What the Bible says about Holy Spirit as Pledge
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Romans 8:3 Christ came as a human being and had to deal with life as we do. He had the same time, space, and constraints as we do. He became tired and had to eat. Was He not subject to the futility of this world? Was He not subject to decisions made by others beyond His control? Was He not subject to persecution? Was He not subject to pain? Did He not get caught in other people's dilemmas? Did the court system treat Him in an advantageous way? No, He received an unjust trial. He did not receive the decision He deserved, and His life was taken away as a result. On the stake, He suffered pain unjustly. He had to deal with things the same way as we do. What this does for us is—because of God's calling and the response we have made—God adds to the gift. He not only gave His Son, but now He gives His Spirit. We find in verse 11 that, if we have that Spirit, we have the beginnings, the down payment, on immortality, on eternal life. We become sons and daughters of this great God. We are drawn into a Family, which is not only a family in the normal sense, but we also become brothers and sisters of Christ in another, equally important area. It has something to do with the fact that He, too, was subject to the same kind of sufferings we are—the unfairness of life. John W. Ritenbaugh Ecclesiastes and the Feast of Tabernacles (Part 1) Related Topics: Christ, Humanity of | Futility of this World | Holy Spirit as Deposit | Holy Spirit as Downpayment | Holy Spirit as Earnest | Holy Spirit as Gift | Holy Spirit as Pledge | Holy Spirit as Power to Obey | Jesus Christ as a Flesh -and -Blood Human | Jesus Christ's Suffering | Subjection to Futility | Suffering | Suffering, Learning through

Ephesians 1:13-14 Jesus and His Father give us a guarantee of His promise to marry us. On the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2), fifty days after Jesus' resurrection, God sent a "deposit," the "earnest" of the Holy Spirit—the guarantee of the full payment to come later, when we are changed from flesh to spirit. There may be more here than some realize. The Greek word for "earnest" is arrabon. When taken in the context of our understanding of a glorious wedding coming, it is a word packed with meaning. Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words comments: Originally, "earnest-money" deposited by the purchaser and forfeited if the purchase was not completed, [arrabon] was probably a Phoenician word, introduced into Greece. In general usage it came to denote "a pledge" or "earnest" of any sort; in the NT it is used only of that which is assured by God to believers; it is said of the Holy Spirit as the divine "pledge" of all their future blessedness, . . . particularly of their eternal inheritance. Then comes this final sentence: "In modern Greek arrabona is an 'engagement ring.'" Of course! It makes so much sense. When Jesus asks us to drink of His cup—and we do—He follows by giving us a sign of His pledge: a kind of engagement ring, an earnest of His Holy Spirit! All this happened on the likely anniversary of God's proposal to Israel, the Day of Pentecost, about the time Boaz and Ruth pledged their troth. Staff Will You Marry Me? (Part Two) Related Topics: Betrothal, Symbolic | Boaz and Ruth | Deposit of the Holy Spirit | Earnest Money | Earnest Payment of Holy Spirit | Guarantee of the Holy Spirit | Holy Spirit as Deposit | Holy Spirit as Downpayment | Holy Spirit as Earnest | Holy Spirit as Pledge | Pentecost | Pentecost, Day of | Ruth and Boaz | Spiritual Betrothal | Wedding Analogy

Ephesians 1:14 The word translated guarantee ("earnest," KJV) in reference to the Holy Spirit means "a pledge," "a security that more will follow." In this sense, "firstfruits" and "guarantee/earnest" are virtually interchangeable (cf. Romans 8:23). What is more, they define matters more clearly: The receipt of the earnest of the Spirit creates what God calls "the firstfruits." Since Pentecost in AD 31 when God performed those marvelous works (Acts 2), the firstfruits are God's peculiar or special possession who have been purchased and are being transformed to glorify Him to the utmost. The firstfruits are the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16), the church of God. John W. Ritenbaugh Our Uniqueness and Time Related Topics: Deposit of the Holy Spirit | Earnest Money | Earnest of Our Inheritance | Earnest Payment of Holy Spirit | First Fruits | Holy Spirit | Holy Spirit as Pledge | Our Uniqueness | Our Uniqueness and Time

 

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