The Earnest of Our Inheritance
By Uriah Smith
PAUL, through the brethren at Ephesus, appeals to Christians concerning their blessed hope. “In whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.” Eph. 1: 13, 14. The text speaks of “our inheritance.” This is nothing else than heaven. But this is not something which is purchased by merit, or won by strength or by great attainments of talent or skill. It is ours by birthright, by way of inheritance. The Holy Spirit of promise is the earnest of this inheritance till the redemption of the purchased possession. This “earnest” is more than a pledge, and is of the same nature as the thing of which it is the earnest. A pledge is something which is returned; but an earnest is retained as a part of the thing promised. The possession of the Holy Spirit is the earnest, or foretaste, of the bliss into possession of which it is at last to bring us. When rightly understood, this is calculated to bring us great enjoyment. This Spirit is not the pledge, but the foretaste, of everlasting bliss. The entrance of this Spirit into the soul brings with it the atmosphere of everlasting life. The Spirit abiding in us consecrates us to the same purpose to which we shall be devoted throughout eternity; namely, the service of the Lord God. The Spirit working in us creates the same holiness which is essential to the enjoyment of heaven. The influence of the Spirit over us brings us into the same communion with God which we shall enjoy forever in heaven. The Spirit now being ours, is the same as heaven being ours; it is to our spirit the dawn of glory. Paul speaks of us, in verse 11, as being God’s heritage; in verse 14, as anticipating an inheritance for ourselves. Our hopes are infinite. If by his Spirit God dwells in us now, it is the assurance that we shall dwell in God forever. His Spirit dwells in us here that he may redeem us completely from all sin and infirmity, and raise us up to the power and blessedness of his own divine kingdom. By the words, “the earnest of our inheritance,” the passage teaches that heaven is like the most select moments of devotion that a Christian enjoys on earth. If you wish to know most really and most truly what that rest is that remains for the people of God, think what is the fruit of God’s working in our hearts, then expand these into immortal features of loveliness and perfection. Heaven is the perfecting of the life which the Spirit begins here; and the loftiest attainment of that life here is but the beginning, the infantile movement, of beings not here made perfect. But from the passage we gather some ground with regard to the certainty that we shall ultimately possess the fullness of the inheritance. The true ground of certainty is this: that you have the Spirit in your heart molding and sealing you after its own stamp and image. The Holy Spirit brings many things to us that are earnests, or foretastes, of4the possessions we are to have hereafter. One of the leading features of heaven is “rest.” “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.” Heb. 4:9. But we have this moment this rest in Jesus. How sweet, even in this imperfect state, is this rest! Then what will it be when that which is perfect is come, and that which is in part shall be done away? Here we have communion with saints. And if this is so pleasant now, what must be the joy of that state when we shall know as we are known, and see as we are seen? 1 Cor. 13:10, 13. But with these earnests of the heavenly inheritance, we have also premonitions of threatened loss. Rom. 2:5–10. Ungodly men may pretty clearly guess the outcome of sin, what it will be. Heb. 10:29. There is a great resemblance between the indwelling of the Spirit and the graces which are thereby worked in us. The earnest is a part of the whole sum which is to be paid at the time appointed. So the Spirit and the graces of the Spirit are the beginning of the glorious beings we shall ultimately become, the same in substance, but differing only in degree. The earnest is but a little, as compared with the whole. Twenty shillings is an earnest sufficient to make sure of a hundred pounds. Thus all the grace we have is but a small thing in comparison with the fullness we look forward to, even as the first fruits were but little in comparison to the full harvest. The commentator Paul Bayne says: “An earnest doth assure him that receiveth it of the honest meaning of him with whom he contracteth. So the Spirit and grace we receive from God assure us of his settled purpose of bringing us to his eternal glory.” U. S.