Bible writers love word pictures. They use analogies, metaphors, and parables to help us understand complex topics; e.g. “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed” (Matt. 13:31, NET) and “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps. 23:1, NET). One of the analogies that we might overlook in English because of translation choices is the description of the Holy Spirit as a down payment.
Many of us who grew up in a church are familiar with the King James Version. We might even have been told it’s the only good translation. One of the issues with that version, though, is that the English language in it dates from 1611. The way that we use English has changed over the centuries, including some word meanings (just ask any high schooler who’s been made to read Shakespeare). Some of the words that were a good choice for translating a specific Hebrew or Greek word in the early 17th century have changed meanings enough that they are now a meaningless or inaccurate translation.
In 2 Corinthians 1:22 and 5:5, and Ephesians 1:14, the Holy Spirit is described as “the earnest.” Currently, that word primarily means “characterized by or proceeding from an intense and serious state of mind” (Merriam-Webster). That meaning did exist as early as the 14th century, but around the 15th century it also came to mean the “portion of something given or done in advance as a pledge” (Etymonline). It is this second, now mostly obsolete, meaning that the KJV translators had in mind when they translated the Greek word arrhabon (G728 ἀρραβών).
Pledges and Payments
Thayer’s dictionary defines arrhabon as “an earnest, i. e. money which in purchases is given as a pledge that the full amount will subsequently be paid.” It is used “for the gift of the Holy Spirit, comprising as it does … both a foretaste and a pledge of future blessedness.” Zodhiates’s dictionary says much the same thing, defining arrhabon as “something which stands for part of the price and paid beforehand to confirm the transaction. Used in the NT only in a figurative sense and spoken of the Holy Spirit which God has given to believers in this present life to assure them of their future and eternal inheritance” (entry 728). We know that God cannot lie about His promises. His nature is a guarantee of that, but He also gives us another pledge–the Holy Spirit–as a down payment on what He promises.
The Greek word arrhabon (G728 ἀρραβών) is derived from the Hebrew word arabon (עָרַב H6162). The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT) points out that this “is one of the few Semitic words which have entered Western languages … . In the NT, arrabon is used of the Holy Spirit who is the ‘pledge of our inheritance'” (entry 1686b). Though this specific Hebrew word is only used in Genesis 38 to describe the pledges Judah gave Tamar (Gen. 28:17-18, 20), the root word and synonyms appear in other places. The TWOT writers point out that “the desire for God himself as one’s ‘security’ is an OT hope. Hezekiah, twittering and moaning like a bird, said: ‘My eyes look wistfully to the heights; / O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security’ (Isa. 38:14, NASB) … . Similarly, Job pleads with Yahweh: ‘Lay down, now, a pledge for me with Thyself; / Who is there that will be my guarantor?’ (Job 17:3).” We want God to be someone we can rely on when He makes a bargain, contract, or covenant with us. And He is.
Sureties for the Future
Let’s take a closer look at the three verses that describe the Holy Spirit as arrhabon. Two are in 2 Corinthians. Near the beginning of this letter, Paul talked about his plans to visit the congregation. He thought it through and was not vacillating between “yes” and “no” like someone unreliable. Similarly, the message that Paul preached was not contradictory, but full of hope and assurance.
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one who was proclaimed among you by us—by me and Silvanus and Timothy—was not “Yes” and “No,” but it has always been “Yes” in him. For every one of God’s promises are “Yes” in him; therefore also through him the “Amen” is spoken, to the glory we give to God. But it is God who establishes us together with you in Christ and who anointed us, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.
2 Corinthians 1:19-22, NET
God is trustworthy. That’s something which is easy to know intellectually, but harder to make part of our daily lives. I suspect that if we fully understood His faithfulness, it would be nearly impossible to feel worry and doubt. A big part of what the Holy Spirit inside us does is reassure us of God’s presence, reliability, and attention (click here for an article on how the Bible talks about the Holy Spirit). With God indwelling and transforming us through His spirit, we are taking steps every day toward the future that He has promised us.
For we know that if our earthly house, the tent we live in, is dismantled, we have a building from God, a house not built by human hands, that is eternal in the heavens. … Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord—for we live by faith, not by sight. Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him.
2 Corinthians 5:1, 5-9, NET
We have received many blessings from God already, but the fullness of His promises have not yet been delivered to us. John touches on this topic in some of his writings as well, saying that “we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed” (1 John 3:2, NET; see 1 John 3:1-3). God has already adopted us into His family, but we do not yet share in the God-family’s spirit nature. After Jesus’s return, then God’s faithful followers will be transformed to become like Him.
Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Christ. For he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. He did this by predestining us to adoption as his legal heirs through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will … And when you heard the word of truth (the gospel of your salvation)—when you believed in Christ—you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit, who is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:3-5, 13-14, NET
One of the ways we can be certain that God will keep His promise to give us eternal life is because we have already received the Holy Spirit as His down payment on that inheritance. It is incredible that God chooses to share His nature with us and dwell inside us, even while we are still human beings. The down payment of the Holy Spirit is empowering, reassuring, and transformational.
If you liked this post and want to read more, I recommend “What Does It Mean For Each of Us That God Is A Family?” and “Three Ways to Join A Family.”
Featured image by Anggie from Lightstock
Song Recommendation: “Trust His Hands” by Jean Watson
Like An Anchor 