are an earnest, that is, a foretaste and pledge, of those bless- ings which they are to receive in their fulness at the second advent. The Spirit, therefore, awakens desire for that event. See Rom. 8, 23. Eph. 1, 14. The same truth is here implied. The Corinthians had received largely the gifts of the Spirit : the consequence was they waited with patience and desire for the revelation of Christ, when they should enter on that in- heritance of which those gifts are the foretaste and pledge. If the second coming of Christ is to Christians of the present day less an object of desire than it was to their brethren dur- ing the apostolic age, it must be because they think the Lord is " slack concerning his promise," and forget that with him a thousand years is as one day.
8. Who shall also confirm you unto the end, (that ye may be) blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who most naturally refers to God as its antecedent, be- cause he is the prominent subject in the context ; and because the reference to Christ would make the apostle say * Christ shall confirm unto the day of Christ ; ' and because in the following verse, God is expressly mentioned. * Because God is faithful, he will confirm you,' is the clear meaning of the passage. Besides, vocation and perseverance are, in the work of redemption, specially referred to the Father.
Shall also confirm you. God had not only enriched them with the gifts of the Spirit, but he would also confirm them. The one was an assurance of the other. Those to whom God gives the renewing influence of the Spirit, he thereby pledges himself to save ; for " the first fruits of the Spirit " are, as just remarked, of the nature of a pledge. They are an earnest, as the apostle says, of the future inheritance, Eph. 1, 14. 2 Cor. 1, 21. 22. jShall confirm (ySe^aiwcret) i. e. shall make steadfast, preserve from falling. The word is used in reference to per- sons and things. God is said to confirm his promises, when he fulfils them, or so acts as to prevent their failing, see Rom. 15, 8, or when he demonstrates their truth, Mark 16, 20. He is said to confirm his people when he renders them steadfast in the belief and obedience of the truth, 2 Cor. 1, 21. Unto the end^ may mean the end of Hfe, or the end of this dispensa- tion, i. e. to the end of the period which was to precede the advent of Christ ; or it may be understood indefinitely as we 1*