Earnest of the Spirit

From: Collected Writings

Narrator: Ivona Gentwo

• 2 min. read • grade level: 8

Q. We have in 2 Corinthians 1:22²²Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. (2 Corinthians 1:22), “The earnest of the Spirit,” and in Ephesians 1:14¹⁴Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:14), “The earnest of our inheritance.” If the Spirit is the “earnest of the inheritance,” what is the “earnest of the Spirit”?

A. The subject in hand in Ephesians 1:1-14¹Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus: ²Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. ³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. ⁷In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; ⁸Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; ⁹Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: ¹⁰That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: ¹¹In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: ¹²That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. ¹³In 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, ¹⁴Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:1‑14), is the calling of God (vss. 3-6), which is our present portion, and the inheritance which we have in Christ in the future over all created things. Christ’s place in the calling and Christ’s place in the inheritance is ours, as joint-heirs with Him. The inheritance being a matter still to come, we receive the Spirit as a seal, as looking back at the fullness of redemption which sets us in the calling, and looking forward as the earnest before we possess the inheritance. He is named, consequently, the “Spirit of promise,” as connected with what we have not yet received.

In 2 Corinthians 1 the inheritance is not named, but He who is its earnest has been given us. It is a wonderfully comprehensive passage (vss. 20-22). God had made promises of old; His Son comes in the “yea,” the fulfillment in His person, and the “Amen” — the certainty of them all. Those to whom the promises were made (the Jews) reject Him, and so the promises are deferred until another day, when Israel will “Amen” the promises of God, when grace restores the seed of Jacob.

Another thing now unfolds itself. God had purposes and counsels before He made the promises — before the foundation of the world. His “delights were with the sons of men” ere the world was (Prov. 8). The history of the first man’s responsibility was closed in the Cross; and the second Man enters into His glory when cast out in shame from this world. The people of God’s counsels are now called; His eternal purposes are unfolded, and God has a fresh and wondrous glory “by us” — Christians — the objects of those counsels. God establishes us “in Christ” before Him. Then He “anoints” us with the Holy Spirit for power for our pathway and service while awaiting the day of glory, and seals us as His own to secure all this glory to us. This brings into our hearts the conscious earnest of all, and by the Spirit thus given. The affections are thus kept in the joy and enjoyment of our own things.

The context in each case makes the difference of language simple.

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