the earnest of our inheritance

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. - Ephesians 1:13,14

This passage realy excited me today. To think! Hearing and believing this good news, I appropriated the third person of the Trinity as a "guaranee" to my eternal inheritance. Let that sink in...

On a wider scale, people all over the globe are hearing and believing this same good news, thereby possessing this same wonderful guarantee as I. What a treasure and encouragement just a couple verses can be to one who is gripped by grace.

Here's part of what John Calvin says on this: "The metaphor is taken from bargains, in which, when a pledge has been given and accepted, the whole is confirmed, and no room is left for a change of mind. Thus, when we have received the Spirit of God, his promises are confirmed to us, and no dread is felt that they will be revoked. In themselves, indeed, the promises of God are not weak; but, until we are supported by the testimony of the Spirit, we never rest upon them with unshaken confidence. The Spirit, then, is the earnest of our inheritance of eternal life, until the redemption, that is, until the day of complete redemption is arrived. So long as we are in this world, our warfare is sustained by hope, and therefore this earnest is necessary; but when the possession itself shall have been obtained, the necessity and use of the earnest will then cease."