Pentecost

Here are three facts about the Holy Spirit:

A Seal from God: Ephesians 1:13

In Ephesians 1:13 Paul writes that when you believed you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. Seals in the ancient world were used in the same way as today. The New Testament scholar Linda Belleville points out that in West Texas a Rancher would round up all his year old caves each spring for branding. The brand, which is placed on the flank of a calf with a heated brand iron is the rancher’s seal of ownership.  “To seal” means to stamp onto something a sign of ownership, and God sealed the believers with His Holy Spirit in order to make them His own. In Romans 8:9 the Holy Spirit is also called the Spirit of Christ, because Paul regarded Jesus as fully God, and in that same verse Paul writes, “And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ they do not belong to Christ. The presence of the Holy Spirit in us serves, therefore, as a seal of God’s or Christ’s ownership of us. I like to see the seal more as an engagement ring rather than brand placed on us, because the Bible tells us that Christ is Church’s bridegroom. Just as an engagement ring points to the fact that a person is taken or belongs to someone, the Holy Spirit placed in us does the same, the Holy Spirit points to the fact that we belong to God and to Jesus. In the May, 2008 issue of the Time Magazine, among the 100 most influential people mentioned you will find the name of a Brazilian soccer star by the name Kaka. He has been named both FIFA World player of the year and European football player of the year in 2007. Kaka, 26 helped his club, Italy’s AC Milan, to European and World titles last year. There is, however, more to him than sport. In 2004, Kaka became the U.N. World Food program’s youngest ambassador. He is also an evangelical Christian who talks openly about becoming a minister when he retires from the game. After winning the European Champions League final last year, he took off his jersey to reveal a T shirt that read, I BELONG TO JESUS. What that jersey proclaimed about Kaka the seal of the Holy Spirit does for us. The seal proclaims that WE BELONG TO JESUS.

A deposit from God: Ephesians 1:14

Another term that Paul uses to define the Holy Spirit is a “deposit.” Ephesians 1:14 continuing the thought of 1:13 states that the Holy Spirit is a “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.”  The Greek word arrabon translated deposit in the NIV translation of the Bible was used as earnest money that a buyer would give to a seller before the actual transaction in the Greek society. It also referred to the first payment that a hired person would receive from his or her employer before actually beginning the work. Arrabon, finally was and still today is also used for “engagement ring.” In essence, the presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Christian acts as an arrabon, a deposit that guarantees their future redemption, their future glory and eternal life. Once again it helps to imagine an engagement ring as a guarantee in order to understand what arrabon means in this context.  The engagement ring guarantees not only a wedding in the future, but also commitment, it guarantees consummation of a relationship, of living and sharing life together. In ancient Rome the early version of the "engagement ring" were thought to have carved keys on them. It has been debated that this could have been to symbolise the woman's right to access and own half of everything following marriage. However, the more sentimental like to think that the key may have been a key to her husband's heart. The purpose of engagement rings is more than just a guarantee of physical comfort, it is to convey deep emotions of eternal love, eternal happiness, eternal commitment, and eternal togetherness. In fact, these rings signify eternity - between the giver and the recipient. A ring is a complete circle with no break and no end or beginning, which means that it just goes on and on - it is eternal. The Holy Spirit also as a deposit functions as such a guarantee. The Spirit not only serves as seal symbolizing God’s ownership of us but it also as a guarantee of God’s eternal commitment to us, and fulfillment of all his promises. The presence of the Spirit guarantees that he will complete the process of our salvation by bringing about the resurrection of our bodies, that one day we will be with God eternally and share in His glory.  I once saw a bumper sticker behind a really rusty, old, rundown car that said, “My real treasure is in heaven.” No matter what your life looks like now, no matter what you are going through, no matter whether you are rusty or rundown, God gives you His Holy Spirit as a guarantee that your treasure is indeed ahead.

Our Sanctification from God: 2 Thessalonians 2:13

Lastly, in 2 Thess.2:13 Paul writes that the Christians are saved through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit and through believing in the Truth. Therefore, the third term that defines another function of the Spirit is the term Sanctification which means to make Holy. The Holy Spirit is a sanctifier whose function is to make us holy and righteous. The term sanctification is taken from the Old Testament where utensils for religious rites are sanctified unto God. God in the Old Testament said, “Be Holy because, I the lord your God is Holy (Lev.19:2) and the Lord Jesus in Matt. 5:48 said, “Be perfect, therefore as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Paul’s common address for the people of God is “the saints” meaning holy people of God. In 1 Corinthians 1:2 Paul starts his letter with this greeting: “To the Church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be his holy people.” People of God are to be holy people set apart for God, to be holy and righteous. And it is the purpose of the Holy Spirit to help us be just that.  

The engagement ring in a way has a sanctifying affect on the one who wears it. It is not only a seal pointing to the one to whom you belong; it is not only a guarantee of what will come to belong to you eventually, but it is also a reminder of your responsibility, of who you are and how you should behave and act as a person engaged to be married to someone. Engagement was more serious in Jesus day than ours. Once you were engaged you were practically considered married and you were expected to behave in a certain way. And for that reason Mary was accused of adultery when she was found pregnant even though she was only engaged to Joseph. An engagement should be and meant to be a life changing experience. Many after getting engaged change the way they used to live and think. Their engagement rings accuse them when their eyes begin to wander. It reminds them of their fidelity to their spouses. Their engagement ring reminds them of the end of one type of life and beginning of another. Many people quit smoking after being engaged, because their spouses have said that they do not want to kiss an ashtray. Many work out in order to get healthy and become conscious of their financial state. Many even stop doing crazy things they used to do with their friends. The presence of the Holy Spirit is also more than just a seal symbolizing God’s ownership of you, it is more than a deposit guaranteeing God’s promises to you, the presence of the Spirit is also a life changing experience reminding you how to live and behave in relationship to whom you belong- Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 5:25-27 the Church is portrayed as Jesus’ bride made holy by the self sacrificial love of Jesus in order to present her to himself without stain, wrinkle and blemish. The Holy Spirit of God as the sanctifier provides that spiritual extreme-makeover for us- his church and his bride. He is the one helps straighten out every wrinkle, remove every stain and blemish to make ready the church for his bridegroom.