Assurance of Salvation
Ephesians 1:13-14
Sermon Summary Sometimes, we doubt the salvation that has been given to us in the gospel. However, God has given us His Word and His Spirit to assure us of our future inheritance. With these precious gifts, we never need to doubt God's love for us. |
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Ephesians 1:13-14
In 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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Philip de Mornay was a celebrated Huguenot statesman. The Huguenots were Calvinists who lived in France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Why they took the name “Huguenots” is not quite certain, but they experienced a great deal of difficulty in that land. France was known for its Catholic predilection during this time, and there were times of severe persecution against the Huguenots. Wars were even fought as the Huguenots sought to secure their freedom and lives. Philip de Mornay was part of this tumultuous history. He went through ups and downs and he faced many difficulties. Yet through it all, his faith radiated and always gave a strong testimony to the Lord.
Even towards the end of his life, he faced the difficulties of losing his wife and son. He had served as the governor of the city of Saumur, where he had been able for quite a long time to promote the causes of Protestantism, but he was forced out of the city and, in a sense, witnessed the fall of his life’s work. Finally, Mornay contracted an illness that would eventually lead to his death. Just as he had done all through his life, during his illness, Mornay evidenced a steadfastness of faith. Yet the illness began to take its toll. It diminished his physique and withered his strength. A little before his death, which was obviously encroaching upon him, he was asked if he still retained the same assured hope of future bliss which he had so much enjoyed during his life and into his illness.
De Moray was said to have made a memorable reply. He said, “I am as confident of it, from the incontestable evidence of the Spirit of God, as ever I was of any mathematical truth from all the demonstrations of Euclid.”
And thus he died, not only having had hope through his life of that great inheritance, but even at his death, he had every bit of assurance that it would be his.
De Mornay’s last testimony was that of the incredible confidence that we as Protestant Christians have in the face of death. There are a lot of people who have no clue what will happen to them after this life. But that is not true for the one who believes in Jesus Christ. We have assurance. The gospel gives us the ability to say, “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have a future.”
The last time we were together, we mentioned the concept of hope, and we studied how one of the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places was the inheritance that God has promised us. As we come to our passage today, we find that those two concepts are further drawn out. Here in verses 13-14, Paul elaborates just a little more on the concepts of hope and our inheritance. In doing so he tells us about the fifth and final spiritual blessing in the heavenly places for which we can praise God. It is the blessing of our assurance - the assurance of salvation. As Christians, we are blessed because we have confidence that we will surely receive this inheritance after we pass from this life.
Notice what I said there. It is not the assurance that we can have. It is the assurance that we do have. The one who truly believes and has been saved has been given assurance. You might not always feel this assurance. You might not always be as solid as you would like in regard to this assurance. But the testimony of this passage is that you who have been predestined, you who have been redeemed, you who have been a part of God’s plan, you who have been given an inheritance, you can praise God because you have every assurance that God will take you home to be with himself.
I know that the word “assurance” is not used in these two verses. But the concept is most definitely there. And some of you might be thinking, “Matt, I’m sorry to say this, but I am not quite as confident of my salvation as you say I am.” I know that some people struggle with assurance. But let me tell you that this passage is here to help you with that. You will notice that there are two things spoken of in this passage. There is a focus on God’s Word and on God’s Spirit. And both of these verify the fact that we will inherit eternal life. They are the things that confirm the reality of our salvation.
Let’s start with what this passage says about God’s word and how it confirms our salvation.
I. God’s Word Confirms our Salvation
What’s interesting about verse 13 is that Paul throws in a bunch of words in this sentence that, in a sense, are not necessary. You could read the sentence like this: “In Him you also were…sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” But Paul adds this bit about hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believing in him. You might ask, “Why does Paul use precious papyrus and ink for these extra words?” Better yet, why does Paul make an incredibly long sentence that much longer by adding these additional phrases?
There can be only one answer: It is because he wants us to know just how profound the preaching of God’s word is. He wants us to know that the message we heard should have a powerful influence on us. What we heard was substantial. Those words testify to the realities that we now enjoy; they help confirm the fact that God has saved us.
Look at what Paul says. You notice that he doesn’t just call it “the word,” but he calls it “the word of truth.”
A. The Word of Truth
The word confirms our salvation because it is truth. You can ask, “What is God’s word? What is its nature?” And the answer is that God’s word is truth. It is reliable because it is the very essence of truth. It is not false; it is not a lie; it does not contradict itself. It is the bona fide Word because it is nothing other than the truth.
This is what sets the Bible apart from things like the Book of Mormon or Plato’s philosophy, or the Hindu holy books. The Book of Mormon may be touted as a religious book, and the Quran may be highly regarded by many people. But it isn’t truth. I have not read them in full. There may very well be some truths in those books, but you cannot call them truth because there are things that are incredibly wrong contained in them. They contradict themselves. They put forth information that is wrong. Most of all, they don’t give an accurate summation of reality and salvation.
But the Bible is different. It is so rock-solid and airtight that you can call it the truth, or the word of truth.
And so Paul can say, “You know that I wasn’t making this up. You can research it. You can test it. You can verify everything I said. When you do, you will find that it does not fail. Whatever testimony I have given about Jesus, you know that it will hold up because there’s no chance that it can be shot down or proven to have holes in it.”
We who are living now have an even greater testimony to this, for the testimony of the Bible has lasted down through the ages. Despite the manifold attempts to attack and discredit it, the Bible still stands. And that is because it is true. It is because everything in it is true. The Bible is the most hated book in the world (and it is likely hated because it tells the truth!), and all the enemies of God have tried every possible way of taking the rug out from under the Bible. The one aim of Satan since the beginning of time has been to make man question God’s Word.
But despite the wildest and most severe attacks on the Bible, its truth and trustworthiness remain unblemished. It is still the most popular book in the world. And it is all the rage because what it proclaims is nothing but rock-solid truth. So there’s one sense in which the Word of God confirms the reality of our inheritance. It speaks the truth. There is a faithful proclamation about God. The way of salvation, of which it speaks, is real. The reality of Jesus, to which it testifies, is a genuine expression of what is true.
So how can you know that your salvation is real? It’s because the Bible tells you it is real. God speaks to you in and through the ministry of his Word and God’s Word does not lie.
But Paul doesn’t just call it “the word of truth.” You notice that he qualifies it even more. He further defines the Word as “the gospel of your salvation.” Do you know why the Bible can give you assurance? It is because it proclaims the gospel of your salvation.
B. The Gospel of Your Salvation
The word “gospel” in the original language literally means “good news.” It is the good news of our salvation - our having been saved from sin and death, our having been given eternal life. The Bible helps us to have assurance because it speaks this good news. It is constantly telling us what God has done for us. It is the declaration of Christ and how he died; how he atoned for our sin; how he was raised to life again.
There’s the verse that says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” That kind of sounds weird to us because it sounds like we are to admire the preacher’s feet. I’ve got news for you: my feet are pretty ugly. It’s not a good thing to behold.
What that verse is talking about is the ancient practice of how people came to hear about the outcome of a war or battle. When a king and his army went out to battle, all the people of that kingdom would be on pins and needles. They couldn’t wait to hear the outcome of the battle. Who won? Who lost? How many casualties were there? What were the fatalities? You can think about all the women who eagerly were anticipating the news from the front lines, women whose husbands and
children went out with that king to fight against the opposing forces. There was a deep yearning each day for some information on how things were going.
There was a practice that, when the battle was finished, a messenger would be sent. He would run and deliver the message to the people at home. He would carry the news of the victory back to the people of that town or kingdom. And maybe, if the city was a walled city, there would be scouts standing on that wall, watching the horizon. They might see the messenger off in the distance, and they would announce to the people in the city that word was coming. There was a messenger! And so the doors would be opened and the messenger would come into the city, and he would proclaim the good news that the battle was over and the victory had been achieved.
You can imagine the relief that people would have. They could rejoice to know that they were safe and the battle had been won. And so it was said, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” The feet of that messenger, who walked and ran all that distance, would be considered so beautiful. They would be admired because he brought the “gospel.” That image of the messenger was then applied to the ministers of the gospel. They come into the worship service every week and they declare that the battle has been won. The war is over. Jesus Christ has brought about the utter defeat of sin. Satan has no power over us. The enemy has been conquered. You don’t have to fear death because it has been vanquished.
And so in the preaching of the gospel, the surety of your salvation is proclaimed. There is a confirmation that you need not worry about death and hell. You can be assured that you will not be condemned on the last day because Christ has appeased God’s wrath for you.
That’s what the Word does. It confirms the realities of our salvation. It verifies the fact that God has indeed given us that inheritance. And that’s why Paul says you believed. Why did you believe? It was because you were convinced that what you heard in the word of God was true. You believed it because it was good news. You believed it because you were convinced that the salvation spoken of could be yours. If it wasn’t true and you were not convinced that it was good news, you would never have believed it.
So it all began with the conviction you had regarding God’s word. You gained salvation and you gained the assurance of salvation because the Word you heard came to you and verified it. The truth of it and the glory of it could not be denied.
Now, just as a practical note, I know that some people are prone to doubt and there are times when you struggle with assurance. Let me just say two things about that.
The first thing is that this is merely your feeling of assurance. Your feeling of assurance is different than the fact of your assurance. It is a fact that you have this assurance. However, you might not always feel the reality of that assurance. We need to distinguish between those two things. But here’s the other thing: when you feel that way (when you don’t feel like you have assurance of your salvation) this is a time to go to God’s Word. Load up on solid gospel preaching. Saturate yourself in the truth. Listen to the truth. Let the gospel be proclaimed in your ears over and over. You will find no greater weapon that will destroy those doubts than this. When the gospel is heard, you will find that your soul is stirred up and strengthened by it. That’s because the Word of God is one of the main methods God uses to assure his people of his grace.
But it isn’t the only thing that confirms the reality of our salvation. You’ll notice that there is also an inward element in our passage. There is the outward testimony of God’s Word, but our assurance is also confirmed by the inward testimony of God’s Spirit.
II. God’s Spirit Confirms our Salvation
Look at what Paul says at the end of verse 13. He says that we are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” Then in verse 14, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is the “guarantee of our inheritance.”
Paul here is using two images to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. The first is the image of the seals that were common in the ancient world - imagery taken from the world of official documentation - and the second is imagery drawn from the financial world. In both of these images, Paul is conveying how the Spirit of God works to affirm us in the certainty of God’s grace to us.
Let’s take a second and think about what it means to be sealed with the Holy Spirit.
You may be familiar with how royal officials had signet rings and special instruments that would impress their logo or emblem into wax. They would use these signets to close up letters and mark their proclamations. They would take some wax and melt it so that a dab of it fell onto the scroll that they had written, and they would then press that signet ring down and make their mark upon that wax. Now, the letter was sealed up, like an envelope of our day. The wax kept it shut and marked it as the authentic proclamation of the king.
Of course, that scroll might be put in the hand of a messenger and sent to some far-off land or to a military official out on the battlefield. And when he delivered that message and put the scroll in that person’s hand, the recipient of that letter would see the official mark of the king’s signet. That would show him that this was the word of the king. This seal would prove the letter’s authenticity.
Now, you know that if the seal was broken or if the wax was smeared, someone had tampered with the letter. You would have a sure sign that the letter had been intercepted somewhere, and (in all likelihood) it was changed, so it couldn’t be trusted. But as long as that seal was there and the king’s emblem was visible, you could have assurance that what was contained there was authentic.
The seal served as a guarantee. It confirmed the reality and truth of the document, that it came from the King.
Paul takes that image and applies it to the Holy Spirit. He says that we are sealed with the Spirit, that is to say, the Spirit comes and lives within us. His presence presses home the reality that we belong to God. The Spirit authenticates the fact that God has saved us and has given us an eternal inheritance.
So how do we know that we are going to heaven? How do we know that we will not die and go to hell? There is the witness of the Spirit within us. He testifies to our hearts that we belong to God. He sanctifies us and gives us the urge to overcome sin in our lives. And so, as we see the realities of our sanctification and growth in the Lord, we have vital, Spirit-induced confirmations that we belong to God.
The other image, as I said, is drawn from the financial world. In verse 14, Paul says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.
Now, just so you know, you may have something different in your translation. There are a variety of words that can be used, but they all indicate the same thing.
The term “guarantee” refers to a sum of money that you put down as a first installment. You pay a little at the beginning and it serves as an assurance to the other party that you will pay the rest at a later time.
So, for instance, when you buy a house today, you have to make a down payment. You are required to put down 20% at the very beginning of the deal, and then you may make ongoing payments each month. That down payment is supposed to serve as a pledge to the banker that you are buying the house and will eventually pay the entire amount.
That’s the imagery that Paul is using. The Lord is giving you an inheritance. He has it waiting for you. In order to give you the assurance that he will give it to you, he has given us his Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s abiding with us is the pledge (or the guarantee) that you will receive the inheritance at a later time.
Obviously, he cannot give us the inheritance now. We cannot take possession of it and enjoy it because we are still corrupted by sin and are living in this age. But when the age to come is here, the entirety of our portion will be ours. How do we know this? It is because the Lord has given us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our guarantee that we will gain possession of all that was promised.
So you have these two images that Paul uses to help us understand the work of the Holy Spirit. And you can rely upon that. The Spirit is currently living in you. The Spirit isn’t necessarily speaking. There isn’t a little voice that you hear in your head or anything like that. But there is a strong testimony that he gives. There is an inner witness that we can be assured of. We know that we know because the Spirit causes us to know.
You should once again distinguish between the feeling and the fact. Just because you don’t feel the Spirit’s presence or feel him speaking to you, that doesn’t mean it isn’t really happening. The Spirit’s testimony is inward; it is a spiritual thing. That doesn’t necessarily mean you are supposed to feel anything or hear anything. But it is real. The testimony he gives to your heart speaks to the fact that you belong to God and will gain the good things he has in store for you.
Some of you enjoy logic, so you might like what Thomas Watson says in his commentary on the Shorter Catechism. He says that assurance of salvation is like a syllogism. (A syllogism is a line of reasoning; there are various propositions that lead to a conclusion.)
He says that the Word of God is the 1st proposition, our conscience is the 2nd proposition, and the Spirit of God is the conclusion. So the Word says, “He that fears and loves God is loved of God.” That is the 1st proposition. Then our conscience makes the 2nd proposition. It says, “I fear and love God.” So then, the Spirit makes the conclusion, “Therefore, you are loved by God.”
That’s a good way to look at it, and that is a good way to sum up what is said here in this passage. How do you know that, when the Lord Jesus comes again, you will not be condemned? It is because the Word of God tells you about the promises God gives in Jesus Christ. It says that Jesus gives sinners who believe a great inheritance. Your conscience then says, “I am a sinner who believes those promises.” And as a result, the Holy Spirit adds his testimony. It is not an audible voice. It is not some warm fuzzy feeling. It is rather a certain testimony that says, “You are the recipient of that inheritance.”
Put simply, how do you know? How is it that you have this assurance? It is through the confirmation of God’s Word and Spirit. And so we can say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
In 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, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Philip de Mornay was a celebrated Huguenot statesman. The Huguenots were Calvinists who lived in France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Why they took the name “Huguenots” is not quite certain, but they experienced a great deal of difficulty in that land. France was known for its Catholic predilection during this time, and there were times of severe persecution against the Huguenots. Wars were even fought as the Huguenots sought to secure their freedom and lives. Philip de Mornay was part of this tumultuous history. He went through ups and downs and he faced many difficulties. Yet through it all, his faith radiated and always gave a strong testimony to the Lord.
Even towards the end of his life, he faced the difficulties of losing his wife and son. He had served as the governor of the city of Saumur, where he had been able for quite a long time to promote the causes of Protestantism, but he was forced out of the city and, in a sense, witnessed the fall of his life’s work. Finally, Mornay contracted an illness that would eventually lead to his death. Just as he had done all through his life, during his illness, Mornay evidenced a steadfastness of faith. Yet the illness began to take its toll. It diminished his physique and withered his strength. A little before his death, which was obviously encroaching upon him, he was asked if he still retained the same assured hope of future bliss which he had so much enjoyed during his life and into his illness.
De Moray was said to have made a memorable reply. He said, “I am as confident of it, from the incontestable evidence of the Spirit of God, as ever I was of any mathematical truth from all the demonstrations of Euclid.”
And thus he died, not only having had hope through his life of that great inheritance, but even at his death, he had every bit of assurance that it would be his.
De Mornay’s last testimony was that of the incredible confidence that we as Protestant Christians have in the face of death. There are a lot of people who have no clue what will happen to them after this life. But that is not true for the one who believes in Jesus Christ. We have assurance. The gospel gives us the ability to say, “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I have a future.”
The last time we were together, we mentioned the concept of hope, and we studied how one of the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places was the inheritance that God has promised us. As we come to our passage today, we find that those two concepts are further drawn out. Here in verses 13-14, Paul elaborates just a little more on the concepts of hope and our inheritance. In doing so he tells us about the fifth and final spiritual blessing in the heavenly places for which we can praise God. It is the blessing of our assurance - the assurance of salvation. As Christians, we are blessed because we have confidence that we will surely receive this inheritance after we pass from this life.
Notice what I said there. It is not the assurance that we can have. It is the assurance that we do have. The one who truly believes and has been saved has been given assurance. You might not always feel this assurance. You might not always be as solid as you would like in regard to this assurance. But the testimony of this passage is that you who have been predestined, you who have been redeemed, you who have been a part of God’s plan, you who have been given an inheritance, you can praise God because you have every assurance that God will take you home to be with himself.
I know that the word “assurance” is not used in these two verses. But the concept is most definitely there. And some of you might be thinking, “Matt, I’m sorry to say this, but I am not quite as confident of my salvation as you say I am.” I know that some people struggle with assurance. But let me tell you that this passage is here to help you with that. You will notice that there are two things spoken of in this passage. There is a focus on God’s Word and on God’s Spirit. And both of these verify the fact that we will inherit eternal life. They are the things that confirm the reality of our salvation.
Let’s start with what this passage says about God’s word and how it confirms our salvation.
I. God’s Word Confirms our Salvation
What’s interesting about verse 13 is that Paul throws in a bunch of words in this sentence that, in a sense, are not necessary. You could read the sentence like this: “In Him you also were…sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” But Paul adds this bit about hearing the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believing in him. You might ask, “Why does Paul use precious papyrus and ink for these extra words?” Better yet, why does Paul make an incredibly long sentence that much longer by adding these additional phrases?
There can be only one answer: It is because he wants us to know just how profound the preaching of God’s word is. He wants us to know that the message we heard should have a powerful influence on us. What we heard was substantial. Those words testify to the realities that we now enjoy; they help confirm the fact that God has saved us.
Look at what Paul says. You notice that he doesn’t just call it “the word,” but he calls it “the word of truth.”
A. The Word of Truth
The word confirms our salvation because it is truth. You can ask, “What is God’s word? What is its nature?” And the answer is that God’s word is truth. It is reliable because it is the very essence of truth. It is not false; it is not a lie; it does not contradict itself. It is the bona fide Word because it is nothing other than the truth.
This is what sets the Bible apart from things like the Book of Mormon or Plato’s philosophy, or the Hindu holy books. The Book of Mormon may be touted as a religious book, and the Quran may be highly regarded by many people. But it isn’t truth. I have not read them in full. There may very well be some truths in those books, but you cannot call them truth because there are things that are incredibly wrong contained in them. They contradict themselves. They put forth information that is wrong. Most of all, they don’t give an accurate summation of reality and salvation.
But the Bible is different. It is so rock-solid and airtight that you can call it the truth, or the word of truth.
And so Paul can say, “You know that I wasn’t making this up. You can research it. You can test it. You can verify everything I said. When you do, you will find that it does not fail. Whatever testimony I have given about Jesus, you know that it will hold up because there’s no chance that it can be shot down or proven to have holes in it.”
We who are living now have an even greater testimony to this, for the testimony of the Bible has lasted down through the ages. Despite the manifold attempts to attack and discredit it, the Bible still stands. And that is because it is true. It is because everything in it is true. The Bible is the most hated book in the world (and it is likely hated because it tells the truth!), and all the enemies of God have tried every possible way of taking the rug out from under the Bible. The one aim of Satan since the beginning of time has been to make man question God’s Word.
But despite the wildest and most severe attacks on the Bible, its truth and trustworthiness remain unblemished. It is still the most popular book in the world. And it is all the rage because what it proclaims is nothing but rock-solid truth. So there’s one sense in which the Word of God confirms the reality of our inheritance. It speaks the truth. There is a faithful proclamation about God. The way of salvation, of which it speaks, is real. The reality of Jesus, to which it testifies, is a genuine expression of what is true.
So how can you know that your salvation is real? It’s because the Bible tells you it is real. God speaks to you in and through the ministry of his Word and God’s Word does not lie.
But Paul doesn’t just call it “the word of truth.” You notice that he qualifies it even more. He further defines the Word as “the gospel of your salvation.” Do you know why the Bible can give you assurance? It is because it proclaims the gospel of your salvation.
B. The Gospel of Your Salvation
The word “gospel” in the original language literally means “good news.” It is the good news of our salvation - our having been saved from sin and death, our having been given eternal life. The Bible helps us to have assurance because it speaks this good news. It is constantly telling us what God has done for us. It is the declaration of Christ and how he died; how he atoned for our sin; how he was raised to life again.
There’s the verse that says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” That kind of sounds weird to us because it sounds like we are to admire the preacher’s feet. I’ve got news for you: my feet are pretty ugly. It’s not a good thing to behold.
What that verse is talking about is the ancient practice of how people came to hear about the outcome of a war or battle. When a king and his army went out to battle, all the people of that kingdom would be on pins and needles. They couldn’t wait to hear the outcome of the battle. Who won? Who lost? How many casualties were there? What were the fatalities? You can think about all the women who eagerly were anticipating the news from the front lines, women whose husbands and
children went out with that king to fight against the opposing forces. There was a deep yearning each day for some information on how things were going.
There was a practice that, when the battle was finished, a messenger would be sent. He would run and deliver the message to the people at home. He would carry the news of the victory back to the people of that town or kingdom. And maybe, if the city was a walled city, there would be scouts standing on that wall, watching the horizon. They might see the messenger off in the distance, and they would announce to the people in the city that word was coming. There was a messenger! And so the doors would be opened and the messenger would come into the city, and he would proclaim the good news that the battle was over and the victory had been achieved.
You can imagine the relief that people would have. They could rejoice to know that they were safe and the battle had been won. And so it was said, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.” The feet of that messenger, who walked and ran all that distance, would be considered so beautiful. They would be admired because he brought the “gospel.” That image of the messenger was then applied to the ministers of the gospel. They come into the worship service every week and they declare that the battle has been won. The war is over. Jesus Christ has brought about the utter defeat of sin. Satan has no power over us. The enemy has been conquered. You don’t have to fear death because it has been vanquished.
And so in the preaching of the gospel, the surety of your salvation is proclaimed. There is a confirmation that you need not worry about death and hell. You can be assured that you will not be condemned on the last day because Christ has appeased God’s wrath for you.
That’s what the Word does. It confirms the realities of our salvation. It verifies the fact that God has indeed given us that inheritance. And that’s why Paul says you believed. Why did you believe? It was because you were convinced that what you heard in the word of God was true. You believed it because it was good news. You believed it because you were convinced that the salvation spoken of could be yours. If it wasn’t true and you were not convinced that it was good news, you would never have believed it.
So it all began with the conviction you had regarding God’s word. You gained salvation and you gained the assurance of salvation because the Word you heard came to you and verified it. The truth of it and the glory of it could not be denied.
Now, just as a practical note, I know that some people are prone to doubt and there are times when you struggle with assurance. Let me just say two things about that.
The first thing is that this is merely your feeling of assurance. Your feeling of assurance is different than the fact of your assurance. It is a fact that you have this assurance. However, you might not always feel the reality of that assurance. We need to distinguish between those two things. But here’s the other thing: when you feel that way (when you don’t feel like you have assurance of your salvation) this is a time to go to God’s Word. Load up on solid gospel preaching. Saturate yourself in the truth. Listen to the truth. Let the gospel be proclaimed in your ears over and over. You will find no greater weapon that will destroy those doubts than this. When the gospel is heard, you will find that your soul is stirred up and strengthened by it. That’s because the Word of God is one of the main methods God uses to assure his people of his grace.
But it isn’t the only thing that confirms the reality of our salvation. You’ll notice that there is also an inward element in our passage. There is the outward testimony of God’s Word, but our assurance is also confirmed by the inward testimony of God’s Spirit.
II. God’s Spirit Confirms our Salvation
Look at what Paul says at the end of verse 13. He says that we are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.” Then in verse 14, Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit is the “guarantee of our inheritance.”
Paul here is using two images to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. The first is the image of the seals that were common in the ancient world - imagery taken from the world of official documentation - and the second is imagery drawn from the financial world. In both of these images, Paul is conveying how the Spirit of God works to affirm us in the certainty of God’s grace to us.
Let’s take a second and think about what it means to be sealed with the Holy Spirit.
You may be familiar with how royal officials had signet rings and special instruments that would impress their logo or emblem into wax. They would use these signets to close up letters and mark their proclamations. They would take some wax and melt it so that a dab of it fell onto the scroll that they had written, and they would then press that signet ring down and make their mark upon that wax. Now, the letter was sealed up, like an envelope of our day. The wax kept it shut and marked it as the authentic proclamation of the king.
Of course, that scroll might be put in the hand of a messenger and sent to some far-off land or to a military official out on the battlefield. And when he delivered that message and put the scroll in that person’s hand, the recipient of that letter would see the official mark of the king’s signet. That would show him that this was the word of the king. This seal would prove the letter’s authenticity.
Now, you know that if the seal was broken or if the wax was smeared, someone had tampered with the letter. You would have a sure sign that the letter had been intercepted somewhere, and (in all likelihood) it was changed, so it couldn’t be trusted. But as long as that seal was there and the king’s emblem was visible, you could have assurance that what was contained there was authentic.
The seal served as a guarantee. It confirmed the reality and truth of the document, that it came from the King.
Paul takes that image and applies it to the Holy Spirit. He says that we are sealed with the Spirit, that is to say, the Spirit comes and lives within us. His presence presses home the reality that we belong to God. The Spirit authenticates the fact that God has saved us and has given us an eternal inheritance.
So how do we know that we are going to heaven? How do we know that we will not die and go to hell? There is the witness of the Spirit within us. He testifies to our hearts that we belong to God. He sanctifies us and gives us the urge to overcome sin in our lives. And so, as we see the realities of our sanctification and growth in the Lord, we have vital, Spirit-induced confirmations that we belong to God.
The other image, as I said, is drawn from the financial world. In verse 14, Paul says that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it.
Now, just so you know, you may have something different in your translation. There are a variety of words that can be used, but they all indicate the same thing.
The term “guarantee” refers to a sum of money that you put down as a first installment. You pay a little at the beginning and it serves as an assurance to the other party that you will pay the rest at a later time.
So, for instance, when you buy a house today, you have to make a down payment. You are required to put down 20% at the very beginning of the deal, and then you may make ongoing payments each month. That down payment is supposed to serve as a pledge to the banker that you are buying the house and will eventually pay the entire amount.
That’s the imagery that Paul is using. The Lord is giving you an inheritance. He has it waiting for you. In order to give you the assurance that he will give it to you, he has given us his Spirit. The Holy Spirit’s abiding with us is the pledge (or the guarantee) that you will receive the inheritance at a later time.
Obviously, he cannot give us the inheritance now. We cannot take possession of it and enjoy it because we are still corrupted by sin and are living in this age. But when the age to come is here, the entirety of our portion will be ours. How do we know this? It is because the Lord has given us the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is our guarantee that we will gain possession of all that was promised.
So you have these two images that Paul uses to help us understand the work of the Holy Spirit. And you can rely upon that. The Spirit is currently living in you. The Spirit isn’t necessarily speaking. There isn’t a little voice that you hear in your head or anything like that. But there is a strong testimony that he gives. There is an inner witness that we can be assured of. We know that we know because the Spirit causes us to know.
You should once again distinguish between the feeling and the fact. Just because you don’t feel the Spirit’s presence or feel him speaking to you, that doesn’t mean it isn’t really happening. The Spirit’s testimony is inward; it is a spiritual thing. That doesn’t necessarily mean you are supposed to feel anything or hear anything. But it is real. The testimony he gives to your heart speaks to the fact that you belong to God and will gain the good things he has in store for you.
Some of you enjoy logic, so you might like what Thomas Watson says in his commentary on the Shorter Catechism. He says that assurance of salvation is like a syllogism. (A syllogism is a line of reasoning; there are various propositions that lead to a conclusion.)
He says that the Word of God is the 1st proposition, our conscience is the 2nd proposition, and the Spirit of God is the conclusion. So the Word says, “He that fears and loves God is loved of God.” That is the 1st proposition. Then our conscience makes the 2nd proposition. It says, “I fear and love God.” So then, the Spirit makes the conclusion, “Therefore, you are loved by God.”
That’s a good way to look at it, and that is a good way to sum up what is said here in this passage. How do you know that, when the Lord Jesus comes again, you will not be condemned? It is because the Word of God tells you about the promises God gives in Jesus Christ. It says that Jesus gives sinners who believe a great inheritance. Your conscience then says, “I am a sinner who believes those promises.” And as a result, the Holy Spirit adds his testimony. It is not an audible voice. It is not some warm fuzzy feeling. It is rather a certain testimony that says, “You are the recipient of that inheritance.”
Put simply, how do you know? How is it that you have this assurance? It is through the confirmation of God’s Word and Spirit. And so we can say, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”