Another Crucial Passage on the Security of the Believer - Ephesians 1:13-14

Not long ago I wrote a post on I Thessalonians 5:24 which, in my opinion, is one of the most important, but overlooked verses about the security of the believer. Ephesians 1:13-14 is not overlooked, but it is often disputed by those who claim we can lose our salvation. However, there is very little to argue about here. Paul says,

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth,

the gospel of your salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with

the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance,

with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory.

First of all, it is clear that the sealing of the Spirit happens at the same time we believe in Christ as our Savior. The verb "having also believed" gives the time frame for the main verb, "you were sealed". One cannot say that some Christians are sealed with the Spirit and some are not, nor can anyone rightly argue that the sealing of the Spirit is a later work of the Spirit sometime after salvation for those who are more godly and seek a "second blessing" or something like that. The point is that all believers are sealed with the Spirit at the time that they put their trust in Christ as Savior. There are no exceptions.

Then there is the issue of the sealing itself. This term refers to the ancient practice of putting a wax seal on something like a letter, for instance, to prevent it from being tampered with. This indicates that when God seals us with His Spirit we cannot be successfully tampered with by any enemy agents. Those who dispute this passage as addressing the security of believers like to play games like saying that the sealing of the Spirit simply indicates God's "ownership" of us as Christians. Hello, like God's "ownership" does not have anything to do with the security of the believer! Even if the sealing is just about God's ownership of believers. That is a very strong statement about our security. But in the immediate context, it gets stronger.

Paul says that God's Spirit has been given to us as the "earnest" of our future inheritance and redemption. The King James Version is the best translation of this word. "Deposit" just doesn't cut it. Even "down payment" and "pledge" are too weak. The best translation, in my opinion, is "earnest" because this refers to the first payment being made in a particular transaction to guarantee that the final payment will also be made. Earnest money guarantees that the process that has been started will be brought to completion. No ifs, ands or buts about it!

The bottom line is that this passage simply cannot be dismissed or explained away. It is 100% clear about the security of the believer. One can legitimately dispute whether a particular person ever really had the Spirit in their life. But anyone who has the Spirit, and all real believers do (see Romans 8:9), is going to receive the inheritance and redemption that God has promised. Nothing can be more certain!