Ephesians 1:13 And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)–when you believed in Christ–you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. NET
2Corinthians 12:1 Now it is God who establishes both us and you in Christ. He anointed us, 22 placed His seal on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a pledge of what is to come. BSB
The Spirit is our assurance that we will get to this final destination as God not only makes but also keeps His promises. Sealing certifies that we belong to God and are protected. (From the reformed perspective, we are permanently and irrevocably saved).
Jeremiah 31:34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,” says the Lord. “For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.” NET
The way people experience the Holy Spirit will change after the Messiah comes. The expectation is that the Holy Spirit will be poured out in a new way, without limitations, and that everyone will have the Holy Spirit.
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!……..32 Then John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and resting on Him. 33 I myself did not know Him, but the One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit descend and rest is He who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God. BSB
We know two things from John’s statements – that Christ will forgive us and give us the power to be transformed.
John 14:16 I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Helper, that he may be with you forever,– 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive; because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you…. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,He will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you. NHEB
John 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper won’t come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When He has come, He will convict the world about sin, and about righteousness, and about judgment; 9 about sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you won’t see Me any more; 11 about judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged. 12 “I have yet many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth, for He will not speak on his own; but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you things that are coming. NHEB
Jesus’ farewell discourse includes a number of references to the Helper (other translations may use Advocate, Comforter or Counselor). It is important to note that the New Testament isn’t just memoirs. Jesus leaves with the promise of sending the Holy Spirit.
Luke 24:49 And remember that I am about to send out my Father’s promised gift to rest upon you. But, as for you, wait patiently in the city until you are clothed with power from on high WEY
Acts 1:4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5 For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”…..8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.” NHEB
After His resurrection, Jesus instructs the disciples not to do anything until they have received the promised Holy Spirit. This happens ten days after Ascension on the Day of Pentecost. (Some of the people outside of the group receiving the Holy Spirit thought from the way that were acting that they were drunk).
2Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the earthly house of our tent is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, everlasting, in the heavens. 2 For truly in this we groan, longing to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, 3 since, after we have put it on, we will not be found naked. 4 For indeed we who are in this tent do groan, being burdened; not that we desire to be unclothed, but that we desire to be clothed, that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit. NHEB
Our present experience is not all there is to Christianity. There is a future tense of salvation (glorification) with something better coming. This new building for our soul will occur at the Second Coming. In between death and our bodily resurrection at the return of Christ there is an intermediate state where we are “naked” without a body. (See John chapter six and the references by Christ of us rising on the last day. Also see 1Corinthians 15:23 and 2Corinthians 5:8).
Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more……3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among human beings. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist any more – or mourning, or crying, or pain, for the former things have ceased to exist.” NET
Paradise isn’t Heaven – it is something in between. This intermediate phase will be the same for us as it was for Jesus from Good Friday to Easter Sunday. (Roger Olsen of Baylor University has several postings about folk religion seeping its way into Christian faith. Here is a link to one on the intermediate state: https://www.patheos.com/blogs/rogereolson/2011/08/a-bigger-problem-than-heresy-folk-religion/).
Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, NET
At this point, Paul is in prison in Rome and it has probably been at least three years since he was in Ephesus. Although he is away from them, Paul is hearing good things about the people there as their faith is strong and they are loving (although later, Paul will tell them they could be doing a better job of loving their fellow saints).
Ephesians 1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you in my prayers. NET
The language of prayer in the New Testament is to God the Father. The connecting of God as the Father of our Lord that Paul does here is the beginning of Trinitarian theology. This means that you can’t believe in God without believing in Jesus and vice versa.