After you believe the gospel, Ephesians 1:13 says you are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Paul places the sealing after hearing the word of truth (the gospel of salvation) and after believing in Christ. Les Feldick stresses that no other step—church membership, baptism, or ritual—is inserted into the verse. The sealing is God's work, done when the believer trusts Christ.
Ephesians 1:13 — This verse directly answers the question by showing the sequence: hear the gospel, believe, then be sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
In Ephesians 1:13 Paul writes to believers: "In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise." The verse joins the hearing of the gospel to believing, and then to the sealing of the Holy Spirit. The following verse explains that the Holy Spirit is "the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." Scripture itself states that the sealing is not something a person does; it is something that happens to the believer after belief.
Les Feldick returns repeatedly to Ephesians 1:13 to show the plain order of salvation. He says the word of truth is the gospel of salvation—that Christ died, was buried, and rose again—and the sequence is hearing, believing, then being sealed. He emphasizes the phrase after that you believed and observes that Paul lists nothing else before the sealing: no baptism, no catechism, no church membership, no ritual. Sealing means being marked by the Holy Spirit of promise and branded with God's mark of ownership. Les also says the Holy Spirit is the earnest of the inheritance and that from the moment of belief the Spirit indwells, empowers, and keeps the believer. He contrasts this personal faith in the finished work of the cross with any reliance on denomination or ritual, and he notes that the Ephesians 1 sealing is truth you won't find in the Gospel accounts.
Les reads Ephesians 1:13 as a definite progression. A person first hears the word of truth, which Les identifies as the gospel of salvation—that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. The person then believes, or trusts, in Christ. Only after that does the sealing take place. Les repeatedly points out that Paul says "after that you believed" and that nothing else is inserted between believing and being sealed.
For Les, being sealed is part of the salvation experience. It means being marked by the Holy Spirit Himself and branded with God's mark of ownership. The sealing removes condemnation and gives the believer the Holy Spirit as the earnest of the inheritance. From the moment of belief, the Spirit indwells, empowers, and keeps the believer. These are things God does for the one who believes, not things the believer earns.
Les uses Ephesians 1:13 to argue that personal faith in the finished work of the cross is what puts a person into the body of Christ. Being in a denomination or under its umbrella cannot do that. He also says you do not get to heaven by being baptized; you get to heaven by trusting and believing the gospel. Those practices have their rightful place, but they are not placed in the verse before the sealing.
Les points out that the sealing with the Holy Spirit of promise, as Paul presents it in Ephesians 1, is something you will not see in the Gospel accounts. This is part of the grace revelation that Paul unfolds in his epistles.
Personal Faith, Not Ritual
Les teaches that denominational belonging and religious ritual do not put anyone into the body of Christ; salvation must be a personal faith in the finished work of the cross.
Sealed With the Holy Spirit
Les reads Ephesians 1:13 to show that after hearing the word of truth and believing, the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, and he identifies the Spirit as the earnest.
Only Believing Before Sealing
Les stresses that Ephesians 1:13 contains nothing besides believing between hearing the gospel and being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
Faith Plus Nothing; Sealed and Branded
Les emphasizes the words after you believed and says that all other added requirements are not in the verse; sealing means being branded with God's mark of ownership.
The Order: Hear, Believe, Be Sealed
Les walks through the progression in Ephesians 1:13—hear the word of truth, which is the gospel, believe, and then be sealed with the Spirit of promise.
God Seals; the Spirit Indwells, Empowers, Keeps
Les says after you believe, period, plus nothing, God seals the believer with the Holy Spirit; the Spirit then indwells, empowers, and keeps him.
No Additional Steps After 'After That'
Les notes that trusted can be understood as believed and then invites the reader to see that no other requirements appear after "after that you..." in Ephesians 1:13.
A Mystery Not Seen in the Gospels
After reading the Ephesians 1 context, Les observes that the sealing teaching with the Holy Spirit of promise is something you won't see in the Gospels.
Ephesians 1:13: In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
This is the key verse showing what happens immediately after a person believes the gospel: he is sealed with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 1:14: Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
This verse explains that the sealed believer possesses the Holy Spirit as the earnest, or guarantee, of the promised inheritance.
According to Ephesians 1:13 and Les Feldick's teaching, the believer is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is God's action; nothing else is added after believing.
No. Les teaches that you get to heaven by trusting and believing the gospel, and that after you believe—period, plus nothing—God seals you. Church membership and baptism follow in their rightful place but are not the means of salvation.
Les explains it as the gospel of salvation—that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. This is the message that must be heard before a person believes and is sealed.
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