In this message we shall continue to consider the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity in 2 Corinthians. This dispensing issues in the maturity of life and constitution of ministry.
In 1:21 Paul says, “But He who firmly attaches us with you unto Christ and has anointed us is God.” Christ is the anointed One. Therefore, to be firmly attached to Christ is to be firmly attached to the anointed One. As the anointed One, Christ has the abundance of the rich Spirit, for He has been anointed by the compound Spirit. Now He is the Christ full of the Spirit, full of the ointment, and God has attached us all to Him.
The apostles, who preached Christ according to God’s promises and lived Christ according to their preaching, and the believers, who received Christ according to the apostles’ preaching, are joined to Christ. Because we have been joined to Christ, we have become one with Him, through whom we say Amen before God to the great Yes of God’s promises, which is Christ Himself. But it is not of the apostles and believers themselves that they have been attached to Christ; it is of God who firmly attaches them all together to Christ. Their being one with Christ is of God and by God, not of themselves and by themselves.
The Greek word rendered “firmly attaches” literally means establishes. This word can also be rendered “firmly connects with.” God establishes the apostles with the believers in Christ. This means that God attaches the apostles together with the believers unto Christ, connecting the apostles and the believers to Christ, the anointed One. Hence, the apostles and the believers are one not only with Christ the anointed One, but also with one another, sharing together the anointing of Christ, which He has received of God.
In 1:21 we see that the One who firmly attaches us to Christ has also anointed us. Because we have been attached by God to Christ, the anointed One, we are spontaneously anointed with Him by God. We all have been attached to Christ. As electricity is connected to a building, we all have been connected to Christ. When we were saved, we were attached, connected, to Him. Do you know why we are sometimes beside ourselves with joy in the Lord? It is because we have been attached to Christ, and because we have been attached to Him, we are also anointed. Christ is an anointed Person, a Person fully “painted” with the divine paint. Whenever we contact Him, we are anointed, “painted” with Him.
In 1:22 Paul goes on to say that God “has also sealed us and given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.” The anointing in verse 21 is the sealing. Because God has anointed us with Christ, He has also sealed us in Him. To be sealed with the Holy Spirit means to be marked with the Holy Spirit as a living seal. At the time we were saved, God put His Holy Spirit into us as a seal to mark us out, indicating that we belong to God. The Holy Spirit, who is God Himself entering into us, causes us to bear God’s image signified by the seal, thus making us like God.
In verse 22 Paul also says that God has given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts. The pledge of the Spirit is the Spirit Himself as the pledge. Sealing is a mark that we are God’s inheritance, God’s possession. The pledge is a guarantee that God is our inheritance or heritage belonging to us. The Spirit within us is the pledge, an earnest of God being our portion in Christ.
The Greek word rendered “pledge” also means a foretaste, guarantee, token down payment guaranteeing the full payment, a partial payment in advance. Because we are God’s inheritance, the Holy Spirit is a seal upon us. Because God is our inheritance, the Holy Spirit is a pledge of this inheritance to us. God gives His Holy Spirit to us not only as a guarantee of our inheritance, securing our heritage, but also as a foretaste of what we shall inherit of God. This affords us a taste beforehand of the full inheritance that is coming.
In the purchase of land in ancient times, the seller would give the buyer some soil from that land as a sample. This sample was called by the Greek word for pledge. Hence, according to ancient Greek usage, a pledge is also a sample. The Holy Spirit is the sample of what we shall inherit of God in full.
God’s attaching us to Christ issues in three things: an anointing that imparts God’s elements into us, a sealing that forms the divine elements into an impression to express God’s image, and a pledging that gives us a foretaste as a sample and guarantee of the full taste of God. Through these three experiences of the anointing Spirit, along with the experience of the cross, the ministry of Christ is produced and constituted.
In 1:22 Paul tells us that the pledge of the Spirit is in our hearts. Because this pledge is in our hearts, it becomes part of our consciousness. Now we may be conscious of the fact that the Spirit is within us as a pledge.
The Spirit as the earnest of God being our portion is a foretaste to us. Hence, Paul says that He is in our hearts. Romans 5:5 and Galatians 4:6 refer to the matter of love. Hence, they speak of the Spirit in our heart. But Romans 8:16 refers to the work of the Spirit, because this verse says that the Spirit witnesses with our spirit. Our heart is a loving organ, but our spirit is a working organ.