Limitless Word
who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:14 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.
  • KJV Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
  • BSB who is the pledge of our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession, to the praise of His glory.
  • NKJV who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
  • NLT The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The Holy Spirit is the pledge guaranteeing our future inheritance until full redemption. It assures believers their salvation will surely be completed.

Overview

The Spirit is called a 'pledge' (a down-payment or deposit) guaranteeing the believer's full inheritance to come. The 'redemption of God's own possession' points to the final day when God's people are fully delivered. As with verses 6 and 12, this too is 'to the praise of his glory,' closing the eulogy with worship.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 16

  • 2 Cor 1:22who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts.
  • 2 Cor 5:5Now he who made us for this very thing is God, who also gave to us the down payment of the Spirit.
  • Eph 4:30Don’t grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
  • Gal 4:6And because you are children, God sent out the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”
  • Rom 8:15–17For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
  • Rom 8:23Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.
  • Eph 1:12to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ:
  • 1 Pet 2:9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
  • Eph 1:6–7to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely gave us favor in the Beloved,
  • Acts 20:32Now, brothers, I entrust you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up, and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
  • Ps 78:54He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken.
  • Lev 25:24–34In all the land of your possession you shall grant a redemption for the land.
  • Jer 32:7–8‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle shall come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.”’”
  • Ps 74:2Remember your congregation, which you purchased of old, which you have redeemed to be the tribe of your inheritance; Mount Zion, in which you have lived.
  • Luke 21:28But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”
  • Acts 20:28Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ephesians videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ephesians 1:14YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EphesiansMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Every spiritual blessing is 'in Christ,' the head over all things for the church, in whom Jew and Gentile are made one new man by his blood.

How Ephesians 1:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.