“that mortality may be swallowed up by life”(2 Cor. 5:4b, NJKV)
In the previous teaching we noted that the traditional feast of Pentecost points to the Holy Spirit’s first fruits (Ex. 34:22; Rom. 8:23) in the new covenant, but that it is only a part of our inheritance in God with which we have been sealed (2 Cor. 1:22; 2 Cor. 5:5), a type of guarantee, to keep us until we can stand within our full heritage.
The term guarantee, which is the Greek arrhabōn, is only found three times in the New Testament. In 2 Cor. 5:5 we read that “He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee”. It becomes clear that the Spirit of the Lord that believers receive when they become born-again is only a “pledge” (ACV), a “down payment” (CAB), a “deposit” (ABP), a “witness” (BBE), “the first payment” (ERV), “a foretaste” (WNT) or “the first installment” (WMSMT). The KJV translates the Greek word as earnest, which Webster defines as: “that which is in advance, and gives promise of something to come”. It is clear that the Holy Spirit is only ONE facet of the seven-fold Spirit of God – we are STILL WAITING FOR the full seven-fold Spirit!
In the preceding verse 4 it is clear that the guarantee of the Holy Spirit does indeed empower believers in many ways, but that the fullness of the seven-fold Spirit will lead to mortality being “swallowed up by life”, that which the glorious new revelation of Day 1501-1503 presented! We need to understand that the seven-fold Spirit is the mechanism through which God “gathers together in one all things in Christ” in “the dispensation of the fulness of the times.” (Eph. 1:10).
The second verse in which the term guarantee is found, is Eph. 1:14. Note the clear progression that is presented from verse 13 onwards: “after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation (FIRST DIMENSION); in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (SECOND DIMENSION), who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory (= gospel of glory, THIRD DIMENSION).”
In 2 Cor. 1:21-22 the term is used a third time: “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” From this it’s clear that the anointing in Christ already took place when we became born again (Gal. 3:16), with the Spirit as promise and the seven-fold Spirit as eventual culmination of the fullness of our heritage. The seven-fold Spirit is finally “the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23)!
When “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” you will be “rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God”. This revelation leads to far more than “we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Eph. 3:17-20). Christ is this power of God (1 Cor. 1:24), which is made manifest through the seven-fold Spirit!
- Selah: Explain the difference between the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ to someone.
- Read: 11-12; Hos. 1
- Memorise: 12:2-4 (how beautifully these verses link to today’s teaching!)
