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The Seal of the Holy Spirit

For the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort—for the sake of his good pleasure—is God.—Philippians 2:13

It is the Holy Spirit who seals, reveals, and deals with us in order that we may become more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit first seals us at the point of our spiritual birth and “when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13). In Bible times, a seal was a type of security. It was typically used to guarantee a document or letter, indicate ownership, or protect against tampering. The Holy Spirit is our seal in every sense of this word; we are guaranteed, owned, and protected!

The assurance that we experience because of the Holy Spirit’s seal sets us free to be Converterlators in the time we have remaining in this temporary world. After the Holy Spirit seals us, he begins to reveal the things of God to us. In 1 Corinthians 2:10–16 we read:

“God has revealed these to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the things of a man except the man’s spirit within him? So too, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things that are freely given to us by God. And we speak about these things, not with words taught us by human wisdom, but with those taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people. The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him.

And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The one who is spiritual discerns all things, yet he himself is understood by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to advise him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

The Holy Spirit opens our hearts to spiritual truth. This gives us the ability to both understand and respond to God’s calling as we converterlate our time, talent, and treasure. Without the Holy Spirit in our lives we will not have the things of God revealed to us.

As the Holy Spirit reveals the things of God to us, he also deals with us. Jesus said, “The Spirit is the one who gives life; human nature is of no help! The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). It is the Holy Spirit’s power that allows us to serve God’s purposes in God’s way. In the Old Testament the prophet Ezekiel recorded God’s promise to us, “I will put my Spirit within you; I will take the initiative, and will obey my statutes and carefully observe my regulations” (Ezekiel 36:27).

Have you been sealed with the Holy Spirit? What has he revealed to you? In what ways has the Holy Spirit been dealing with you?


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