2 Corinthians 1:21

2Co_1:21-22

Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God.

Establishing grace

I. The Christian needs not only converting but establishing grace. He that hath begun any good work in us must perfect it. The weakest with this grace will stand, and the strongest without it will fall.

1. The life of a Christian is a perpetual dependent life. He not only lives by faith in his first conversion, but ever after. He depends upon God for protection and strength throughout his whole course.

2. A Christian, then, should set upon nothing in his own strength (1Sa_2:9). God is all our sufficiency (Pro_3:6). What do we but make ourselves gods, when we set upon business without invocation and dependence?

3. Let God, therefore, have all the glory of our establishing, and depend on Him by prayer for the same. As all comes of His mere grace, so let all return to His mere glory (Psa_115:1).

II. By what means may a Christian obtain this stablishing grace? Labour for fundamental graces. If the root be strengthened, the tree will stand fast.

1. Humiliation. The foundation of religion is very low. Every grace hath a mixture of humility, because they are all dependencies on God.

2. Dependence upon God, considering our own insufficiency.

3. Beg it earnestly of God. Our strength in Him is altogether by prayer. Bind Him, therefore, with His own promise; beseech Him to do unto thee according to His good word. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

Stability

I. The natural character of man with regard to stability, as drawn for us in the scriptures. If you look throughout the Scriptures, you will find instability stamped upon it. The instability of the natural man easily discovers itself. His understanding is not capable of comprehending the things of God; the natural affections of men will not embrace the things of God. It follows, then, very obviously that, while neither the understanding nor the affections take hold of the things of God, men may put on religion for a time, but the corruption of their vitiated nature soon breaks out, and they put off the form of godliness with as much indifference as they put it on. Thus did Saul, who seeks the Lord in his difficulties, but when he receives no answer he turns aside to enchantments. But while man is thus unsteady in the pursuit of that which is good, how determined is he in an evil course, even when the pursuit of it brings labour and toil, he makes light of the difficulty, and presses forward (Isa_57:10). Yet even in doing evil, mans fickleness betrays itself. As the sick man soon loathes one kind of drink, and calls for another, or when his symptoms are more aggravated, desires to be shifted from one couch to another, so the men of this world continually affect endless variety in their gratifications, finding no rest or satisfaction in any one of them. Let not any, therefore, who is stricken with a sense of his own shameful instability in everything good, draw back from closing with the terms of the gospel, and laying bald of the immovable rock of ages. It was for such Christ died, and such being transformed by the renewing of their mind He at last fixes in the firmament of eternal glory.

II. What means God has taken to correct the natural character of man. He has ordained His own Son as the ground and pillar of a building which shall be immovable for ever. But when a man has closed with the Saviour, is he henceforth delivered from all tendency to the fickleness? Not so. Too speedily is he tempted to break his engagement with Him. The operation of the third person in the Godhead is necessary that the goodwill of God towards His people be not defeated. As the jeweller sets the precious diamonds to secure them, even so God by His Holy Spirit secures those who believe by firmly engrafting them into Christ. This operation of the Spirit is expressed in the text in three forms of speech. The first figure is that of anointing. Now the first communications of the Spirit, sweet and fragrant as they are known to be, are well represented by the pouring out of ointment; but as its sweet savour wastes after a time, another figure is employed to represent His continual influence, to show that the savour of this ointment is not lost--that of sealing (1Jn_2:27). There is something to express sweetness; there is something, moreover, to express perpetuity. It may be that your sweet experiences, which you felt, when first you were joined to the Lord, are greatly decayed; but God has given you something more fixed, He is sealing you with His Holy Spirit, and making more abiding impressions upon your souls. The visible impressions of holiness which are discernible in the servants of Christ, and more especially after a season of trial, when after having suffered for a while, they are established, strengthened, settled (1Pe_5:10), are the broad seal by which they are known to be His. The apostle speaks here of another, a privy seal, And hath given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts (2Co_1:22). This is the inward testimony and pledge in the heart by which the children of God know that they have been adopted into His family.

III. What should be the result of the application of these means? If Gods purpose of love to us in Christ be so immovably fixed, and so continually testified by the gifts of the anointing, sealing Spirit, the earnest of our inheritance, there ought to be a corresponding purpose of heart on our part to cleave to Him, there should be no halting between two opinions, no lukewarmness, but an entireness of devotion to Him (Col_2:6-7; Heb_13:9). Whatsoever labours at love you are engaged in turn not back, break not off from them lightly. (H. Verschoyle.)

The anointing which establishes

Notice--

I. The deep source of Christian steadfastness. Anointing is the means of establishing--i.e., God confers steadfastness by bestowing the unction of His Spirit.

1. Notice how deep Paul digs in order to get a foundation for this common virtue.

(1) From beginning to end of Scripture anointing is the symbol of the communication of the Spirit. Note the felicity of the emblem. Oil smoothes the surface, supples the limbs, is nutritive and illuminating, and is thus an appropriate emblem of the secret, silent, quickening, nourishing, enlightening influences of the Spirit.

(2) And inasmuch as here this oil of the Divine Spirit is the true basis of Christian steadfastness, the anointing cannot be consecration to apostolic or other office, but must be the possession of all Christians. Ye, says John, speaking to the whole democracy of the Christian Church, have an unction from the Holy One.

2. This anointing is derived from, and parallel with, Christs anointing. The Christ is the Anointed One. He that establisheth us with you in the Anointed, and hath anointed us, is God. Does not this mean, Each of you, if you are a Christian, is a Christ? You, too, are Gods Messiahs. On you the same Spirit rests in a measure which dwelt without measure in Him, and consequently you are bound to a prolongation of part of His function. Christians are prophets to make God known to men, priests to offer up spiritual sacrifices, and kings over themselves, and over a world which serves those that love God.

3. It is plain, therefore, how this Divine unction lies at the root of steadfastness. We talk a great deal about the gentleness of Christ; but we do not sufficiently mark the masculine features of the Christ who steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and was followed by that wondering group, astonished at the rigidity of purpose that was stamped on His features. That Christ gives us His Spirit to make us inflexible in the pursuit of all that is lovely and of good report, like Himself. We are all too like aneroid barometers, that go up and down with every variation of a foot or two in the level; but if we have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us it will cut the bonds that bind us to the world, and give us a deeper love. The possession of the Spirit sets a man on an isolating stool, and all the currents that move round about him are powerless to reach him, If we have that Spirit within us, it will give us an experience of the certitude and the sweetness of Christs gospel, which will make it impossible to cast away the confidence which has such recompense of reward. When storms are raging they lash light articles on deck to holdfasts. Let us lash ourselves to the abiding Christ, and we, too, shall abide.

II. The aim or purpose of this Christian steadfastness. He stablisheth us with you into or unto Christ. Our steadfastness, made possible by our possession of the Spirit, is steadfastness--

1. In our relation to Jesus Christ. What Paul here means is--

(1) A fixed conviction of the truth that He is the Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and my Saviour.

(2) In regard to Christ of our trust and love. He loves ever; we therefore should be steadfast in our answering love to Him.

(3) Habitual obedience, which is always ready to do His will. So we answer Him Yea! with our Amen! and having an unchanging Christ to rest upon, rest upon Him unchanging. Be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.

2. Such steadfastness has for its result a deeper penetration into Christ and a fuller possession of Him. The only way by which we can grow nearer to our Lord is by steadfastly keeping beside Him. You cannot get the spirit of a landscape unless you sit down and gaze, and let it soak into you. You cannot get to know a man until you live with him. As the branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in Me.

III. The very humble and commonplace sphere in which the Christian steadfastness manifests itself. It was nothing of more importance than that Paul had said he was going to Corinth and did not, on which he brings all this array of great principles to bear. The highest gifts of Gods grace and the greatest truths of Gods Word are meant to regulate the tiniest things in our daily life. It is no degradation to the lightning to have to carry messages. It is no profanation of the sun to gather its rays into a burning-glass to light a kitchen fire with. And it is no unworthy use of the Divine Spirit to say it will keep a man from precipitate decisions as to little things in life, and from changing about without a sufficient reason. If your religion does not influence the trifles, what is it going to influence? Our life is made up of trifles. If your religion does not influence the little things, it will never influence the big ones. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.

2. And you can do no good in the world without steadfastness. Unless a man can hold his own, and turn an obstinate negative to temptation, he will never come to any good at all, either in this life or in the next, and there is only one infallible way of doing it, and that is to let the strong Son of God live in you, and in Him to find your strength for resistance, for obedience, for submission. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The Divine anointing

Messiah signifies anointed. Our nature is enriched in Christ with all graces. He is anointed with the oil of gladness above his fellows that we might have a spring of grace in our own nature, for of His fulness we receive grace for grace.

I. What are those graces which we receive from Christs fulness?

1. The grace of favour and acceptance; for the same love that God bears to Christ, He bears to all His, though not in so high a degree.

2. The grace of sanctification, answerable to the grace of sanctification in Him.

3. The rich privileges and prerogatives that issue to persons sanctified.

II. Why is it called here an anointing? Because, as the holy anointing (Exo_30:31-33), was not to be applied to profane uses, so neither are the graces of the Spirit to be under-valued.

III. What are the virtues of this ointment?

1. It hath a cherishing power; it revives the drooping soul, and cheers a fainting spirit.

2. It hath a strengthening power. It makes our limbs vigorous. So doth grace fortify the soul.

3. Ointment doth excellently delight and refresh our spirits (Joh_12:3). So grace is a wondrous sweet thing, and that which makes a man sweet is grace. This cures our spiritual distempers, beautifying the inner man, and making the whole frame of a Christians carriage sweet and delectable--

(1) To God, who loves the scent of His own grace, wheresoever He finds it.

(2) To angels (Luk_15:10).

(3) To the Church. So far as a man is gracious, he improves his abilities to glorious uses. Grace is offensive to none but to wicked men.

4. An ointment consecrates persons to holy uses. Anointed persons are raised above the ordinary rank. The graces of Gods Spirit elevate men above the condition of others with whom they live. (Psa_105:15).

5. An ointment is a royal liquor. So the graces of Gods Spirit, where they are, will be uppermost, they will guide and govern all. (R. Sibbes, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Co 1:21-22. Now he which stablisheth us — Apostles and teachers; with you — All true believers; in the faith of Christ — Or he who confirms both you and us in the truth; and hath anointed us — With the oil of gladness, with joy in the Holy Ghost; thereby giving us strength both to do and suffer his will: or, he who hath consecrated us to this apostolic office, and endued us with the gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost, thereby qualifying us for it; is God — From whom alone every good and perfect gift cometh. Who hath also sealed us — Stamped his image on our hearts; thus marking and sealing us as his own property. Anciently, seals were used for marking goods, as the property of the person who had put his seal on them, that they might be distinguished from the goods of others. Thus all believers are said to be sealed with the Spirit of promise, or which was promised, (Eph 1:13,) because they are thereby marked as Christ’s property. Thus, likewise, the servants of God are said to be sealed on their foreheads for the same purpose, Rev 7:3; Rev 9:4. The apostles therefore are said to have been sealed of God, because by the sanctifying graces and the extraordinary gifts conferred upon them, they were declared to be both his servants and the apostles of his Son, and could not be suspected either of fraud or falsehood. And given us the earnest of the Spirit — Those sacred communications of his grace, which are the anticipation of our future felicity. There is a difference between an earnest and a pledge. A pledge is to be restored when the debt is paid; but an earnest is not taken away, but completed. Such an earnest is the Spirit; the first-fruits of which true believers have, (Rom 8:23,) and wait for all its fulness. The apostle is thought by some to allude to the custom of hiring servants by giving them earnest-money; as if he had said, He hath hired us to be his servants, and the apostles of his Son, by giving us the Holy Spirit in his gifts and graces. These are called the earnests with which the apostles were hired, because they were to them a sure proof of those far greater blessings which God would bestow on them in the life to come, as the wages of their faithful services. For the same reason all believers are represented as having the earnest of the Spirit given them, 2Co 5:5; Eph 1:14.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2 Corinthians

ANOINTED AND STABLISHED

2Co 1:21.

The connection in which these words occur is a remarkable illustration of the Apostle’s habit of looking at the most trivial things in the light of the highest truths. He had been obliged, as the context informs us, to abandon an intended visit to Corinth. The miserable crew of antagonists, who yelped at his heels all his life, seized this change of purpose as the occasion for a double-barrelled charge. They said he was either fickle and infirm of purpose, or insincere, and saying ‘Yea’ with one side of his mouth and ‘Nay’ with the other. He rebuts this accusation with apparently quite disproportionate vehemence and great solemnity. He points in the context to the faithfulness of God, to the firm Gospel which he had preached, to God’s great ‘Yea!’ as his answer. He says in effect, ‘How could I, with such a word burning in my heart, move in a region of equivocation and double-dealing; or how could I, whose whole being is saturated with so firm and stable a Gospel, be unreliable and fickle? The message must make the messenger like itself. Communion with a faithful God must make faith-keeping men; the certainties of God’s “Yea,” and the certitudes of our “Amen,” must influence our characters.’ And so to suppose that a man, influenced by Christianity, is a weak, double-dealing, unsteadfast man is a contradiction in terms. In the text he carries his argument a step further, and points, not only to the power of the Gospel to steady and confirm, but also to the fact that God Himself communicates to the believing soul Christian stability by the anointing which He bestows.

So, then, we have in these words the declaration that inflexible, immovable steadfastness is a mark of a Christian, and that this Christian steadfastness, without which there is no Christianity worth the naming, is a direct gift from God Himself by means of that great anointing which He confers upon men. To that thought, in one or two of its aspects, I ask your attention.

I. Notice the deep source of this Christian steadfastness.

The language of the original, carefully considered, seems to me to bear this interpretation, that the ‘anointing’ of the second clause is the means of the ‘establishing’ of the first-that is to say, that God confers Christian steadfastness of character by the bestowment of the unction of His Divine Spirit.

Now notice how deep Paul digs in order to get a foundation for a common virtue. There are many ways by which men may cultivate the tenacity and steadfastness of purpose which ought to mark us all. Much discipline may be brought to bear in order to secure that; but the text says that the deepest ground upon which it can be rested is nothing less divine and solemn than this, the actual communication to men, to feeble, vacillating, fluctuating wills, and treacherous, wayward, wandering hearts, of the strength and fixedness which are given by God’s own Spirit.

I suppose I need not remind you that from beginning to end of Scripture, ‘anointing’ is taken as the symbol of the communication of a true divine influence. The oil poured on the head of prophet, priest, and king was but the expression of the communication to the recipient of a divine influence which fitted him as well as designated him, for the office that he filled. And although it is aside from my present purpose, I may just, in a sentence, point to the felicity of the emblem. The flowing oil smoothes the surface upon which it is spread, supples the limbs, and is nutritive and illuminating; thus giving an appropriate emblem of the secret, silent, quickening, nourishing, enlightening influences of that Spirit which God gives to all His sons.

And inasmuch as here this oil of the Divine Spirit is stated as being the true ground and basis of Christian steadfastness, it is obvious that the anointing intended cannot be that of mere designation to, and inspiration for, apostolic or other office, but must be the universal possession of all Christian men and women. ‘Ye,’ says another Apostle, speaking to the whole democracy of the Christian Church, and not to any little group of selected aristocrats therein-’ye have an unction from the Holy One,’ and every man and woman who has a living grasp of the living Christ, receives from Him this great gift.

Then, notice further that this anointing by a Divine Spirit, which is a true source of life to those that possess it, is derived from, and parallel with, Christ’s anointing. We use the word ‘Christ’ as a proper name, and forget what it means. The ‘Christ’ is the Anointed One. And do you think that it was a mere accident, or the result of a scanty vocabulary, which compelled the Apostle, in these two contiguous clauses, to use cognate words when he said:-’He that establisheth us with you in the Anointed, and hath anointed us, is God’ ? Did he not mean to say thereby, ‘Each of you in a very true sense, if you are a Christian, is a Christ’ ? You, too, are anointed; you, too, are God’s Messiahs. On you in a measure the same Spirit rests which dwelt without measure in Him. The chief of Christ’s gifts to the Church is the gift of His own life. All His brethren are anointed with the oil that was poured upon His head, even as the oil upon Aaron’s locks percolated to the very skirts of his garments. Being anointed with the anointing which was on Him, all His people may claim an identity of nature, may hope for an identity of destiny, and are bound to a prolongation of part of His function and a similarity of character. If He by that anointing was made Prophet, Priest, and King for the world, all His children partake of these offices in subordinate but real fashion, and are prophets to make God known to men, priests to offer up spiritual sacrifices, and kings at least over themselves, and, if they will, over a world which obeys and serves those that serve and love God. Ye are anointed-’Messiahs’ and ‘Christs,’ by derivation of the life of Jesus Christ.

And if these things be true, it is plain enough how this divine unction, which is granted to all Christians, lies at the root of steadfastness.

We talk a great deal about the gentleness of Christ; we cannot celebrate it too much, but we may forget that it is the gentleness of strength. We do not sufficiently mark the masculine features in that character, the tremendous tenacity of will, the inflexible fixedness of purpose, the irremovable constancy of obedience in the face of all temptations to the contrary. The figure that rises before us is that of the Christ yearning over weaklings far oftener than it is that of the Christ with knitted brow, and tightened lips, and far-off gazing eye, ‘steadfastly setting His face to go to Jerusalem,’ and followed as He pressed up the rocky road from Jericho, by that wondering group, astonished at the rigidity of purpose that was stamped on His features. That Christ gives us His Spirit to make us tenacious, constant, righteously obstinate, inflexible in the pursuit of all that is lovely and of good report, like Himself. That Divine Spirit will cure the fickleness of our natures; for our wills are never fixed till they are fixed in obedience, and never free until they elect to serve Him. That Divine Spirit will cure the wandering of our hearts and bind us to Himself. It will lift us above the selfish and cowardly dependence on externals and surroundings, men and things, in which we are all tempted to live. We are all too like aneroid barometers, that go up and down with every variation of a foot or two in our level, but if we have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, it will cut the bonds that bind us to the world, and give us possession of a deeper love than can be sustained by, or is derived from, these superficial sources. The true possession of the Divine Spirit, if I might use such a metaphor, sets a man on an insulating stool, and all the currents that move round about him are powerless to reach him. If we have that Divine Spirit within us, it will give us an experience of the preciousness and the truth, the certitude and the sweetness, of Christ’s Gospel, which will make it impossible that we should ever cast away the confidence which has such ‘recompense of reward.’ No man will be surely bound to the truth and person of Christ with bonds that cannot be snapped, except he who in his heart has the knowledge of Him which is possession, and by the gift of the Divine Spirit is knit to Jesus Christ.

So, dear friends, whilst the world is full of wise words about steadfastness, and exalts determination of character and fixity of purpose, rightly, as the basis of much good, our Gospel comes to us poor, light, thistledown creatures, and lets us see how we can be steadfast and settled by being fastened to a steadfast and settled Christ. When storms are raging they lash light articles on deck to holdfasts. Let us lash ourselves to the abiding Christ, and we, too, shall abide.

II. In the next place, notice the aim or purpose of this Christian steadfastness.

‘He stablisheth us with you in Christ,’ or as the original has it even more significantly, into or ‘unto Christ.’ Now that seems to me to imply two things-first, that our steadfastness, made possible by our possession of that Divine Spirit, is steadfastness in our relations to Jesus Christ. We are established in reference or in regard to Him. In other words, what Paul here means is, first, a fixed conviction of the truth that He is the Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and my Saviour. That is the first step. Men who are steadfast without their intellect guiding and settling the steadfastness are not steadfast, but obstinate and pigheaded. We are meant to be guided by our understandings, and no fixity is anything better than the immobility of a stone, unless it be based upon a distinct and whole-brained intellectual acceptance of Jesus Christ as the All-in-all for us, for life and death, for inward and outward being.

Paul means, next, a steadfastness in regard to Christ in our trust and love. Surely if from Him there is for ever streaming out an unbroken flow of tenderness, there should be ever on our sides an equally unbroken opening of our hearts for the reception of His love, and an equally uninterrupted response to it in our grateful affection. There can be no more damning condemnation of the vacillations and fluctuations of Christian men’s affections than the steadfastness of Christ’s love to them. He loves ever; He is unalterable in the communication and effluence of His heart. Surely it is most fitting that we should be steadfast in our devotion and answering love to Him. And Paul means not only fixedness of intellectual conviction and continuity of loving response, but also habitual obedience, which is always ready to do His will.

So we should answer His ‘Yea!’ with our ‘Amen!’ and having an unchanging Christ to rest upon, we should rest upon Him unchanging. The broken, fluctuating affections and trusts and obediences which mark so much of the average Christian life of this day are only too sad proofs of how scant our possession of that Spirit of steadfastness must be supposed to be. God’s ‘Yea’ is answered by our faltering ‘Amen’; God’s truth is hesitatingly accepted; God’s love is partially returned; God’s work is slothfully and negligently done. ‘Be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.’

Another thought is suggested by these words-viz. that such steadfastness as we have been trying to describe has for its result a deeper penetration into Jesus Christ and a fuller possession of Him. The only way by which we can grow nearer and nearer to our Lord is by steadfastly keeping beside Him. You cannot get the spirit of a landscape unless you sit down and gaze, and let it soak into you. The cheap tripper never sees the lake. You cannot get to know a man until you summer and winter with him. No subject worth studying opens itself to the hasty glance. Was it not Sir Isaac Newton who used to say, ‘I have no genius, but I keep a subject before me’ ? ‘Abide in Me; as the branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in Me.’ Continuous, steadfast adhesion to Him is the condition of growing up into His likeness, and receiving more and more of His beauty into our waiting hearts. ‘Wait on the Lord; wait, I say, on the Lord.’

III. Lastly, notice the very humble and commonplace sphere in which the Christian steadfastness manifests itself.

It was nothing of more importance than that Paul had said he was going to Corinth, and did not, on which he brings all this array of great principles to bear. From which I gather just this thought, that the highest gifts of God’s grace and the greatest truths of God’s Word are meant to regulate the tiniest things in our daily life. It is no degradation to the lightning to have to carry messages. It is no profanation of the sun to gather its rays into a burning glass to light a kitchen fire with. And it is no unworthy use of the Divine Spirit that God gives to His children, to say it will keep a man from hasty and precipitate decisions as to little things in life, and from chopping and changing about, with a levity of purpose and without a sufficient reason. If our religion is not going to influence the trifles, what is it going to influence? Our life is made up of trifles, and if these are not its field, where is its field? You may be quite sure that, if your religion does not influence the little things, it will never influence the great ones. If it has not power enough to guide the horses when they are at a slow, sober walk, what do you think it will do when they are at a gallop and plunging? ‘He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.’ So let us see to two things-first, that all our religion is worked into our life, for only so much of it as is so inwrought is our religion-and, second, that all our life is brought under the sway of motives derived from our religion: for only in proportion as it is, will it be pure and good.

And as regards this special virtue and prime quality of steadfastness and fixedness of purpose, you can do no good in the world without it. Unless a man can hold his own, and turn an obstinate negative to the temptations that lie thick about him, he will never come to any good at all, either in this life or in the next. The basis of all excellence is a wholesome disregard of externals, and the cultivation of a strong self-reliant and self-centred, because God-trusting and Christ-centred, will. And I tell you, especially you young men and women, if you want to do or be anything worth doing or being, you must try to get your natures hardened into being ‘steadfast, unmovable.’ There is only one infallible way of doing it, and that is to let the ‘strong Son of God’ live in you, and in Him to find your strength for resistance, your strength for obedience, your strength for submission. ‘I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.’

There are two types of men in the world. The one has his emblem in the chaff, rootless, with no hold, swept out of the threshing-floor by every gust of wind. That the picture of many whose principles lie at the mercy of the babble of tongues round about them, whose rectitude goes at a puff of temptation, like the smoke out of a chimney when the wind blows; who have no will for what is good, but live as it happens. The other type of man has his emblem in the tree, rooted deep, and therefore rising high, with its roots going as far underground as its branches spread in the blue, and therefore green of leaf and rich of fruit ‘We are made partakers of Christ if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence, steadfast until the end.’

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Chapter 4

CHRISTIAN MYSTERIES.- 2Co_1:21-22 (R.V)

IT is not easy to show the precise connection between these words and those which immediately precede. Possibly it is emotional, rather than logical. The Apostles heart swells as he contemplates in the Gospel the goodness and faithfulness of God; and though his argument is complete when he has exhibited the Gospel in that light, his mind dwells upon it involuntarily, past the mere point of proof; he lingers over the wonderful experience which Christians have of the rich and sure mercies. Those who try to make out a more precise sequence of thought than this are not very successful. Of course it is apparent that the keynote of the passage is in harmony with that of the previous verses. The ideas of "stablishing," of "sealing," and of an "earnest," are all of one family; they are all, as it were, variations of the one mighty affirmation which has been made of Gods promises in Christ. From this point of view they have an argumentative value. They suggest that God, in all sorts of ways, makes believers as sure of the Gospel, and as constant to it, as He has made it sure and certain to them; and thus they exclude more decisively than ever the idea that the minister of the Gospel can be a man of Yes and No. But though this is true, it fails to do justice to the word on which the emphasis falls-namely, God. This, according to some interpreters, is done, if we suppose the whole passage to be, in the first instance, a disclaimer of any false inference which might be drawn from the words, "to the glory of God by us." "By us," Paul writes; for it was through the apostolic preaching that men were led to receive the Gospel, to look at Gods promises, confirmed in Christ, with an appropriating Amen to His glory; but he hastens to add that it was God Himself whose grace in its various workings was the beginning, middle, and end both of their faith and of their preaching. This seems to me rather artificial, and I do not think more than a connection in sentiment, rather than in argument, can be insisted upon.

But setting this question aside, the interpretation of the two verses is of much interest. They contain some of the most peculiar and characteristic words of the New Testament-words to which, it is to be feared, many readers attach no very distinct idea. The simplest plan is to take the assertions one by one, as if God were the subject. Grammatically this is incorrect, for θεος is certainly the predicate; but for the elucidation of the meaning this may be disregarded.

(1) First of all, then, God confirms us into Christ. "Us," of course, means St. Paul and the preachers whom he associates with himself, -Silas and Timothy. But when he adds "with you," he includes the Corinthians also, and all believers. He does not claim for himself any steadfastness in Christ, or any trustworthiness as dependent upon it, which he would on principle refuse to others. God, who makes His promises sure to those who receive them, gives those who receive them a firm grasp of the promises. Christ is here, with all the wealth of grace in Him, indubitable, unmistakable; and what God has done on that side, He does on the other also. He confirms believers into Christ. He makes their attachment to Christ, their possession of Him, a thing indubitable and irreversible. Salvation, to use the words of St. John, is true in Him and in them; in them, so far as Gods purpose and work go, as much as in Him. He who is confirmed into Christ is in principle as trustworthy, as absolutely to be depended upon, as Christ Himself. The same character of pure truth is common to them both. Christs existence as the Savior, in whom all Gods promises are guaranteed, and Pauls existence as a saved man with a sure grasp on all these promises, are alike proofs that God is faithful; the truth of God stands behind them both. It is to this that the appeal of vv. 15-20 {2Co_1:15-20} is virtually made; it is this in the long-run which is called in question when the trustworthiness of Paul is impeached.

All this, it may be said, is ideal; but in what sense is it so? Not in the sense that it is fanciful or unreal: but in the sense that the divine law of our life, and the divine action upon our life, are represented in it. It is our calling as Christian people to be steadfast in Christ. Such steadfastness God is ever seeking to impart, and in striving to attain to it we can always appeal to Him for help. It is the opposite of instability; in a special sense it is the opposite of untrustworthiness. If we are letting God have His way with us in this respect, we are persons who can always be depended upon and depended upon for conduct in keeping with the goodness and faithfulness of God, into which we have been confirmed by Him.

(2) From this general truth, with its application to all believers, the Apostle passes to another of more limited range. By including the Corinthians with himself in the first clause, he virtually excludes them in the second-"God anointed us." It is true that the New Testament speaks of an anointing which is common to all believers-"Ye have an anointing from the Holy One; ye all know": {1Jn_2:20} but here, on the contrary, something special is meant. This can only be the consecration of Paul, and of those for whom he speaks, to the apostolic or evangelistic ministry. It is worth noticing that in the New Testament the act of anointing is never ascribed to any one but God. The only unction which qualifies for service in the Christian dispensation, or which confers dignity in the Christian community, is the unction from on high. "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power," and it is the participation in this great anointing which capacitates any one to work in the Gospel. Paul undoubtedly claimed, in virtue of his divine call to apostleship, a peculiar authority in the Church; but we cannot define any peculiarity in his possession of the Spirit. The great gift which must be held in some sense by all Christians-"for if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His"-was in him intensified, or specialized, for the work he had to do. But it is one Spirit in him and in us, and that is why we do not find the exercise of his authority alien or galling. It is authority divorced from "unction"-authority without this divine qualification-against which the Christian spirit rebels. And though "unction" cannot be defined; though no material guarantee can be given or taken for the possession of the Spirit; though a merely historical succession is, so far as this spiritual competence and dignity are concerned, a mere irrelevance; though, as Vinet said, we think of unction rather when it is absent than-when it is present, -still, the thing itself is recognizable enough. It bears witness to itself, as light does; it carries its own authority, its own dignity, with it; it is the ultima ratio, the last court of appeal, in the Christian community. It may be that Paul is preparing already, by this reference to his commission, for the bolder assertion of his authority at a later stage.

(3) These two actions of God, however-the establishing of believers in Christ, which goes on continually (βεβαιῶν), and the consecration of Paul to the apostleship, which was accomplished once for all (χρίσας) - go back to prior actions, in which, again, all believers have an interest. They have a common basis in the great deeds of grace in which the Christian life began. God, he says, is He who also sealed us, and gave the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

"He also sealed us." It seems strange that so figurative a word should be used without a hint of explanation, and we must assume that it was so familiar in the Church that the right of application could be taken for granted. The middle voice (σφραγισάμενος) makes it certain that the main idea is, "He marked us as His own." This is the sense in which the word is frequently used in the Book of Revelation: the servants of God are sealed on their foreheads, that they may be recognized as His. But what is the seal? Under the Old Testament, the mark which God set upon His people-the covenant sign by which they were identified as His-was circumcision. Under the New Testament, where everything carnal has passed away, and religious materialism is abolished, the sign is no longer in the body; we are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. {Eph_1:13 f.} But the past tense ("He sealed us"), and its recurrence in Eph_1:13 ("ye were sealed"), suggests a very definite reference of this word, and beyond doubt it alludes to baptism. In the New Testament, baptism and the giving of the Holy Spirit are regularly connected with each other. Christians are born of water and of the Spirit. "Repent," is the earliest preaching of the Gospel, {Act_2:38} "and be baptized every one of you and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." In early Christian writers the use of the word "seal" (σφραγίς) as a technical term for baptism is practically universal; and when we combine this practice with the New Testament usage in question, the inference is inevitable. God puts His seal upon us, He marks us as His own, when we are baptized.

But the seal is not baptism as a ceremonial act. It is neither immersion nor sprinkling nor any other mode of lustration which marks us out as Gods. The seal by which "the Lord knoweth them that are His" is His Spirit; it is the impress of His Spirit upon them. When that impress can be traced upon our souls, by Him, or by us, or by others, then we have the witness in ourselves; the Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God.

But of all words "spirit" is the vaguest; and if we had nothing but the word itself to guide us, we should either lapse into superstitious ideas about the virtue of the sacrament, or into fanatical ideas about incommunicable inward experiences in which God marked us for His own. The New Testament provides us with a more excellent way than either; it gives the word "spirit" a rich but definite moral content: it compels us, if we say we have been sealed with the Spirit, and claimed by God as His, to exhibit the distinguishing features of those who are His. "The Lord is the Spirit". {2Co_3:17} To be sealed with the Spirit is to bear, in however imperfect a degree, in however inconspicuous a style, the image of the heavenly man, the likeness of Jesus Christ. There are many passages in his Epistles in which St. Paul enlarges on the work of the Spirit in the soul; all the various dispositions which it creates, all the fruits of the Spirit, may be conceived as different parts of the impression made by the seal. We must think of these in detail, if we wish to give the word its meaning; we must think of them in contrast with the unspiritual nature, if we wish to give it any edge. Once, say, we walked in the lusts of the flesh: has Christ redeemed us, and set on our souls and our bodies the seal of His purity? Once we were hot and passionate, given to angry words and hasty, intemperate deeds: are we sealed now with the meekness and gentleness of Jesus? Once we were grasping and covetous, even to the verge of dishonesty; we could not let money pass us, and we could not part with it: have we been sealed with the liberality of Him who says, "It is more blessed to give than to receive?" Once a wrong rankled in our hearts; the sun went down upon our wrath, not once or twice, but a thousand times, and found it as implacable as ever: is that deep brand of vindictiveness effaced now, and in its stead imprinted deep the Cross of Christ, where He loved us, and gave Himself for us, and prayed, "Father forgive them?" Once our conversation was corrupt; it had a taint in it; it startled and betrayed the innocent; it was vile and foolish and unseemly: are these things of the past now? and has Christ set upon our lips the seal of His own grace and truth, of His own purity and love, so that every word we speak is good, and brings blessing to those who hear us? These things, and such as these, are the seal of the Spirit. They are Christ in us. They are the stamp which God sets upon men when He exhibits them as His own.

The seal, however, has another use than that of marking and identifying property. It is a symbol of assurance. It is the answer to a challenge. It is in this sense that it is easiest to apply the figure to baptism. Baptism does not, indeed, carry with it the actual possession of all these spiritual features; it is not even, as an opus operatum, the implanting of them in the soul; but it is a divine pledge that they are within our reach; we can appeal to it as an assurance that God has come to us in His grace, has claimed us as His own, and is willing to conform us to the image of His Son. In this sense, it is legitimate and natural to call it Gods seal upon His people.

(4) Side by side with "He sealed us," the Apostle writes, "He gave the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." After what has been said, it is obvious that this is another aspect of the same thing. We are sealed with the Spirit, and we get the earnest of the Spirit. In other words, the Spirit is viewed in two characters: first, as a seal; and then as an earnest. This last word has a very ancient history. It is found in the Book of Genesis, {Gen_38:18: } and was carried, no doubt, by Phoenician traders, who had much occasion to use it, both to Greece and Italy. From the classical peoples it has come more or less directly to us. It means properly a small sum of money paid to clench a bargain, or to ratify an engagement. Where there is an earnest, there is more to follow, and more of essentially the same kind-that is what it signifies. Let us apply this now to the expression of St. Paul, "the earnest of the Spirit." It means, we must see, that in the gift of this Spirit, in that measure in which we now possess it, God has not given all He has to give. On the contrary, He has come under an obligation to give more: what we have now is but "the firstfruits of the Spirit." {Rom_8:23} It is an indication and a pledge of what is yet to be, but bears no proportion to it. All we can say on the basis of this text is that between the present and the future gift-between the earnest and that which it guarantees-there must be some kind of congruity, some affinity which makes the one a natural and not an arbitrary reason for believing in the other.

But the Corinthians were not limited to this text. They had St. Pauls general teaching in their minds to interpret it by; and if we wish to know what it meant even for them, we must fill out this vague idea with what the Apostle tells us elsewhere. Thus in the great text in Ephesians {Eph_1:13 f.}, so often referred to, he speaks of the Holy Spirit with which we were sealed as the earnest of our inheritance. God has an "inheritance" in store for us. His Spirit makes us sons; and if sons, then heirs; heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ. This connection of the Spirit, sonship, and inheritance is constant in St. Paul; it is one of his most characteristic combinations. What then is the inheritance of which the Spirit is the earnest? That no one can tell. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him." But though we cannot tell more precisely, we can say that if the Spirit is the earnest of it, it must be in some sense a development of the Spirit; life in an order of being which matches the Spirit, and for which the Spirit qualifies. If we say it is "glory," then we must remember that only Christ in us (the seal of the Spirit) can be the hope of glory.

The application of this can be made very plain. Our whole life in this world looks to some future, however near or bounded it may be; and every power we perfect, every capacity we acquire, every disposition and spirit we foster, is an earnest of something in that future. Here is a man who gives himself to the mastery of a trade. He acquires all its skill, all its methods, all its resources. There is nothing any tradesman can do that he cannot do as well or better. What is that the earnest of? What does it ensure, and as it were put into his hand by anticipation? It is the earnest of constant employment, of good wages, of respect from fellow-workmen, perhaps of wealth. Here, again, is a man with the scientific spirit. He is keenly inquisitive about the facts and laws of the world in which we live. Everything is interesting to him-astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, history. What is this the earnest of? It is the earnest, probably, of scientific achievements of some kind, of intellectual toils and intellectual victories. This man will enter into the inheritance of science; he will walk through the kingdoms of knowledge in the length of them and the breadth of them, and will claim them as his own. And so it is wherever we choose to take our illustrations. Every spirit that dwells in us, and is cultivated and cherished by us, is an earnest, because it fits and furnishes us for some particular thing. Gods Spirit also is an earnest of an inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, imperishable: can we assure ourselves that we have anything in our souls which promises, because it matches with, an inheritance like this? When we come to die, this will be a serious question. The faculties of accumulation, of mechanical skill, of scientific research, of trade on a great or a small scale, of agreeable social intercourse, of comfortable domestic life, may have been brought to perfection in us; but can we console ourselves with the thought that these have the earnest of immortality? Do they qualify us for, and by qualifying assure us of, the incorruptible kingdom? Or do we not see at once that a totally different equipment is needed to make men at home there, and that nothing can be the earnest of an eternal life of blessedness with God except that Holy Spirit with which He seals His own, and through which He makes them, even here, partakers of the divine nature?

We cannot study these words without becoming conscious of the immense enlargement which the Christian religion has brought to the human mind, of the vast expansion of hope which is due to the Gospel, and at the same time of the moral soundness and sobriety with which that hope is conceived. The promises of God were first really apprehended in Jesus Christ; in Him as He lived and died and rose again from the dead, in Him especially as He lives in immortal glory, men first saw what God was able and willing to do for them, and they saw this in its true relations. They saw it under its moral and spiritual conditions. It was not a future unconnected with the present, or connected with it in an arbitrary or incalculable way. It was a future which had its earnest in the present, a guarantee not alien to it, but akin-the Spirit of Christ implanted in the heart, the likeness of Christ sealed upon the nature. The glorious inheritance was the inheritance, not of strangers, but of sons; and it still becomes sure as the Spirit of sonship is received, and fades into incredibility when that Spirit is extinguished or depressed. If we could live in the Spirit with the completeness of Christ, or even of St. Paul, we should feel that we really had an earnest of immortality; the glory of heaven would be as certain to us as the faithfulness of God to His promise.

William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.

1:21-22 Paul’s ministry was enabled, commissioned (literally anointed), and endorsed by God, who equipped him for his work. • along with you: All believers are identified . . . as his own (literally sealed) by the Holy Spirit, who is God’s gift to his people (see Rom 8:1-27; Gal 3:2-7; 5:5-6, 16-26; Eph 1:13-14). • First installment is a commercial term for a deposit or down payment, guaranteeing full possession (see 2 Cor 5:5; Eph 1:14).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2Co 1:21. Ὁ δὲ βεβαιῶν, now He who confirmeth [establisheth]) The Son glorifies the Father, 2Co 1:19: whilst [autem, δὲ] the Father in turn glorifies the Son.—βεβαιῶν, confirming) that we may be firm in the faith of Christ. The term sealing corresponds to this word; the one is from Christ and His anointing; the other from the Spirit, as an earnest. That is sealed, which is confirmed as the property of some one, whether it be a property purchased, or a letter, so that it may be certain, to whom it belongs; comp. 1Co 9:2. A trope[8] abstracts from the persons and things from which it is taken.—ἡμᾶς, us) apostles and teachers.—σὺν ὑμῖν, with you) He speaks modestly of himself.—εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ χρίσας, in [into] Christ, and hath anointed) Conjugate words. From the oil here, we derive strength, and a good savour, 2Co 2:15. All things tend to the yea; εἰς Χριστὸν, in faith in [towards] Christ.

[8] See Append., on tropus.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Co_1:21 f. Δέ] not specifying the ground of τῷ Θεῷ πρὸς δόξαν (Grotius), nor confirming the assurance that he had preached without wavering (Billroth), but continuative. Paul has just, with διʼ ἡμῶν, pointed to the blessed result which his working (and that of his companions) is bringing about, namely, that the Amen of faith is said to all Gods promises to the glory of God. But now he wishes to indicate also the inner divine life-principle, on which this working and its result are based, namely, the Christian stedfastness, which is due to no other than to God Himself.

On the construction, comp. 2Co_5:5; hence Billroth (whom Olshausen follows) has incorrectly taken ὁ δὲ βεβαιῶν … Θεός as subject, and ὁ καὶ σφραγ. κ.τ.λ. as predicate. It is to be translated: And He who makes us stedfast with you toward Christ, after He has also anointed us, is God; who also, etc. Since the anointing precedes the βεβαιοῦν, and is its foundation, and Paul has not written ὁ δὲ χρίσας ἡμᾶς καὶ βεβαιῶν κ.τ.λ., it is not to be regarded with the expositors as qui autem confirmat et unxit, but καὶ χρίσας ἡμᾶς is to be taken as a definition subordinate to the βεβαιῶν, and καί as the also of the corresponding relation; otherwise, there would be a hysteron-proteron, which there is no ground for supposin.

εἰς Χριστόν] in relation to Christ, so that we remain unshakenly faithful to Christ. Chrysostom well says: ὁ μὴ ἐῶν ἡμᾶς παρασαλεύεσθαι ἐκ τῆς πίστεως τῆς εἰς τ. Χριστόν. The explanation: into Christ (Billroth, Olshausen) has against it the present participle. For the believers are already in Christ; their continued confirmation (βεβ., see on 1Co_1:6) therefore could not but take place in Christo, Col_2:7, not in Christum.

σὺν ὑμῖν] Paul adds, in order not to appear as if he were denying to the readers the βεβαίωσις εἰς Χριστόν. Estius says aptly: ut eos in hac sua defensione benevolos habeat. This agrees with the whole tone of the context; but there is not, as Rückert conjectures, a side-glance at those who had held the apostle to be a wavering ree.

χρίσας ἡμᾶς] here, without σὺν ὑμῖν, is a figurative way of denoting the consecration to office (Luk_4:18; Act_4:27; Act_10:38; Heb_1:9), i.e. to the office of teacher of the gospel, without, however, pressing the expression so far as Chrysostom and Theophylact: ὁμοῦ προφήτας καὶ ἱερεῖς κ. βασιλέας ἐργασάμενος. Whether, however, did Paul conceive the consecration as effected by the call (Billroth, Olshausen, Rückert) or by the communication of the Spirit (Calvin, Grotius, Estius, Osiander, and many others, following the ancient expositors)? 2Co_1:22 is not opposed to the latter view (see below); and since the call to the office is, in point of fact, something quite different from the consecration, χρίσας is certainly to be referred to the holy consecration of the Spirit (comp. Act_10:38). Comp., further, 1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27, and Düsterdieck on 1 John 1. p. 355. An allusion to Χριστόν (Bengel, Osiander, Hofmann, and others) would not be certain, even if there stood καὶ χρίσας καὶ ἡμᾶς, because Χριστόν is not used appellatively, but purely as a proper name. An anointing of Christ (as at Luk_4:18; Act_4:27; Act_10:38; Heb_1:9) is as little mentioned by Paul as by John. If, however, it had been here in his mind, in order to compare with it the consecration of the ἡμεῖς, he could not but have added σὺν αὐτῷ, or some similar more precise definition of the relation intended, to make himself intelligible; comp. the idea of the συζωοποιεῖν σὺν Χριστῷ, and the lik.

ὁ καὶ σφραγισ. ὑμᾶς κ.τ.λ.] is argumentative. How could He leave us in the lurch unconfirmed, He, who has also sealed us, etc.! How would He come into contradiction with Himself! This σφραγισ. ὑμᾶς does not present the same thing, as was just expressed by χρίσας ἡμ., in another figurative form; but by means of καί it adds an accessory new element,[134] namely, the Messianic sealing conferred, although likewise through the Holy Spirit (see the sequel), apart from the anointing, i.e. the inner confirmation of the Messianic σωτηρία. Comp. on Eph_1:13; Eph_4:30. It is not added to what the sealing objectively relates (to the Messianic salvation), because it is regarded as a familiar notion, well known in its referenc.

καὶ δοὺς κ.τ.λ.] is epexegetical of ὁ σφραγισάμ. ἡμᾶς, Winer, p. 407 [E. T. 545].

τὸν ἀῤῥαβῶνα τοῦ πνεύματος] Comp. 2Co_5:5. The genitive is the genitive of apposition, as 1Co_5:8 : the earnest-money, which consists in the Spirit, ἀῤῥαβών (also with the Romans arrhabo or arrha) is properly ἡ ἐπὶ ταῖς ὠναῖς παρᾶ τῶν ὠνουμένων διδομένη προκαταβολὴ ὑπὲρ ἀσφαλείας, Etym. M.; Aristot. Pol. i. 4. 5; Lucian, Rhet. praec. 17, 18. Then it is a figurative expression for the notion guarantee. See in general Wetstein, and especially Kypke, Obss. II. p. 239 f. For what the Holy Spirit is guarantee, Paul does not say, but he presupposes it as an obvious fact in the consciousness of the readers, just as he did with σφραγισάμ. The Holy Spirit is in the heart as an earnest-money given for a guarantee of a future possession, the pledge of the future Messianic salvation. Comp. 2Co_5:5; Eph_1:14. How? see Rom_8:2; Rom_8:10 f., 2Co_5:5, 2Co_8:15 ff.; Gal_4:6 f.; Eph_5:19. In ἀῤῥαβ., therefore, the climax τῶνμελλόντων ἀγαθῶν (Theodoret) is characteristi.

ἐν ταῖς καρδιαῖς ἡμ.] The direction is blended with the result, as 2Co_8:1 : He gave the Spirit, so that this Spirit is now in our hearts. Comp. 2Co_8:16, and on Joh_3:35.

[134] Hence καί is to be taken as also, not with the following καί, as well … as also; especially as καὶ σφραγ. and καὶ δούς are not two acts essentially different.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Co 1:21 . ὁ δὲ βεβαιῶν κ . τ . λ .: now He that stablisheth us with you into Christ and anointed us is God , etc. For the form of the sentence cf. chap. 2Co 5:5 . The ultimate ground of St. Paul’s steadfastness in Christ is God Himself; and having been led on to say this, he adds σὺν ὑμῖν , in order to introduce (as he does at every opportunity in the early part of the Epistle) the idea of unity between him and his Corinthian converts. The play on words Χριστόν … χρίσας is obvious; the only other place in the N.T. where the idea is found of the “anointing” of the Christian believer by God is 1Jn 2:20 ; 1Jn 2:27 , ὑμεῖς χρίσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου . Deissmann has pointed out ( Bibelstudien , p. 104) that βεβαιόω and ἀρραβών (see note below) are both technical terms belonging to the law courts ( cf. Lev 25:23 , LXX), and that βεβαιῶν is here deliberately used rather than κυριῶν (Gal 3:15 ), or any other such word.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. ὁ δὲ βεβαιῶν ἡμᾶς σὺν ὑμῖν εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ χρίσας ἡμᾶς θεός. The ἡμᾶς may be the same throughout 2Co 1:21-22,—‘us teachers, us Apostles.’ The σὺν ὑμῖν need not be carried to the clauses which follow. Teachers and taught alike are continually being ‘confirmed unto Christ’ by God, and in this blessed fact he eagerly couples the Corinthians with himself; but the anointing and sealing may here refer to those who are set apart for a special office. No doubt there is a sense in which all Christians are anointed and sealed; but that is perhaps not what is meant here. The change of tense, and the omission of σὺν ὑμῖν although ἡμᾶς is repeated, point to a distinction; and the aorists may refer to the definite occasion when the ministers were consecrated to their work, and should not, as in the A.V., be rendered as perfects. See Waite in the Speaker’s Commentary. In Luk 4:18 and Act 10:38 ἔχρισεν and ἔχρισας are used of God’s sending Jesus as the Preacher of the good tidings; and here χρίσας may be meant to refer to Χριστόν: ‘who confirmeth us unto Christ and made us christs (anointed ones).’ The anointing is with the Holy Spirit. Elisha is anointed (1Ki 19:16), and receives the spirit of Elijah (2Ki 2:9; 2Ki 2:15). If σὺν ὑμῖν be carried on, and χρίσας and σφρ. be understood of the whole body of believers, the change of tense may be explained as meaning that those whom God once for all consecrated and made His own, these He ever stablisheth. The closely parallel passages, Eph 1:13; Eph 4:30, favour the application of σφρ. to all Christians. With the pregnant construction βεβαιῶν εἰς Χρ. comp. Eph 4:15 and Ellicott’s note; and with χρίσας comp. 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. ὁ δὲ βεβαιῶν ἡμᾶς σὺν ὑμῖν εἰς Χριστὸν καὶ Χρίσας ἡμᾶς Θεός. It is better to take this as a complete sentence of which Θεός is the predicate than to make it the subject of a long sentence of which v. 22 is the predicate. It is doubtful whether σὺν ἡμῖν is to be carried on to the second ἡμᾶς and to the ἡμᾶς and ἡμῶν in v. 22: the fact that ἡμᾶς is repeated while σὺν ἡμῖν is not, is rather against the carrying on, but is by no means decisive. The change of tense from present to aorist does not affect this question. Both teachers and taught are included in ἡμᾶς σὺν ἡμῖν: the following ἡμᾶς and ἡμῶν may mean the officials only, and the anointing and sealing may refer to their being ‘separated’ (Act 13:2) for ministerial work. The “χρίσας is evidently suggested by Χριστόν, and it is implied that the Apostle and his colleagues shared the unction with which Christ was anointed, i.e. the power of the Spirit. In 1Jn 2:20, 1Jn 2:27 this is extended to all believers” (Swete, The Holy Spirit in the N.T., p. 385). Elsewhere in the same work Swete takes this passage as applying to all believers (pp. 193, 220, 232); see especially p. 198, “The Epistles of the N.T., which are silent about the fact of the Lord’s Baptism (except the allusions in 1Ti 3:16; 1Jn 5:6), as they are about most of the other facts of the Gospel history, speak freely of the anointing received by all Christians from the Holy One, i.e. the ascended Christ (2Co 1:21; 1Jn 2:20, 1Jn 2:27).” This agrees with Neander’s view; Es ist dies die Weihe des allgemeinen Priesterthums. If we confine χρίσας and σφραγισάμενος to the teachers, then the aorists refer to the time when they were set apart for missionary work. If we regard all Christians as included in the ἡμᾶς, then the aorists refer to their conversion and baptism. In either case, the change of tense indicates that God continually establishes those whom He once for all consecrated to Himself. The χρίσας does not imply any actual ceremony of unction: the anointing is with the Spirit; and in order to bring out the connexion between Χριστόν and χρίσας, the former might be translated ‘the Anointed.’ ‘But He who confirmeth us and you also unto the Anointed and who anointed us is God.’ We must keep in mind that St Paul is dictating and not always adhering to the form of sentence which he originally had in his mind. ‘Who confirmeth us’ is another blow at the charge of levity; it indicates that the relationship established between us and Christ cannot be impugned; there is no flaw in it, and it is legally indestructible. See Deissmann, Bible Studies, p. 109; in papyri βεβαιωτήρ is often used of a ‘surety.’

ἡμᾶς σὺν ὑμῖν. The σὺν ὑμῖν is a conciliatory addition, like καὶ ὑμεῖς ἡμῶν in v. 14. In this permanent βεβαίωσις the Corinthians share equally with their teachers, and this is a strong guarantee for the sincerity of the latter. ‘It is absurd to suppose that we who remain united with you in such a relationship treat you with levity.’ The addition of ἐσμὲν ἀλλήλων μέλη in Eph 4:25 is similar; joint membership in the same body conduces to truthfulness.

εἰς Χριστόν. ‘In relation to Christ,’ ὁ μὴ ἐῶν ἡμᾶς παρασαλεύεσθαι (Chrys.). This is another security against levity and caprice. One is tempted to translate, ‘into the Anointed so as to abide in Him’; but the present participle is against this. ‘They entered into Christ as members of His Body when they became Christians, and God is continually confirming them in that relationship. The ‘in Christ’ of AV and RV. is right, cf. Col 2:7.

καὶ Χρίσας ἡμᾶς. If σὺν ὑμῖν is not carried on, this refers to the consecration of the Apostle and others for missionary work. But all Christians receive unction from God (see on 1Jn 2:20, 1Jn 2:27), and we cannot with any certainty restrict the χρίσας to the officials. The mention of Χριστόν has suggested χρίσας, but there is probably no direct reference to the anointing of Christ at His Mission to bring the good tidings (Luk 4:18; Act 4:27, Act 4:10:38; cf. Joh 10:36). Heb 1:9 should not be quoted in this connexion, for there the glorified Son is anointed with the oil of gladness at the completion of His work, not with power at the beginning of it (Luk 4:14).*

For ἡμᾶς σὺν ὑμῖν, which is overwhelmingly attested, C and the Harlean Syriac with a few cursives have ὑμᾶς σὺν ἡμῖν. The scribe of B perhaps had the same reading; he has written ὑμᾶς σὺν ὑμῖν, with ὑμᾶς after χρίσας.

For χρίσας Vulg. has qui unxit. Comely points out that ungere in N.T. is used to translate four different Greek words ; ἀλείφειν (Mat 6:17; Mar 6:13, Mar 6:16:1; Luk 7:38, Luk 7:46; Joh 11:2, Joh 11:12:3; Jas 5:14), μνρίζειν (Mar 14:8), ἐπιχρίειν (Joh 9:11), and χρίειν (Luk 4:18; Act 4:27, Act 4:10:38; 2Co 1:21; Heb 1:9). The first three words are always used in the literal sense, while the last is nowhere so used; χρίειν is always symbolical, as also is χρίσμα (1Jn 2:20, 1Jn 2:27). In LXX, χρίειν is very frequent, and almost always in the literal sense.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He attributeth the praise of this constancy, only to the grace of God, through the holy Ghost, and therewithall concludeth that they cannot doubt of his faith, and his fellows, without doing injury to the Spirit of God, seeing that they themselves do know all this to be true.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

stablisheth us . . . in Christ--that is, in the faith of Christ--in believing in Christ.

anointed us--As "Christ" is the "Anointed" (which His name means), so "He hath anointed (Greek, "chrisas") us," ministers and believing people alike, with the Spirit (Co2 1:22; Jo1 2:20, Jo1 2:27). Hence we become "a sweet savor of Christ" (Co2 2:15).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 21. Now he which stablisheth us with you] It is God that has brought both us and you to this sure state of salvation through Christ; and he has anointed us, giving us the extraordinary influences of the Holy Ghost, that we might be able effectually to administer this Gospel to your salvation. Through this unction we know and preach the truth, and are preserved by it from dissimulation and falsity of every kind.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

God, indeed, is always true and steadfast in his promises, and has always his Amen, as often as he speaks. But as for us, such is our vanity, that we do not utter our Amen in return, except when he gives a sure testimony in our hearts by his word. This he does by his Spirit. That is what Paul means here. He had previously taught, that this is a befitting harmony — when, on the one hand, the calling of God is without repentance, (Romans 11:29,) and we, in our turn, with an unwavering faith, accept of the blessing of adoption that is held out to us. That God remains steadfast to his promise is not surprising; but to keep pace with God in the steadfastness of our faith in return — that truly is not in man’s power. He teaches us, also, that God cures our weakness or defect, (as they term it,) when, by correcting our belief, he confirms us by his Spirit. Thus it comes, that we glorify him by a firm steadfastness of faith. He associates himself, however, with the Corinthians, expressly for the purpose of conciliating their affections the better, with a view to the cultivation of unity.

21. Who hath anointed us. He employs different terms to express one and the same thing. For along with confirmation, he employs the terms anointing and sealing, or, by this twofold metaphor, he explains more distinctly what he had previously stated without a figure. For God, by pouring down upon us the heavenly grace of the Spirit, does, in this manner, seal upon our hearts the certainty of his own word. He then introduces a fourth idea — that the Spirit has been given to us as an earnest — a similitude which he frequently makes use of, and is also exceedingly appropriate. For as the Spirit, in bearing witness of our adoption, is our security, and, by confirming the faith of the promises, is the seal (σφραγὶς), so it is on good grounds that he is called an earnest, because it is owing to him, that the covenant of God is ratified on both sides, which would, but for this, have hung in suspense.

Here we must notice, in the first place, the relation which Paul requires between the gospel of God and our faith; for as every thing that God says is more than merely certain, so he wishes that this should be established in our minds by a firm and sure assent. Secondly, we must observe that, as an assurance of this nature is a thing that is above the capacity of the human mind, it is the part of the Holy Spirit to confirm within us what God promises in his word. Hence it is that he has those titles of distinction — the Anointing, the Earnest, the Comforter, and the Seal. In the third place we must observe, that all that have not the Holy Spirit as a witness, so as to return their Amen to God, when calling them to an assured hope of salvation, do on false grounds assume the name of Christians.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(21) He which stablisheth us with you . . .—For a moment the thought of an apology for his own conduct is merged in the higher thought of the greatness of his mission. The word “stablisheth,” or “confirmed,” as in 1Co_1:8, is connected with the previous “Amen” as the emphatic formula of ratification. In the insertion of “with you” we note St. Paul’s characteristic anxiety to avoid the appearance of claiming for himself what others might not claim with equal right. He repeats the confident hope which he had expressed in 1Co_1:8.

In Christ.—Literally, into Christ, as though the result of the “establishing” was an actual incorporation with Him. This seems a truer interpretation than that which paraphrases, “confirms us in believing on Christ.”

And hath anointed us.—Literally, and anointed, as referring to a definite moment in the life of the disciples. The verb follows naturally on the mention of Christ the Anointed One. The time referred to is that when, on baptism or the laying on of hands (Act_8:17), they had received the first-fruits of the gift of the Spirit, as in Act_2:38; Act_8:17; Act_10:44; Act_19:6; the “unction from the Holy One” (1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21. Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ] Rather, and He, &c., as explaining the words ‘by us.’ ‘Not as though we had any power in ourselves, to do anything of ourselves (cf. ch. 2Co_3:5), but it is God who stablisheth us and Who anointed us for our great work.’ The meaning of the Greek word translated stablisheth, as of the English one by which it is rendered (derived from the Latin stabilio), is to make firm, immoveable. For ‘in Christ,’ the original has unto or upon Christ, i.e. by the faith and hope in Him which are ‘as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,’ Heb_6:19; cf. 1Co_3:11. Also Mat_16:18; Eph_2:20.

and hath anointed us] Observe the change of tense here from the present to the past. The Greek however is not the perfect as in the A. V., but the aorist (so Wiclif, the perfect having been introduced by Tyndale, whom the other versions follow). That is, at some indefinite time in the past God ‘anointed’ St Paul and his fellow-labourers (see Act_10:38; and 1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27, for the expression ‘anointed’), i.e. when He commissioned them for their task (see Act_13:2), which was to be ‘ministers of Christ,’ the Anointed One, 1Co_4:1.

is God] From no less than Him did their commission proceed, and in Him, and in none less, were their ministerial acts done.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now he which stablisheth us with you,.... Two things are in this verse ascribed to God. First, the establishing of the saints in Christ; in which may be observed, that the people of God are in a firm, settled, established state and condition; they are encircled in the arms of everlasting love; they are secure of the favour of God; they are engraven on his hands, and set as a seal on his heart, from whence they can never be removed; they are taken into his family by adopting grace; and will never be turned out; they are in a state of justification, and shall never enter into condemnation; they are regenerated and sanctified by the Spirit of God, and shall never finally and totally fall from that grace they have received. This their establishment is "in" Christ, and in no other. They had no stability in Adam, nor have they any in themselves; their standing is alone in him; the unchangeable love and favour of God, which is their grand security, is in Christ; the covenant of grace, in which is all their salvation, is made and stands fast with him; their persons, with all their grace and glory, are put into his hands, and made his care and charge, and there they are safe. They are espoused unto him, made one with him, incorporated into him, and are built upon him the rock of ages, where they are so established, that hell and earth cannot shake them, so as to remove and unsettle them from this foundation: one and all of them, and all together, are established in him,

us with you; all the elect of God are alike, and together in Christ, and have the same place and standing in his love, power, and care; they make up one body, of which Christ is the head, and not one of them shall be lost, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, ministers or private believers; for so this phrase may be interpreted, "us" Jews "with you" Gentiles, or "us" ministers "with you" believers. This work of establishing the saints in Christ is wholly the Lord's act; he

is God that does it; which does not contradict the word and ordinances being means of establishment; nor does it hinder or discourage persons making use of means for their stability; for the apostle here is not speaking so much of the stability of hearts, frames, and exercise of grace, as of state; though a firm, steady, and stable assurance of interest in Christ, is what God gives by his Spirit. The apostle's view seems to be this, that whatever steadfastness and stability the saints have, whether ministers or people, they ought to ascribe it entirely to God, Father, Son, and Spirit. "Secondly", the anointing of them:

he hath anointed us; which is to be understood either of the unction of ministers, with the gifts of the Spirit for ministerial service; or rather of the anointing of private Christians with the grace of the Spirit, compared to oil or ointment, in allusion to the anointing oil under the law, by which the tabernacle, and its vessels, Aaron, and his sons, were anointed, who were typical of the saints and priests of God under the Gospel; or to the lamp oil in the candlestick, which was pure, and for light; or to oil in common, for its sweet smell, refreshing nature, and for its usefulness for ornament and healing. This also is the Lord's work, and not man's; this unction comes from the God of all grace, through Christ, by the Spirit.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God;

Ver. 21. Hath anointed us] i.e. Consecrated and qualified us.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now he which stablisheth us - He who makes us firm (ὁ βέβαιῶν ἡμᾶς ho bebaiōn hēmas); that is, he who has confirmed us in the hopes of the gospel, and who gives us grace to be faithful, and firm in our promises. The object of this is to trace all to God, and to prevent the appearance of self-confidence, or of boasting. Paul had dwelt at length on his own fidelity and veracity. He had taken pains to prove that he was not inconstant and fickle-minded. Here he says, that this was not to be traced to himself, or to any native goodness, but was all to be traced to God. It was God who had given them all confident hope in Christ; and it was God who had given him grace to adhere to His promises, and to maintain a character for veracity. The first “us,” in this verse refers probably to Paul himself; the second includes also the Corinthians, as being also anointed and sealed.

And hath anointed us - Us who are Christians. It was customary to anoint kings, prophets, and priests on their entering on their office as a part of the ceremony of inauguration. The word “anoint” is applied to a priest, Exo 28:41; Exo 40:15; to a prophet, 1Ki 19:16; Isa 61:1; to a king, 1Sa 10:1; 1Sa 15:1; 2Sa 2:4; 1Ki 1:34. It is applied often to the Messiah as being set apart, or consecrated to his office as prophet, priest, and king - that is, as appointed by God to the highest office ever held in the world. It is applied also to Christians as being consecrated, or set apart to the service of God by the Holy Spirit - a use of the word which is derived from the sense of consecrating, or setting apart to the service of God. Thus, in 1Jo 2:20, it is said, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One and know all things.” So in 1Jo 2:27, “But the anointing which ye have received abideth in you,” etc. The anointing which was used in the consecration of prophets, priests, and kings, seems to have been designed to be emblematic of the influences of the Holy Spirit, who is often represented as poured upon those who are under his influence Pro 1:23; Isa 43:4; Joe 2:28-29; Zec 12:10; Act 10:45, in the same way as water or oil is poured out. And as Christians are everywhere represented as being under the influence of the Holy Spirit, as being those on whom the Holy Spirit is poured, they are represented as “anointed.” They are in this manner solemnly set apart, and consecrated to the service of God.

Is God - God has done it. All is to be traced to him. It is not by any native goodness which we have, or any inclination which we have by nature to his service. This is one of the instances which abound so much in the writings of Paul, where he delights to trace all good influences to God.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

This must needs be true, because he is God, who hath confirmed us with you, both us and you in Christ, in the faith, and grace of Christ crucified, who hath anointed us with divine graces, who hath sealed us, as it were, by an indelible character, in the sacraments of baptism, and confirmation, and ordination, when we were made ministers of Christ, who in this manner hath given the pledge [5] of his holy Spirit in our hearts, a sufficient pledge and earnest of his graces in this life, and of the glory he has prepared for us in the next. (Witham) --- By these texts, and Ephesians iv., the Catholic Church teaches, that we are anointed and consecrated to the service of God, and sealed with a spiritual and distinctive mark, called by divines, a character, (see St. Jerome in Ephesians iv.; St. Cyril, cateches. 17.) which, as it is indelible, can never be iterated. The same is true of confirmation, and holy orders. See St. Augustine, cont. Parm. chap. xiii. & Conc. Tarrac. chap. vi.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The anointing here mentioned is, doubtless, the same mentioned by St. John, 1Jo 2:20,27, by which is understood the Holy Spirit: so as God’s anointing his people signifies his giving them his Holy Spirit, to dwell and to work in them; which Holy Spirit diffuseth itself throughout the whole soul of the believer, as the oil of old poured out upon the heads of the kings, high priests, and prophets. Believers are said to be anointed, because God hath, by his Spirit given to them, declared, that he hath set them apart to be kings and priests, a royal priesthood. The same God also establisheth their souls both in faith and love, and all in Christ; in him as our Head, and through him as the meritorious cause of all that grace wherein we stand. It is observable, that how much soever vain man may ascribe to the power of man’s will, yet the blessed apostle attributeth all to God; both our anointing, the first infusion of gracious habits, and also our establishing. It is grace by which we stand.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. St. Paul now traces the gospel preached by him and his colleagues to its source, God, to shut off the imputation of his opposers, who trace it to man or to Satan. And the seal and surety of its origin in God, he will soon, appealing to the consciousness of his brethren, affirm to be the witness of the Spirit.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now he that stablisheth us. They will have seen, then, that steadfastness not levity, immutability not vacillation, has been the subject of their teaching. Who is the Source of that steadfastness? God, who anointed us and confirmed us, and you with us, into unity with his Anointed. With you. We partake alike of this Christian steadfastness; to impugn mine is to nullify your own. In Christ; rather, into Christ, so as to be one with him. They are already in Christo; " they would aim more and more to be established "in Christurn." Who anointed us. Every Christian is a king and priest to God, and has received an unction from the Holy One. (1Jn_2:20, 1Jn_2:27)

Vers. 21, 22.

The Spirit in the heart.

The signs of an apostle were abundantly manifested in the case of St. Paul. Some of these signs were outward and visible; the wonders which he wrought and the labours which he fulfilled were evidences to many of his high calling. There were other signs which were rather internal, revealed in his own spiritual nature and life. These were precious to himself, whether they were recognized or not by others.

I THE ANOINTING OF THE SPIRIT.

1. This rite received a significance from its employment under the oldcovenant in the designation of the prophet, the priest, and the king.

2. This significance is enhanced by the application to the Son of God of theofficial appellation, the Christ, i.e. the anointed One, the Being consecrated and commissioned by the Eternal.

3. The anointing claimed by the apostle is the qualification, by asupernatural and spiritual power, for holy and responsible office.

II THE SEALING OF THE SPIRIT.

1. By this sealing the apostle was stamped with the mark which was thesign of Divine property in him.

2. And he was thus inwardly and graciously authenticated as the Lord"smessenger to men. By the seal we understand the mark set upon the moral nature, the character, indicating Divine possession and Divine authority.

III THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT. The other operations of the Holy Ghost relate to this present state; this refers to the future.

1. The Spirit within the heart is the earnest of a fuller indwelling; they whoreceive the Spirit are assured that they shall he "filled with the Spirit.

2. The earnest of a clearer revelation. The light shall brighten until thedawn shall be succeeded by the splendour of noonday.

3. The earnest of a richer, purer joy. The measure in which gladness isexperienced in the present is a foretaste of the joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.

4. The earnest of an eternal inheritance. They who are possessed by theSpirit and pervaded by his gracious influences have within them both an anticipation of heaven and a preparation for heaven. To whom the Lord gives the pledge, he will give the redemption; to whom he gives the promise, he will give the glorious fulfilment and the eternal possession. T.

Vers. 21, 22.

Four privileges of the believer.

I TO BE ESTABLISHED IN CHRIST. Brought into ever closer union with him. More and more firmly settled in faith. Increased in knowledge of him and of his doctrine. Made constant to Christ. Developed in likeness to him. Perfected increasingly along all the lines of Christian character. A work continuous; so Paul uses the present tense. The Christian"s course is like that of the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Not all at once is he at his best. The seed of the kingdom takes time to develop. The points of contact at first may be few; but we are to be established "into" Christ. Believers should seek closest association with their Lord. True self-interest does not prompt the question How far may we safely keep from Christ? but How near to him may we draw? "Abide in me if a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered". (Joh_15:4-6)

II TO BE ANOINTED. The believer is made like his Lord. Christ was the Anointed; so therefore is the believer anointed. Christ was the Anointed of God; so by God is the believer also anointed. Christ was anointed as King and great High Priest; so as king and priest is the believer anointed royal priesthood". (1Pe_2:9) Christ was anointed for a special life and a special work; so is the believer. It is not for nought that we receive our anointing from the Holy One. (1Jn_2:20) We are consecrated, set apart, to carry out the Divine purposes. Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost; (Act_10:38) so is the believer. With the anointing comes the power to realize the purpose of the anointing. (1Jn_2:27) Here is great privilege, but at the same time great responsibility. Are we fulfilling the design of our anointing?

III TO BE SEALED. Believers are sealed by the reception of the Holy. (Eph_1:13 and Eph_4:30) This is the Divine mark or seal put upon them. This sealing:

1. Indicates protorietorship. Believers have God"s seal upon them because they are God"s. He lays claim to them. They are in a most special sense for God. "Ye are not your own.

2. Authenticates. The genuineness of a believer is guaranteed by this marlIf he is sealed, then he is of God, though in some things he may seem eccentric. No spurious goods pass under this brand. Yet imitations of the Divine seal are many, so that we have need to "try the spirits," to ascertain whether they are truly of the Holy Spirit. The true seal authenticates us to ourselves. "The Spirit himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are children of God". (Rom_8:16) Our assurance springs from the Divine sealing. Dreamings, frames and feelings, and fancies, even opinions of others, are as nought compared with the witness of the Spirit.

3. Invests with authority. That which bears the royal seal has weight and authority among men; and those who bear the Divine seal are intended by God to exercise large influence over their fellows. They have the weight and authority of accredited servants of God. Not lightly are they to be esteemed; not contemptuously are their words to be received. So far as they are true to their sealing, they are of God, and are to be regarded as his messengers.

4. Preserves. Safety is often ensured by the human seal, always by the Divine. If God has marked us for his own, none shall pluck us out of his hand. Though the universe should rise up against a sealed saint, it should ingloriously fail; for the Divine seal is the pledge that Omnipotence will defend the sealed. God is not mocked. What he has set apart for himself he will have, and who shall say him nay? The saints are safe, for they are sealed of God.

5. Testifies to value. We seal only that which we value. And yet there may be no intrinsic value in that which is sealed. In itself it may be of no account; but we seal it because we can use it for some important purpose. So with the believer. Of himself he is nothing and less than nothing, and vanity. The sealing is no teacher of pride. He is sealed of God, not because he is excellent or of himself of any service, but because God in his infinite grace designs to make him so. The seal praises, not us, but God, who of us can make that which will redound to his glory and accomplish his purposes.

IV TO BE ENDOWED WITH THE EARNEST OF THE SPIRIT. The Divine Spirit with which believers are sealed is the "earnest money," the pledge of that which has yet to come. The expression refers to that part of the purchase money which was paid in advance as a security for the remainder. Of what, then, is the possession of the Divine Spirit a guarantee?

1. Of yet fuller possession of the Spirit.

2. Of complete salvation. The "firstfruits" of the Spirit a pledge of the greatharvest (Rom_8:23; Eph_1:13, Eph_1:14)

3. Of fulfilment of all Divine promises.

4. Of our enjoyment of the eternal inheritance. The heaven is begun. Nogreat heaven above for those who have no lesser heaven below. This pledge of the future does not conflict with diligence and faithfulness in Christian walk. These are the signs of the possession of the Divine Spirit a mirror in which alone we may see the reflection of the great privilegewe claim. The holier we are in inner and outer life the more clearly shall we see what we possess. If we walk unholily the mirror will reflect only sin and condemnation. The perseverance of saints is saints persevering.

V THE SOURCE OF THESE PRIVILEGES. God. We are debtors for these vast mercies. In them we are "enriched by him." Knowing the Source, we shall know where to seek for those things which are "more precious than rubies. H.

Vers. 21, 22.

The sealing and earnest of the Spirit.

The figure used in the passage is taken from the custom, common to nearly all lands, of affixing marks to a man"s peculiar property. That mark was frequently a seal, with a characteristic device. The shepherd has some mark which he places on each of his sheep, so that if any one of them strays away it may at once be known as his. And so Christ, the good Shepherd, has a mark by which he knows, and would have all men know, the members of his flock. That mark is the seal of the Spirit. The meaning of the term is explained by a passage in Revelation 7. The angel demands a little delay until he shall have "sealed the servants of God in their foreheads." That is, by a distinctive mark, the sons of God are to be separated from the world, stamped as God"s chosen ones. And as that shall then be done by a glorious name, blazoned on the forehead; as it was done, in the older time, to Israel, by a blood-sprinkled lintel; so now it is done by the gift of the great Comforter and Friend, the Holy Spirit of promise. The presence of the Spirit pledges the fact of our reconciliation to God, and so it seals us. That Spirit may work on ungodly men and by ungodly men, but he cannot properly be said to work in ungodly men. His is an influence on them from without; his dwelling in the heart is the assurance that the great change has taken place. A man must be "born again" ere he can be the dwelling place of the Spirit. "The Spirit witnesseth with our spirit that we are the children of God." And it is not possible to overstate either the dignity or the safety that attends such a sealing. God stamps his people by giving them his own presence. It is hot enough to affix a mark, not enough to entrust to guardian angels. Satan may conceivably overcome them, and sin may blot out the mark. God would give his people no other seal than his own omnipotent presence. Divinest seal! No human hands can tear that from our soul. It can only be lost by our own self willed acts. We can pluck off the seal. We may grieve the Spirit away. None can deny the livery of the eternal King, with which we are clothed, but we may ourselves choose another service and strip off the King"s dress. What the sealing and earnest of the Spirit are may best be illustrated by the experiences of the apostolic company when the Spirit first came in Pentecostal power and glory. The disciples were waiting at the throne of grace, waiting for the fulfilment of the as yet mysterious promise of the Lord. It was the early morning, when a sweeping sound of wind came about the house, and filled the room where they were sitting. Presently dividing tongues of flame rested on their heads, and they felt new power thrilling within them. Those were the symbols of the Spirit"s sealing them for their great missionary service. In this new might a surprising change passed over them. They were ignorant Galilaeans; now they could speak seas to be understood by people of all tongues; now they were swayed with feelings that raised timid disciples into moral heroes and noble witnesses and faithful martyrs. That was the flint sealing of the Spirit, and it does but illustrate how still God takes us as his, gives to us his Spirit, secures us by a Divine indwelling, and inspires us with Divine motives and impulses. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I say, to the glory of God - For it is God alone that is able to fulfil these promises. That establisheth us - Apostles and teachers. With you - All true believers. In the faith of Christ; and hath anointed us - With the oil of gladness, with joy in the Holy Ghost, thereby giving us strength both to do and suffer his will.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

God Himself Paul’s witness:

v. 21. Now He which establishes us with you in Christ and hath anointed us is God,

v. 22. who hath also sealed us, and given thee earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

v. 23. Moreover, I call God for a record upon my soul that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth.

v. 24. not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith ye stand.

The content of the Gospel-preaching, which is so unquestionably reliable, naturally suggests the Author of its glorious message: He that sets us firm with you into Christ and has anointed us is God. That is the ultimate ground of St. Paul’s steadfastness and of that of all Christians. Teachers and hearers alike are firmly fixed in Christ by the power of God; they are grounded and rooted in Him; they have been anointed by Him, have been given spiritual endowment. See 1Jn 2:27. At the same time, God also sealed us, that is, all believers, and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. The terms used by St. Paul are in part legal terms to designate a definite guarantee. In Christ, through the anointing of the Spirit, God has paid us the earnest money of our salvation, and now He guarantees the delivery of that redemption, the consummation of our Christian hopes. Note: A more definite promise and assurance of the certainty of salvation in the case of those that accept the redemption of Christ by faith can hardly be conceived of: God pays the earnest-money in the blood of His Son, He anoints us to know and believe His plan for the salvation of the world, He seals this knowledge in our hearts, He guarantees the full enjoyment of all our hopes. This was the climax of Paul’s message, and by its proclamation he vindicated his claim to the possession of an unblemished moral character.

The situation being such, however, the apostle could now bring out his most solemn asseveration: But I invoke God as a witness against my soul. As he had appealed to the faithfulness of God above, v. 18, he here goes a step farther. If what he now says is untrue, may God appear as a witness against his soul, to its condemnation by His righteous sentence. This solemn oath was in this instance justifiable, because Paul’s credit as an apostle had been called into question, and with this was essentially connected the honor of Christ, who had sent him, and the cause of God, which he represented at Corinth. It was not a matter of levity or fickleness on account of which he had not come to Corinth as planned, but he gave up the thought of coming in order to spare them. He had hoped that his first letter would restore the Corinthian Christians to the proper relation with him, and that it would not become necessary for him to come with the rod, 1Co 4:21. Far from being the outflow of a selfish disposition, therefore, his treatment of the Corinthians in not revisiting them was a manifestation of his indulgent love. And lest this statement be again misconstrued as though he presumed upon rights over them which he did not possess, he adds, in a parenthetical form: Not that we are lords over your faith; it is not a part of his apostolic office to control their faith, their religious life, their relation to the Christian truth. But we are fellow-workers of your joy; it was his greatest delight to be able to serve them in bringing into their hearts the joy of faith. For by your faith you stand; that Paul gladly concedes to them. If in this respect they were submitting themselves to the authority of another, it would be impossible for them to show such uniform steadfastness. Note that the apostle speaks in a general way whenever he refers to the Christian character of his readers, always assuming, for the sake of charity, that his statement holds true of them all.

Summary

After the address the apostle opens his letter with a thanksgiving to God, which is continued as a word of consolation to his readers; he vindicates his conduct and life and the change in his plans in a passage emphasizing the certainty of the Gospel-promises.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In these two verses we have four very great and noble privileges, which the apostle declares God had conferred upon the Corinthians: namely, his establishing, anointing, and sealing of them, and giving the earnest of his Holy Spirit to them.

First, their establishment: He which stablisheth us with you is God.

Learn thence, That a people’s establishment in the doctrine of the gospel, and in the faith of the promise, is alone the gracious work of God. We are naturally like reeds shaken with every wind: it is the establishing grace of God that makes us pillars in the church.

Again, secondly their anointing, this is from God; the sanctifying grace of God is often in scripture compared to oil, in regard of its effects. It refresheth the weary, it healeth the wounded, it comforts the heart, it beautifies the face, it strengthens the limbs. Such internal virtues and excellences hath the sanctifying grace of God in the hearts of the people.

Thirdly, their sealing: Who hath also sealed us. God’s sealing of his children doth imply his high valuation and esteem of them. What is sealed is esteemed very precious: it implies their safety and security; what is under seal, is not in danger of being lost.

Again, sealing doth imply secrecy and privacy; that which is sealed is secret and hidden; it is the new name which none know but he that receiveth it.

Finally, sealing is for confirmation; contracts and bargains among men are confirmed by hand and seal. Thus the graces of the Spirit which sanctify us, do also witness and seal to us the assurance of God’s love and special favour in Jesus Christ.

The fourth privilege here conferred by God upon the Corinthians, is his giving the earnest of his Spirit in their hearts: grace wrought in the heart here is a sure earnest of glory hereafter; there is a great deal of difference between a shilling, a single piece of money, and a shilling that is an earnest of a greater sum. It is joy to find grace in the soul, as grace mortifying our corruptions; but it rejoices much more to look upon grace as an earnest of glory, as the first- fruits which insure the full crop.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Now he that establisheth us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God ;

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

21. Now he that stablisheth us with you in Christ. He gives us our stability so that our gospel is yea, sure and steadfast. And hath anointed us. With the unction of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20, 27).

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

God who confirms us with you

Possible meanings are 1) "God who confirms our relationship with each other because we are in Christ" or 2) "God who confirms both our and your relationship with Christ."

he appointed us

Possible meanings are 1) "he sent us to preach the gospel" or 2) "he chose us to be his people."

he set his seal on us

Paul speaks of God showing that we belong to him as if God had put a mark on us as a sign that we belong to him. AT: "he has put his mark of ownership on us" or "he has shown that we belong to him" (See: Metaphor)

gave us the Spirit in our hearts

Here the word "hearts" refers to the innermost part of a person. AT: "gave us the Spirit to live within each of us" (See: Metonymy)

the Spirit ... as a guarantee

The Spirit is spoken of as if he was a partial downpayment toward eternal life. (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

God

confirm

in Christ

seal

Holy Spirit

heart

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

21.] ὁ δὲ βεβ.… ἡμᾶς is the (prefixed) predicate, and θεός the subject., βεβ. εἰς χριστόν = βεβ. τῇ πίστει εἰς χριστόν, confirmeth us (in believing) on Christ.

χρίσας ἡμᾶς, after ἡμ. σὺν ὑμῖν and the καί, cannot refer (as Meyer, al.) to any anointing of the Apostles only, but must be taken, as Chrys., al., of all, Apostles and Corinthians.—ὁμοῦ προφήτας κ. ἱερεῖς κ. βασιλεῖς ἐργαζόμενος· ταῦτα γὰρ τὸ παλαιὸν ἐχρίετο τὰ γένη. Chrys., p. 448. See 1Jn 2:20. “Observe the connexion of χριστός and χρίσας.” Stanley.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Stablisheth - in Christ [βεβαιων - εις] . The present participle with eijv into indicates the work as it is in progress toward a final identification of the believers with Christ.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.