The Deposit of the Holy Spirit

Something about digital, instant transactions feels less weighty than handing someone a wrinkled twenty.

I’m still getting used to “Hey, can I Venmo that to you?” when a friend wants to reimburse me. And I find myself resisting tap-to-pay. It feels too easy. Almost unreal...

Did I really just spend money?

Have you ever had that sensation?

And it comes down to the redeeming value of what we’re spending our money on. The larger the value, the more real it should feel. You don’t tap to pay or Venmo your way into buying a car (or at least I don’t think you can). You expect to sift through pages of official documents and signing things all before paying.

Redemption’s Value

Now apply this to spiritual redemption. The cost of our salvation, the very blood of Jesus, is so tangible and weighty. It’s gripping and holy in how it dealt with sin. It is the highest selfless act of love to redeem humankind back to God.

Jesus couldn’t “tap to pay” the debt of sin. He had to experience the cross with every fiber of his being.

And Jesus’s act of love sparked the greatest investment in humanity: His Holy Spirit.

A Life-Changing Deposit

And like how we put a down-payment on a house or car, Christ placed a down payment on those who have received the Holy Spirit...

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV)

Paul is totally using First Century financial terms to explain the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. I imagine an ancient document, noting the downpayment, folded or rolled up. A merchant drips hot wax onto the overlapping pages, quickly impressing her seal and marking the transaction with the words, “It is finished.”

But Paul doesn’t stop with a one-time transaction. Rather, the Holy Spirit is the “deposit guaranteeing our inheritance” down the road. The New Testament writers view salvation as...

• finished by Christ
• the on-going process of sanctification
• the final act when Christ returns to restore all things.

And Jesus’s act of love sparked the greatest investment in humanity: His Holy Spirit.

Until Christ returns, the Holy Spirit is your downpayment that guarantees the redemption of your body at the Resurrection. Your surety of God’s mercy. Your seal declaring, “I belong to the Lord!”

Praise God that through Christ, the debt of sin has been wiped clean. And praise God He has given us a guarantee of our full salvation through the Holy Spirit.