Reply #7: Maybe it's something in the translation. Or maybe it's this... [View All]

[alcuno]

earnest

The Spirit is the earnest of the believer's destined inheritance (2 Cor. 1:22;
5:5; Eph. 1:14). The word thus rendered is the same as that rendered "pledge"
in Gen. 38:17-20; "indeed, the Hebrew word has simply passed into the Greek and
Latin languages, probably through commercial dealings with the Phoenicians, the
great trading people of ancient days. Originally it meant no more than a
pledge; but in common usage it came to denote that particular kind of pledge
which is a part of the full price of an article paid in advance; and as it is
joined with the figure of a seal when applied to the Spirit, it seems to be
used by Paul in this specific sense." The Spirit's gracious presence and
working in believers is a foretaste to them of the blessedness of heaven. God
is graciously pleased to give not only pledges but foretastes of future
blessedness.