Ephesians 4.30b-The Sealing Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday November 20, 2025
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 4:30b-The Sealing Ministry of the Holy Spirit
Lesson # 299
Ephesians 4:30 Consequently, each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not grieving the Spirit, who is holy, originating from the one and only God by means of the exercise of whose omnipotence all of you without exception have been sealed for the day, namely, redemption. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 4:30 is composed of the following:
(1) prohibition: mē lypeite to pneuma to hagion tou theou (μὴ λυπεῖτε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον τοῦ θεοῦ), “each and every one of you as a corporate unit must continue to make it your habit of not grieving the Spirit, who is holy, originating from the one and only God.” (Lecturer’s translation)
(2) declarative statement: en hō esphragisthēte eis hēmeran apolytrōseōs (ἐν ᾧ ἐσφραγίσθητε εἰς ἡμέραν ἀπολυτρώσεως), “by means of the exercise of whose omnipotence all of you without exception have been sealed for the day, namely, redemption.” (Lecturer’s translation)
Therefore, Ephesians 4:30 begins with a prohibition, which required that the recipients of this letter, who were members of the Gentile Christian community in the Roman province of Asia, continue to make it their habit of not grieving the Spirit, who is holy, and who originates from the Father.
This is followed by a declarative statement, which describes a ministry performed by the Holy Spirit at justification on behalf of each member of the body of Christ, namely, He sealed every one of them for the day of redemption.
The latter is a reference to the believer receiving a resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church.
The prohibition presents the logical result of obeying the various Spirit inspired commands and prohibitions presented in Ephesians 4:25-29.
In other words, it indicates that if the recipients of this epistle obey the various Spriit inspired commands and prohibitions presented in Ephesians 4:25-29, they will never grieve the Holy Spirit.
However, if they disobey them, they will in fact grieve the Holy Spirit.
Therefore, the prohibition in Ephesians 4:30 summarizes the Spirit inspired contents of Ephesians 4:25-29.
We noted that the declarative statement, which modifies this prohibition in Ephesians 4:30 describes a ministry the Holy Spirit performs at the moment of justification on behalf of every member of the body of Christ.
It asserts that by means of the exercise of the Holy Spirit’s omnipotence at the moment of justification, every believer has been sealed for the day of the redemption, which is a reference to the rapture.
The referent of the relative pronoun hos (ὅς) is God the Holy Spirit and contains the figure of metonymy, which means that the Holy Spirit is put for the exercise of His divine omnipotence at the moment of the believer’s justification.
The preposition en (ἐν), which serves as a marker of means, which indicates that the exercise of the Holy Spirit’s omnipotence is “the means by which” the church age believer was marked with the seal, which identifies them as the Father’s possession and which seal was for the day of the redemption.
The verb sphragizō (σφραγίζω) pertains to marking something with a seal as a means of identification in order to secure it as one’s own possession.
Thus, it speaks of something making something secure as a sign of ownership.
The referent of the second person plural form of this verb is of course the recipients of the Ephesian epistle and specifically the members of the Gentile Christian community who lived in the Roman province of Asia.
The word not only refers to them as a corporate unit but also as individuals.
The latter is indicated by this form is used in a distributive sense emphasizing no exception expressing the idea that the “each and every” member of the church was sealed identifying them as the Father’s possession and which sealing too place at the moment of justification.
The noun hemera (ἡμέρα) refers to an event, which will occur within a twenty-four hour period, namely the rapture or resurrection of the church, which is signified by the noun apolutrōsis (ἀπολύτρωσις), which modifies it.
As was the case in Ephesians 1:7 and 14, the noun apolutrōsis (ἀπολύτρωσις) here in Ephesians 4:30 is used of the redemption of the body of the church age believer when they receive their resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church, which is imminent.
Specifically, it speaks of the church age believer experiencing receiving a resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church.
The redemption of the church age believer’s body at the rapture or resurrection of the church will be the completion of their salvation and sanctification.
The noun apolutrōsis (ἀπολύτρωσις) functions as an epexegetical genitive, which means that it is identifying the referent of the latter as the moment when the church age believer receives their resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church, which completes their salvation and sanctification.
The noun hemera (ἡμέρα) is the object of the preposition eis (εἰς), which functions as a marker of purpose, which means that it is marking the day of redemption as the purpose for which the Holy Spirit sealed the church age believer at the moment of their justification.
Thus, it is marking the church age believer receiving a resurrection body at the rapture or resurrection of the church as the purpose for which the Holy Spirit sealed them church age believer at the moment of their justification.
The day of redemption when every church age believer receives their resurrection body is first mentioned by Paul in Ephesians 1:14 and he also alludes to it in Romans 8:23.
Ephesians 1:14 The Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance until He redeems His possession for the praise of His glory. (Lecturer’s translation)
Romans 8:23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies. (NET)
The relationship between the declarative statement and the prohibition in Ephesians 4:30 is extremely important for the recipients of this letter and all Christians throughout history and up to the present moment and future because the declarative statement presents the motivation for continuing to obey this prohibition.
Namely that, they must continue to obey this prohibition because the sealing ministry of the Holy Spirit at justification made them Father’s permanent possession and will result in them receiving a resurrection body.
They must continue to obey this prohibition because of what the Spirit did for them at the justification in making them the Father’s permanent possession and because of what the Father will do for them through His Son at the rapture when He gives them a resurrection body.
In other words, they must live their lives in a manner consistent with what the Spirit did for them at the justification in making them the Father’s permanent possession and because of what the Father will do for them through His Son at the rapture in the future when He gives them a resurrection body.
So therefore, the declarative statement in Ephesians 4:30 is referring to two events which serves as bookends for the church age and the eternal plan of the Father for every church age believer, namely, the sealing ministry at justification and the resurrection of the church.
