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| The Holy Spirit – Our Down Payment |
| Author: Luke Woodward Entered on: 8/23/2006 |
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| America is a nation of debtors. We live beyond our means and like to spend what we don’t have. We make large purchases and pledge that we will pay the remaining balance after a down payment. Consequently, we are familiar with financial terms in contracts like 'down payment' or 'pledge'. These terms are familiar not only us, but also to those to whom the Apostle Paul wrote. In fact, he often used accounting terms to express the most profound doctrines. Paul uses the term pledge three times in the New Testament with reference to the Holy Spirit being the down payment of God’s purchased possession. ...who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. (2 Cor 1:22) Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. (2 Cor 5:5) ...who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Eph 1:14) What a surprise. Does He who owes us nothing give us a pledge? Does God give us the Holy Spirit as His down payment, though we were once a debtor to Him? The down payment is by grace alone. When we make down payments on vehicles or homes it is of necessity rather than desire. This is not so with God. He makes the payment because He desires to, and follows it through to completion. Since in most of our dealings we are the debtors, we mainly focus on the easy terms of the contract like the down payment and monthly payments, but pay little attention to the fine print. You can be sure the lending party doesn’t share our apathy. On the one hand, they expect full payment and employ lawyers to pour over the contracts to know the terms with exactness, on the other hand, we tend to just ‘sign away’ without reading any of it. But for this transaction the table is turned. We are like the lending party. Because of the down payment of the Holy Spirit we should find great joy in the fine print of the promises in the 'contract' of God's Word. Like lawyers pouring over the fine print, so should we the Scriptures to better understand how the down payment relates to the rest of the promises. Lets consider some of the fine print. 1. We are enabled to make a seller’s disclosure in the gift of repentance. In men’s contracts the sellers disclosure comes before the down payment. God doesn’t need the disclosure up front because he already knows everything about us. He knows the secrets of our hearts and the number of hairs on our head. He is omniscient and knows everything. Nevertheless, he commands and enables us to repent once the payment has been made. In the gift of repentance, with brokenness we make full disclosure of our sinfulness. 2. We are no longer 'on the market'. Once the down payment has been made the purchase has been completed and ownership has changed. We are now sons of the light rather than darkness. We have passed out of death into life. 3. We are given a down payment as assurance. Just as the down payment, title, and deed for your car or home is the surety for the lender, the Holy Spirit is our surety. 4. We have confidence the contract will not be broken. Though our pledges are often broken and the possession forfeited, God would never default on His pledge. He who began a good work in you will complete it at the day of Christ Jesus. How strange this metaphor seems! How difficult to believe in heaven's gifts. We are as the debtor who owed ten thousand talents to the king, yet by grace, not only are we forgiven the debt, we also receive payment from the King. Its all in the fine print. |
