We all respond to a compliment, it makes us feel warm inside. It reminds me of those stamps we used to get at primary school. The teacher would have an array of pretty ones to put in our workbook; a sort of tick for well done!

As we live our Christian life there can be that inner question we ask ourselves… “I wonder how I’m doing and will God give me a tick?” So we think that if we try hard enough our good deeds will compensate for the bad ones. The reality is we will never be good enough! We may strive to live up to that golden rule of loving our neighbour but just one mistake will blot our copybook.

But God’s stamp of approval is still possible because Jesus Christ took the ultimate punishment of our moral failure. He now gives us a righteous standing before God because we reached out in faith… a justification by faith alone!

Now that we have received this free gift of righteousness, God can confirm or seal our new life as a believer. God’s way of signifying this is by giving us the Gift of the Holy Spirit. It is like a divine stamp that God has accepted us.

God is not only confirming that we have become a new person in Christ but He is letting us know that we belong to Him. The Holy Spirit is His legal seal that we are now a member of His family… we have entered the Kingdom of God!

Ref. Isaiah 53:10-11, Gal. 3:11-14, Eph. 1:13-14. NIV.