ETERNAL SECURITY
By David J. Stewart | March 2009
2nd Corinthians 1:22, “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.”
Chapter 9 — The Earnest of the Spirit
When a person trust's Jesus Christ to get saved, the Holy Spirit immediately indwells that person, i.e., God the Father and God the Son come to live within that person in the form of God the Holy Spirit. Amen!
The Bible teaches in 2nd Corinthians 1:22 that God not only seals us with His Holy Spirit at the time of salvation, but He also gives us the Holy Spirit as proof of God's downpayment on us! 2nd Corinthians 1:22 reads, "Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." The word "earnest" means "a pledge, i.e. part of the purchase-money or property given in advance as security for the rest."
God has given each believer the Holy Spirit as a PLEDGE, or PROMISE, that He will make good on His PROMISE to give us everlasting life and joy and a home in Heaven that the Lord Himself is preparing. This is such a wonderful truth! God has given us the Holy Spirit, as believers, to testify that we are God's children, and as a pledge that He is coming back to get us, that where He is, there may we be also. John 14:1-3, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." What a wonderful Savior! God didn't just make a bunch of empty promises to us, He placed His Spirit into our hearts the day we were saved as evidence that He will make good on all His promises to us. Oh, how God wants to bless us and give us good things as His children! For now, Jesus said we would suffer tribulation in the world, and be hated by the world for Christ's sake, and suffer persecution; but there's a blessed home beyond the sunset where our Lord is preparing a special place for us to live.
It is common practice for shoppers to buy something on a lay-away plan. They don't have the money upfront, so they leave a downpayment instead, evidence that they'll be back to claim the item at a later time. Likewise, God has given us His Holy Spirit as evidence that He's coming back to get us. Sometimes when a boyfriend or girlfriend is going away for a long time, there is apprehension and worry that their friend may not come back, so the departing one will leave something of sentimental value or something that is dear to them as assurance that they will come back. The same is true with the Heavenly Father, Who has given to us His Holy Spirit as assurance that He is coming back again to receive us as His own. This is what 2nd Corinthians 1:22 means when it says that God has given us "the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." Amen!
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