θητε, by the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession." (Eph. i. 13, 14.) "Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye were[1] sealed (ἐσφραγίσθητε) unto the day of redemption." (Eph. iv. 30.) 2. In one passage (Eph. i.) this sealing is mentioned, as immediately following upon the belief of the Gospel—"having believed, ye were sealed;" in a second (Eph. iv.) it stands opposed to subsequent performance of duty—"ye were sealed by the Holy Spirit, grieve Him not;" in the third (1 Cor.) it stands opposed[2] to God's subsequent establishing them in Christ, to their being maintained in this state into which they had been brought—"who establisheth you, who also anointed and sealed you." 3. The word "sealed" was already in use among the Jews[3], and is recognized by St. Paul, as designating the act by which men were brought into covenant with God, and received its privileges. Now it would, indeed, be a very perverted mode of arguing, to infer, either that the seal of the Christian covenant only attested the faith which already existed (as in the case of Abraham), or that the seal of the Jewish covenant conveyed the same privileges as the Christian; for this would be to identify the earlier with the later dispensation; and as one exposition unduly derogates from the Christian sacrament, so does the other exalt the seal of the Jewish covenant beyond what we have any certain warrant for, or even intimation-of, from Holy Scripture. Still, one should suppose, that St. Paul, when employing terms, already in use among the Jews, would apply
- ↑ E. V. "are sealed," in Eph. i. 13. "have been sealed." The context, as well as the word, is the same.
- ↑ There is the like contrast between the original gift, and the looked-for continuance of it, in 1 Cor. i. 5–8, quoted by Bode, as an use of the same metaphor, in the matter of faith and sanctification—"as the witness of Christ was confirmed (ἐβεβαιώθη) among you, so that ye came behind in no gift, waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who also shall confirm (βεβαιώσει) you." But the gifts here spoken of were also bestowed at the commencement of the Christian life.
- ↑ Talm. Hieros. Berachoth. f. 13. l. ap. Lightf. ad Mt. 28, 19. "Blessed be He who hath sanctified His beloved from the womb, and placed the sign in his flesh, and has sealed (תתם) His offspring with the sign of the covenant."
