“God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.” (Ephesians 1:12–14 NLT)
When you accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord, the Holy Spirit seals you. Think of it in terms of buying a car. Imagine that you find the car you want on a dealer’s lot. You say to the dealer, “I plan to buy that car. I’ll be back in a few days to pick it up.”
No dealer in his right mind is going to say, “It’s yours! We’ll put a sign with your name on it on the windshield so that no one else tries to buy it. And when you’re good and ready, you can come back and get it.” Instead, the dealer will insist that you put a deposit down on the car to reserve it. The deposit is a show of good faith that you’re serious about the purchase.
In a spiritual sense, the Holy Spirit is God’s deposit, His show of good faith that He’s serious about His commitment to you. The final delivery will occur when you enter Heaven for eternity. Until that time, the Holy Spirit lives within you, courtesy of God, as a reminder of the value God places on you.
In Ephesians 1:13–14, the apostle Paul says, “When you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people” (NLT). You can trust God’s promise because His Spirit is inside you.
Paul also says, “For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children” (Romans 8:16 NLT). This is essential work.
Every day we’re bombarded by temptation. We’re given opportunities to pursue our own agenda instead of pursuing God’s will. And when we give in, our enemy is quick to prosecute us. To make us feel unworthy of God’s love and mercy. He wants to shake our confidence in our Christian faith. He wants to sow seeds of doubt that neutralize us and make us less of a threat to him.
The Holy Spirit reassures us that we are children of God. He reminds us of the sacrifice God made to save us. And He offers Himself as evidence of God’s work in our lives—the good-faith deposit God made to guarantee His promises.
If you’ve placed your faith in Christ, you are a child of God. The Holy Spirit guarantees it.
Reflection Question: How can you enlist the Holy Spirit’s help when you struggle with doubts about your faith?
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