Ephesians 1:14

Which is the earnest of our inheritance,.... The incorruptible and never fading one in heaven, or the heavenly kingdom; this is the Father's gift, his bequest, and belongs only to children; it comes

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Which is the earnest of our inheritance: the Spirit, given to and dwelling in believers by his gifts and graces, is the earnest or pledge whereby their inheritance is secured to them; as men are secured the payment of a promised sum, by a part given beforehand in earnest for the rest. Until the redemption of the purchased possession; either: 1. The redemption of the possession is put for the possessing of the redemption, (by an hypallage), viz. full and final redemption from sin, and death, and hell, and Satan; which redemption though perfectly wrought by Christ, is but in part applied in this life, and is to be fully enjoyed in the other: or rather: 2. (Though to the same sense), To the full and final redemption in the end of the world, of all God’ s people, who are here called his purchased possession: see the same word so taken, . Unto the praise of his glory; the final salvation and complete redemption of God’ s people, will be especially for the glory of God, .

14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Ver. 14. Which is the earnest] Not the pawn, but the earnest, Quia pignus redditur, arrha retinetur, saith Jerome. A pawn is to be returned again, but an earnest is part of the whole sum, and assures it. We here have eternal life, 1. In pretio; In reward, 2. In promisso; In promise, 3. In primitiis, In the firstfruits.

(14) Which is the earnest of our inheritance.—On the word “earnest” (arrhabôn), a precious gift, as surety for a fuller gift hereafter, see 2 Corinthians 1:22. The word “inheritance” has a correspondent meaning. It is a present possession (as in Acts 7:5), which shall be developed into a more precious future. “We are very members, incorporate in the mystical body of Christ, and also heirs through hope of His everlasting kingdom.” Until the redemption of the purchased possession.—The “redemption” here is the complete and final salvation from sin and death (as in Romans 8:23). The original word here rendered “purchased possession” properly means “the act of purchase or acquisition,” and is so used in 1 Thessalonians 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:14; Hebrews 10:39. But it seems clear that it is here used (in the sense of our version) with that confusion of idea, common in English, though rare in Greek, under which the result of an action is understood instead of the action itself, so that the word “purchases” is used for “things purchased,” “acquisitions” for “things acquired” and the like. The transition is marked in relation to this same word in Malachi 3:17; 1 Peter 2:9, where the Israelites are spoken of as “a people for acquisition,” that is, as a people acquired or purchased.

Verse 14. Which is the earnest of our inheritance] This Holy Spirit, sealing the soul with truth and righteousness, is the earnest, foretaste, and pledge of the heavenly inheritance. And he who can produce this earnest - this witness of the Spirit, in the day of judgment, shall have an abundant entrance into the holiest. On the αρραβων, or earnest, See Clarke on Genesis 38:13, c., and 2 Corinthians 1:22. The redemption of the purchased possession] That is, till the time when body and soul are redeemed from all their miseries, and glorified in the kingdom on heaven. The redemption of the purchased possession - απολυτρωσιςτηςπεριποιησεως is variously understood and indeed the original is variously translated. Dr. Whitby has observed that the verb πεειποιεις signifies to save alive; and he refers the περιποιησις, here, to the redemption of the body from corruption, and to its final glorification with the soul. All those who believe in Christ Jesus are considered as his peculiar people and property, and to them eternal glory is promised. The Spirit of promise, which is given them, is a pledge that they shall have a resurrection from the dead, and eternal blessedness; the redemption, or bringing to life of the body, cannot take place till the day of judgment, but the Holy Spirit promises this redemption, and is now in their hearts an earnest or pledge of this complete restoration at the great day, which will then be, in an especial manner, to the praise of his glory, viz. of Christ, who has bought them by his blood.

14. the earnest] The Gr. word is arrhabτn. It appears in the LXX. (only in Genesis 38:17-18; Genesis 38:20); in the later Greek classics (e.g. Aristotle); and in the Latin classics. It is Shemitic (Heb. ’κrβbhτn, Genesis 38) by derivation. See further, Additional Note, p. 164. It probably reached the Greeks and Latins through the (Shemitic) Phenician traders. By derivation it has to do with exchange, and so first means a pledge (the word used here by the ancient Latin versions) to be exchanged between two parties to an agreement—first given, then on fulfilment returned. But usage brought it to the kindred meaning of an earnest; a part of a price, given as a tangible promise of the payment of the whole in time. Thus it is defined by the Greek lexicographers. It was used for the bridegroom’s betrothal-gifts to the bride; a case exactly in point here. In ecclesiastical Latin, prose and verse, it appears usually in the shortened form arra. It survives in the French arrhes, the money paid to strike a bargain.—Arrhβbτn occurs elsewhere in N. T. 2 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:5. There, as here, it denotes the gifts of the Holy Spirit given to the saints, as the part-payment of their coming “weight of glory,” the inmost essence of which is the complete attainment (1 John 3:2) of that likeness to their Lord which the Spirit begins and developes here (2 Corinthians 3:18). A kindred expression is “the firstfruits of the Spirit,” Romans 8:23, where see note in this Series.our inheritance] The “enjoyment fully for ever” of God in Christ; the final Canaan of the true Israel, His “heirs” because His children (Romans 8:17).until] Better, perhaps (as the more usual meaning of the Gr.), unto; with a view to; as the spiritual means to the glorious end.redemption] See note on Ephesians 1:7, and on Romans 8:23. The saints already “have redemption,” in the radical sense of Acceptance, rescue from condemnation into sonship. But they still look forward to redemption, in the developed sense of actual emancipation from the last effects of sin, which is to come when the body is glorified along with the spirit.the purchased possession] The R. V. renders “God’s own possession.” “Purchased” is an idea not necessary to the Gr. noun (though such passages as Acts 20:28 readily suggest it as a kindred idea here), which denotes simply “acquisition,” however made.—The explanatory word “God” is doubtless a true interpretation.—The noun is the same as that in 1 Peter 2:9, where “peculiar” means (literally from the Gr.) “intended for (His) personal property”. Thus the thought here is not of “glory” as the “property” of the saints, but of the saints, the Church, the New Israel (cp. Exodus 19:5; Psalms 135:4), as the property of God, to be hereafter actually “bought back” from the grave for His eternal use and pleasure.unto the praise of His glory] Cp. note on Ephesians 1:12.

Which is the earnest of our inheritance - On the meaning of this, see the notes at 2 Corinthians 1:22. Until the redemption - see the notes at Romans 8:23.

14. The earnest—See note, 2 Corinthians 1:20. The blessed Spirit is a first instalment, a small portion, of our inheritance already given us to assure us that it will be finally bestowed in fulness.