DEAR Brother,— I have been interested just lately by what is written in Ephesians 4:30, 5:1-3, and send you a few thoughts on it.
A Christian in apostolic days was sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, and he knew it.
He was forgiven of God, and he was conscious of it.
He shared in the love of Christ, and was sensible of it.
He was a saint of God, and was reminded of it.
Very great were these favors, and for the most part very wonderful; yet each of them could furnish ground on which to base most practical exhortations for everyday life.
Sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, the Christian was not to grieve Him.
Forgiven of God in Christ, they were to forgive one another.
Loved by Christ, they were to walk in love.
As saints, they were to refrain even from the naming among themselves of those unclean ways by which men are so often defiled.
Their being thus exhorted showed into what, unless watchful, they might fall. The terms, however, in which they were addressed, proved that they never could be lost. For God had forgiven them, and they were sealed by the Spirit unto the day of redemption.
(From B. W. & R.)