Tisch. retains it before και, but
significance as applied to Christ has just been expounded, is a fitting climax. δι᾽ ἡμῶν in this clause includes, of course, both St. Paul and his correspondents; it refers, indeed, to the general practice of Christians in their public devotions. Ver. 21. ὃ 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. v. 5. The ultimate ground of St. Paul’s steadfast- ness 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 1 John ii, 20, 27, ὑμεῖς χρίσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου. Deissmannhas pointed out (Bibel- studien, p. 104) that βεβαιόω and appa- βών (see note below) are both technical terms belonging to the law courts (cf. Lev. xxv. 23, LXX), and that βεβαιῶν is here deliberately used rather than κυριῶν (Gal. ili. 15), or any other such word, Ver. 22. ὁ καὶ σφρ. ἡμᾶς κ.τ.λ.: who. also sealed us (5ο., all Christians), and gave us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. The aorists, σφραγισάμενος - - - δούς, point to acts completed at a definite moment in the past; and this can only mean the moment of baptism. This, too, is the best explanation of the parallel passages, Eph. i. 13, iv. 30. The gift of the Holy Spirit is repeatedly mentioned as consequent on baptism (Acts ii. 38, xix. 6); and the σφραγίς, or “seal”’ of baptism, is a common image in early Christian literature (e.g., [2 Clem.,] § 8,
46
x 1 Cor. vii. 28; cha