1:13
“And you also ..” The Christians in Ephesus were predominantly Gentiles, but they were completely equivalent to the Jewish believers. The Jewish believers believed in Christ, they were to the praise of God’s glory because they believed in Christ. The Gentile believers were included in the same Christ when they believed the message of the gospel. The message is the message of truth, and it is the good news of our salvation. The truth is not necessarily good news. A doctor may tell someone that they have a terminal disease for which there is no treatment. That might be true, but it is not good news. The gospel tells us we do have a terminal disease (sin), but there is a cure (Jesus Christ), so it is good news. When we believed in Him we were marked with a seal. The Holy Spirit is a seal on us, it shows that we belong to God, we are now His.
1:14
The Holy Spirit is deposit. We have received much already, but there is much more to come. The Holy Spirit guarantees the trustworthiness of God’s promises. If the gospel makes no difference now, then one would be right to question its efficacy, its truthfulness. But it does make a difference now, through the Holy Spirit. But what we have now is not all there is, indeed it is only a fraction of what is to come. We have an amazing inheritance. Note also that we are God’s possession. I have been bought! But I am proud to belong to God. And all this is to the praise of His glory.
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