These verses say, “In Whom you also, hearing the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in Whom also believing, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of the promise, Who is the pledge of our inheritance, unto the redemption of the acquired possession to the praise of His glory.” The word “unto” in verse 14 means a great deal. We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the redemption of the acquired possession. We are God’s acquired possession, and the redemption of the acquired possession is the redemption, the transfiguration, of our body. By this we see that the seal of the Holy Spirit is for the redemption of our body. We were sealed with the Holy Spirit with a view to this redemption. One translation says, “You were sealed with the Holy Spirit given to the redemption.” This is an even stronger expression.
The seal of the Spirit is not a once-for-all matter. Rather, the sealing is still taking place. The seal was put in us when we believed, but the sealing has been going on from that time until now. The Holy Spirit is the seal and also the sealing. He is still sealing us. We were sealed and we are still being sealed.
Many of us can testify from experience that when we believed in the Lord Jesus, we realized that we had been sealed in our spirit. However, in our mind, emotion, and will there was no sealing. At the time we believed in the Lord Jesus, the Spirit came into our spirit and sealed us there. For this reason the Bible says that we were sealed. However, not every part of our being was sealed, but just one part, our spirit. For a long time after we were saved, there continued to be no sealing in our mind, emotion, or will. But Ephesians 1 says that we were sealed unto redemption. We have pointed out that the word “unto” means “resulting in” or “with a view to.” Therefore, the sealing in our spirit is with a view to the redemption of our body. This implies that the sealing is spreading within us. It begins in our spirit and it is spreading into our mind, emotion, and will. Because the sealing is spreading into our mind, the New Testament speaks about the renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:2). The renewing of the mind is the spreading of the sealing of the Spirit into our mind. The sealing of the Spirit must saturate our mind.
Not many Christians have seen that the sealing is still going on, that it is not once for all. No doubt, the Spirit comes into us once for all, but the sealing of the Spirit is a continuing process. In this matter we should care not merely for doctrine, but also for experience. Check to see whether your experience corresponds with the doctrine.
At the time of regeneration, the seal of the Spirit was put into our spirit, and the sealing began within us, with a view to the redemption of our body. This indicates that one day even our body will be sealed with the Spirit. Our body will be saturated with the Holy Spirit.
We have seen that the seal of the Spirit bears the image of God. When we repent, confess, and pray in our spirit, we bear the image of God. At such times others can see God’s image upon us. But if we begin to argue with others over teachings, it will become apparent that our mind does not bear the image of God. When we pray in the spirit, we bear the image, but when we argue in the mind, we do not. At that time our mind does not bear anything of the Spirit. Furthermore, in arguing over doctrine you may become angry, but there is nothing of the image of God in your emotion. This indicates that the sealing of the Spirit has not yet spread into your emotion. Eventually, you may become so angry with a brother over doctrine that you decide to no longer fellowship with him. You cut him off because, in your opinion, the doctrine he teaches is wrong. You exercise your strong will to terminate the fellowship with this brother. But in your will there is no evidence of the sealing of the Spirit. Therefore, in your whole soul—mind, emotion, and will— there is no trace of God’s image. Although you have the sealing of the Spirit in your spirit, you do not have the sealing in your soul.
It is difficult for the sealing of the Holy Spirit to spread into our troublesome mind. It is even more difficult for it to spread into our stubborn will. With many believers, the struggle of the sealing of the Spirit to get into the mind, emotion, and will lasts a long time. If you consider your experience, you will see that for years there has been a struggle over this matter. The sealing of the Holy Spirit has been struggling to get into your mind, emotion, and will. Even today we must admit that probably our soul still has not been thoroughly saturated. Even if our soul has been saturated, our body has not yet been sealed, for on it there is no sign of God’s appearance, nor any expression of His image. Nevertheless, the sealing of the Holy Spirit is still going on and it will continue to go on until the redemption of our body.