[Nate]

I was reading a Jonathan Edwards sermon the other day (same one that my sig quote comes from) and came across a rather interesting interpretation of the passages in Scripture where the Spirit is referred to as a guarantee, pledge, or promise of our future redemption/inheritance and where it is said that we are "sealed" by the Spirit. The interpretation he gave, as best I could understand it, was that the Spirit was analogous to what we would think of as an engagement ring. The Spirit is given to us [the Church] by Christ [the Bridegroom of the Church] as a seal of His promise of redemption to us, just as an engagement ring is given to a woman by her fiance as a seal of his promise to marry her. Furthermore, the analogy continues in that an engagement is a symbol of associative belonging or possession just as the Spirit is a symbol of our belonging to Christ. When we see a woman with an engagement ring on her finger, we say she is "taken", meaning that she is claimed and spoken for; likewise, when the Spirit is in a believer's heart, we can say that that person is "taken" by Christ, claimed, spoken for, and purchased with His blood.

I thought it was interesting, and was hoping to get some elaboration/discussion on it. Here are the passages that seemed relevant:

Ephesians 1:13-14
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.

2 Corinthians 1:21-22
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Thanks for reading... hope my thoughts weren't too jumbled.

In His love,
Nate

[sgary]

Ephesians 2:13-14
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.

This sounds like Eph. 1 13-14, ..the sealed "gift" is given by the Holy Spirit, and not the giver of the gift, the Holy Spirit. (being sealed in our Lord is a special gift alright)

2 Corinthians 1:21-22
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge.

Here is again the Holy Spirit confirming the "sealing" of us in the Lord.

What a fantastic promise we have. (help me if I'm wrong) sgary

[Nate]

Originally Posted by sgary

This sounds like Eph. 1 13-14

Haha... oops. Typo.