Sometimes when we think about God, we think of Him as being distant and in the past. But the Holy Spirit is here and currently working and present in us.
Verse 11 can be ready two ways, and both are true. We are being obtained as Christ’s inheritance, and in Him we are also obtaining Christ as our own inheritance.
We are going through the longest sentence in the bible, as Paul excitedly walks through the very nature of salvation. The Holy Spirit seals that salvation.
Paul uses the phrase “in Him” over 160 times in his letters. Why do you suppose? Paul knew a lot about God. He knew the whole Old Testament backwards and forwards and was zealous for what he saw as God’s truth. But until that moment on the road to Damascus, he was not “in Him.” For the rest of his life, he lived to show others what it meant to be “in Him.” You can know all there is to know, you can have all the theological training in the world, but none of it matters unless we are in Christ.
And when we are in Him, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit – like a luggage tag marking us as the property and family of God Almighty. It’s a mark of security that let’s us rest easy, and a mark of authenticity that keeps us pointed at what is true.
Let’s go into more about who the Holy Spirit is. First, the Holy Spirit is God – see 2 Corinthians 3:17-18. “Now the Lord is the Spirit.” We see the Holy Spirit before creation, “hovering over the waters.” We see the Holy Spirit enabling the Incarnation. We see the Holy Spirit actually visible at Christ’s baptism. We see the Holy Spirit poured out at Pentecost on believers.
The Holy Spirit is active in appointing leaders in the church, as it describes in Ephesians 4, and active in supporting them. George Mueller wrote, “The anointing of the Holy Spirit helps me greatly when I preach. I would never attempt to teach the truth of God by my own power.”
The Holy Spirit is a person – not an impersonal force, not just a method of God interacting with us, but a person who can be lied to and grieved and more.
The Holy Spirit is not an optional feature for the believer. He dwells in all believers and binds all of us as believers together. He fills us with praise and with boldness.
The Holy Spirit is there for us to cry out to. When we need more goodness, or faithfulness, or patience, or self-control, those are the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us.
The Holy Spirit is a communicator, and the Holy Spirit is powerful. He has been given to us as a down payment on the future God offers us in eternity, and gives us assurance that we are God’s. He does this through His presence and through His fruit.
-Sermon Notes, Bart Hodgson, Seed Church, Lynnwood, WA, August 2, 2020