“Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 5:5, KJV)
In the recent financial news, there have been several banks that have collapsed. The first that was reported was the Silicon Valley Bank, SVB. As a result of their difficulties, people began a run on the bank to withdraw their funds. Of course, this created a worsening problem. Most banks, including SVB, have what we know as an FDIC, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, guarantee that a depositor’s funds are safe. The FDIC was created in 1933 during the Great depression to restore people’s faith in the banking system. Today, the FCIC insures up to $250,000 of depositor’s money in participating banks. The money to cover the deposits in the participating banks is not supposed to be provided by the Federal Government but by premiums paid by each member bank into the Deposit Insurance Fund. Thus, those with bank accounts have their funds secured.
People want to know that their valuables are secured and go to great lengths to do so. In the banking system, as mentioned we have FDIC. Right after the Great Depression, many people were burying gold and valuables in their back yards or hiding them in a mattress. When we were doing work in clearing out houses after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, out team discovered a huge pile of one-hundred-dollar bills hidden inside a wall. We found out from the owner that her mother, having lived through the Great Depression, did not trust banks, and apparently stashed the money inside the wall. Everyone wants to feel secure.
In this letter to the church at Corinth, Paul has written about that which sustained him through the various hardships he encountered in the gospel ministry. In the previous verses, he wrote about the glorious imperishable body that every believer would have when the present earthly body perished. After presenting this he indicated that God “hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” The word “earnest,” arrabon, refers to a pledge (Strong G728). The best example we have today would be the initial money deposited in an account to guarantee the remainder in the purchase a home. The English Standard Version translates this word as “guarantee.”
God has given every believer the guarantee of a glorious future. The deposit is the Holy Spirit. He has given us the Spirit as His guarantee that we will inherit the heavenly spiritual body and our place in heaven. Every believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. Paul wrote to the following to the Romans.
“But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:9–11, KJV)
The Holy Spirit is our guarantee that we have inherited all the blessings of eternal life and are guaranteed the future blessings of heaven. We as believers should rest in full assurance of this. We are secure in Christ. Nothing can take that away from us.
Renewing the Heart 