========================================================================
  SEALED AND SURE!
  by Theodore Epp
========================================================================

Summary: The Holy Spirit is the seal of God that guarantees the
salvation of believers and proves their belonging to Christ.

Topics: "Assurance of Salvation", "Sealing of the Holy Spirit"
Scripture References: 2 Corinthians 1:18

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Theodore Epp emphasizes the significance of being sealed by the Holy
Spirit, highlighting that this sealing is a divine assurance for all who
trust in Christ, regardless of their spiritual maturity. He explains
that the Holy Spirit serves as both the seal and the earnest of our
inheritance, affirming that even carnal believers are sealed by God. Epp
references key scriptures, including Ephesians 1:13 and 2 Corinthians
1:21-22, to illustrate that the sealing is based on belief in the
Gospel. The sermon reassures believers of their identity in Christ and
the permanence of their salvation through the Holy Spirit.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

A key verse related to the sealing of the Holy Spirit is Ephesians 1:13:
"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." This truth is also stated in 2
Corinthians 1:22: "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the
Spirit in our hearts."

God the Father has anointed us and sealed us, according to 2 Corinthians
1:21. The seal, however, is the Holy Spirit Himself. The persons sealed
are those who have trusted in Christ. This is clear from the Scripture
verses already quoted. The basis for this sealing is belief in the
Gospel of Christ. When a person trusts Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells
the believer and God seals the believer by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit
is given to us as the earnest, or down payment, of our further
inheritance.

The Word of God does not say that the Spirit is given only to the
spiritual Christian. Believers can, and sometimes do, become carnal;
nevertheless, they are sealed by the Spirit of God. Paul told the
Corinthians that he could not write to them as spiritual believers but
had to treat them as "carnal, even as ... babes in Christ" (1 Cor. 3:1).
Yet to this same group he wrote: "Now he which stablisheth us with you
in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and
given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts" (2 Cor. 1:21,22).

"Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his" (Rom.
8:9).

========================================================================
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/theodore-epp/sealed-and-sure/
========================================================================