Ephesians 1:14

Just as it is the glory of a doctor if he cures many, so it is to the praise of God's glory when many are won for the faith. And so it is part of God's glory to have called the Gentiles that they might …

However, as is mentioned in a Gloss, a variant reading has who is the earnest of our inheritance, and perhaps this is a better rendering. For a pledge differs from the object in place of which it is given, and it must be returned once …

God "bought" our salvation and gave us the Spirit as a pledge for now, assuring us thereby that He will also grant the inheritance of ineffable blessings. And those who truly partake of the Spirit, as Paul did, for example, already understand from this that …

The earnest is part of payment, and it secures the full sum: so is the gift of the Holy Ghost; all his influences and operations, both as a sanctifier and a comforter, are heaven begun, glory in the seed and bud. The Spirit's illumination is an earnest of everlasting light; sanctification is an earnest of perfect holiness; and his comforts are earnests of everlasting joys.

He intends that his grace and power and other perfection should by this means become conspicuous and illustrious, and that the sons of men should magnify him. 15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:33w-of-60

Who, thus sealing us, is an earnest - Both a pledge and a foretaste of our inheritance. Till the redemption of the purchased possession - Till the church, which he has purchased with his own blood, shall be fully delivered from all sin and sorrow, and advanced to everlasting glory.

Which is the earnest of our inheritance,....

Which is the earnest of our inheritance - This Holy Spirit, sealing the soul with truth and righteousness, is the earnest, foretaste, and pledge of the heavenly inheritance. And he who can produce this earnest - this witness of the Spirit, in the day of judgment, shall have an abundant entrance into the holiest. On the αρῥαβων, or earnest, see the notes on Gen 38:17 (note), etc., and on 2Co 1:22 (note).

The deliverance of the creature (the body, and the whole visible creation) from the bondage of corruption, and from the usurping prince of this world, into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Ro 8:21-23; 2Pe 3:13). of the purchased possession--God's people purchased ("acquired," Greek) as His peculiar (Greek) possession by the blood of Christ (Ac 20:28).

If we paused here, we might give up all idea of beholding from our houses of clay that goodly land and Lebanon; but we do not pause, for like the Apostle, we go on with the text and we add, "But He has revealed it unto us by His Spirit." It is possible to look within the veil! God's Spirit can turn it aside for a moment, and bid us take a glimpse—though it is but a distant one—at that unutterable Glory!

If we paused here, we might give up all idea of beholding from our houses of clay that goodly land and Lebanon; but we do not pause, for like the Apostle, we go on with the text and we add, "But He has revealed it unto us by His Spirit." It is possible to look within the veil! God's Spirit can turn it aside for a moment, and bid us take a glimpse—though it is but a distant one—at that unutterable Glory! There are Pisgahs even now on the surface of the earth, from the top of which the celestial Canaan can be beheld; there are hallowed hours in which the mists and clouds are swept away, and the sun shines in its strength and our eyes, being freed from their natural dimness, behold something of that land which is very far off, and glimpse a little of the joy and blessedness which is reserved for the people of God hereafter! Our text tells us that the Holy Spirit is the earnestof the inheritance, by which I understand that He is not only the pledge, for a pledge is given for security, but when the thing pledged is given, then the pledge itself is restored—but He is an earnest, which is a pledge and something more. An earnest is a part of the thing itself—it is not only a pledge of the thing for security— but it is a foretaste of it for present enjoyment. The word in the Greek has a stronger force than our word, "pledge." Again I repeat it—if I promise to pay a man something, I may give him land or property in pledge; but if I pay him a part of the sum which I have promised, that is more than a pledge—it is an earnest, because it is a part of the thing itself. So the Holy Spirit is a pledge to God's people. Inasmuch as God has given them the Graces of the Spirit, He will give them the Glory that results from there.

I HAVE taken the whole passage for the sake of completing the sense, but I have no intention whatever of preaching upon all of it. Practically I only need for the topic of this morning the following words—"In whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." The sealing of the Holy Spirit will be the subject of our meditation.

I HAVE taken the whole passage for the sake of completing the sense, but I have no intention whatever of preaching upon all of it. Practically I only need for the topic of this morning the following words—"In whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." The sealing of the Holy Spirit will be the subject of our meditation. There are many who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ who are extremely anxious to obtain some token for good, some witness from God which shall render them quite sure that they are saved. They have not yet reached the full assurance of faith and they feel uneasy till they attain it. They feel that these matters are too important to be left at all uncertain and they, therefore, pine for some sure witness or seal. Men will not risk their estates and no spiritually sensible man will endure to have his soul and its eternal affairs in jeopardy for an hour—therefore this anxiety. It is true that by the way of faith only the fullest and best assurance may be reached, but many who truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are not yet aware of this and their trembling hearts crave for a testimonial from the Infallible God to certify them that they are, indeed, saved. Yes, and I conceive that even more advanced saints, who know more fully where their standing is and confess that they can only walk by faith, yet often sing with very great emphasis of desire— "Might I but hear Your hea venly tongue But whisper, 'You are Mine,' That cheerful word should raise my song To notes almost Divine." Though we can and do believe and can claim the privilege which belongs to those who have not seen and yet have believed, yet we would be glad to sometimes have a sight.

Which is the earnest of our inheritance - On the meaning of this, see the notes at 2Co 1:22. Until the redemption - see the notes at Rom 8:23. The meaning here is, we have the Holy Spirit as the pledge that that shall be ours, and the Holy Spirit will be imparted to us until we enter on that inheritance. Of the purchased possession - Heaven, purchased for us by the death of the Redeemer. The word used here - περιποίησις peripoiēsis - occurs in the following places in the New Testament: 1Th 5:9, rendered “to obtain salvation;” 2Th 2:14, “to the obtaining of the glory of the Lord;” Heb 10:39, “to the saving of the soul;” 1Pe 2:9, “a peculiar people;” literally, a people of “acquirement” to himself; and in the passage before us. It properly means, an acquisition, an obtaining, a laying up. Here it means, the complete deliverance from sin, and the eternal salvation “acquired” for us by Christ. The influence of the Holy Spirit, renewing and sanctifying us, comforting us in trials, and sustaining us in afflictions, is the pledge that the redemption is yet to be wholly ours. Unto the praise of his glory - see Eph 1:6.