Ephesians 1:13-14 Ye Were Sealed CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Before you get saved, there is a process which you generally undergo and our text describes exactly what that is. YOU HAVE TO HEAR THE WORD OF TRUTH. That typically involves:
- Preaching – I Cor 1:18, 21; II Tim 4:3-4; Rom 10:14
- Reading – Rom 10:12; II Tim 3:15; I Pet 1:23
- Hearing and understanding what you’ve heard – which can be adversely affected by a gross heart, Matt 13:15, or by the devil, Lk 8:12
- Believing – accepting the words preached as TRUE – Jn 17:17; 14:6 – Many don’t believe that the Bible is true, Rom 1:25
- Trusting – relying upon or depending upon Jesus, the true God – Many religious people rely upon their religious practice or their goodness. These are all they have so they hope for the best, but they have no assurance because practice and goodness are unreliable – assurance comes from believing Jesus, 1 Jn 5:13 – see II Cor 1:9-10
Once you have heard, believed, and trusted Jesus Christ, you are saved. But then the Holy Spirit does some thing that you might not be aware of.
- He seals you – Eph 4:30, this is why you have ASSURANCE OF SALVATION – He seals you by putting you into the body of Christ
- Eph 5:30-32
- II Cor 12:13
- He spiritually circumcises you, Col 2:10-12
- Then he begins to conform you to Jesus, Rom 8:29
He then is our inheritance until redemption, Rom 8:23. We get a portion of our final inheritance now. We get his:
- Name – I Jn 3:1-2, Sons of God
- Adoption, Rom 8:16-17
- Power, Rom 8:11
Since we have been purchased (I Cor 6:19-20), we get his glorified likeness when he returns, Phil 3:20-21.