The Holy Spirit as Earnest Money

Scripture — 2 Corinthians 5:4-5 (NRSV)

For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Devotion

When my family and I moved to Texas from California in 2007, we began looking to buy a home. Our realtor, Pete, asked us about how much earnest money we planned to pay. I told Pete I was not familiar with the phrase “earnest money.” He explained that earnest money was offered to the seller of a house by a potential buyer as a show of good faith. If the buyer went through with the sale, then the earnest money would be counted toward the purchase amount. If the buyer backed out of the sale after the option period and didn’t have good reason for doing so (such as a failed home inspection), the seller would usually keep the earnest money. So, earnest money vouched for the good intentions of the buyer and guaranteed that the buyer would follow through on the sale.

I would suggest that the Holy Spirit is rather like earnest money. We see this in 2 Corinthians 5:4-5. Verse 4 speaks of the time when, in God’s future, our mortal bodies will be “swallowed up by life.” In that age we will be more fully alive than we have been during our mortal existence. Verse 5 adds, “He who prepared us for this very thing in God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.” The presence of the Spirit in our lives guarantees that the promise of becoming fully alive is something we can count on. The Spirit is God’s “earnest money,” so to speak.

The Greek word I’m translating with “earnest money” is arrabōn. Modern English Bible translations of arrabōn render it with “guarantee” (NRSV, NLT, ESV), “down payment” (CEB), “deposit, guaranteeing” (NIV), or “a taste of what’s ahead” (Message). The classic King James Version, however, goes with “the earnest of the Spirit.” Plus, if you look up arrabōn in the standard lexicon of ancient Greek you find “earnest-money, deposit, pledge, earnest” (LSJ).

Why might “earnest money” be a better translation of arrabōn than “down payment”? When you pay a down payment as part of the closing of a sale of a house, you get to move into the house at that time. When you pay earnest money, however, you’re making a promise and a guarantee, but you don’t get to live in the house yet. That comes later on.

So it is with the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit in our lives is God’s guarantee that, when the time comes, we’ll be swallowed up by life. We’ll enter into the fullness of life in the age to come, or what we usually call Heaven. But we don’t get to experience this fully right now. We don’t get to move into the house yet, so to speak. That will happen later when earth and heaven are made new and God dwells among us (Revelation 21). In the meanwhile, the presence of the Holy Spirit “is a pledge [arrabōn] of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:14).

In this mortal life we will struggle and suffer. We will experience life mixed with death. Ultimately, our bodies will die. But beyond death we will enter into the fullness of life. Our bodies will no longer be temporary “tents” but eternal “buildings” (2 Corinthians 5:1-2). Our “perishable” bodies will put on “imperishability” and our “mortal” bodies will put on “immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:53). That sounds marvelous, but we may wonder if this is really going to happen or if it’s just wishful thinking. 2 Corinthians 5:5 shows that the Holy Spirit supplies God’s response to our wondering. The Spirit reassures us of the future we have in God.

If you’re someone who has had dramatic experiences of the Spirit’s presence and power, then you’re apt to be readily reassured of your future. But even if you can’t point to obviously miraculous works of the Spirit in your life, if you’re a Christian you have surely experienced the Spirit’s influence. Think of times when you were trying to understand a difficult passage of Scripture. Suddenly you grasped the truth. That was a gift from the Spirit. Or, if you are growing in the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – then you have evidence of the Spirit’s activity within you. Or if you are engaging in some sort of ministry and have found that your service to people really makes a difference, this also indicates that the Spirit is working in you. Or perhaps you’ve been kind to a colleague at work who is often quite difficult to get along with. This too comes from the Spirit of God.

I could go on and on with examples, but I expect you get the point. Even if you’re not regularly aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life, the fact is that the Spirit is both present and active in you. In response to this Life for Leaders devotion, I would encourage you to set aside some time to reflect on how you have experienced the Holy Spirit. Let this be for you evidence of the “earnest money” God has invested in your life. Yes, the Spirit will help you right now to live more fully. Plus, the Spirit backs up the promise of much fuller and richer life to come.

Banner David Cantelli by Name on Unsplash.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: How Can I Know That My Future With God Is Secure?.

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