Note: Devotion taken from Sunday AM sermon on March 23, 2025.
In whom
ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy
Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13).
Paul
founded the church at Ephesus (see Acts 19), so in Ephesians he is a spiritual father
speaking to his spiritual children.
I’ve
noted that D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones called Ephesians the most “mystical” of Paul’s
writings.
To
this we can add R.
C. Sproul’s observation that “the tone of Ephesians is so contemplative at
points, that it sounds more like a prayer than a letter, more like a doxology
[praise of God] than a sermon” (Ephesians, 15).
In Ephesians
1:13-14, Paul reminds the Ephesians of the gospel they had received. The word
gospel means “good news.” Paul summarized the gospel he preached at Corinth in
1 Corinthians 15:3-5: the death, burial, resurrection, and risen appearances
of Christ.
In Ephesians
1:13 Paul places the phrases “the word of truth” and “the gospel of your
salvation” in apposition. They are the same thing.
Notice also
Paul’s emphasis upon the fact that the Ephesians had heard this gospel
as it was preached to them. In Romans 10:17 Paul notes that faith comes by
hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). In 1 Corinthians 1:21 he
says it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Paul also
stresses here the necessary response of faith: “in whom also after that ye
believed.” Explicit belief and confession of faith is essential (cf. Acts 8:37;
Romans 10:9). There is no salvation outside of faith in Christ.
Finally, Paul reminds the Ephesians, “ye were sealed with the holy
Spirit of promise.” A seal was set to
ensure that something was left undisturbed or secure. The soldiers went to the
tomb where Christ’s lifeless body was laid, in vain, “sealing the stone” (Matthew
27:66), but it would be rolled away. Letters were often sealed with wax and
marked with a signet ring to ensure it had not been opened and its content changed.
This is Paul’s inspired analogy. Believers have the seal of the
Holy Spirit. The indwelling Spirit of God ensures that they will not be
disturbed or corrupted or dislodged, but they shall be preserved, kept, by
God’s grace, in the faith.
This is the gospel that Paul preached, that the saints in Ephesus
heard; and believing, they were sealed.
It is the same gospel of salvation that has saved and preserved every
believer across the ages.
The gospel comes with the heat of spiritual power. An old adage
says heat can both melt butter and harden clay. When we hear the preaching of
the good news, is our heart melted (the experience of the elect) or is it hardened
(the experience of the reprobate)? Are we butter or clay?
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
