“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.”Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV
Reflection: how are you responding to truth?
“How are you guys doing?” I could tell by the way she asked me, the intonation of her voice, and looking into her teary eyes that her concern for us was genuine. My dear old aunt had only partial knowledge of some of the things we had gone through, but wanted to enter into the struggle, the pain with us. Wanted to be there with us, and for us. And it wasn’t as if pain was foreign to her either; they had recently gone through something very difficult themselves. And, after sharing with each other difficulties and struggles in this journey of life, we ended up in a wonderful place. Of talking about how we can lift each other, carry each other, practically and before the Lord. Of the importance of the bond of family, especially as we share also a spiritual bond as family.
Paul wrote this amazing letter to the early followers of Christ in Ephesus, after spending over two years establishing the church there. He saw genuine conversion, as he states in the first chapter ““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,” Ephesians 1:13 ESV. But, how could Paul know that this conversion was real, that it wasn’t just words? He actually answered it here, as he says that some were “sealed with the Holy Spirit”. And, here is the crux of conversion, whether someone has actually acknowledged and received Christ the truth. Because truth is difficult for us. We have to wrestle with the hardest questions, which are mostly about ourselves.
It is deeply humbling, to accept truth.
Because in it, we recognize that in ourselves, we are broken. We are all about Self. Self seeking. Self centered. Self indulgent. Self loving. We are arrogant and prideful. And, none of these attributes are from God. None. So accepting truth, in the form of a true repentance, is a desire for God’s attributes. This conversion is not possible by ourselves; it is only as we truly accept the Spirit of God to transform us. It is the work of the Spirit which turns people from being selfish to saints. As Paul opens the letter to the Ephesians, he addresses the letter specifically to the saints “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus:” Ephesians 1:1 ESV. He specifically wrote to those who are faithful in Christ Jesus.
So, how can we know if this conversion is taking place? If someone has allowed the Holy Spirit to start the work of “sanctification”, of being made a saint? Paul wrote to the church in Galatia of this topic. Notice a pretty clear distinction between those who have let the Holy Spirit in, and those who have not, who might be fooling themselves. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:16-24 ESV.
We see here a “partnership” between the believer and the Holy Spirit; the believer is giving way to the Spirit to do its work. Then choosing to actually follow, or walk in the Spirit, as Paul calls it. And, when you think about it, we can sense this in those around us, who have let the Holy Spirit in and are following. It becomes difficult to hide behind words, as we can observe their actions, and as in my aunt, sense their heart. The Spirit of Christ is for those who have received truly received Him, a “guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”Ephesians 1:13-14 ESV