Earnest of Our Inheritance

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: 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.” Ephesians 1:13-14

The word “inherit” means to takes possession of as a right; to receive something, property, money, possessions by legal successsion or bequest after the previous owners death.

An inheritance is something that you receive, usually after someone’s death. When someone passes away, most times the possessions of the deceased are given to their children or relatives. 

In our verses above, it talks about the “earnest” of our inheritance. Earnest, as used in this verse, means “something of value given by a buyer to a seller to bind a bargain; a token of what is to come.”

Someone might want to buy a car from someone, but at the moment they might not have the total amount of money available. But what they can do is pay a small part of the purchase price to ensure that they will get it someday. That is called putting earnest money down.

In many larger retail stores, they have a service called “layaway.” Layaway allows people to have the store hold onto an item until they have enough money to fully purchase it. This is especially common around Christmas time. Someone might find something in October that they would like to give as a gift at Christmas, so they can pay for part of that item and the store will hold onto it until the person can pay for it in full. The person will receive a receipt or piece of paper that shows that the item is theirs, and they will be able to pick it up soon. That receipt is kind of like “earnest” of their purchase. They have a little piece of it.

They don’t have it fully yet, but someday they will.

When a person receives the Holy Spirit, that is kind of like having something put on layaway. We are all waiting for the day that we can enter into the Kingdom of God. We are not there yet, but we can receive the Holy Spirit right now, a “receipt” until we receive the entire thing.

“Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” 2 Corinthians 1:22

Eternal life and the kingdom of Heaven is the inheritance for Christians. It is what is waiting for them once they die and go to be with the Lord. Until then we have what Paul described as the “earnest” of their inheritance, which is the Holy Spirit.

We can be assured that we have eternal life.

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:13

The Holy Spirit is like a plane ticket to Heaven. We haven’t left for Heaven yet, but we have that ticket that gives us a seat in that plane. Until that day, we patiently wait.

In Christ,

Andrew