Spir Dynamics 1109 7/27/97; PPG 104 10/28/84

DOCTRINE OF THE ESCROW

A. There are four parts to the definition of escrow.

1. An escrow is a written agreement entered into by three parties, the grantor [God the Father], the grantee [you], and the depositary [our Lord Jesus Christ as the escrow officer], for the transfer of certain benefits.

2. The sealed agreement of God the Father as the grantor, generally accompanied by the deed, bond, or chattel to be conveyed, is made contingent on some future happening or on the performance of some act by the grantee, and is delivered to the depositary and held by him pending the occurrence of that event or the performance of the required act by the grantee.

3. When the event has taken place or the grantee has performed the specified act, the depositary delivers to him the agreement and the deposit is held.

4. The depositary or custodian is allowed no discretion, but must follow strictly the terms of the agreement as it concerns the other two parties.

5. The date of our escrow blessings is eternity past.

6. The conditions of the escrow are fulfilled by us in the execution of the unique spiritual life of the Church Age.

B. Scripture.

1. The sealed agreement of God the Father as the grantor is found in the verses which use the phrase “the riches of His glory” and Eph 1:2-3, “Grace to you for your benefit and prosperity [escrow blessings] from God the Father [the grantor of our escrow blessings] and our Lord Jesus Christ [the depositary for escrow blessings]. Worthy of praise and glorification is the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ.” Antecedent grace blessings include two categories.

a. Greater blessings to the believer for time.

b. Greater blessings to the believer in the eternal state.

2. Eph 1:18, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the confidence of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance to the saints.”

3. Eph 3:16, “that He would give you on the basis of the riches of His glory to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner person.”

4. Phil 4:19, “My God will supply [make full, fill up] every need of yours on the basis of His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

5. Col 1:27, “to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of the mystery among the Gentiles which is Christ in you, the confidence of glory.”

6. In 1 Cor 2:9, escrow blessings are a part of our portfolio of invisible assets, “However, as it stands written, `Things which the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard and no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.’”

7. This same principle existed for the Jeshurun believers of the Old Testament, Prov 8:18, “With me [the personification of Bible doctrine] are riches and honor [for time], enduring wealth and prosperity [for eternity].”

8. The escrow blessings deposited by God the Father in eternity past are called in Eph 3:8, “the inexhaustible riches in Christ.” Our escrow blessings have been deposited with or in Christ.

C. The Analogy to the Eternal Escrow.

1. There is an eternal escrow and there are three parties in that escrow.

a. The grantor is God the Father, who has placed Himself under legal obligation in eternity past to provide two categories of special and unusual blessings, both temporal and eternal, for the grantee, the believer who fulfills the protocol plan of God.

b. The depositary or custodian is God the Son. In eternity past, both categories of blessings were deposited with our Lord Jesus Christ in escrow, pending the grantee’s future advance to spiritual maturity.

c. The grantee is the Church Age believer. Under the protocol plan of God and the sovereign will of God, expressed in the doctrine of election, the Church Age believer is obligated to fulfill the contingency prior to the transfer of blessings from escrow.

2. So the escrow of blessing was transferred in eternity past by the grantor, God the Father, and delivered to the depositary, Jesus Christ, pending the performance of the grantee, the Church Age believer in the protocol plan of God.

3. Temporal blessings on deposit are transferred to the believer when he fulfills the protocol plan of God in time, not to be confused with logistical grace blessings given to all believers.

4. Eternal blessings are transferred to the mature believer after the Rapture at the judgment seat of Christ, where the winner is awarded special rewards.

5. The sealed agreement with two categories of blessings were delivered to Jesus Christ in eternity past. This emphasizes grace.

6. First God created the blessings, even before He expressed His sovereign will in election and before He designed the protocol plan of God in predestination, Eph 1:3.

7. Justification is the mechanics for the transfer of temporal blessings; glorification is the mechanics for the transfer of eternal blessings, Rom 8:30.

D. Amplification of the Escrow Analogy.

1. In eternity past, the blessings deposited in escrow were made contingent on the future performance of the obligee. In other words, your advance to spiritual maturity in the protocol plan of God is the contingent for the transfer of your blessings out of escrow to you.

2. Spiritual maturity is the point that we leave behind the lesser blessings of logistical grace and move into the sphere of superior blessings of supergrace.

3. Therefore, when the grantee, under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and momentum from metabolized doctrine, attains spiritual maturity, he receives the first installment of blessings from the depositary, Jesus Christ. The second installment is conveyed to him at the judgment seat of Christ.

4. In summary, God the Father is the grantor. He delivered in eternity past to God the Son, the depositary, both temporal and eternal blessings for every believer in compatibility with His sovereign desire in election. This is the Magna Charta of Christianity.

5. These blessings are held by Christ as the depositary, pending the grantee’s fulfillment of the protocol plan of God.

6. The temporal blessings in escrow must not be confused with logistical grace blessings. Eph 3:20 describes these supergrace or greater blessings as “exceedingly abundantly above all we could ever ask or think.” By contrast, logistical grace blessings are sustaining blessings.

7. God’s highest and best is in escrow for you, and He has provided you with equal privilege in the royal family of God and equal opportunity in the protocol plan of God to receive these escrow blessings.

E. Election, Predestination, and Escrow Blessings.

1. The sealed agreement of eternity past is therefore analogous to a modern escrow. The grantor, God the Father, deposited these two categories of blessings in escrow for every believer, pending his advance to spiritual maturity by the use of His equal privilege and equal opportunity.

2. In coordination with these special blessings deposited in our Lord Jesus Christ as the depositary, God the Father elected the believer for these blessings in eternity past.

3. God the Father willed the highest and best for every believer and put that highest and best into escrow before He elected that highest and best. In other words, He showed His good faith by depositing in escrow your highest and best first. Then He elected us, giving us equal privilege and equal opportunity, along with the protocol plan of God as the vehicle of conveyance.

4. Under predestination, God provided the protocol plan of God as the means of conveyance, the means of the grantee performing the required act to receive these blessings.

5. The combination of escrow blessings, election and predestination in eternity past guarantees the conveyance of those blessings to any Church Age believer who is a winner.

6. Not all grantees are winners. In human history, the sovereignty of God and the free will of man coexist by divine decree. You can use your free will to completely fail to receive these blessings. Therefore, in eternity there are winners and losers, rich and the poor forever. The tragedy of this is that all believers have the equal privilege and opportunity to receive their escrow.

7. The righteousness of God demands escrow blessings from the justice of God to any believer who executes the spiritual life. The righteousness of God demands that every believer have equal opportunity to execute God’s plan and receive escrow blessings. The justice of God guarantees that this happens.

F. The Spiritually Rich and the Spiritually Poor in the cosmic system who are still supported by God’s logistical grace.

1. The spiritually rich are those winners in the protocol plan of God who receive the transfer of their blessings from the escrow.

2. The spiritually poor are losers in the cosmic system who are still supported by God’s logistical grace. Although they have equal privilege and equal opportunity, they don’t receive their escrow blessings simply because they’re negative, through either ignorance or cognizance.

3. The spiritually poor cannot lose their salvation and will receive their resurrection body at the Rapture, but they will receive no escrow blessings at the judgment seat of Christ.

4. In this context of the escrow, cosmic believers are double losers and the poorer for it. Their first loss is in time. Though they had equal privilege and opportunity at salvation, they failed to fulfill the protocol plan of God. Hence, their escrow blessings for time remain on deposit forever as a memorial to their failure. They are a double loser because, as a result, they don’t receive their eternal escrow blessings as well.

5. Hence, losers are under divine discipline in life. Although their names are still recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life, they are omitted from the honor’s list in eternity.

6. Logistical grace extends equal opportunity to every believer, beginning on the day of his salvation, to receive his escrow blessings. Every believer is kept alive by logistical grace long enough so that he could become a winner.

7. Therefore, every loser is a loser by his own decisions. Every believer must take the responsibility for his own decisions in eternity future.

8. Some believers exploit the equal opportunity of election and predestination and fulfill the protocol plan of God in time. Losers do not. At the judgment seat of Christ, they become double losers.

9. Time provides the opportunity for the grantee to attain God’s highest and best under election, i.e., under the deposit of the grantor in eternity past.

G. Relation Back Doctrine

. 1. This legal doctrine states that the escrow is irrevocable from the date of deposit into escrow.

2. That which God the Father deposits into escrow with our Lord Jesus Christ cannot be withheld from us once we have fulfilled the obligations of reaching spiritual maturity.

3. We must fulfill the obligations of the escrow document prior to the distribution of our escrow blessings.

4. The date of deposit (eternity past) is the date of irrevocability. The date of conveyance is the date of the fulfillment of the conditions—the day you reach spiritual maturity.

5. If the conditions are not fulfilled in time, then the escrow blessings remain in escrow forever as a memorial to lost equal opportunity. The loser believer can see his escrow blessings on deposit in heaven forever as a memorial to equal opportunity. The loser believer does not lose his salvation, but does lose his escrow blessings for time and eternity. He will live forever in heaven with only lesser blessings.

H. Concluding Principles.

1. The fulfillment of the protocol plan of God in time leads to a rich entrance into the eternal kingdom.

2. This dramatizes the importance of the spiritual life under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit and the consistent perception of doctrine and its spiritual metabolism.

3. Nothing dramatizes the protocol plan of God more than the spiritual blessings held in the eternal escrow.

4. What brings your blessings out of escrow?

a. Stay in the protocol plan of God; quickly rebound to get back in after sinning.

b. Remain under the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.

c. Metabolize the doctrine you learn.

5. How will you know when you’re in spiritual maturity? You will recognize your spiritual blessings!

6. Your escrow blessings are actually a conveyance from the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, the depositary, to the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ in you by virtue of your union with Him. So “in Christ” has added significance as both positional truth and escrow truth. As He Himself said, “I am the truth...”

7. The challenge is found in Heb 10:35-36, “Therefore, do not throw away as worthless your confidence, which keeps on having great distribution of blessing. For you keep on having need of perseverance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive the deposit which was promised.” The greater blessings in life are not a matter of prayer, but the execution of the unique spiritual life of the Church Age.

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