Today I would like to highlight the concept of having been sealed by the Spirit, and how this sealing is connected to Jesus’ resurrection.

To Paul, the sealing with the Spirit is a foretaste of our inheritance, which surely includes our resurrection bodies. Thus, both our guarantee and the reality of it are provided for us because Jesus has been raised from the dead. I could write a lot about this concept, but instead let me point you back to some quotes from Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones:

• Sealed with the Spirit — Ephesians 1
  
• Sealed with the Spirit, Part 2
  
• Sealed with the Spirit, Part 3
  
• Sealing with The Spirit
  

I will leave you with this passage from Ephesians 1 which inspired much of what the Doctor has to say about the concept of sealing with the Spirit:

“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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:13-23)