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36, by the of promise, who is the earnest of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession." (Eph. i. 13, 14.) "Grieve not the  of God, whereby ye were sealed (ἐσφραγίσθητε) unto the day of redemption." (Eph. iv. 30.) 2. In one passage (Eph. i.) this sealing is mentioned, as immediately following upon the belief of the Gospel—"having believed, ye were sealed;" in a second (Eph. iv.) it stands opposed to subsequent performance of duty—"ye were sealed by the , grieve Him not;" in the third (1 Cor.) it stands opposed to  subsequent establishing them in , to their being maintained in this state into which they had been brought—"who establisheth you, who also anointed and sealed you." 3. The word "sealed" was already in use among the Jews , and is recognized by St. Paul, as designating the act by which men were brought into covenant with , and received its privileges. Now it would, indeed, be a very perverted mode of arguing, to infer, either that the seal of the Christian covenant only attested the faith which already existed (as in the case of Abraham), or that the seal of the Jewish covenant conveyed the same privileges as the Christian; for this would be to identify the earlier with the later dispensation; and as one exposition unduly derogates from the Christian sacrament, so does the other exalt the seal of the Jewish covenant beyond what we have any certain warrant for, or even intimation-of, from Holy Scripture. Still, one should suppose, that St. Paul, when employing terms, already in use among the Jews, would apply