Charles Hodge on Ephesians 1:14

V. 14. This Spirit is ὁ ἀῤῥαβὼν τῆς κληρονομίας ἡμῶν, the earnest of our inheritance. It is at once the foretaste and the pledge of all that is laid up for the believer in heaven. The word ἀῤῥαβὼν is a Hebrew term which passed first into the Greek and then into the Latin vocabulary, retaining its original sense. It means first, a part of the price of any thing purchased, paid, as a security for the full payment, and then more generally a pledge. It occurs three times in reference to the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, 2 Cor. 1, 22. 5, 5; and in the passage before us. In the same sense the Scriptures speak of "the first fruits of the Spirit," Rom. 8, 23. Those influences of the Spirit which believers now enjoy are at once a prelibation or antepast of future blessedness, the same in kind though immeasurably less in degree; and a pledge of the certain enjoyment of that blessedness. Just as the first fruits were a part of the harvest, and an earnest of its ingathering. It is because the Spirit is an earnest of our inheritance, that his indwelling is a seal. It assures those in whom he dwells of their salvation, and renders that salvation certain. Hence it is a most precious gift to be most religiously cherished.

Until the redemption of the purchased possession, εἰς ἀπολύτρωσιν τῆς περιποιήσεως. It is doubtful whether these words should be connected with the preceding clause or with the words were sealed in the 13th verse. Our translators have adopted the former method. ‘The Spirit is an earnest until the redemption,’ &c. The latter, however, is perhaps on the whole preferable. ‘Ye were sealed until, or in reference to, the redemption,’ &c. This view is sustained by a comparison with 4, 30, where it is said: ‘Ye were sealed unto the day of redemption.’

The word redemption, in its Christian sense, sometimes means that deliverance from the curse of the law and restoration to the favour of God, of which believers are in this life the subjects. Sometimes it refers to that final deliverance from all evil, which is to take a place at the second advent of Christ. Thus in Luke 21, 28, "They shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory; . . . . then lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." Rom. 8, 23. Eph. 4, 30. There can be no doubt that it here refers to this final deliverance.

The word rendered purchased possession, is περιποίησις; which means either the act of acquiring, or, the thing acquired. If the former signification be adopted here, the word can only be taken as a participial qualification of the preceding word. ‘The redemption of acquisition,’ for ‘acquired or purchased redemption.’ But this is unnatural. Redemption in itself includes the idea of purchased deliverance. ‘Purchased redemption’ is therefore tautological. If the word be taken for ‘the thing acquired,’ then it may refer to heaven, or the inheritance here spoken of. But heaven is never said to be redeemed. It is therefore most naturally understood of God’s people. They are his possession, his peculium. They are in 1 Pet. 2, 9 called λαὸς εἰς περιποίησιν, a peculiar people. And in Mal. 3, 17 it is said, They shall be to me for a possession, ἔσονταί μοι εἰς περιποίησιν. Comp. Acts 20, 28, ἐκκλησία ἣν περιεποιήσατο. This interpretation is, therefore, peculiarly suited to the scriptural usage, and the sense is perfectly appropriate. Ye are sealed, says the apostle, until the redemption of God’s peculiar people; i. e. unto the great day of redemption spoken of in 4, 30.

Unto the praise of his glory, i. e. that his glory or excellence should be praised. Comp. vs. 6 and 12. This is the end both of the final redemption and of the present acceptance of believers. This clause, therefore, is to be referred to the whole of the preceding passage. Ye have received an inheritance, have been sealed, and have received the Holy Spirit as an earnest, in order that God may be glorified. This is the last and highest end of redemption.