Question of the Week: Will God send someone to Hell if they have been sealed with the Holy Spirit?
In order to properly understand the role the Holy Spirit plays in our salvation, it’s important to understand what we have actually been saved from and the cultural references Paul uses to describe it. In the book of Ephesians, chapter 4 and verse 30, Paul says through inspiration of the Holy Spirit that we should not grieve the Holy Spirit, whom we were sealed with for the day of redemption. There are two key details here to understand. First, what we have been redeemed from. And second, what it means to seal something in the context the church of Ephesus would have understood.
Hell is described a variety of ways in scripture, but all are emphasizing the point that it is a state you do not want to find yourself in. God is the source of everything good and perfect. Those who reject a personal relationship with Him won’t be forced to be with Him forever. This alternative is known as Hell. Along with the righteous judgment of sin, it is what we all want apart from the Holy Spirit’s direct intervention in our hearts to make us aware of our need for a Savior in the first place.
The salvation of our souls, referred to as being sealed with the Holy Spirit, is something the port-city of Ephesus would have been familiar with. Seeing a lot of cargo in and out of their city, they were identified as the property of a particular company or individual based on the wax seal imprinted on the shipment. Regardless of the state the cargo was in, or what kind of cargo it was, the seal was the only thing they were concerned about that decided where it was going to go.
Therefore, if you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit then you belong to God. If you belong to God, then He won’t separate you from Himself forever.
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