What is the Holy Spirit called in Ephesians 1:14 and what does that title mean?
In Ephesians 1:14 the Holy Spirit is called “the earnest,” or “the down payment, of our inheritance.” That title means the Spirit is given as the down payment of the believer’s inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased possession, when even the physical body will yet be redeemed.
Les teaches from Ephesians 1:13–14 that after a person hears the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, and believes, he is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Paul calls that Spirit “the earnest,” or “the down payment, of our inheritance,” until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Les explains that the believer is already redeemed in soul and spirit, but the body is not yet redeemed; it remains in the flesh and is still prone to the same pain, accidents, and sin as the unbeliever. The Spirit as the down payment assures that even this physical body will be fully redeemed, though at death the soul and spirit will have to be separated from it.
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.