Ephesians 1:13-14

13In 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, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Today is the last post of this epic first installment of Ephesians. Today we come to the third, and final “In him we…” phrase, that Paul has used to display to us the incredible blessings that God, in His grace, has lavished upon us through Jesus Christ. (That’s a mouthful of a sentence – but it’s been great to read about it for the last week). Today, the emphasis changes slightly, to focus on us as individual Christians – v13 begins with “In him you“. Paul is writing our Christian autobiography for us! These verses are such an encouragement. If you’re a Christian, this is what has happened to you, individually. If you’re a Christian, this is what will happen to you, individually. God blessed you with every spiritual blessing in Christ. It’s an emphasis we can take for granted, and so one I am very grateful Paul takes as he wraps up this first section of Ephesians.

The question we might have at this point in Ephesians is, “How and when did the eternal, mind boggling realities of predestination and election actually ground themselves into my everyday life? And why didn’t he just save me at birth if I was going to be saved anyway?” These are good questions, and Paul answers them both.

Even in light of all the mind-bending truths that we have read of in this first part of Ephesians, like predestination and election, of a God choosing people from before time to be blessed through Jesus Christ so that his grace would be seen as glorious – even in light of all this, there comes a point, a real tangible, linear, ever-so-simple to see and comprehend moment where we go from being dead to God, to being sons of God. For all the confusion and ‘brain pain’ that Ephesians has raised (and it’s a great God-glorifying pain), for us, the equation and truth is simple. It’s so impossibly simple! And this is what is so incredible about grace – that God works out his universe shaping plans, with all this amazing stuff about his eternal glory and his lavishing of grace through predestination and election – he works it all out by us simply saying, “I believe”. That’s it. (!!!) The simplicity of all this is achieved by the effectual work of the Spirit, v13;

In him (Jesus) you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit

We’ve been given in Ephesians so far, a kind of ‘Universe from God’s point of view” glimpse by Paul. Our minds have been rattled by some huge things of God. But here in v13, Paul turns it back around to us as individuals, and you couldn’t ask for anything simpler to understand! You heard the word of truth – someone or something proclaimed to you the truth. What was that truth? Paul doesn’t rattle off 342 deep theological tangents – the word of truth was simply, the gospel of salvation. The good news that you, a sinner worthy only of your impending eternal death, could be saved. And all you did in response was…believe. That’s it. And at that moment, the eternal plans of God that are beyond our comprehension were poured out in blessing upon your life – in a way you didn’t even comprehend or notice. But God truly had, through that moment of clarity and simplicity, brought you into the greatest movement of the universe; the eternal worship of His grace. Whether or not God’s plans would succeed did not, and still doesn’t, rely on you one little bit. Because at that moment of your salvation, the promised Holy Spirit came into you and sealed you. Adopted. Delivered. Secure. Safe. Saved. v14 fills it out even more, just in case we weren’t convinced;

…sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

You have the best spiritual bodyguard imaginable. God himself in Spirit dwells in your heart, and his presence is a simple, yet powerful guarantee that the inheritance is yours. And what an inheritance it is that we have read about in Ephesians; As all the riches of God’s grace that were poured out in Christ are consummated on that last day, when the church of Jesus Christ is brought to their eternal home – brought purely by the work and grace of God within them, begun from before the beginning of time itself, wrought through the glorious work of Christ on the cross, sealed at the moment we just ‘believed’, and safely guarded and shaped by God himself in them.

In these first 14 monumental verses, there is but one theme in the end. One that has encompassed them all. It’s the theme of our inheritance itself, the theme of heaven. All this, all the universal truths we have read of and will personally enjoy – it will all be to the praise of his glory.

All by your grace Father, all for your glory. Amen.

And that, friends, is what Ephesians 1:1-13, and absolutely everything else is about. I pray that God has, and will, speak through his Word to you personally, to shape, equip, embolden and strengthen you. In Christ’s name. Amen.

God blessed with you in grace,

Matt.