The Holy Spirit is a deposit?

Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthains 5:5

This is a fascinating concept and a wonderful reality. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer is said to be an “deposit”—that is, a pledge or deposit—on an ultimate fulfillment of a magnificent promise from God Himself. The word translated “earnest” (Greek arrhabon) is essentially a transliteration of its Hebrew equivalent (arabown), translated “pledge” in the Old Testament (see Genesis 38:17-20).

Now if the guiding presence of God, through the Holy Spirit, is merely an earnest payment, the fulfillment must be glorious beyond comprehension. This “selfsame thing,” as our text calls it, is a wonderful “house which is from heaven,” the spiritual body we shall receive when we go to be with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:1-2). While 5:4 displayed the dislike of Paul for the interim state, it would be inconsistent for him to be paralyzed with fear concerning this prospect. Paul’s theme for several verses has been one of hope, which by its nature emphasizes what is not seen and not yet attained. “The one who prepared us for this very purpose is God,” repeats the thought of the last clause of 5:4. The whole of creation awaits God’s final action (Rom 8:23–27), at which time perfect fellowship will be restored and eternal life completed. 

The hope of the people should be in θεός, God, (placed at the end of the clause for emphasis). He has created (κατεργασάμενος; aorist participle) his people for this very thing (αὐτὸ τοῦτο). Probably Paul has in mind the endowment of Christians with heavenly bodies (Phil 3:21). This would revive Paul’s theme of the unseen, and of the permanent taking over from the temporary and terrestrial. But now Paul introduces the reason for this hope. It is more than simply a “shot in the dark.” Rather, Paul is convinced that what God will do in the future is ensured by what he has done in the past and what he is doing in the present (the use of the aorist implies an act already completed yet with present effect).

Paul’s basis for his assurance of the permanent triumphing over the temporary is the ἀρραβών (pledge) given to believers. This pledge is the πνεῦμα (Spirit). God has already imparted the Holy Spirit, referred to in δοὺς, “given,” (aorist participle) as his pledge or deposit. The use of ἀρραβών (see on 1:22; cf. Gen 38:17, 18, 20) refers to a down payment, something to assure that the “final installment will come” (1:22). What the Christian has now is a present possession, which promises more to come 

The phrase also occurs in 2 Corinthians 1:22: “Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” In context, the earnest payment here is associated with the “sealing” of God and the assurance that “all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen” (v. 20).

The third and last use of this word in the New Testament is in Ephesians 1:13-14: “In whom also trusted . . . after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.” We are “joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17), and He is to inherit all things.

Thus, the Holy Spirit, a present possession of all who have received Christ as Savior, is also God’s pledge of a glorious future—a perfect body, a great inheritance, and the certain fulfillment of all of God’s gracious promises.