Thank you for your patience with me. I can not have meaningful conversation with more than 1 person so I will bounce my thoughts off of you. Please read carefully as I am trying to the best of my knowledge to explain my thoughts. I am sorry if I was misunderstanding by saying when we walk in his ways. What I am implying is that our faith is what gains grace. Grace will always be there as promised. And then we are told what accompanies faith and that's the good works that God has planned for his people to do. Good works are not done of self since we are told to do them in love and for honoring God. Works of the self-are selfish. And as James says 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected.
Faith was perfected by good works that walking in the Spirit produces. And we will know the faith of those who produce certain fruit. This is why to me I say what I say because if faith is what we need to have grace then faith must be perfected with good works.
And the seal I spoke of. This is what I had learned looking at any time the bible mentions seals. The seal of the tomb was broken, the seal of the revelation scrolls was broken. To me as I understood a seal like the Kings signet ring to seal it with his name showing a mark of the believer. Here is my understanding of the seal. https://bjorkbloggen.com/2012/04/22...-redemption-but-a-seal-can-be-broken-eph-430/
Hebrews 6:11-12Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
11 Now we want each of you to demonstrate the same diligence for the final realization of your hope, 12 so that you won’t become lazy but will be imitators of those who inherit the promises through faith and perseverance.
Philippians 2:12Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Lights in the World
12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence, but now even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Hebrews 10:26-31Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
Warning against Deliberate Sin
26For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries. 28 If anyone disregards Moses’ law, he dies without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, regarded as profane[a] the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know the One who has said, Vengeance belongs to Me, I will repay,[b][c] and again, The Lord will judge His people.[d] 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
Galatians 5:16-18Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
The Spirit versus the Flesh
16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
To me these two verses to be exact the highlighted part, one is saying if we believers deliberately sin we are again under the law. But however this chapter and verse doesn't say impossible to repentance. So like in revelations 2, repentance is key to not remain in sin since sin is no more for who are of the Spirit.
Revelations 2
4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you[b] and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. 6 Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in[c] God’s paradise.
And we should listen to what the Spirit tells us everyday. This is to me what it means to keep in step with the Spirit. I do not believe the Spirit forces us to DO anything, I believe it does all it can to remind us of Gods words. And in remembrance of Gods word we choose to follow or go against the Spirit which is the deliberate sin. And of course choosing to follow builds obedience and starts to produce the fruit of the Spirit and gives us the power of God to understand and do certain things.
Off topic but a public figure yesterday who grew up in a Christian home as a preacher's daughter has completely turned away from her faith to support her lesbian feelings and LGBT community. Saying she was taught very young about God but used more offensive language. I know yall will say she was never saved to begin with. But I believe once a person truly asks Jesus in then they are saved by faith, But if one was to lose faith, how would that justify salvation if they are denying Christ or maybe have backslided and then only God knows if that person will return or not.
Hoping you understand what I am saying or not saying lol
No worries, brothers in Christ need to lift each other up in many diverse ways!
Let me try and give the sequence of events to Salvation.
1. We hear the Gospel
2. GOD gives us the FAITH to believe the Gospel through FAITH
3. We are filled and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
That's it! We can talk about what we SHOULD do AFTER that happens all day long.
First off, it is interesting that you don't see that the broken seals in Scripture that you list are BROKEN BY JESUS!
In fact, in the Revelation seal you talk about, John is so upset that NO ONE could be found to break the seal, that he cries convulsively.
So how are YOU going to break a seal that the Holy Spirit put on you?
So GOD gives us the FAITH to believe. WE believe. WE'RE sealed. How is it possible to no longer believe? GOD gave us the faith! HE would have to take it away for us to no longer believe. Yet Jesus says HE will NEVER leave nor forsake us.
As for Hebrews 10, I don't have a lot of time now to go in depth, but the Book is written to HEBREWS. Yes I know it is still applicable to us, but the thrust of the book is faith in Jesus. Some of the Hebrew "believers" wanted to go back to the law and sacrifice animals to atone for their sin that Jesus ALREADY paid for, once and for all! THEY didn't believe Jesus Sacrifice was sufficient. So they received the knowledge of the truth (WHO Jesus is, and what He did) and continued in sin by wanting to go back to the law.
We have all sinned deliberately, EVEN after Salvation. Don't think you have? Well have you ever purposefully driven even 1 mile over the speed limit? YOU HAVE BROKEN THE LAW! I could go on and on with examples, but you get the point. ALL sin in a sense is willful. REJECTING JESUS, who He is, and what He has done, is the willing sin that can't be forgiven.
So what happens to the Christian who deliberately sins so bad and walks continuously in the flesh?
Well, just like the man in Corinthians who was having sex with his mother, the Lord may turn his FLESH over to satan (and who knows exactly what that means) BUT HIS SPIRIT WILL BE RAISED TO LIFE ON THE LAST DAY!
So accept His Grace, love Him all the more for how incredible, awesome, loving, powerful, incomprehensibly merciful he is, and extend that Grace to anyone and everyone you meet!