Ephesians 1:13-14 - Believing and Trusting

Thursday September04Todaywe will continue to look at Ephesians 1:13-14. We are talking about the God theHoly Spirit and the blessings that He gives us. We've talked about God theFather and His blessings from eternity past in the first verses (vs. 2-6). Inverses 7-12, we see the past history of Jesus Christ, His death, burial,resurrection, and the blessings that we have in Christ. Now, in verse 13-14, wenot only find out about the blessings of the Holy Spirit we have in “thepresent”, but we find out exactly how we can be saved. We hear “the word oftruth”, which is “the gospel of our salvation”, then we “believe”and put our “trust” totally in Jesus Christ, and we then experience thesealing of the Holy Spirit. Romans10:13-15 makes this really clear: “For "whoever calls on the name ofthe LORD shall be saved." How then shall they call on Him in whom theyhave not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have notheard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preachunless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet ofthose who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of goodthings!". These are powerful verses.  Paulpoints out here in Ephesians 1:13, “in whom you also trusted”. Ofcourse, the “whom” is Jesus Christ that you trusted. You not only needto hear about Christ and have an intellectual understanding that He is the Sonof God, and believe that He is who He said He is, and that He is not just ahistorical figure, but you believe that He came to save us and set us free fromour sins. And you believe not just with your head, but with your heart. Thisdoesn't mean you just actually intellectually ascent to the fact He died andwas buried and rose again the third day. But that you trusted in Him for youreternal salvation. You realized there was no other way of salvation. There wasno hope for you, no future for you, no eternity for you. And you believed and trustedin Him, just like Paul on the road to Damascus trusted in Him and his lifetotally and completely changed.  Myfriend, when you sincerely, honestly, and genuinely trust in Christ, you know itbecause something takes place in your life, a miracle takes place. You become anew creation. “Old things pass away, and all things become new” (2Corinthians 5:17). Only the gospel makes this possible as Paul points out herein this verse. “After you heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation,in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise”. Now,that's powerful because the very moment, and I mean, the very moment that youtrusted in Christ and you called on His name, as Romans 10:13 says here, thatvery moment you experienced eternal salvation, not only did Christ came to livein you, but you were baptized into the body of Christ (Romans 6:3), and yourbody also became the temple of the Holy Spirit. Read this in 1 Corinthians6:19-20: “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spiritwho is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you werebought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, whichare God's.” Whenthe Holy Spirit came in you, Ephesians 1:13 tells us something else takes place:"Having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit ofpromise." Tomorrow, we are going to be talking about what that means, “beingsealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.” The Holy Spirit guarantees our eternalsalvation. He's the guarantee. And we'll look at what that means tomorrow.  Myfriend, our salvation is such a fantastic, powerful, miraculous, mysteriousexperience. And it's for anyone and everyone who calls on His name. God wantsyou to be saved because He is “not willing that any should perish, but thatall should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).  Today,have you ever really believed and put your trust in Jesus alone? Godbless!