After the salutation to the book of Ephesians, the inspired apostle presented within his opening thoughts the united work of deity in salvation. He explained that the Father's eternal plan to bless His chosen children was realized in Christ as a result of the redemption made possible through His blood. Had the Father and the Son so acted without communicating such to man, the riches of grace would have forever remained a mystery to man. Hence, the need for the Spirit's work of "making known unto us the mystery of his will" was introduced (Eph. 1:9). That work of revealing the summation to God's purpose in Christ was Paul's focus in concluding the paragraph with the words,
...to the end that we should be unto the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ: in whom ye also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, -- in whom, having also believed, ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, unto the redemption of God's own possession, unto the praise of his glory (Eph. 1:12-14).
The term "sealed" is in the passive voice, suggesting that the object of this action was stamped or marked with the impression of the image of the seal. In his commentary on Ephesians, Colly Caldwell correctly summarized the concepts and purposes for sealing a person or thing (Caldwell, Truth Commentaries: Ephesians, pp. 41-45). He concluded, in this case, that "being 'sealed with the Holy Spirit' is being marked by the words and promises which the Spirit has spoken" (p. 44).
Notice also that Paul made a distinction between two groups by his use of the words "we" and "ye" in this context. "We who had before hoped in Christ" refers to the Jews who had the Messianic hope through the promise as recorded by inspiration of the Spirit in the Old Testament. Peter also spoke of this hope promised through the prophets (1 Pet. 1:9-12). Physical Israel had unique access to that Messianic hope of salvation because the promise of salvation was recorded for them from the time of Abraham until the closing of the prophets. This made Paul and all other Jews part of the "we" who were participants in the "covenants of the promise" (Eph. 2:12). In contrast, the Gentiles are the "ye" of this text. This is plainly expressed in the next chapter in saying,
Wherefore remember, that once ye, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called Circumcision, in the flesh, made by hands; that ye were at that time separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Eph. 2:11-12).
Since the Gentiles were ignorant of the Spirit's promise of salvation, they could have no hope in that promise. However, the Gentiles were brought to the same hope in Christ. The basic phrase of Ephesians 1:13 is, "in whom ye also ... were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." The word "also" suggests that the Gentiles then were given what the Jews once uniquely possessed. What did the Jews once uniquely possess? According to verse 12, it was the hope promised in Christ. Let us further note that the hope in Christ of verse 12 is set in parallel to being "sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise" in verse 13. How were the Gentiles "sealed" or given that hope in Christ? Verse 13 says it was a result of "having heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation" and "having also believed," meant in the full sense of faith which involved obedience. As they came "into Christ," Gentiles were changed in understanding, faith and hope through the agency of the Spirit's revealed truth. In that way, they were marked or identified in thought and action as the possession of God in a way equally evident to the marking in the flesh received by physical Israel to identify them as God's possession. In the same way, as the Holy Spirit changes our understanding, faith and hope by His revelation dwelling within us, we are marked, identified and sealed in thought and action as the people for God's own possession just as certainly as physical Israel was marked in the flesh as God's people by physical circumcision..
This brings us to a consideration of the "earnest" in verse 14. The word "earnest" (arrabon) is defined as a "first instalment, deposit, down payment, pledge, that pays a part of the purchase price in advance, and so secures a legal claim to the article in question, or makes a contract valid" (Arndt & Gingrich, p. 109). Its legal use in the first century denoted an actual payment which was a part of the full price, not merely an unrelated security put up as collateral (Moulton & Milligan, Vocabulary of the Greek N.T., p. 79).
In reference to the phrase "which is an earnest of our inheritance," the relative pronoun "which" can have as its antecedent either "the word of truth" or "the Holy Spirit of promise." Identifying the specific antecedent, however, is not essential since either would lead us to the same conclusion based upon the context. The "word of truth" is the product of "the Holy Spirit of promise." The very title, "Holy Spirit of promise," brings our focus to the specific aspect of the Spirit's work in giving hope through the promise as recorded in the "word of truth" -- not a word of fables, but of truth. This is the same way Peter emphasizes the confidence we should have in the reliability of the apostles' teaching as "the word of prophecy made more sure" declared through men "moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Pet. 1:12-21).
As already noted, the Spirit works through the agency of that word. That is why the Spirit is sometimes named when His product, the word or spiritual blessings, is the intended point of reference. The Spirit provides a first instalment assuring our final inheritance and redemption in several ways: (1) His revelation makes it possible for us to hear and believe that gospel in conversion so as to lay hold on our hope, (2) His revelation shows us a record of promises made by God and His faithfulness to deliver each one, and (3) His confirmation of the word through the signs and miracles bore witness to the divine source of the promise revealed. This does not suggest that the Spirit is the word, for He is a divine being, not merely the personification of a message. However, we use the same figure of speech in naming the producer in place of the product. A teacher might tell the students to "read Shakespeare." What is meant? To read that which Shakespeare wrote, not the literal person of Shakespeare. Luke uses the same terminology in saying that Philip heard the eunuch "reading Isaiah the prophet" (Acts 8:30). What is meant? The eunuch was reading that which Isaiah wrote. In the same way, the Spirit may be named as our "earnest" when His work of revelation and confirmation is the means through which we receive the assurance of the promised inheritance.
Some suggest that the Holy Spirit personally indwells the Christian's body as the "earnest" of our inheritance. However, this brings the obvious question, "But how do we know the person of the Spirit dwells in us?" In other words, what assurance do we have that we possess the assurance? Clem Thurman, who affirmed this view, answered this question saying,
The five senses can never discern God, nor can the natural senses of man determine the reception of the Holy Spirit. Receiving the Spirit does not mean a 'different feeling' which denotes his presence. The only way we can know that God has given us the 'earnest of our inheritance' and 'sealed us with the Holy Spirit' is BECAUSE HE SAYS SO! Our experiences or feelings do not prove the Holy Spirit has been given. We know it only because God tells us in his word (Thurman, Fort Worth Lectures 1980, p. 163).
How is the person of the Spirit indwelling our bodies the assurance of our inheritance when that indwelling has no independent evidence? If we must depend on the word as the only assurance we have regarding that indwelling, it is ultimately the word that serves as the focus of our confidence in the final inheritance.
--- Continued Next Week ---