# Ephesians 1 - the Holy Spirit as guarantee



## Eoghan (Sep 13, 2010)

This crops up in several places and I am not clear what Paul has in mind. Can anyone expand on what is intended?





(Anyone guess which epistle I am now putting my energies into?


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## toddpedlar (Sep 13, 2010)

Eoghan said:


> This crops up in several places and I am not clear what Paul has in mind. Can anyone expand on what is intended?



The word there translated "guarantee" or "earnest" in Eph. 1:14 (and also in 2 Cor. 1:22 and 5:5) is a term that means a partial payment that assures the final delivery of full payment in the future.... so when Paul says in v. 14 that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance, he is referring to this - that the presence of the Holy Spirit in believers is an absolute iron-clad promise of full possession of all His blessings in the age to come. The one who receives such a payment may safely be assured that the full payment is also his, in a real sense right now.


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## Contra_Mundum (Sep 13, 2010)

Paul, in arguing his case against the Judaizers to the Galatians, points to their having been given the Spirit, and asks them in effect, "So, what exactly is it you think you have still to get, before heaven and everything?"


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## schwarzeneggerchia (Sep 14, 2010)

I think this is consistent with Paul's if not most of NT's 'already but not yet' theme running through the Epistles. The Holy Spirit as our gurantee is no different. The Holy Spirit is like the 'mark of our election' in some sense but it is more that that because the Holy Spirit is a person. In Romans it says those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Therefore, just as works does not save but is an evidence of saving faith, the Holy Spirit can be said to be the proof of our election because we know that we are His sheep because: 
[BIBLE]MAtthew 25:32-46[/BIBLE]
The proof and product of faith and salvation that God worketh in and through us. 
It flows with Eph 2 where it says:
[BIBLE]Ephesians 2:8-10[/BIBLE]
He has prepared us to do good works in advance...when? when He chose us before the foundations of the world Ephesians 1 v. 4.


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## Eoghan (Sep 14, 2010)

*Pointing towards an inner testimony?*

I think it was puzzling because it seems to be pointing to some inner  distinguishing mark. I think the Puritans had different views on this (Prof. Joel Beeke) and that is the dialogue I am recalling.

A sign and a seal yes - but in what sense?


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## Peairtach (Sep 14, 2010)

The presence of the Holy Spirit is the power and presence of the Heavenly Eschatalogical Kingdom breaking in to our experience, so that as the Spirit opens up God's Word to us, we get a foretaste of Heaven before we've actually arrived there.

The believer may be more or less aware of this depending on various factors. At times he/she may feel little or no awareness of God's presence but the Spirit has come to dwell in all believers permanently at their regeneration and baptism with/by the Spirit into Christ.

We can't efface the seal of the Spirit because he will always be with true believers, but we can mar our subjective experience of the Spirit's presence by our sin and apostasy. In Psalm 51, David had so little of the "felt presence" of God that he thought (or was worried) he'd completely lost the Spirit altogether. But this is impossible for true believers.

The Spirit doesn't make us aware of our sealing without using God's Word and sacraments to show us that we are sealed i.e. to give us assurance of faith and show us that we are Christ's.

The Spirit's sealing like all aspects of His ministry is intended not so much to draw our attention to the Spirit within us, and therefore within, but to the Father and the Son as they are objectively presented to us in God's Word.

The subjective work of God in us is meant to draw our hearts towards the objective work of God done for us.


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