Sealed and Secure
This week we have been building a foundation for a completely new identity. We have learned that God legally declares us righteous. We saw that there is absolutely zero condemnation left for us. We realized we are entirely new creations, and yesterday we saw the beautiful truth that we have been permanently adopted into God’s very own family. Those are incredible promises. But if you are anything like me, or the guys I usually talk to, there is always one lingering fear that tries to creep in.
We hear all this good news and we immediately think about our own weaknesses. We wonder what happens if we mess this up. We wonder what happens if we commit a sin that is just too big, or if we go through a season where our faith feels incredibly weak. We are so used to the conditional love of this world that we naturally project that same standard onto God. We think our salvation is like a fragile contract that gets torn up the moment we fail to hold up our end of the bargain.
But God wants to completely shatter that fear today.
In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1:13 and 14 ESV
In the ancient world, a seal was a very big deal. When a king put his wax seal on a document or a piece of property, it meant two specific things. It meant absolute ownership and absolute protection. Anyone who tampered with that seal was dealing directly with the wrath of the king. When you believed the gospel, God did not just write your name in a ledger. He placed His own Spirit inside of you as a permanent seal. You belong to Him. You carry His mark of ownership. The Holy Spirit is the literal guarantee of your inheritance. He is the divine down payment proving that God will absolutely finish the work He started in you.
The Apostle Paul drives this point home again in his second letter to the church in Corinth.
And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 ESV
Notice exactly who is doing the heavy lifting in that verse. It is God who establishes us. It is not our own willpower holding our new identity together. If your salvation depended on your daily performance, you would lose it by lunchtime. Your security does not rest in your grip on God. It rests entirely in His grip on you. He is the one who anointed you. He is the one who sealed you. Jesus spoke directly to this exact insecurity during His earthly ministry. He wanted to make absolutely sure His followers understood just how safe they really were.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. John 10:27 through 29 ESV
Think about the profound picture Jesus paints right there. When you come to faith, you are placed securely in the hand of Jesus. And then the Father wraps His mighty hand entirely around the hand of the Son. You are double gripped by the Creator of the universe. Jesus promises that you will never perish. He states plainly that absolutely no one is able to snatch you away. The enemy wants you to live in a constant state of anxiety. He wants you to doubt your salvation every single time you stumble. He knows that a fearful, insecure Christian is an ineffective Christian. But God sees your daily struggles, He knows your weaknesses, and He still calls you His own. Your failures do not break the seal. Your bad days do not pry open the grip of the Father.
You are eternally secure. You can breathe a massive sigh of relief today. You do not have to hold on for dear life, because the Author of life is holding firmly onto you. Walk into your weekend with the unshakable confidence that you are completely sealed and fully secure in Christ.