An engagement ring is meant to be a token of your serious intention to be married. It signifies your betrothal, or promise, to be wed. The modern Greek word for engagement ring is arrabon. It denotes a first installment, a pledge, part of the purchase price paid in advance which secures the legal claim to the person or the property under contract, and obliges the contracting party to pay the rest. This is the word, and the sense, that Paul uses of the Holy Spirit, given to us when we first believe. Believing in Christ, being a Christian, living a Christian life, is not just a matter of the human will - it is not something that we do on our own - it involves the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit we could not believe the gospel, or change our lives for the better, or follow Jesus.

"And you also were included in Christ, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing [arrabon] our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory." (Eph.1:13,14 NIV)

"And you too trusted him, when you had heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. And after you gave your confidence to him you were, so to speak, stamped with the promised Holy Spirit as a guarantee of purchase [arrabon], until the day when God completes the redemption of what he has paid for as his own; and that will again be to the praise of his glory." (J.B. Phillips)

Paul outlines the process, the three stages, by which we are redeemed by Christ - by which we become one with Christ - by which we become followers of Christ and live to the praise of his glory.

The first stage is when we hear the message of the gospel of salvation. It rings true to us. It speaks of the truth of the human condition - of our condition. We discover our need and God's provision for that need in Christ. We hear about sin and forgiveness. We hear about the love of God for us. We hear about the need for repentance - of being convicted of our sins and being prepared to change our ways - a change of heart and mind. We hear about the Cross and Christ dying for our sins. We hear about the gift of eternal life. We hear about the resurrection and the life. We hear about the promise of Christ to be with us forever. We hear about the coming of the Holy Spirit to give us the power to become new people in his kingdom. We hear about the kingdom of God - a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy. We hear about what Jesus did, and what he promises to do for all people who turn to him. We hear about how he delivered people from evil and healed the sick. We hear that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life - that he is the only way to the Father. We hear that Jesus has come to seek out the lost and to bring them home to the Father. What do we do with what we hear with our outward ears? We can hear the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation and do nothing about it. Jesus said of his listeners: "they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding, otherwise they might turn and be forgiven." (Mark 4:12)

The second stage is when we believe what we hear. We trust in the truth of what we hear. We give our confidence to Christ. We acknowledge him to be our Lord. We open ourselves to God. When we do so, we receive Christ into our hearts, i.e. we receive his Spirit, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ and his Father into the center of our being. We are marked by Christ with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit - stamped with the name and the character of Christ. We become betrothed to Christ. We receive the first installment of God's presence and power. We enter into a new relationship with God. We are born again into a new identity. We are 'in Christ.' "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Cor.5:17) We are no longer a free agent, unconnected or uncommitted, on our own. We have become betrothed, beloved, pledged to Christ. Our future has changed. We now look forward with anticipation to a new career, a new vocation, a new destiny. There is an excitement, a delight in our new status. We are Christ's own treasured possession on whom he showers his love and affection. "God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given us." (Rom.5:5) We are filled with joy at the prospect of life with our lover. We are baptized by the Holy Spirit, filled with the Holy Spirit, and given spiritual gifts and graces to complete our heavenly trousseau. "He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.... My lover is mine and I am his." (Song 2:4,16) But we can believe and yet doubt the promises. We can fail to have assurance of our future salvation or the filling of the Spirit.

The third stage is when the Holy Spirit guarantees our inheritance, the completion of our redemption - the assurance that the engagement will not be broken off - the wedding will take place - that we will receive the fulfillment of the promise. ""Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit [arrabon], guaranteeing what is to come." (2 Cor. 1:22) In this life there will be many times we doubt that the promises will come true. There are many times we wonder whether the wedding will take place - whether all that we heard is true and real - that Christ will come and take us to himself. We wonder sometimes whether the bridegroom will come for us - whether eternal life and heaven and resurrection are real? When we get discouraged and fearful and anxious about tomorrow, the Holy Spirit gives us reassurance. "Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit [arrabon], guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident..." (2 Cor.5:5) The Spirit in our lives is God's pledge that we shall receive new, spiritual bodies in the resurrection. We will be "as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband." (Rev.21:2) Now the Spirit is God's pledge guaranteeing our eternal inheritance until the future brings the total redemption of those who are God's beloved possession. The Holy Spirit assures us that our names are already written in heaven, for our salvation was purchased by the blood of Christ on the Cross. We are sealed in his name. "I will never blot out his name from the book of life." (Rev.3:5) Hallelujah.

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