The New Testament refers to the pledge of the Spirit three times:
1. God also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge” (2 Cor. 1:22). Here the Spirit’s presence in our lives is God’s pledge that He will fulfill His promise.
2. “Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge” (2 Cor. 5:5). The context here suggests that the Spirit in our lives is God’s pledge that we shall receive spiritual bodies at Christ’s coming.
3. “[The Holy Spirit] 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). Here the Spirit is God’s pledge guaranteeing our inheritance until the future brings the total redemption of those who are God’s possession.
- BILLY GRAHAM