‘Now he who wrought us for this very thing is God, who gave to us the earnest of the Spirit.'

And this glorious future is guaranteed to us because God has fashioned us for this very purpose (Philippians 3:21), working in us to will and to do of His good pleasure in ways beyond our understanding (Philippians 2:13), saving us, and moulding us in His image (Romans 8:29), that He might present us perfect before Him (Colossians 1:22; Ephesians 1:4; Ephesians 4:13; Ephesians 5:27; Hebrews 10:14). And this is all guaranteed to us because we have been given the Spirit as ‘an earnest', a sample and guarantee of the future (compare 2 Corinthians 1:22), His seal on us until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). That is why if any man does not have the Spirit of Christ he is none of His (Romans 8:9). And the Holy Spirit and all He is to us is a foretaste of the glory that one day we shall know.

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