54. Chapter VII. The Spirit is an earnest, and how.
Chapter VII. The Spirit is an earnest, and how.
T hirdly. Again, the Holy Spirit, as thus communicated to us, is said to be an "earnest." The word in the original, arrhabon 1 is not used anywhere in the New Testament except in this matter alone, 2Cor 1.22, 5.5;
Eph 1.14. The Latin translator renders this word as pignus, a pledge. But he is corrected in this by Hierom 2 on Eph 1. And this reason is generally accepted by expositors: a pledge is what is committed to and left in the hand of another, to secure him that the money which is borrowed on that pledge will be repaid; and then the pledge is to be received back again.
Hence it is necessary that a pledge be more in value than the money received, because it is taken in security for repayment. But an earnest is only a part of what is to be given or paid, or some lesser thing that is given to secure something that is more or greater, of the same or of another kind.
And this difference must be allowed if we are obliged to the precise meaning and common use of pledges and earnests among men, which we must inquire into. The word is supposed to be derived from the Hebrew arabown; 3 and the Latins also make use of it, arrhabon and arrha. It is
sometimes used by other authors, such as Plutarch 4 in Galba: he prepossessed Obinius with great sums of money, as an earnest of what he would do afterward. 5 Hesychius explains it by prodoma, 6 a gift beforehand. 7 I will declare what I apprehend to be the mind of the Holy
Ghost in this expression, in the ensuing observations:
First. It is not any act or work of the Holy Spirit on us or in us that is called his being an "earnest." It is he himself who is this earnest. This is expressed in every place where mention is made of it: 2Cor 1.22 — "The earnest of the Spirit" 8 — it is that earnest which is the Spirit, or the Spirit as an earnest, as Austin reads the words: "Arrhabona Spiritum." 2Cor 5.5,
"Who has also given us the earnest of the Spirit." The giving of this earnest is constantly assigned as an act of God the Father, who would send the Comforter to the church according to the promise of Christ.Joh 14.26
And in the other passage, Eph 1.14, it is expressly said that the Holy Spirit is the "earnest of our inheritance." Everywhere the article is the masculine gender, hos estin arrhabon, 9 and Pneuma, the Spirit, is neuter. Some would have it refer to Christ, in verse 12. But it is not unusual in Scripture for the subjunctive article and relative to agree in gender with the following substantive, as it does here: hos (who) agrees with arrhabon (earnest). So the Scripture, speaking of the Holy Ghost, Pneuma, is neuter gender; yet, having respect to the thing — that is, the person of the Spirit — it subjoins the pronoun of the masculine gender to it, as in Joh 14.26. Therefore, the Spirit himself is the earnest, as given to us from the Father by the Son. And this act of God is expressed by giving or putting him into our hearts, 2Cor
1.22. How he does this has been declared before, both in general and with respect in particular to his inhabitation. Therefore, the meaning of the words
is that God gives us his Holy Spirit to dwell in us, and to abide with us, as an earnest of our future inheritance.
Secondly. It is indifferent whether we use the term earnest or pledge in this matter. Although I choose to retain the term earnest, from the most usual acceptance of the word, it is not for the reason alleged, which is taken from the special nature and use of an earnest in the dealings of men. It is only the purpose of an earnest for which the Holy Ghost is so called, which is the same as a pledge; we are not to force the similitude or allusion any further. For among men, an earnest is precisely the confirmation of a bargain and contract made on equal terms between buyers and sellers or exchangers. But there is no such contract between God and us. It is true, an antecedent covenant is supposed, but not as a bargain or contract between God and us. The covenant of God, as it respects the dispensation of the Spirit, is merely a free, gratuitous promise; and the stipulation of obedience on our part is consequential to this. Again, the one who gives an earnest in a contract or bargain, does not principally aim at his own obligation to pay such and such a sum of money, or something equivalent to this (though he does that also). Rather, his principal design is to secure for himself what he has bargained for, so that it may be delivered to him at the appointed time.
But there is nothing of this nature in the earnest of the Spirit, in which God intends our assurance only, and not his own. And there are various other things in which the comparison will not hold, nor is it to be urged, because they are not intended.
The general end of an earnest or a pledge is all that is alluded to; and this end is to give security of something that is future, or to come. This may be done by way of free bounty as well as the strictest contract. It is as if a man had a poor friend or relation. He may, of his own accord, give him a sum of
money, and ask him to take it as a pledge or earnest of what more he will yet do for him.
So too, in a way of sovereign grace and bounty, God gives his Holy Spirit to believers, and lets them know that it is with a design to give them yet much more in his appointed season; and here the Spirit is said to be an earnest. Other things that are observed, from the nature and use of an earnest in civil contracts and bargains between men, do not belong to this, even though many things are occasionally spoken and discussed from them, that has good use for edification.
Thirdly. In two of the places in which mention is made of this matter, the Spirit is said to be an "earnest," but in what, or to what end, is not expressed, 2Cor 1.22, 5.5. 10 The third place affirms that he is an "earnest of our inheritance," Eph 1.14. What that is, and how he is such an earnest, may be briefly declared. — 1. We have already manifested that all our participation 11 of the Holy
Spirit, in any kind, is on account of Jesus Christ; and we receive him immediately as the Spirit of Christ — for "to as many as receive Christ, the Father gives power to become the sons of God," Joh 1.12. "And because we are sons, he sends forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts," Gal 4.6. As we receive the Spirit from him, as his Spirit, so he is given to us to make us conformable to Christ, and to give us a participation in his gifts, graces, and privileges.
2. Christ himself, in his own person, is the "heir of all things," Heb 1.2. So he was appointed by God, and therefore the whole inheritance is absolutely his. In the exposition of that verse, 12 I have declared at large what this inheritance is, and the glory and power contained in it.
3. By his sin, man had universally forfeited his whole right to all the ends of his creation, both on the earth below and in heaven above. Death and hell had become all that the whole race of mankind had either right or title to.
Yet all the glorious things that God had provided were not to be thrown away; an heir was to be provided for them. Abraham, when he was old and rich, had no child. He complained that his steward, a servant, was to be his heir, Gen 15.2-4. But God lets him know that he would provide another heir for him, of his own seed. When man had lost his right to the whole inheritance of heaven and earth, God did not use the forfeiture to seize it all by the hands of justice and destroy it. Rather, he invested the whole inheritance in his Son, making him the heir of all. He was fit for this, being
God's eternal Son by nature; and the donation of this was free, gratuitous, and absolute. This grant was confirmed to him by his unction with the fulness of the Spirit. But — 4. This inheritance, as to our interest in it, lay under a forfeiture. And as to us, it must be redeemed and purchased, or else we can never be made partakers of it. Therefore, the Lord Christ, who had a right in his own person to the whole inheritance by the free grant and donation of the Father, would yet redeem it from under the forfeiture, and purchase it for us to possess. Hence it is called "The purchased possession." How this purchase was made, what made it necessary, by what means it was effected, are declared in the doctrine of our redemption by Christ, the price which he paid, and the purchase that he made by it. Upon this, the whole inheritance is vested in the Lord Christ, not only as to his own person and his right to the whole, but he became the great trustee for the whole church; and he had their interest in this inheritance committed to him also. No man, therefore, can have a right to this inheritance, or to any part of it — not to the least
share of God's creation here below as a part of the rescued or purchased inheritance — except by virtue of having an interest in Christ, and union with him. Therefore — Fourthly. The way by which we come to have an interest in Christ, and thereby a right to the inheritance, is by sharing the Spirit of Christ, as the apostle fully declares in Rom 8.14-17. 13 For it is by the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of the Son, that we are made children. Now, the apostle says, "If we are children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ."
Children are heirs to their father. And those who are children of God are heirs of that inheritance which God has provided for his children, who are
"heirs of God." All the good things of grace and glory which believers are made partakers of in this world, or in the world to come, are called their
"inheritance," because they are the effects of free, gratuitous adoption. They are not things that believers have purchased, bargained for, earned, or merited, but an inheritance that depends on and follows solely upon their free, gratuitous adoption. But how can they become "heirs of God," seeing that God has absolutely appointed the Son alone to be "heir of all things,"
Heb 1.2? He was the heir to whom the whole inheritance belonged. Why, says the apostle, we are made joint heirs with Christ by the participation of the Spirit of Christ. The whole inheritance, as to Christ's own personal right, was entirely his by the free donation of the Father, all power in heaven and earth being given to him. But if he would take others into a joint right with him, then he must purchase it for them, which he did accordingly.
Fifthly. Hence it is manifest how the Holy Spirit becomes the "earnest of our inheritance." For by him, that is, by the communication of him to us, we are made "joint heirs with Christ," which gives us our right and title. By this, our names are, as it were, inserted into the assured conveyance of the
great and full inheritance of grace and glory. In giving his Spirit to us, making us co-heirs with Christ, we have the greatest and most assured earnest and pledge of our future inheritance.
And thus he is an earnest until "the redemption of the purchased possession." For after a man has a good and firm title to an inheritance settled in him, it may be a long time before he takes actual possession of it; and he may have many difficulties in the meantime to conflict with. It is so in this case. The "earnest of the Spirit" given to us, by which we become co-heirs with Christ (whose Spirit we are made partakers of), secures the title of the inheritance in and for our whole persons. But before we can fully possess it, not only do we have many spiritual trials and temptations to conflict with in our souls, but also our bodies are liable to death and corruption. Therefore, whatever "first-fruits" we may enjoy, we cannot yet enter into the actual possession of the whole inheritance until not only our souls are delivered from all sins and temptations, but also our bodies are rescued out of the dust of the grave. This is the full "redemption of the purchased possession." This is why it is signally called the "redemption of the body," Rom 8.23.
Thus the Lord Christ himself was made "heir of all things" by that communication of the Spirit to him, by which he was anointed for his office. So too, the participation of the same Spirit from him and by him, makes us co-heirs with him. And so the Spirit is an earnest given to us by God, ensuring the future inheritance. It is not part of my present purpose to declare the nature of that inheritance of which the Holy Spirit is the earnest; but in brief, it is the highest participation with Christ in that glory and honor that our natures are capable of.
And in like manner, we are said to receive "the first-fruits of the Spirit,"
Rom 8.23; 14 that is, the Spirit himself as the first-fruits of our spiritual and eternal redemption. God had appointed that the first-fruits, which are called re'shiyth and bikkuwr, 15 should be a teruwmah, 16 an offering to himself.
This first-fruit (aparche) corresponds to, and is taken generally for that which is first in any kind, Rom 16.5; 1Cor 15.20; Jas 1.18; Rev 14.4. And the "first-fruits of the Spirit" must be either what he first works in us (or all his fruits in us with respect to the full harvest that is to come), or the Spirit himself as the beginning and pledge of future glory. It is the latter of these that is intended in this place. For the apostle discourses about the liberty of the whole creation from that state of bondage to which all things were subjected by sin. With respect to this, he says that believers themselves, having not yet obtained a full deliverance (as he expressed it in Rom 7.24), groan for its perfect accomplishment.
Yet, he says, we have the beginning of it, the first-fruits of it, in the communication of the Spirit to us. For "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty," 2Cor 3.17. For we are not capable of the full and perfect estate of the liberty provided for the children of God while we are in this world, conflicting with the remainders of sin, pressed and exercised with temptations, and our bodies being subject to death and corruption. Yet, where the Spirit of the Lord is, where we have that first-fruit of the fullness of our redemption, there is liberty in the real beginning of it, and assured consolation, because it will be consummated in the appointed season.
These are some of the spiritual benefits and privileges which believers enjoy by a sharing of the Holy Ghost as the promised comforter of the church. He is these things to them; and as to all other things belonging to their consolation, he works those in them. This is what we must inquire into
next. Only, we may take notice of some things from what we have already insisted on; such as — 1. That all evangelical privileges which believers are made partakers of in this world, center in the person of the Holy Spirit. He is the great promise that Christ has made to his disciples, the great legacy which he has bequeathed to them. The grant made to him by the Father, when Christ had done all his will, and fulfilled all righteousness, and exalted the glory of his holiness, wisdom, and grace, was this grant of the Holy Spirit, to be communicated by Him to the church. He received this from the Father as the complement of his reward — in which he saw "the travail of his soul, and was satisfied." Isa 53.11 He now gives this Spirit to believers, and no tongue can express the benefits which they receive by it. In this they are anointed and sealed; in this they receive the earnest and first-fruits of immortality and glory — in a word, in this they are taken into sharing with Christ himself, all his honor and glory. Hereby their condition is rendered honorable, safe, and comfortable; and the whole inheritance is unchangeably secured for them. Therefore, in this one privilege of receiving the Spirit, all others are enwrapped; for —
2. No one way, or thing, or similitude, can express or represent the greatness of this privilege. It is anointing; it is sealing; it is an earnest and first-fruit — it is everything by which the love of God and the blessed security of our condition may be expressed or intimated to us. For what greater pledge can we have of the love and favor of God, what greater dignities can we be made partakers of, what greater assurance of a future blessed condition can we have, than what God has given us by his Holy
Spirit? And,
3. Hence, it is also manifest how abundantly willing God is that the heirs of promise should receive strong consolation in all their distresses, when they flee for refuge to the hope that is set before them.Heb 6.18
1. Ἀῤῥαβών [NT:758] 2Cor 1:22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as an earnest [or deposit].
2. That is, Jerome (340-420), translator of the Latin Vulgate Bible, which was commissioned by the pope in 382 AD.
3. ֵעָרבֹון [OT:06162] – a pledge or deposit.
4. Plutarch (46–120) – Greek historian, biographer and essayist, known primarily for Parallel Lives and Moralia.
7. Hesychius of Alexandria, a Greek grammarian of the 5th or 6th century A.D.
9. ὅς ἐστιν ἀῤῥαβών – who is the earnest.
10. KJV 2Cor 1:22 Who has also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 2Cor 5:5 Now he that has fashioned us for the selfsame thing is God, who also has given to us the earnest of the Spirit.
11. Participation here refers to sharing in common.
12. The Works of John Owen, vol. 19, ch. 1.
13. Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. Rom 8:9
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His [i.e., he has no share or interest in Christ].
14. ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ Πνεύματος – aparchen [NT:536] tou Pneumatos.
15. ֵראשִׁית re'shiyth [OT:07225] (Lev 2.12); ִּבּכּוִרים bikkuwr [OT:01061] (Exo
23.16).
16. ְּתרּוָמה teruwmah [OT:08641] an offering or contribution (Exo 25.2); as distinct from corban ָקְרָּבן [OT:07133] (Lev 1.2).