Sealed for Eternity

In the book of Joshua, the Israelites built stone monuments as reminders of the great works of God. But they and their descendants did not gaze on these monuments in later times merely to recall the glories of yesteryear. They also used them to bolster their assurance for their own lives, for the monuments reminded them that the same God who had done great things in their past also had promised to do great things in their present and future.

In our own lives, the Holy Spirit is something like those monuments. Because the Spirit is given to all people who are regenerated, His presence in our lives is a constant reminder of what God did for us in the past, at the moment of our conversions. But Scripture also speaks of the Holy Spirit in ways that make Him a source of great assurance about our eternal security.

Paul tells us that we have been “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” What does this mean? The Greek word here translated “sealed” has to do with a king making an imprint in the wax used to seal a document. God, by giving us the Holy Spirit, marks us indelibly as His own. Thus, no one can steal us away from Him and we cannot be lost. We are His—for all eternity. But Paul uses even clearer language. He says the Spirit is “the guarantee of our inheritance.” We all know what a guarantee is: an irrevocable promise, an absolute assurance. Paul is saying that the presence of the Spirit in our lives means that there can be no doubt that we will be preserved until the very end. God gives the Spirit to those He redeems, and the Spirit remains with them “until the redemption of the purchased possession.” In other words, the Spirit is with us until our salvation is complete. Thus, if the Spirit is with us now, helping us to grow in sanctification, we can be sure that He will remain with us and that we will be preserved. His presence with us is a great source of assurance.

When we are tempted to doubt our eternal security, we should remember that the Holy Spirit of God has been given to us. “The best evidence of our interest in [Christ] will be the pattern of his Spirit in our hearts,” Matthew Henry writes in his commentary on Joshua. “If we can produce this it will be a testimony for us that we have a part in the Lord, and an earnest of our perseverance in following him.”