The Holy Spirit in Ephesians Pt. 1

One of the most profitable methods of studying a book of the bible or a chapter of the bible is to collect all that is written about each particular theme. In each book of the bible topics and doctrines fill the pages.

When we examine the book of Ephesians, we see God, Christ, grace, divine will, saints, sinners, the blessed Holy Spirit, to list a few. Ephesians has thirteen references to the Holy Spirit. For when God says, “blessed us with all spiritual blessings” (1:3), we can translate “the approval of all blessings of His Spirit.” In 1:4 we have unbroken relationship; 1:6 unquestioned acceptance; 1:7 an eternal redemption that none can steal; 1:9 an unveiling or unfolding will as the Church moves through this evil age; 1:10 a union never to be dissolved; 1:11 a unfading inheritance; 1:13 a sealing of the Holy Spirit and never to be disowned.

All of God’s innumerable blessings are ours in and through the Holy Spirit. This is the will of God and the work of Christ, that we the Church experience all the blessings of the Godhead through the Holy Spirit.

When we look closer at Ephesians 1:13 we see that the Holy Spirit is the seal and God the Father is the sealer. This should change us forever in the way we think and live. Because we the believers in Christ are divinely sealed, no person or thing can break the seal except the One who sealed us. When something is sealed it references ownership. Paul calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of promise. The Holy Spirit came as a witness and the promise giver, even caused holy men of old to record the Holy Bible to reveal the glories of Christ.

I love this scripture, Ephesians 1:14. The word deposit, guarantee, pledge or earnest, depending upon your translation, was used in ancient times to describe an engagement ring or a down payment. Nouw & Nida translate the definition as the first or initial payment of money or assets, as a guarantee for the completion of a transaction or pledge (in the NT ἀρραβών is used only figuratively in referring to the Holy Spirit as the pledge or guarantee of the blessings promised by God)—‘first installment, down payment, pledge, guarantee. How awesome is that! We can have as a first installment in this fallen evil age, the power of the age to come in and through the Holy Spirit. Think about how powerful God’s Kingdom must be. As a first installment or just a portion of the Kingdom, Acts 16:20-21 says that God through Paul threw a city into confusion with a message and a power encounter. Only a deposit of God’s Kingdom in Acts 5:15-16 was raising sick people up off of cots or pallets through healing and deliverance. Before we move on, I would like to say that the scripture indicates that all things are possible for those who believe. This means that the power of the age to come lives in each believer.

In Ephesians 1:17 Paul interceded that the Ephesian Church might know what it was to experience the ministry of the Holy Spirit without limitation. We as believers are called to pray for God’s wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Christ Jesus. Remember, Colossians 2:9 says that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form or in the person of Jesus. That bodily form is flesh and blood. So, the fullness of Christ is possible in us through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of wisdom and revelation.

God’s Spirit operates in a twofold way. As wisdom God’s Spirit works in and through or should I say partners with our minds. Revelations of God come as our minds are Holy Spirit possessed and enlightened. Luke 24:45 reveals how Jesus open the disciples minds and Acts 16:14 says that the Lord opened Lydia’s heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. Scripture is also opened by the Holy Spirit as in Luke 24:32.

As the Spirit of revelation, He opens the truth of God; truth is the knowledge of God revealed. The Holy Spirit also brings His power to testify to the truth. Let us ask in prayer for the Holy Spirit to open our minds, or understanding to receive revelations of the fullness of Christ so that we walk in deeper knowledge of the Son of God.