OPEN BOOK – THE PRISONER’S LETTER: SEALED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE

BRUCE C WEARNE continues his look at Ephesians…

In whom, you [Ephesians], also having heard the truthful word, the good news of your salvation, in believing were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, the invoiced guarantee of our inheritance until the full emancipation of His possession, this too is also [fully] to the praise of His glory. – Ephesians 1:13-14/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne

The Ephesian church, says Bruce C Wearne, were recipients of God’s glory. PICTURE: Holger Link/Unsplash

“[A]nd so they too are incorporated into the message. They are integral to it, confirmed as a legitimate part of the Good News just like the believers at Corinth, those Paul would dub as his ‘letter of recommendation’.”

And so, the church at Ephesus, the gathering of the precarious community of believers there, with those across the region, are the recipients of the same glory, as foretold by John the Baptist and later confirmed by God’s own spirit distributing His Shekinah upon those who believed (Acts 19:1-7).

In this part of the letter, “we who hoped” (verse 12) coincides with “you who believed” (verse 13). The ones who have, long since, looked forward to the coming of Messiah in their communities are now, thanks to the coming, consequences and command of the Messiah, united with all those who have come to believe in Israel’s Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world; they are those whom the Lord God is rescuing to ensure the fulfilment of His eternal creational purposes. Paul goes on to remind the Ephesians of the hope of their calling, “the full release [emancipation] of His possession”.

And so Paul suggests a God-given “exodus”, mixing such allusions with the “promised land” metaphor which then points to a future time of fulfilment. Thus previous “emancipation” events and “possessions” still find their true fulfilment in what is yet to come. But the blessing is cumulative – and indeed it is now! They are, like Abram, “on the way” (Genesis 12:1-3; John 8:31-32).

In that they were sealed, and so they too are incorporated into the message. They are integral to it, confirmed as a legitimate part of the Good News just like the believers at Corinth, those Paul would dub as his “letter of recommendation” (II Corinthians 3:2).

Now things seem to be run together in this paean – “the invoiced guarantee of our salvation” clearly refers to the promise of the Holy Spirit who seals those who are addressed. But it is also indicative of a process in which “our own redemption” is fully part of the unfolding of God’s purposes from the beginning. Paul asserts that those to whom he is writing are central to God’s purposes which have now been fully disclosed to us in His Son.

Yes, the message is conveyed by the letter, but the “way of life” is not to be tied up and constrained. The “way of life” is to be unfolded – this is how the message is to be carried. The Ephesians – and whomever else read this letter, such as ourselves – are addressed and we could even read it as Paul’s (sung) admonition (as Cantor) – “In whom, you [Ephesians], also having heard the truthful word, the good news of your salvation, in believing were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” – to which they, and we, are encouraged to respond – “[t]his is the invoiced guarantee of our inheritance until the full emancipation of His possession, this too is also [fully] to the praise of His glory”.

In other words, the “truthful word” clothed in our human flesh contains both challenge and response…here the challenge comes in a letter which is part of Paul’s own response to the challenge thrown out to him by Jesus Himself to be His postman, His messenger, His apostle.

And we who heed this word, with the first hearers to whom this letter was addressed, are nothing less than “the holy ones, the set apart and consecrated family members in God’s household…being fitted with all the others to be a habitation worthy of God Himself dwelling [in us] by His Spirit” (2:19, 21-22).