What Are the Firstfruits of the Spirit?

As mentioned in the introductory article on firstfruits, one of the New Testament uses of the concept of firstfruits is found in Romans 8:23, which says

Romans 8:22-23
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

What are these firstfruits of the Spirit? I am aware of two common explanations (feel free to comment if you have another view!):

1. That believers in this present age are the first people to receive the Spirit of God, and, in that sense, represent the "firstfruits" of those who will receive the Spirit.
2. That the measure of the Spirit given to believers in this present age is only a small portion of what God intends - i.e., individuals currently have the "firstfruits of the Spirit" in their lives but will receive the fullness of the Spirit at the resurrection.

If you had asked me a few weeks ago what I thought the "firstfruits of the Spirit" were, I would probably have said something along the lines of view #1. When I came across view #2, it also seemed to make sense. After some analysis, I don't think either of them accurately describe what is being said in Romans 8:23.

Christ: the Firstfruits

As the second part in a series on firstfruits (Part 1), I'd like to focus on a scripture which links Jesus Christ to the concept of firstfruits:

1 Corinthians 15:20-21
But now Christ is risen from the day, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

In this post, I'll examine the role of Christ as the firstfruits of God's harvest and the connection with the wave-sheaf offering, as well as make some comments about the harvest analogy itself.

What Are Firstfruits? Introduction and Commandments

"Firstfruits" are something that the bible mentions several times, and, especially in the New Testament, it seems like a really important concept to understand:

1. Christ is the firstfruits of those who have died (1 Corinthians 15:20)
2. God's church "[has] the firstfruits of the Spirit" (Romans 8:23)
3. God's church is called to be the "firstfruits of His creatures" (James 1:18)
4. The 144,000 of Revelation 14 are "redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb" (Revelation 14:4)

What exactly are firstfruits? Why were the New Testament writers making comparisons using this idea? What did they mean by these statements? These are questions that I hope to thoroughly answer in a series of articles between now and Pentecost! In this article, we'll start with an introductory analysis of what firstfruits are and what God commanded to be done with them.

The River Turned to Blood

In Exodus 7, God begins His deliverance of Israel by bringing plagues on the Egyptians. The first plague was, in my opinion, one of the more impressive feats.

Exodus 7:20-21
So [Aaron] lifted up the rod and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh and in the sight of his servants. And all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. The fish that were in the river died, the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river. So there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.

Stop and think about seeing an entire river turn to blood before your eyes. Wouldn't that completely freak you out??

The Holy Spirit, our... Midwife?

 The life of a Christian can be put into a rough correspondence with the events of the Exodus, and this imagery is especially helpful for us during the Passover season. I've written previously about the similarities between Pharaoh and the "old man" written of by Paul (Romans 6:6, Ephesians 4:22), and this post is along the same lines. The "old man" is the person that we were before repentance and baptism. As much as we would like to be a 100% new person who doesn't sin anymore after baptism, it just doesn't work that way! We are still physical beings, and we have to struggle against the flesh and bring it into subjection to God. Occasionally, the Old Man gets the upper hand, and our spiritual lives wane - in effect, we go back to bondage in spiritual Egypt.

God allowed Israel, His people, to suffer slavery in Egypt for over 400 years. Even while they were slaves, God watched over them and allowed their population to grow larger and larger, working to fulfill a promise made to Abraham. Eventually, the Pharaoh came to see Israel's increasing numbers as a threat, and so he devised a plan to keep their population under control. 

Exodus 1:9-11
And [Pharaoh] said to his people, "Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land." Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them.

Bad Logic on the Immortal Soul

Most Christian churches incorrectly teach that human beings are born with an immortal soul which will live forever, either in eternal reward or eternal punishment. The bible clearly shows that those who follow God's way will live forever; however, it does not state that the human soul is inherently immortal and that God cannot (or will not) destroy it. Rather, immortality is a gift that God gives His people after they have believed, repented, and received the Holy Spirit. Even then, one still has to live a life of overcoming and holding on to that commitment!

Recently, I've read several arguments claiming to prove that humans have an immortal soul. Here's a sampling of them, along with explanations of their various fallacies.

Did the Levites Work for Peanuts?

I've dedicated a lot of time and effort to the subject of tithing, so some of what I say here might require some legwork on the part of the reader. I've conveniently compiled my series on tithing as a reference. It explains about a particularly outspoken group of people who teach that tithing is not valid for Christians today. They challenge the premise of tithing from every angle, and so I've worked diligently to defend it from every angle. One of their claims is that the command to tithe was limited to agricultural products - the offspring of the herds and the yield of the crops - and that it was never paid by wage-earners such as Jesus, who was a carpenter. I've answered this argument before (you can read about it on the tithing page), and this post is just some more thoughts on the matter.

The tithes of Israel were allocated to the Levites as an inheritance and in exchange for their service in the temple:

Numbers 18:21
Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the Tabernacle of Meeting.

The reasons for which the Levites received tithes play a role in the discussion of whether tithe was limited to agricultural products only. As the above scripture shows, they received tithe for two purposes: as an inheritance and in return for the work of the Tabernacle. If tithe was only required on food items as some claim, then this would mean that the Levites were both given an inheritance and paid for their work in food.

A Practical Purpose of Physical Circumcision

In today's culture, typical arguments in favor of circumcision focus on health issues. I'm not going to attempt to validate circumcision with science, and I'm not interested in addressing the claims of those who consider modern circumcision to be a barbaric practice that ought to be illegal. I simply want to pose and answer a couple of questions. According to God's Word, what benefit, if any, does physical circumcision have? Is there a biblical reason for Christian parents to circumcise their sons? On the other hand, is there a biblical reason for them not to?

God's Holy Spirit and the Circumcision of the Heart

This post is a continuation of the previous article, Becoming Circumcised as a Christian. As noted there, every Christian must be circumcised, but the meaning of "circumcision" is spiritual: physical circumcision is symbolic of the spiritual process of cutting out and putting away our inborn sinful nature. This post will elucidate the intimate connection between circumcision and receiving the Holy Spirit. Just as physical circumcision was rendered useless for a Jew who did not keep the law, so also spiritual circumcision is rendered useless for a Christian who does not keep the law.

Becoming Circumcised as a Christian

Thus far, I have examined the relationship of circumcision to the New Covenant in two parts: that it is the sign of the Abrahamic covenant, which is the foundation of the New Covenant, and that it was an outward sign intended to mirror an internal spiritual process. In this article, I would like elaborate on how Christian circumcision, which is spiritual, differs from the physical circumcision undergone by Israel under the Old Covenant.