We have been elected by God to be saved by His gospel. When we are born again in Christ, we will be baptised with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit will then indwell in us. The sealing by the Holy Spirit signifies that we now belong to God, and it can never be broken by anyone. Romans 8:9b clearly states that if we do not have the Spirit, we do not belong to God.

How do we know that we have the indwelling of the Spirit? By the logical progression of hearing and believing (Eph 1:13).

According to Ephesians 1:12, all believers should be to the praise of God’s glory. This means we are different from unbelievers. To be so, we must first hear the doctrines of God. There are doctrines for the maturation of the believer’s faith, and doctrines of salvation. Churches that do not teach all the right doctrines (even if the majority of their teachings are right) will cause their hearers not to have true salvation, as what they hear is not the whole truth. Examples include Roman Catholic churches which teach about works that are needed for salvation to be complete; charismatic churches which teach about health and wealth; neo-evangelical churches which believe that the Bible has mistakes. Paul saw the importance of God’s Word and yearned to feed his soul with more and more knowledge of Christ (Phil 3:8a).

After hearing the truth, it must followed with believing. Believe is the action word for faith. In the parable of the four types of ground (Matt 13:18-23), only the last truly believes. He cannot help but pray, read his bible and go to church. He will not allow persecutions and worldly distractions to stop him. This is due to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who is guaranteed to all believers. How do we know we have the indwelling of the Spirit? It will be seen in our actions. When we sin, we will have vexation of the Spirit. And when we repent and return to God, we will have peace in our hearts again.

The sealing of the Holy Spirit is God’s act of saving us (Eph 1:14). “Earnest” is a foretaste of what is to come. We will be receiving our glorious body, which is the climax of our salvation, to the praise of His glory.