<p>1:14 <i>Which is a guarantee of our inheritance, of the final redemption of God's own possession, for the praise of His glory</i>- This &quot;guarantee&quot; is the &quot;earnest&quot; spoken of in 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5- the gift of the Spirit in our hearts. As explained on :12, we take the step of faith in hoping in Christ, in believing that really this word of salvation is ultimate truth for us (:13; we &quot;first hoped&quot;, <i>proelpizo</i>, &quot;to hope in advance of other confirmation&quot; (:12). And that confirmation that we shall really be saved, as we first believed we shall be, is in the gift of the Spirit. The New Testament promises &quot;all joy and peace through believing&quot; the good news of salvation in God's Kingdom; and this of itself implies that we have some confirmation of that future salvation. For otherwise we can hardly rejoice and feel peaceful in such a hope. And that confirmation is in the gift of the Spirit. The Spirit is the sign God owns us; He possesses us by and with the Spirit, and this thereby guarantees that we shall be finally redeemed by Him as His very own at the last day. But we must let that Spirit work and function; for the Corinthians were given the same Spirit, but were &quot;not spiritual&quot; and fell away (1 Cor. 3:1).</p>