Eph. 1:13

1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.

And you. Paul began this section by addressing the Jewish believers, those who associated themselves with the Abrahamic Covenant. Now he turns to the Gentiles in the fellowship of believers there in Ephesus.

You also, without distinction. Jews and Gentiles alike. When it comes to being saved by the blood of Jesus, everything is irrelevant except the condition of the heart of each repentant, believing sinner. That Is all that matters, spiritually, and that is all that should matter in the fellowship of believers.

Marked in the Holy Spirit. At first I thought, “Marked by the Holy Spirit.” No, the Holy Spirit does not just leave a mark, he resides, as it were, in me. The mark is his doing. “This person is mine,” is the mark he puts on us. “Don is mine! Betty is mine! See, I have marked them. That is to indicate that we are now in him.”

A seal. A seal makes a transaction official. It makes it final.

Sometimes a seal closes a document, to be revealed only when the seal is broken. The blessed Holy Spirit, given to us freely, is the seal that is placed on our lives. We are a marked people, bearing the seal of the Holy Spirit who is now our owner.

Thank you, Lord, for the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Wonderful now – and even more awesome as life moves on.

The Holy Spirit is 1) a present reality, reviving my heart day after day, 2) a guarantee of coming inheritance. Thank you, God, for the daily experience of knowing that your Holy Spirit is shaping me, giving me peace and hope and for keeping me moving toward the evermore precious inheritance of grace.