Romans 8:23 — Firstfruits of the Spirit

Scripture names the firstfruits: “now is Messiah risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). Yahushua is the first of the harvest. The believer is the rest of that same harvest. A firstfruit is the same crop as the harvest, so Yahushua is a man like those who follow Him, not Yahuah, for “by man came also the resurrection of the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:21).

Scripture also says where the firstfruits lives. The believer has “the firstfruits of the Spirit” (Romans 8:23). Paul calls it a down payment, “the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts” (2 Corinthians 1:22).

Put the two together. If Yahushua is the firstfruits, and the firstfruits lives in the believer, then the Spirit in the believer is Yahushua, with the Father. Paul says it in the same chapter: “if Messiah be in you” (Romans 8:10). Yahushua says it Himself: “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). The Father and the Son come. No third person is in the count.