Ephesians 1
13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:13, 14, NIV)
The Daily DAVEotional
What do you know about the Holy Spirit? To many Christians, the Holy Spirit remains a mystery. We know He’s important because He’s mentioned along with the Father and the Son as a member of the Holy Trinity. But for many Christians, that’s the extent of their knowledge and understanding of the Holy Spirit.
I mentioned in a previous post how Francis Chan referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Forgotten God”, which was the title of a book he wrote on the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit’s role in the life of the believer is absolutely critical even though many Christians are blissfully unaware of who the Holy Spirit is or what role He plays in their lives.
So who IS the Holy Spirit and what is His role?
I wrote about the nature of the Holy Spirit in my blog post, “Is the Holy Spirit Like the Force in Star Wars?“, in which I demonstrated that the Holy Spirit is God.
I also wrote recently here about two verses in Ephesians that tell us ONE aspect of the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of those who follow Christ, namely that the Holy Spirit functions as a seal.
Closely related to His function as a seal, the Holy Spirit, according to Ephesians 1:14, functions as a deposit.
What exactly does Paul mean when he says that the Holy Spirit is a deposit?
To answer that question, I’ll ask you a different question.
Have you ever taken out a loan for a car or for a home?
If you have, it’s likely that you made a down payment or put down a deposit. Unless of course you paid cash in full for your purchase. If you did that, then Dave Ramsey would be very proud of you.
For most people, having enough cash on hand to buy a car might be possible, but it’s less likely that you are paying cash in full to buy a house. Especially in this market (have you seen the prices of homes lately?)
Anyhow, if you took out a loan for a house or a real nice car, you likely put down a deposit, or a down payment. Also if you’ve ever rented an apartment or a home, you likely put down a deposit to secure the lease.
The deposit has one function – skin in the game. The purpose of a deposit is for you to put a portion of your own hard-earned money into the loan. This gives the lender confidence that you are a responsible borrower and you are more likely to make the payments on the loan.
In the event that you as a borrower fail to make the payments on the loan, you forfeit your deposit. Most borrowers will not want to lose their deposit, especially if it represents a significant amount of money.
This verse says that the Holy Spirit functions like a deposit. The Holy Spirit is given to the believer as a down payment, guaranteeing that God will ultimately deliver on all future salvation promises.
When we make a down payment on a loan, we are promising the lender that we are “good for the balance”. We’re saying that we will make all the payments until the loan is fully paid.
However, even though we may have good intentions. a loan default is still possible. As humans, we don’t always keep our promises. But even though WE may not always fulfill our financial obligations, what are the chances that God will fail to keep His promises related to salvation? ZERO. God cannot default on Himself. It is impossible for Him to be unfaithful.
So when the Bible says that the Holy Spirit is a deposit, it means that everything God has promised us related to our full and future redemption as believers WILL come to pass. You can take that to the bank!
Reflection
Have you ever made a down payment on a loan – for a house or car, or other item? If so, what was it?
Have you, or someone you know ever defaulted on a loan? What were the circumstances?
Have you ever been a renter and not received your full deposit back when you moved out? What were the reasons why you did not get all of your deposit back?
What do you think it means that the Holy Spirit is a deposit, guaranteeing our future redemption as believers?
What is the future redemption that the text speaks about? What exactly is the involved in the future redemption, which the Holy Spirit has secured for us as believer?
Photo by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-photo-of-an-agreement-on-a-paper-7841821/
The Lowedown 