The Promises in Possession Through the Spirit

At a glance

Relevant Scripture

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,”

Ephesians 1:13 KJV

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Chapter 19 of the LibriVox recording of According to Promise, streamed directly from the Internet Archive (public domain, CC0).

UECF.NET summary

This chapter turns to the Holy Spirit's role in making God's promises a present possession rather than a distant hope. Ephesians 1:13 names Him directly “that holy Spirit of promise,” the One who seals believers and gives them, in Paul's later words, “the earnest of our inheritance.” Spurgeon's point is that the promises are not merely correct doctrine to be believed intellectually, but realities the Spirit personally applies and confirms within the believer.

This distinguishes a promise held only as sound theology from a promise genuinely possessed in experience. The Spirit's sealing and witnessing work, Spurgeon argues, is what moves a promise from the category of things a believer affirms to the category of things a believer actually rests upon and draws strength from in daily life — the difference between owning a title deed and having already begun to enjoy what it grants.

The chapter closes by encouraging believers to depend on the Spirit specifically for this inward application, rather than relying on their own effort to make a promise feel real. Just as the promise itself is God's gift, so is the inward assurance that appropriates it; both are the Spirit's work, and both may be sought from Him with the same confidence with which the promises themselves are received.

Main theological themes

• Ephesians 1:13's naming of the Holy Spirit as “that holy Spirit of promise,” who seals believers to God
• The difference between a promise held merely as correct doctrine and one genuinely possessed through the Spirit's inward work
• Depending on the Spirit, not personal effort, for the inward assurance that makes a promise feel real

Key ideas

• The Spirit is called the Spirit “of promise,” directly linking His person and work to the promises' fulfillment.
• Correct belief about a promise and inward possession of it through the Spirit are not automatically the same.
• The Spirit's sealing functions like an “earnest” or down payment, guaranteeing the fuller inheritance to come.
• Inward assurance is itself the Spirit's gift, not something believers must manufacture by their own effort.

Important concepts

• Earnest of the Spirit — Paul's term (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:14) for the Holy Spirit's present work as a guarantee, or down payment, of the believer's full future inheritance.
• Sealed with promise — The Spirit's confirming, securing work in a believer, spoken of in Ephesians 1:13 as being sealed “with that holy Spirit of promise.”

Related Bible references

• 2 Corinthians 1:22
• Romans 8:16
• Galatians 4:6
• 2 Corinthians 5:5

Practical Christian application

• Ask the Holy Spirit, specifically and by name, to make a promise you hold intellectually into a present, felt reality.
• Notice the difference this week between simply agreeing with a promise and sensing the Spirit's inward confirmation of it.
• Thank God for the Spirit's sealing work as a guarantee, even before every promise is fully and finally realized.

Questions for study