Ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise. Eph. 1:13.

It is quite probable that in his use of the word "sealed" Paul alludes to the custom of his day. Impressions made in wax or clay were placed on documents as a mark of authority. They were also placed on goods to show ownership. Paul uses this term to speak of Christians as belonging to God, bearing a sign of His ownership. Christ impresses upon our hearts and lives His eternal purity and righteousness, just like the impression that is left upon the wax of an official seal. This seal is evidence by which we are known. We have the image of Christ stamped upon us by the Holy Spirit. We are truly His.

In the Apocalypse, John speaks of the saints being sealed with "the seal of the living God" (Rev. 7:2) of "having his Father's name written in their foreheads" (chap. 14:1). We write our names in books and on things that belong to us. So it is with God. "Those who love God, have the seal of God in their foreheads."—ELLEN G. WHITE, in The Youth's Instructor, July 26, 1894. People who love us belong to us and we to them. Only in love relationships do people belong to each other or to God. Only love makes possible our total response and commitment. Nothing else really does.

God wants us to love Him, not simply to conform to the rules. The Holy Spirit makes us loving and lovable persons. In this way He restores us to a right relationship in God's family. We belong to a holy fellowship. Within this family we are fulfilled as persons and our lives fully realized. We can be lost in a crowd. But love is such a personal thing. As individuals we do count with God and with all members of His family. Nothing that is personally worthwhile is denied us.

God has written His name upon us. The Spirit has placed the seal of God upon us. We revel in the beauty of Christ's character. We appreciate with love the wonder of His wisdom, power, and presence. We identify ourselves with His cause on the earth. Our lives are redeemed from the superficial, the trivial, and the temporal. We are lifted into an eternal sphere of life. Through the Spirit, Christ inspires all the possibilities and potentialities in us to greatness that otherwise might never be realized.