The Earnest of our Inheritance

Christians become heirs of Abraham through Christ, and the gift of the Spirit is our assurance of participating in the full salvation to come.

The possession of Canaan by Israel was an early stage in God’s redemptive plan, which always envisioned something larger than Israel and the small territory of Palestine. With the arrival of Jesus, “the seed of Abraham,” and the outpouring of the Spirit, the fulfillment of the covenant promises began.

The promises of the Abrahamic Covenant are fulfilled through Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit guarantees that the saints will receive everything that is included in the covenant. The Spirit is the ‘down payment’, the pledge, the first installment on the covenant promises.

The biblical passages that promise territory to Abraham use words like ‘inheritance’ and ‘heir,’ including the Hebrew word translated as “possession.” These terms are linked to the covenant of Abraham with its promise of the “possession” of the Land of Canaan - (For example, Genesis 12:1-3, 13:14-16):

• “And I will give unto you, and to your seed after you, the land of your journeying, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession” - (Genesis 17:8).

[Photo by Kalen Emsley on Unsplash]

In the New Testament, the terms ‘inheritance’, ‘heir’ and ‘possession’ are applied to the Church and what God has accomplished through His Son on behalf of His people. The gift of the Spirit is the “earnest,” the down payment and pledge that guarantees the fulfillment of the promise. For example:

• “Now, HE WHO ESTABISHES US with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God, who also sealed us and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” - (2 Corinthians 1:21-22. Note the verbal allusion to Psalm 89:4 [“I will establish your seed for ever”]).

• “In whom (Christ) you also, having heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which is an earnest of our inheritance, for the redemption of God's own possession, for the praise of his glory” - (Ephesians 1:13-14. Compare Romans 8:17, Colossians 1:12).

• “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” - (Ephesians 4:30).

Paul uses an analogy from the world of business. An agreement or contract was not complete and in force until a wax seal was placed on it. The analogy means that the gift of the Spirit is the “seal” that confirms what God has promised, and thus Christians are assured that God has guaranteed the fulfillment of the “contract” because they have the Spirit.

The gift of the Spirit is the “earnest,” the ‘arrabôn’. The Greek term refers to a deposit, a down payment towards the future purchase that guarantees the completion of the original agreement or purchase contract. Thus, the gift of the Spirit is both the seal and the pledge that secures the promise, in this case, the complete redemption of believers.

Jesus is the ‘seed’ of Abraham, and through him, we become “heirs according to promise,” “coheirs” with Christ, and heirs of Abraham. Membership in the covenant community is based on the faith of Jesus, his faithful obedience manifested especially in his crucifixion, and not on anyone’s ethnicity:

• “Now, to Abraham the promises were spoken, and to his seed. He does not say, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, AND TO YOUR SEED, which is Christ” – (Galatians 3:16. Compare Genesis 12:3-7).

• “And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to promise” – (Galatians 3:29).

• “And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. So that you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God” – (Galatians 4:6-7).

The gift of the Spirit is “the deposit” that guarantees our future possession of all the covenant promises. Moreover, the Spirit is part of the “blessings of Abraham” for the nations promised by God to Abraham. And because he believed the word of God, Abraham’s faith was “reckoned to him for righteousness.” We who are of the same faith as the Patriarch become his children and heirs - (See Galatians 3:4-9).

RESURRECTION AND TERRITORY

If the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead “dwells in us,” we are assured that God will also resurrect us from the dead and grant us immortal bodies. The gift of the Spirit is the “first fruits” of this final harvest, including our resurrection and the transformation of our bodies:

• “For we know that the whole creation is groaning and travailing in pain together until now. And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, the redemption of our body” – (Romans 8:21-23).

• “For indeed, we who are in this tabernacle groan, being burdened; not for that we would be unclothed, but to clothe ourselves over, that what is mortal may be swallowed up of life. Now he that accomplished this very thing for us is God, who gave us the earnest of the Spirit” – (2 Corinthians 5:5. See also 1 Corinthians 15:20 and 2 Corinthians 1:20-22).

• “Behold, I tell you a mystery! We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed! In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” – (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

On the last day, Jesus will raise us from the dead and declare to us, “Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” - (Matthew 25:34).

The inheritance promised to Abraham is not limited to Israel or the Jewish race, nor did Jesus abandon the original covenant. He has universalized the promise, thus making the Abrahamic Covenant a blessing to the nations of the Earth, to all humanity, including the nation of Israel.

The territory of Canaan has become a promise that Abraham and his children will inherit the Cosmos. As Paul declares, the Patriarch is the heir of the World or ‘Kosmos’. This promise will be actualized in all its fullness in the New Creation when the saints inherit all things:

• “For not through law is the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, of his being heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith” - (Romans 4:13).

We become children and heirs of Abraham, and participants in the Covenant, regardless of our ethnicity. Our position as children of God and coheirs with Jesus is confirmed by the receipt of the gift of the Spirit - (Acts 2:36-39).

The future resurrection and the arrival of the New Creation will be the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, and our possession of the Spirit is the foretaste and guarantee of the promised inheritance.

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[Citations of Old Testament passages in this article are based on the ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint (see the links here and here). Text printed in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS represents quotations and verbal allusions from the Old Testament. The Septuagint is represented by the Roman numeral for ‘seventy’ or LXX based on the Latin name of the translation, ‘Interpretatio septuaginta virorum’]

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SEE ALSO:

• Jesus and the Spirit - (Jesus is the anointed Son of God whose life and ministry are filled with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit)

• The Sign of the Covenant - (The gift of the Spirit is essential to the identity, mission, and life of the Church. It is foundational to the New Covenant)

• The Age of the Spirit - (The gift of the Spirit is foundational to the New Covenant. It is the beginning of the New Creation and the gathering of the nations)

• Le Gage de l'Héritage - (Les chrétiens deviennent héritiers d'Abraham par Christ, et le don de l'Esprit est notre assurance de participer au plein salut à venir)