Ephesians 1:13-14 “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, (14) who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”
There is one other aspect to the baptism with the Holy Spirit that we need to discuss. The above quoted passage of scripture plainly states that the Holy Spirit has been given to the saints for two specific purposes. Firstly, we learn that we are “sealed” by the Holy Spirit for the day of redemption. And secondly, we learn that the Holy Spirit has been given to us as a “guarantee” of our inheritance. Being sealed with the Holy Spirit and being given the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance occurs simultaneously, for they are different aspects of the same event. And so the question arises as to just when we are sealed with the Holy Spirit? Is it when we are born-again or is it when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit? The apostle Paul points us to the answer to this question when he says in the above passage that we are sealed with “the Holy Spirit of promise”.
Acts 2:33 “Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear”.
In the above quoted passage of scripture we see that when the scripture speaks about the promise of the Holy Spirit, that it is in fact referring to the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for in the context of this passage the apostle Peter is explaining to the Jews the baptism of the Spirit that took place on the Day of Pentecost. And so clearly we can see that it is not when we are born-again, but rather when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is also given to us as the guarantee of our inheritance. This means that believers who have not yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit have not yet been sealed with the Holy Spirit, and they also do not have the Holy Spirit as the guarantee of their inheritance.
Romans 4:3-11 “For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness." … (11) And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also.”
So what is the implication for the believer who is sealed and the believer who has not yet been sealed? We can answer that question by looking at the type and shadow as revealed in the Old Testament. The scripture quoted above teaches us that when Abraham believed God it was accounted to him for righteousness. And so as far as God was concerned, the moment that Abraham believed, he became righteous. Abraham then subsequently received from God the “sign” of circumcision, which was the “seal” of his righteousness which he had already received by faith. And so the scripture refers to circumcision as both a sign and a seal. The sign was for the world but the seal was for Abraham. And so we can see from this passage that circumcision was the sign to the world that Abraham belonged to God. But as far as Abraham was concerned, circumcision was the seal of God that he had become righteous in the eyes of God.
1 Corinthians 14:21-22 “In the law it is written: "With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; and yet, for all that, they will not hear Me," says the Lord. (22) Therefore, tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe.”
And so in a similar manner to Abraham, we become the righteousness of God when we are born-again, and after we are born-again we then receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit as both a sign and seal of the righteousness that we have already received in Christ Jesus. The sign is for the world but the seal is for the believer. And so our speaking in tongues is a visible outward sign to the world that we belong to God, for the passage of scripture quoted above teaches us that tongues are for a sign to unbelievers. The scripture however, also describes the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the guarantee or seal of our inheritance. So why is that? The answer is because it is only when we are filled with the Holy Spirit and speak with other tongues that we experience the tangible supernatural power of God. This agrees with the concept of what a guarantee is, for in the natural, a guarantee often takes the form of a signed document promising an expected outcome. And so in the natural, the document that we have in our possession is tangible evidence of the performance that has been promised by the guarantor. When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit we have in tangible form, God’s guarantee of our promised inheritance, because when we speak in other tongues it is present tangible proof of our inheritance that awaits us in Christ Jesus. Someone will say but Paul said that tongues will cease. That is correct, tongues will cease, because when the perfect comes i.e. our inheritance, then that which is in part, which is what we experience now in this age, will be done away with. All we have in this age is a taste of that which is to come (Hebrews 6:4-5). But that taste is given to us by God as our guarantee of the perfect that is still to come, which is our inheritance. You will recall that I said earlier that those who are born-again and have the Holy Spirit residing in them through the new birth, have no tangible evidence that He is in fact residing in them. We can now see the difference between receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit at the new birth, and the baptism with the Holy Spirit, in that the later experience is a tangible experience. And so those who are born-again and have not yet been baptized with the Holy Spirit, have not yet received the seal or guarantee of the Holy Spirit, nevertheless it is available for them whenever they want to receive it.
Acts 8:14-17 “Now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, (15) who, when they had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. (16) For as yet He had fallen upon none of them. They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (17) Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.”
It is interesting to note that the Roman Catholic Church, which is most probably the oldest Christian denomination in existence, has a practice that they call confirmation. And so we see that what today has become a religious ritual, finds its origin in the New Testament practice of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for the Catechism of confirmation in the Catholic Church states: “Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding and courage, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence, the Spirit of holy fear in God's presence. Guard what you have received. God our Father has marked you with his sign; Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed his pledge, the Spirit, in your heart.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church sees as a scriptural basis for their practice of Confirmation, the account in the book of Acts quoted above where Peter and John laid hands on the saints in Samaria to receive the Holy Spirit. And so clearly what started out in the Spirit in the early church has over time been reduced to a fleshly ordinance in the Roman Catholic Church. Nevertheless, their tradition handed down over the centuries confirms the truth to us that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is in fact the point at which the saint is sealed in the kingdom of God. There is something else that we need to recognize from this point however, which is that once we are sealed by God we cannot be sealed again, which clearly indicates to us that there is only one baptism with the Holy Spirit.
Michael E.B. Maher
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