“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” – Ephesians 1:13

Just like that, when you believe in Jesus, you are sealed with the Holy Spirit! It happens the moment you believe and it cannot be undone. So, what on earth does it mean?

Here you must picture the old-time wax seals placed on documents to prove the authenticity of the document and its ownership. As believers in Jesus Christ, God seals us with His Holy Spirit as proof that we are authentic and truly His children.

The presence of the Holy Spirit living within us does many wonderful and powerful things. However, the most basic is to seal us, marking us as belonging to God and being “in Christ”. This seal marks us “holy to the Lord”, just as the ancient Jewish high priests used to wear on their heads when they stood before the Lord.

If you’re a Christian, you are holy to the Lord, adopted by God, in Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. This is a glorious reality, one guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is a proof of authenticity that cannot be ignored by dark spiritual forces or undone by the world. Brother or sister, you are sealed – believe it and live like it!!!

“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” – Galatians 6:1

If you’re a Christian, Paul is talking to you! How do we know? Because he addressed this verse to brothers (and sisters), which means fellow believers in Jesus. All of them. “But wait a minute” you exclaim, “I’m not spiritual! He’s clearly talking about the pastors or possibly a deacon!” Wrong!!!

Every Christian is indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit. He makes every Christian “spiritual”. Paul is talking to you! There’s no place for, “You do you, I do me” in Christian life. Far from it! Life as a follower of Jesus includes this call to get involved when we see a fellow believer involved in sin.

If your believing friend or relative is involved in something he or she shouldn’t, you’re called to get involved! You’re called to offer gospel hope and forgiveness as you gently restore him or her to holiness. You’re called to lovingly point out the sinful behaviors, the places they shouldn’t be going, the things they shouldn’t be looking at or doing, and the words they shouldn’t be saying, posting, sharing, or tweeting.

You must be honest. You must be direct. You must be loving. You must be working not out of self-righteousness, but from a humble desire to bring them back into line with Jesus. You must be careful that you don’t get caught up in whatever they’re doing. You must be prayerful. You must be Christlike. Brother or sister, it’s your job!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23

These verses describe the characteristics that should be displayed more and more in the life of every true follower of Jesus. The Fruit of the Spirit (it’s singular – fruit NOT fruits – a package deal) is the product of God’s Holy Spirit living and working within each Christian. As we pursue Christ and grow in Him, His perfect and holy character: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control should increasingly describe us.

While we won’t be perfect this side of heaven, the Christian life should be one of ongoing change, growth, and transformation to become like our Savior. Because this fruit is singular, we shouldn’t just see one or two of these after many years, we should see all of them gradually coming into focus in each Christian’s life. We don’t get to pick and choose just the ones we like. We don’t get to reject the ones we don’t like. We don’t get to declare that certain of these just aren’t going to happen. Not if we’re actual Christians saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus!!!

What does it mean if you believe you’re a Christian, but your character is defined more by hate, dissatisfaction, conflict, impatience, cruelty, sinfulness, untrustworthiness, harshness, or impulsivity? It means you need to get on your knees and pray!!!

A life that doesn’t exhibit the Fruit of the Spirit may reveal you aren’t a Christian at all. You need to immediately consider whether you truly have accepted God’s free gift of salvation by believing and yielding your life to Jesus Christ. Such a life may also mean that you’re a Christian, but you desperately need to get serious about following Jesus. Many believers fall into this category. You may need to truly submit to Christ’s Lordship and devote more time each day and week to worshiping Him, loving Him, studying Him, praying to Him, thinking about Him, spending time with His people, serving Him, and sharing Him.

May the Fruit of the Spirit be yours in growing abundance!

“Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” – Galatians 3:11

It’s the most natural thing in the world to want to make yourself right with God by “being a good person”, doing “good things”, and following whatever moral or ethical code you find meaningful. We humans know there’s something wrong with the world and with us, so we desperately want to save ourselves from the consequences of our bad choices, bad actions, bad thoughts, and inexcusable inactions. We want to rationalize and justify away our separation from the utterly holy God of the Universe. None of those things work!

God is holy. He is perfect. He is utterly without sin or darkness. We aren’t, no matter how hard we try. Even our best moments are often tainted with selfish or mixed motives. Even our best actions can be accompanied by ugly thoughts. Then there are all the other moments and actions which aren’t our best!

We can’t get ourselves right with God by rule following. Ever. We can’t get ourselves right with God through charity, kindness, and good deeds. We can’t get ourselves right with God through greater knowledge or better habits. To be justified is to be declared fully righteous and that’s only possible through faith.

But faith in what or whom? The only faith that can make us righteous is faith in the One who was perfectly righteous and died on a cross as an innocent sacrifice so that His righteousness could be credited to us by God’s grace through faith. “For our sake, He made Him to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Who is that Him? Jesus Christ, the Righteous (1 John 2:1)!!!

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20

This glorious statement reflects wondrous realities and crucial challenges for those who’ve accepted Jesus! If Jesus is your Lord, then He truly does live in you! He loved you and gave His life for you! He died on the cross and rose from the grave so that your sins could be fully, finally, and completely dealt with in the eyes of God! You, the old you, the natural you, the you whose sins nailed Jesus to that cross, have been crucified with Christ!

The question is, if these things are true about you, have you made it a priority to make the other things in this verse true? Is your life – your whole life, 24×7 – being lived by faith in Jesus? Is your whole life (public and private) devoted to glorifying Jesus, drawing ever nearer to Jesus, and become more and more like Jesus?

That’s the call to live a crucified life by faith! Are you truly yielding your life to Jesus Who lives in you, or are you trying to have it both ways and continue living according to old patterns, preferences, and habits? The most wonderful things are true about us in Jesus Christ, but these truths invite us (and command us) to pursue even more wonderful things! Sadly, too few Christians pursue those things with the kind of zeal with which we pursue other things of this world. Don’t let that be true of you. Embrace everything Paul writes here as the dominant theme of your daily life!