2 Corinthians 1:22 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Who hath also sealed us, &c.— Who, answerable to various uses of a seal among men, has likewise printed his holy image upon us, and assured us of our interest in the Blood of the Covenant: and he has freely given us his Spirit, who dwells in our hearts, and sheds abroad his influences, and a sense of his love there, as a pledge and earnest of the eternal inheritance. See Ephesians 1:13-14. All there are arguments to satisfy the Corinthians, that St. Paul was not, nor could be, a man who minded not what he said, but as it served his turn. His reasoning, 2 Corinthians 1:18-22, wherebyhe would convince the Corinthians that he was neither fickle nor unsteady, being a little difficult to be understood by reason of the brevity of his style, the following summary will set it in a clear light: "God hath set me apart to the ministry of the Gospel by an extraordinary call, has attested my mission by the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, has sealed me with the Holy Spirit of promise, has given me the earnest of eternal life in my heart by his Spirit, and has confirmed me among you in preaching the Gospel, which is all uniform and of a piece;—as I have preached it to you, without varying in the least; and there, to the glory of God, have shewn that all the promises concur, and are in Christ, and are certain to every faithful soul. Having therefore never faultered in any thing which I have said to you, and having all these attestationsofbeingunderthe special direction and guidance of God himself, the great Fountain of truth, I cannot be suspected of dealing doubly with you in any thing relating to my ministry."