Sealed Unto The Day of Redemption
"In Whom, also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed, with that Holy Spirit of promise." -Ephesians 1:13 [KJV] Some consider this sealing as the highest assurance, which but few obtain; others, as a state of perfection in holiness, and an entire freedom from the being of sin. This some pretend to, but no one ever yet arrived to, in this life. But it is plain the apostle means nothing more, than what all believers in common are favoured with. Not after ye believed, but in believing, ye were sealed, says the learned Mr. Hervey. That is, as soon as ye received the truth in the love of it, ye were sealed by the Spirit, as the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Consider, (1st,) what is implied in being sealed. A seal is to make an impression of its contents. Sealing an instrument, is making it valid, and acknowledging it as our act and deed. The heart of a believing sinner, melted by the Word and Spirit of God, is the subject of this sealing. The contents ...